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Aaron Smith:
Hey weāre Aaron and Jennifer Smith with Marriage After God.
Jennifer Smith:
Helping you cultivate an extraordinary marriage.
Aaron Smith:
And today weāre going to share our perspectives of, going into this, again.
Aaron Smith:
Welcome to the Marriage After God podcast, where we believe that marriage was meant for more than just happily ever after.
Jennifer Smith:
Iām Jennifer, also known as UnveiledWife.
Aaron Smith:
And Iām Aaron, also known as HusbandRevolution.
Jennifer Smith:
We have been married for over a decade.
Aaron Smith:
And so far we have four young children.
Jennifer Smith:
We have been doing marriage ministry online for over seven years through blogging and social media.
Aaron Smith:
With the desire to inspire couples to keep God at the center of their marriage, encouraging them to walk in faith every day.
Jennifer Smith:
We believe that Christian marriage should be an extraordinary one, full of life-
Aaron Smith:
Love.
Jennifer Smith:
And power.
Aaron Smith:
That can only be found by chasing after God-
Jennifer Smith:
Together.
Aaron Smith:
Thank you for joining us on this journey, as we chase boldly after Godās will for our life together.
Jennifer Smith:
This is Marriage After God.
Aaron Smith:
Hey thanks for joining us on a new episode of Marriage After God podcast, man itās already September, weāre in the last quarter, itās crazy how fast this yearās going by, but as my wife would say, we have plenty of time left in the year. But before we get into what this episode is about, I want to invite you take part in our 31 day marriage prayer challenge. Itās completely free, and we made this challenge to encourage you in your marriage to be praying for your spouse every single day, we pray that over the next 31 days you build not only a habit, but a ministry of praying for your spouse.
Aaron Smith:
And all youāve got to do is go to marriageprayerchallenge.com, thatās marriageprayerchallenge.com and sign up for free, itās completely free. Just choose your prayer challenge, either for the husband or for the wife, and hopefully you do it together as a couple, and start praying every day for your spouse. What weāre going to do is weāre going to send you an email every day, with a prompt and a reminder to not only pray for your spouse, but what things you could be praying for, for them.
Aaron Smith:
And so itās pretty awesome, itās completely free. So go to marriageprayerchallenge.com today, and sign up and join the challenge.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay so for todayās episode we just thought the title would be funny, Here We Go Again, like what-
Aaron Smith:
Here what go again?
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. We thought weād leave people guessing, you know is this a good thing, or?
Aaron Smith:
Yeah. Because it almost sounds like an argument, or like weāre going around that block again with all those issues or whatever.
Jennifer Smith:
Iām actually curious what did come to peopleās mind. [crosstalk 00:02:32].
Aaron Smith:
Yeah if you want to send us a message on Instagram at marriagaftergod.com and let us know what you think the episode was about before you listen to it, thatād be really awesome, and interesting to find out what people thought.
Jennifer Smith:
Fun.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay, so the truth is, and Iām just going to jump right in, right now.
Aaron Smith:
Wait.
Jennifer Smith:
What?
Aaron Smith:
I just wanted to give it a little bit of affect. Okay.
Jennifer Smith:
We have some really exciting news for you guys. Well, we think itās exciting. Iām holding in my hand a very cute black and white picture of a little jellybean growing inside of me.
Aaron Smith:
Weāre pregnant!
Jennifer Smith:
Again.
Aaron Smith:
Again. Here we go again, thatās what thatās about. It sounds kind of negative now that I think about it.
Jennifer Smith:
No. Weāre pregnant again, number five.
Aaron Smith:
We are doing this again.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
This is the fifth go-around for us, which is kind of crazy, but kind of awesome. And so we wanted to do a little announcement episode, announce to you all, because we love you all and we know that you guys follow our family, and you love knowing about our children and whatās going on. And so we thought, letās tell them all in a podcast episode, but not just tell you that weāre pregnant. We thought itād be awesome to answer some of your questions.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
And so weāre going to do that.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. Weāre going to talk about some of the realities of whatās been going on in our hearts and minds, and family time over the last few weeks and just share what the Lordās been doing in our hearts about our family growing. I know that weāve done some episodes in the past on parenting, I remember specifically when I was pregnant last time, we did Fears of a Growing Family, so if you guys want to check that out, thatās available for you.
