Background. Where We Started.

This question came up quite unexpectedly for me.

A little bit of background:
Chip and I have been married for 5 years. We've always been "on the same page" regarding our family size.

When we went through our marriage counseling, we decided that we wanted 3 or 4 kids. It's what WE wanted. Chip came from a family of 3. He enjoyed it. I came from a family of 4. I enjoyed it. We have always agreed with the idea that "children are blessings". We have always valued family, believing that family was designed by God.

When we got married, we had it all figured out. Here was our plan:

Take birth control pills and wait AT LEAST a year and then have a baby. Have another baby about 2 years later. Then evaluate. Either wait another 2ish years, have our 3rd baby and be done OR wait 4-5 years, have a 3rd then 2 more years and have a 4th. It was a perfect plan.

Things I KNEW at that point:
* I COULDN'T handle more than 3 kids close together. That would be nuts. If we had 4 kids there would HAVE to be a significant space in between "sets" so I could rest and regroup.
* We needed to wait AT LEAST a year to "enjoy" our "alone time" before we had kids that would "take up" all of our time and attention.

This was THE plan.

I felt good about the plan. Here were reasons it was a "good" plan:
*God gave me the desire for "that many" kids. So it must be right for me.
*Other Christians I looked up to and were seeking counsel from encouraged the use of birth control, especially the Pill...afterall, it was VERY effective and didn't cause abortions. It was being wise.

And so we were married and started working toward The Plan.

And we were happy.

And things were good.