 There is a huge cultural myth that kids are going to bring nothing but joy to your life. And I think that leads a lot of parents going in with maybe the wrong expectation. If you think about it, our species has been around for 300,000 years. The ability to control female reproduction is about 60 years old. Cultural and economic liberation for women is still in progress. We are among the first generations of life on Earth, the only life that we know of in the universe that can choose not to reproduce. To me, that's incredibly exciting. This feeds right into the Western cultural narrative that being happy, happiness is the overall objective of life. Supposedly studies have taken place that show that women without kids are more happy than women with kids. Though I'm extremely skeptical of these studies, let's grant the premise. I gotta say, I look at this data and I think to myself, Yikes. And then I think I probably still want kids. Like it's such a weird... Why? I don't know. Here's why I think. God designed us to look beyond the present into the future to build legacy. Obviously not every family is able to have kids, but regardless, we were designed to pour into the next generation. And for those who can have kids, kids is a big part of it. Unfortunately, the common mentality is the mentality of a hoarder. We want to hoard our finances, our stability, our comfort. We don't want to have to stretch ourselves in the way that parenthood requires. Here's the thing, I don't have any misconception that parenthood is easy, but in the conversations that I've had with parents, it is one of the most meaningful aspects of their life. I think perpetuating this idea that childless homes are going to be more happy is a destructive and terrible thing to do that I think we'll see the repercussions of in years to come. I encourage you to embrace a generational vision of building legacy built on standing on the Word of God and service to Him. Follow for more Christ-centered content and help support my ministry on Patreon.