Jennifer Smith:
But todayās not going to be focused on fears, todayās just going to be on the realities of a growing family and whatās been going on with us.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah. Weāve done other episodes in the past also just on family Bible time, and family adventure, and lots of different kinds of family things.
Jennifer Smith:
Family oriented things. Okay, so but before we jump in, I just want to let you guys know that we have some listeners that canāt get pregnant and are trying, or just have different circumstances when it comes to getting pregnant or maybe we have couples who are praying about adoption or fostering, and so we just wanted to let you guys know that our hearts are with you, and even though our circumstances may be different, we hope that this podcast episode about sharing our experience would still encourage you and still direct your hearts to the Lord.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah. And for those that are currently trying to have children, or have been trying to have children, we know quite a few people that have been through that, and how hard it could be. Our encouragement is to continue leaning on the Lord to rely on His strength, to believe that He is got good plans for you and your family and to not grow weary. And to put your hope and faith in God. So weāre with you.
Jennifer Smith:
Yep.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay, so I think that we should probably start when I told you that I was pregnant.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah, you probably should start maybe three weeks before that, though.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay, so I guess the reason why I even took a test. Okay, so we went on this double date night with a couple, another couple, friends of ours.
Aaron Smith:
A couple of friends of ours.
Jennifer Smith:
I know.
Aaron Smith:
Who are a couple.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
And married.
Jennifer Smith:
And we got to the restaurant, and we even got as far as ordering our food, and then I donāt know what happened, but-
Aaron Smith:
You started going downhill real quick.
Jennifer Smith:
Really fast. I had my head on my arm, resting on the table, and I think you-
Aaron Smith:
I was trying to entertain our friends, thinking that you were sleeping or something.
Jennifer Smith:
You were like, whatās up with Jen?
Aaron Smith:
I was like, donāt mind her, sheās fine.
Jennifer Smith:
And I remember looking up at you and Iām like, Aaron I think you should stay and hang out, but I feel like Iām dying and I need to go home right now.
Aaron Smith:
I was really surprised, because itās never happened before. You having to leave because youāre that ill.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. I donāt know what was going on, but I felt violently ill and I thought I was just sick and that I was going to vomit everywhere and so I had to get out of that restaurant as quickly as possible. And I remember my friend, my girlfriend, she leaned over the table with so much excitement and she was like, Jen are you pregnant? And I was like, no, no Iām not pregnant.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah, you had no idea, right? At the moment.
Jennifer Smith:
No. And so that was the first things, but I still didnāt think about it right away, but over the course of the next couple weeks you and I were just kind of off. I was emotional and we werenāt-
Aaron Smith:
We were fighting about these nothing, what are they called? Nothing fights?
Jennifer Smith:
I donāt know. It wasnāt even a fight it was just-
Aaron Smith:
Arguing back and forth, and not connecting, not understanding each other and Iām like, why are you mad about this, or whatās happening? Or you thinking that I ā¦ It was just-
Jennifer Smith:
A little bit crazy.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah, a little bit crazy.
Jennifer Smith:
I feel like when I look back at it, it was just a thing of misunderstanding. Like I would misunderstand you, you would misunderstand me, and then weād be in a funk.
Aaron Smith:
What you were realizing, is you were totally emotionally hormonally because of the pregnancy, which we didnāt know you were pregnant.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. My body was just going through a loop.
Aaron Smith: But any time in that past that weāve had these seasons where it feels chaotic and emotional, and usually itās something like youāre pregnant. So thatās what made you think to go get a test.
Jennifer Smith: Yep. So I did, and I didnāt tell you that I was going to do that, but I did and-
Aaron Smith: Well Iāll say this, I didnāt know you had a test, because you had me go get one, we do it periodically because itās our way of checking but I didnāt know you were going to take one. I also was just assuming it was going to be negative, I was like okay, yeah, this is what we do, weāve done it for a long time. So, it was out of mind out of sight type thing.
