When to Have a Baby?

I just got pointed to a blog based on a book that looks quite good-- Start Your Family.

This article in particular was really good.

One of my favorite paragraphs was this one:

"Babies shape our souls
Babies require great care—especially as they emerge into toddlers, kids and then teenagers. The parenting enterprise is not for the faint of heart. It is grueling at many levels. This can be intimidating for many couples who don’t feel very mature yet. But it’s in committing to the needs of a new life that couples are stretched into greater maturity. Children shape our souls like few other things in life, conditioning us to be more other-centered and to take a longer view of life. The demands of children that frighten so many would-be parents provide the crucible that is most likely to bring out the person God designed them to be."

I thought this quote was a good commentary on our societal state, too:

"One of the welcome side effects of the recent economic crunch is that people have been forced to look beyond their wallets in order to experience the truly good things in life. After getting the message for so long that babies stand in the way of exotic vacations and a catalog house filled with cool gadgets, many couples are finding that it’s those (often disappointing) pursuits that stand in the way of experiencing the joys of children."