population

I do understand why people get momentarily distracted and jump on the overpopulation myth bandwagon. One may even find his or her thoughts heading that direction after a particularly challenging family reunion or an afternoon of supervising a whole herd of children.

One child is so manageable, in my humble opinion. The diaper bag or backpack is well-stocked with any possible situation in mind. There's always an extra diaper and set of clothes. Snacks are stored in colorful snap-lid containers. Sippy cups are coordinated and full of fresh beverage.

But when God was thinking about developing my character, He knew full well that if my family was contained to one child, I would wax way too eloquent about what works in discipline, teething, sleeping and all those other areas that I would have extra time to contemplate and philosophize about. That would also leave me far too much time to criticize other people's kids.

Currently, I just have theories - that are in constant change. And many times I don't even have a theory - especially in the areas of sleep and discipline and behavior in the car. Like the other day when Sam spent the better part of an hour howling about absolutely nothing important - I told him he needed to go to use the little boys room before he went outside. My response wasn't much better and I'm sure our neighbor that Mark happened to be talking to outside the house wondered if he should offer Mark a quiet place for the night.

You know how you start looking for things to support a certain position that you have come to find truth in. That position is that we have more than 2.5 children and don't drive a solar-powered two-seater and in some people's minds, we are actively responsible for overpopulation.

As a side note however, I wonder if any of those learned individuals who have also waxed eloquent on the subject of population are ever from states likes South Dakota or Wyoming or Texas. I suspect they live in high rises, work in high rises, exercise in high rises and vacation in high rises. And speaking of Texas, this website claims all 6 billion of the world's people would all fit inside the state of Texas each with a 33' X 33" spot of ground to live on, with the rest of the world open for exploration and development. Hmmm....those darn facts get in the way of some theories all the time.

That's no excuse for people who bring many children into the world by different fathers and mothers and expect the government to pick up the tab in raising them. That's also no excuse, in my opinion, for people who keep on having babies simply because like the baby stage of human development. The baby stage may be the shortest stage on all in a person's life.

And finally could I argue that in those places where there might be too many people living, the problem isn't too many people. The problem is that those people have chosen or are ignorant of the principles God has given us for living.

Before you get the impression that I have it all together - you know, that my children are always fully-dressed appropriately for the occasion, well-behaved in social settings and otherwise, and that our property is well-manicured and immaculately organized inside and out - forget it. Most of the time, none of those things are all in place and all of the time a few are out of place.

All my ranting is idle and empty if we are not on the same page about a God who is in charge of everything. I know God is sovereign. He is still in control of populations and water supply and heating and cooling of the planet and how He is developing my character. For me, He has chosen to bless me with a pile of children to help teach me about His character, His relationship with me and how He wants my character to be like His. And from that perspective, I am not using up too much water or taking up too much space.

feeding the boys

critters

Have you ever seen a baby striped gopher? The one straggling around the yard this morning looked pretty pathetic. It was wet mainly - probably from being slung around by the dog. It's relatives come out and play tag almost anytime we are out mowing the lawn. Tag requires at least two to play, you know, and they do play in groups as the mower careens dangerously close to pinching off their games.

And it wouldn't be all bad if Molly had a special snack this morning - that is if dogs eat gophers. We have quite a family tree of them around.

And in other wild animal news...yesterday - or was it the day before - the kids found a dead or half-dead bat on the sidewalk. Due to the sensitive nature of its appearance today, I didn't take a picture. Sam noted that it didn't have wings anymore this morning. I guess I should bury it. Maybe by tomorrow, I won't have to bury it. It's quite warm today.

at the lake