Jennifer Smith:
So, you just werenāt thinking about it.
Aaron Smith:
I wasnāt even thinking about, nope.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay, so I was coming down the hall, I knew you were in the kitchen and I was excited, and I wanted to tell you right away, and as I was coming down the hall you-
Aaron Smith:
We were passing each other at the end of the hall.
Jennifer Smith:
ā¦ Were already walking towards me, but you were in a hurry, so what was going on?
Aaron Smith:
Well I walked by and I was just like, my stomach was all jacked up, I maybe ate something or I donāt know, I was like my stomach hurts so bad, oh we did some sort of workout two days in a row, and thatās what it was my abs were killing. My whole chest and body, and so I was walking by complaining, I was like, ah my stomach hurts so bad.
Jennifer Smith:
And I think I just assumed you were headed towards the bathroom because you were so in a hurry. And so I used the opportunity to quickly say, āWell it probably doesnāt hurt like mine does.ā
Aaron Smith:
And I stopped and I was like, what? It didnāt make any sense to me, until you saidā¦
Jennifer Smith:
Weāre expecting again.
Aaron Smith:
And then I with a perfect and excited and joyful attitude responded with, are you serious?
Jennifer Smith:
I wish you guys could see his face right now because itās really like-
Aaron Smith:
I was really, really taken aback.
Jennifer Smith:
His eyebrows are all twisted up.
Aaron Smith:
I was totally expecting that at whatever point you did take the test, it was just going to be a, no weāre not pregnant yet, because thatās happened in the past and so when you said we were, it was probably the least exuberant response Iāve given, in the past I cried, and weāre going to be a-
Jennifer Smith:
Youāre so excited.
Aaron Smith:
And then this oneās like, are you serious? I had to quickly adjust because I didnāt know how you were going to take it. I was like, I mean I was just surprised, but thatās cool. Cool, five, rad.
Jennifer Smith:
I think because that number felt big to me, that I wasnāt shocked by your response at all. I just thought it was funny.
Aaron Smith:
Because you probably felt the same way.
Jennifer Smith:
So we got over that little, whatever that was in the hallway really quick, and the reality started to set in.
Aaron Smith:
Until it set in that weāre actually going to have five children.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. Wow. Itās still when I say it, Iām like, thatās crazy. So weāre due in March.
Aaron Smith:
How many weeks along are you?
Jennifer Smith:
About 12 and some days.
Aaron Smith:
So youāre almost out of your-
Jennifer Smith:
Iām almost out of my first trimester.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah. Crazy, but awesome. So, definitely nervous, but I am excited, because of course this is what the Lordās doing in our life, we love children. That doesnāt negate the fact of any of the nervousness I have, or questions, and I know we said weāre not going to talk about fears, but there are fears.
Jennifer Smith:
Sure.
Aaron Smith:
And thereās unsure things, and howās it going to work? But thatās why we want to answer some of these questions that our listeners might be having because some people are being like, whatās it like to have five kids? I donāt know.
Jennifer Smith:
We donāt know yet.
Aaron Smith:
We kind of know what itās like to have four.
Jennifer Smith:
Weāre just getting used to that one.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah, weāre just getting used to that one, barely.
Jennifer Smith:
Truett just turned one.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah. So why donāt we just get into some questions, and then at the end of this we have a really cool bit of scripture Iām going to read.
Jennifer Smith:
Iām going to read some too.
Aaron Smith:
Oh. Jenniferās going to read some too.
Jennifer Smith:
Maybe Iāll read mine before you read yours.
Aaron Smith:
Oh, okay. So why donāt you, I donāt know where you want to go from here, but letās do it.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay. Do you have any fears about having another baby?
Aaron Smith:
Oh. So weāre just going to go right into-
Jennifer Smith:
Well because you brought up fears, so Iām like Iāll just shoot with that question. Weāll get it out of the way.
Aaron Smith:
Yes. I already donāt sleep a lot. What is it like every morning all of our kids are in our bed?
