Before We Have a Baby

One of the questions I have been asked often is what we are doing now to prepare for when we start our family.

We believe that I have been called to be a teacher right now. This is not my first choice; if I could have my way, we would have little ones of our own and I would be home with them all day everyday. But I have been asked to put my dream on hold and serve God in this special place for now. There is no doubt in my mind or in the mind of my husband that or now God has called me to serve him by teaching special education for now. When my heart begins to grow restless and desire a babe now, I hear a gentle voice remind me “In good time, my child, you will have children of your own. Trust me and I will richly bless you.”

This does not mean that we are not thinking and planning for the day when little Hoosiers will be joining us. We are doing some things now to begin preparing for the babes we will one day be able to cuddle and entrusted to raise.

We are being wise with our money. While following God’s current call on my life, we are blessed with two incomes. Rather than use that extra money to live extravagantly, we are choosing to be wise in our management and save towards paying off our home. The blessing of an extra income can help us reach a goal of not being a slave to debt.

We are developing as people. Cole and I seek to be growing everyday in our walk with the Lord. As we continue to become more like him, we will be more prepared to parent like him.

We are praying for our little ones. We don’t know what they will look like, whether they will be boys or girls, how many there will be, or what their personalities will be like. However, we are praying already for them: that God will use us to guide their hearts towards him, that they will seek to know Christ intimately, and that they will come to know him personally.

I am also earning SwagBucks and My Points to purchase Amazon gift cards. All money made through these methods are being saved to purchase items that we will use when those sweet babies are finally in our arms. We also have a few boxes in which we are storing other items we find to put away for our little ones. For example, whenever we find used K-State baby clothes for a good price, we pick them up. They are far too expensive new and we are sure that with multiple children they will be worn.

We are working to create our own set of traditions. I loved all of the traditions that I grew up with – they were a comforting part of our daily lives throughout good and bad times. We want to develop and establish traditions for our family. For example, we know that we want to celebrate advent with a wreath and do the Jesse tree. I am working on putting together all of the supplies to celebrate these traditions as a family.

We are working towards more natural living and eating. We are gathering good recipes, learning how to be more healthy, and eliminating as many toxins as we possibly can.

These are all small things, but things that we consider to be very important. Even now, we are working to provide our children with the best possible home and upbringing that we can give them!