Apparently, "barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen" may be a good bulwark against suicide for a woman, according to this study reported on by Fox News. Now if two children reduces suicide risk by 40%, and three by about 60%, one would figure that a mother of five would be practically immune. That would be good news for me, and for "Pentadad." (not to mention our wives!)
I also got to thinking about the old wisdom given to women in "less than happy" marriages: more or less to have a baby to bring a couple together. My wife and I were actually counseled to reject this in our marriage counseling.
However, consider what it meant for a theoretically fertile couple prior to the mass availability of affordable, effective, contraception; it meant that, most likely, the couple was not "one flesh" routinely. In other words, when a women decided to open herself up to children, that....meant most likely that she was finally taking 1 Corinthians 7 seriously and giving her husband something he most earnestly desired.
Hence, I would guess this also meant that a lot of marriages were saved by the advice "have a baby." Who knew? It's like God was serious when he told our forefathers to "be fruitful and multiply."
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3 comments:
It depends on how and why "less than happy" the marriage is, I'd think. If one or both parents mostly needs a maturity wakeup call and a Really Good Reason to stop being selfish twits, a baby might be just what the doctor orders. But if she thinks a baby's going to keep him from catting around, that maybe doesn't work so well. And then there's the less clear ground in between.
But generally, I agree with you -- God's purposes for marriage have an uncanny way of strengthening marriage itself. Whoda thunk?
Agreed--at least in today's "marriage economy," and of course, the man "catting around" needs to be dealt with with .45 ACP expanding rounds, not marital pleasures.
That noted, part of me has to wonder if in yesteryear, older ladies were saying "have a baby" as a gentle, discreet way of telling younger ladies that if they wanted a happy marriage, there was something they needed to attend to more often.
Ah yes, kids.
Our oldest moved out a couple years ago.
Since the first of the year, the youngest moved out; then the oldest moved back in; then the middle one moved out.
Now the oldest has figured out what he wants to do and will move out at the end of summer. He is usually working or with friends so he isn't home much.
So, there you have it, we are almost empty-nesters.
And we have been taking our 1 Corinthians 7 responsibilities even more seriously. :^)
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