Jennifer Smith:
Not every morning, come on.
Aaron Smith:
I have a little sliver of ā¦ Do they make bigger than a kind size bed? I know we have a Cal king, but thatās just a little longer. But do they have a double king? Wait there is a company that makes these huge beds.
Jennifer Smith:
I know, but I saw a picture on Facebook the other day of this couple that extended their bed, so it was basically two queens butted up against each other, but they built the frame around it so that their eight dogs could sleep with the, it was really cute.
Aaron Smith:
We have children, not dogs.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay, but just so everyone knows-
Aaron Smith:
But they do sleep on the bed with us sometimes.
Jennifer Smith:
Itās not every night though.
Aaron Smith:
Itās most.
Jennifer Smith:
They sneak in when they have a bad dream, or they just want to be close to us.
Aaron Smith:
Or they woke up at 6:30 and they wanted to get in bed with us.
Jennifer Smith:
6:30, people are saying thatās not early. Thatās actually probably decent.
Aaron Smith:
It doesnāt bother, Iām just saying, I already get very little sleep, and just, okay, Iām used to it. Weāre not going to sleep until the kids are out of the house, I get it. Okay.
Aaron Smith:
Other fears, you know I donāt want to have these fears, but I do. Just knowing the way the world is, and people think this, how can I bring children into this world? Well, Godās good and God has me, and he has this whole world. But that doesnāt mean that I donāt have fears. I think Iād be weird if I didnāt think about the things that are going on in the world, but I do. But I feel like, if you think about the world that our parents grew up in, and they probably thought very similarly, like wow look at the world weāre growing up in. I mean they saw different kinds of wars, and they saw lots of crazy things, and how strong we are from in that world.
Aaron Smith:
I just think that how incredibly strong our children are going to be, especially if we teach them to know the Lord in this world that we live in. So, even though it might be unsure to us, because weāre seeing it unfold, they know nothing else. And so even though I have some anxiousness about this world that theyāre going to grow up in, I feel like God is mighty and these kids are going to be powerful change makers, and salt and light in this world.
Jennifer Smith:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Aaron Smith:
Because this is the world they know. I donāt know, those are just some thoughts I have.
Jennifer Smith:
Cool, well when I think about fears of having another baby I thinkā¦
Aaron Smith:
Something new weāre going to be trying to do on our episodes is talking about other podcasts, other resources that we love, that we want to support, so that you can get connected, so that you can find out about these resources as well. This week we want to talk about courageousparenting.com, these are some really good friends of ours, Issac and Angie Tolpin, we actually go to church with them, theyāre part of our home church and they have a parenting mentor program that you can take. And itās at courageousparenting.com and all youāve got to do is hit the enroll now button in the top right, and they have live conversations they do. Itās a six week program, they do six videos, six parenting packets, three live webcasts, thereās a private community. And their whole point, and their whole heart behind this is to walk parents through Biblical Christian parenting.
Aaron Smith:
So, we wanted to encourage you to check that out, itās courageousparenting.com. Click the enroll now button.
Jennifer Smith:
Things like actually giving birth to the baby-
Aaron Smith:
Thatās the easy part. Everyone listening to me right now thatās a mom is like, what?
Jennifer Smith:
He knows heās joking.
Aaron Smith:
Iāve been to every single one, ladies I know exactly how hard they are, from the husbandās perspective.
Jennifer Smith:
Thank you for clarifying. And so just a little background there, I have actually really enjoyed, you know the pregnancy process and giving birth and just itās a highlight. I mean itās a miracle of life and Iām grateful to be a part of it, and I have been fortunate to have ā¦ Go into it with the desire to give birth naturally, and-
Aaron Smith:
And praise God youāve done it naturally-
Jennifer Smith:
Done it naturally-
Aaron Smith:
Four times.
Jennifer Smith:
Four times. And so I think that when I think about labor and delivering, I still desire that, to have the baby naturally and nothing go wrong. And so just again those fears of the unknown, of surrendering it to God and saying, āNo matter what happens, Iām yours and this child is yours.ā But yet I still have these fears of the unknown, of what if, you know what if this happens or that happens.
