What a Blessing to be a Mother

Amy Welborn linked to this beautiful article about a couple struggling with infertility and various challenges they have faced. It reminded me of many of the childless couples I know who long for the gift of children.

When I was in college my now-husband and I were babysitting the children of one of our professors. When it came time for bedtime prayers, one of the things that they all recited in unison was "Please help Mr. and Mrs. X, Mr. and Mrs. Y, and Mr. and Mrs. Z to have babies." These were all childless couples associated with our college. I was dismayed to realize then that I had become a victim of the contraceptive mentality so pervasive nowadays, but in a way I hadn't expected: I had assumed that all of these couples wanted to be childless at this point in their marriage. Never once did it occur to me that they couldn't have children.

Now, thanks to our professor's children, I pray for a long list of childless couples that I know. It is hard to remember amidst the more negative aspects of parenting (such as sleepless nights and tantrums) that children are a gift. But when I think of the joy and fullness in my life because of them, I realize that they are a very great gift indeed. I want my friends to have that gift and with it the joy and fullness. So, especially today, I pray that they will be able to have the joy of becoming mothers and fathers.

St. Gerard and Our Lady of Fatima, pray for them!