Aaron Smith:
So Iām sure some people are wondering have you had any home births, or all at the hospital?
Jennifer Smith:
Theyāve all been in the hospital.
Aaron Smith:
But we have thought about-
Jennifer Smith:
We have thought about doing-
Aaron Smith:
Home birth.
Jennifer Smith:
ā¦ A home birth, but-
Aaron Smith:
Almost pulled the trigger this last time, but it was like no, letās just do the hospital.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
Thereās some awesome benefits to that.
Jennifer Smith:
Totally.
Aaron Smith:
To the hospital.
Jennifer Smith:
I always tell people the food at our hospital is great.
Aaron Smith:
And the ice chips.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
So, hereās the next question, are we going to find out the gender? And the reason I ask that is because twice now we havenāt found out the gender, and twice now we have.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. I donāt know if everyone listening knows this, but I really like to find out ahead of time-
Aaron Smith:
I do not.
Jennifer Smith:
Aaron likes to be surprised and so this is how we compromise.
Aaron Smith:
Every other one.
Jennifer Smith:
So the first one we got to find out, it was Eliot.
Aaron Smith:
Then Olive was our sweet surprise, which was really cool actually because she was a girl so it was like aah.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. That was really cool.
Aaron Smith:
Itās so crazy.
Jennifer Smith:
And then we found out with Wyatt and Drewitt was a surprise, so now weāre going to find out.
Aaron Smith:
And thereās something really cool about it being a surprise though, itās a huge motivation during the labor process.
Jennifer Smith:
Thatās true, for both of us.
Aaron Smith:
For both of us.
Jennifer Smith:
Really for me, I canāt wait to meet that baby when Iām-
Aaron Smith:
But the benefits of finding out early, is we get to know who they are, sooner.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
And names have always been a difficult part of it, weāre not going to talk about names today, but knowing early gives us more time to think of names.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah, thatās true. Speaking of gender, what are you hoping for, Aaron?
Aaron Smith:
A girl.
Jennifer Smith:
So does Olive.
Aaron Smith:
Go ahead.
Jennifer Smith:
I was just going to say, Olive really wants a sister.
Aaron Smith:
Sheās been praying for a sister since before Wyatt was born.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. And she was really excite that God answered her prayer that I would even be pregnant, because sheās been praying for a long time. Pretty much since she found out Drewitt was a boy. Sheād been praying that I would get pregnant again.
Aaron Smith:
And sheās pretty confident itās a girl.
Jennifer Smith:
Well actually-
Aaron Smith:
So-
Jennifer Smith:
A few days ago, she came in our room in the morning and said-
Aaron Smith:
Oh she had a dream.
Jennifer Smith:
She was so excite she goes, I had the best dream, your baby was a girl.
Aaron Smith: So whenever our kids say they had bad dreams, Iām like hey why donāt you think about good things? Have a dream about the baby, have a dream about Heaven, or try and give them other things to think about.
Jennifer Smith:
Or cupcakes.
Aaron Smith:
Whatever they were thinking about. So gender, weāre going to find out this time.
Jennifer Smith:
But just as a side note, we always tell our kids, because they do always hope for a certain one, and we get caught up in this too and so as a family we just always remind each other, but whatever God gives us, Heās the one that gives us a boy or a girl, and weāre going to be so excited no matter what it is.
Aaron Smith:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). And we are, whatever it is. Boy, girl, but a girl, just I donāt know, I want another girl.
Jennifer Smith:
Sounds special.
Aaron Smith:
I kind of want another girl, for my daughter, she wants a little sister so bad. I want to divulge something that is probably going to tell everyone listening how crazy we are.
Jennifer Smith:
Now Iām sitting over here worried.
Aaron Smith:
I know. Well, yes weāre hoping for a girl, but what were we actually hoping for before you went to your first appointment?
Jennifer Smith:
Oh. Okay. So, every time Iām pregnant and I go to ā¦ Before my first ultrasound-
Aaron Smith:
Every single time.
Jennifer Smith:
Iāve always prayed for twins.
Aaron Smith:
Why is that.
Jennifer Smith:
And I know Iām not the only one out there that does this, maybe, no.
Aaron Smith:
Maybe not on the fifth pregnancy.
Jennifer Smith:
You guys I was still hoping for twins. But itās not, itās just one.
Aaron Smith:
We were literally hoping for twins.
Jennifer Smith:
I think we have, well I have such a strong desire for it, because I was a twin, I am a twin.
Aaron Smith:
You werenāt was, you are a twin.
Jennifer Smith:
I know, I am a twin and I loved growing up having a twin. I have a brother, and I felt like we were best friends growing up, and that was just really fun. We live down the street from each other and itās just having that closeness in a relationship is super special. I donāt know what it is about it.
Aaron Smith:
You also have several other sets of twins in your family.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah, my momās side had like four sets.
Aaron Smith:
But no oneās had twins yet.
Jennifer Smith:
I know, everyone says it skips a generation, so watch all these [crosstalk 00:20:38].
Aaron Smith:
Yeah, so your generation doesnāt have any [inaudible 00:20:39].
Jennifer Smith:
All of our kids kids.
Aaron Smith:
All of our kids are going to have sets of twins one after another.
Jennifer Smith:
Olive, mom I had another set of twins.
Aaron Smith:
Sheās going to be like I have seven kids already, three pregnancies. Yeah, so no weāre only having one though, but thatās okay. Weāre stoked about it. So, hereās the next question, are we ready for this?
Jennifer Smith:
You sound so negative.
Aaron Smith:
Well, itās a serious question, are we ready?
Jennifer Smith:
Well, I think that itās a silly question, because I think that we will be ready once the baby comes, like right no itās just a growth season for us of preparing our hearts for the baby, once itās outside of my womb. Because inside I feel like itās a little bit easier, because I donāt know.
Aaron Smith:
Physically youāre sick and all, but the babyās contained. Itās not crawling all over the place.
Jennifer Smith:
Right.
Aaron Smith:
But it does take up room in our bed, so.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay, Aaron and his bed problem. But seriously when I think about that question, are we ready for this? I just think well we will be ready for this, because as weāre experiencing it, itāll force us to go to the Lord and say, āHelp.ā And He will help.
Aaron Smith:
Or our community.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
Iād say also, thereās no way to be ready for something that hasnāt happened yet.
Jennifer Smith:
Thatās what I mean, thatās what I mean.
Aaron Smith:
But I would say weāre more ready for a fifth child, because weāve had four children. Like after our first child, you know not sleeping an ounce throughout the night thinking that my childās just going to stop breathing in the middle of the night.
Jennifer Smith:
We were so terrified.
Aaron Smith:
Youāre just, youāre up all night, like are they breathing still, are they breathing still? And now put them in the crib, letās go to sleep and weāre just so tired we just go to sleep and we donāt even think about that stuff. So, I feel like all of the nuances of having children have gotten easier, but we still have no idea what itās going to be like to have a fifth child.
Jennifer Smith:
Right.
Aaron Smith:
Weāre going to have one thatās almost two, one thatās almost three and a half, five, seven, so all of these things are changing. But I guess the things that I think about as you know, the times that I already feel like we need to grow or mature in our current parenting with our current children, so I think about those things. Like, man, we do have to grow up, we do have to change. We have to get better, not that weāre terrible, but weāve just always got to grow for our kids.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah, along these same lines, you were mentioning that as we mature in our faith, it brings maturity in other areas of our life.
Aaron Smith:
Oh yeah, I was thinking about this just tonight actually, I was thinking how, I was praying, I was thinking, Lord why did you give us so little direct teaching on how to be a parent. Because Iām sure the listeners are thinking like yeah, what the ā¦ I just feel I fail so much as a parent, or I have no clue what Iām doing sometimes and I just think, Lord youāve given us so much specific direction on being a husband, being a wife, being a Christian and being in the church and following you and what this looks like. And then itās got a handful of verses on being a parent.
Aaron Smith:
But I feel like the Lord literally, immediately revealed to me, well if I grow and mature in my faith, like you said, if I walk closer and closer to Christ, thatās going to affect my parenting. Iām going to be more patient, which is one of the things I was praying for tonight, is I feel like Iām impatient with my kids. So the Bible doesnāt need to teach me how to be patient with my kids, I need to learn to be patient because thatās the fruit of the spirit. Like walk in that fruit of the spirit, so if I walk in the spirit and I donāt gratify the desires of my flesh, then my children will benefit from that fruit. Theyāre going to see a patient father, a gentle father, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, all of these things that the spirit produces in me. Which is what my kids need and deserve and that makes me a better parent if I do those things.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. As youāre talking it makes me think of that scripture where just the interaction of Jesus with children, and weāre always trying to model our lives after Christ and we want to follow his example, and so I thought itās be fun to share this scripture in light of sharing about children today.
Jennifer Smith:
So, Matthew 19:13 through 15 says, āThen children were brought to him, that he might lay his hands on them and pray, the disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, āLet the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of Heaven,ā and he laid his hands on them, and he laid his hands on them, and they went awayā And I just felt like he had all the patience in the world to just say, āNo, let them come. Come on.ā
Aaron Smith:
I think thatās awesome.
Jennifer Smith:
I think itās beautiful.
Aaron Smith:
And if we can have a little bit of that.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah, right.
Aaron Smith:
Let the children come to the bed, I guess, but then they went away, so, Iām just kidding. No, I mean thatās a good point is Godās heart.
Jennifer Smith:
Toward children.
Aaron Smith:
Toward children, I mean they are what heās doing in the world. Our children, children in general are what Godās doing in the world, itās the reproduction of his original creation, which is awesome, and I love that.
Jennifer Smith:
I got to share this story really quick, because itās so fresh in my mind, but a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to be a part of a writers retreat, and there were some commonalities throughout each person that was there, but we were all women, we all love the Lord, and weāre all authors of either blogs or social media, or books. And I just thought it was such a unique experience, it was my first time being there. And throughout each session that we were together, and engaging and dialoguing, there was this theme that kept coming up and it was that you could hear it in the way people shared about what they were working on or what they were doing. And it was that no matte what, my family comes first, no matter what my children comes first.
Jennifer Smith:
So if I am working on this project and it has to be put on hold, I will do that, because I care about my family first, and I just love that. I love that these womenās hearts were there to serve in a way of using their gift to write, but no matter what, their family came first.
Aaron Smith:
And youāre not talking even before husband, but youāre talking about career, business, passions, your family, your parenting-
Jennifer Smith:
What Iām saying is, their husband and parenting was even above all of those things.
Aaron Smith:
Like far above.
Jennifer Smith:
Yes, and it just kept coming out in the smallest and simplest of ways throughout our conversations together, but at the end of the day all of us agreed that, that was an important value that we had. And so I was encouraged especially knowing that I just found out I was pregnant with our fifth, that this calling on my life to share my gift with the world doesnāt supersede my role as a mother. And the important work that Iām doing in my childrenās lives.
Aaron Smith:
And that goes the same for me. All of these things that we do are āministryā, our online, our books, I hope I convey this often enough and well enough that none of those things come before the discipling of my children or my relationship with you. But I should be able to do them, together, and do them well. But thereās been times that Iām like, I need to change my priority order right.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. I just really felt like I needed to share that too, because you know weāre jumping into a different season too where Eliotās growing up, and Iām home schooling and with more children that requires more of me, of mom being home and present, and so I canāt work as much. Even if thatās my desire to, even if I wanted to write more or I think about blogging, because I get filled up being able to share my words with people, but I just felt like I had to let go of that, knowing that when the Lord allows me that time to write, then I can do it.
Aaron Smith:
Do you feel like, and Iām asking this question specifically for someone listening that might need the answer to it, do you feel like thereās any more important ministry than your mothering and your teaching our children?
Jennifer Smith:
I think that is the most important thing.
Aaron Smith:
Right.
Jennifer Smith:
And I donāt want to look back 20 years from now, and be the successful author, whoever, and say, āWell yeah but my children arenāt, whatever.ā Fill in the blank, you know, I donāt want to have any regrets there. So, my attention right now, my heart is directed towards what is my role as a mother and how can I lead my children well? How can I make sure that Iām fulfilling my role with you, as a wife? And whatās really cool about that is when Iām being obedient in these things, the Lord does give me room over here to do any extras that I feel like I should be doing.
Aaron Smith:
Right. And it doesnāt mean we threw away these specific ministries that Godās given us, now if we needed to we would.
Jennifer Smith:
We actually talked about this when I first found out that I was pregnant, I was really worried about my capacity, and we had a talk about it, because I was worried that even podcasting would be hard for me. But we talked about it, and then we got counsel, we sought out some friends who could give us an external perspective on what we were going through, because we donāt want to miss the mark here. We donāt want to put ourselves in a position where-
Aaron Smith:
We put something above our most important ministry.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. So weāre just working this out, and we just want to be honest with you guys. But for right now, I feel really good about being able to podcast with you, and share this content with our listeners, so I just feel comfortable sharing all of that and hopefully it encourages someone who might be having that conflict because I know it happens in todayās world where you-
Aaron Smith:
Especially with social media.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
I need to have this thing, or I need to grow this thing, or I need to-
Jennifer Smith:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). It can happen really fast.
Aaron Smith:
Which those things arenāt bad in themselves, but if our priorities get mixed up, if we put those things above God, especially not God, but if we put them above our spouse, above our children, and our discipleship of our children, cultivating of our home and family and growing in the Lord together, yeah that could be bad, and we donāt want to be that. So weāre constantly going back and making sure that our foundations are right.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
So the other question that Iām sure people are thinking, do you feel like your house is too small, and whatās going to happen with our car?
Well, about the house being too small, I donāt know who all, unless they know us personally would know ā¦ I donāt know if they would ask that question because nobody knows house sizes.
Aaron Smith:
Let me just tell people, we donāt have a huge house.
Jennifer Smith:
We donāt have a huge house, but to answer that question I would say I feel like thereās still room because the kids are really small. So even though thereās a lot of them, they share rooms.
Aaron Smith:
I also lean on the side of, now I would love more room, of course, not going to pretend that Iām like, smallās good. No, I would love more room, but Iām also a huge advocate ā¦ Like, I wouldnāt mind if they shared beds, I shared a bed for a long time in my house and it would teach them to be less selfish. But yeah, we can do triple decker bunk-beds.
Jennifer Smith:
We can get creative.
Aaron Smith:
We can have like bed drawers, I donāt know if thatās a thing.
Jennifer Smith:
Iāve heard of people having way less.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah, people do it with way less than what we have.
Jennifer Smith:
When you put things in perspective, I donāt know, it just makes you feel like ā¦ I donāt know, when I think about our house I think we have plenty of room, but if we ever had the chance to make more room, weād probably do that in the future.
Aaron Smith:
Now our car.
Jennifer Smith:
Weāre maxed out.
Aaron Smith:
Do we actually have room in our car?
Jennifer Smith:
I donāt think so, so we have a Suburban, but we have the Captain seats. So, I think that weāll have to either get a bench.
Aaron Smith:
But I canāt even find one.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah, we have to figure the car situation out.
Aaron Smith:
Well we have two cars, we could drive around in two cars if we have to, weāve known people that have done that.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
But a big old van, probably, like a 15 passenger.
Jennifer Smith:
We think about these things, but weāre not worried by them.
Aaron Smith:
But Iām sure people wonder, like how do you do your car?
Jennifer Smith:
I know Aaron wanted to go straight to a Sprinter and I was just imagining myself driving around a 15 passenger van going, thatās just hilarious.
Aaron Smith:
Theyāre so cool though.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. Itās a lot of space.
Aaron Smith:
We have a ton of people that drive around in Sprinters in our town, but theyāre like camper Sprinters.
Jennifer Smith:
Theyāre like souped up.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah, they fit like four people.
Jennifer Smith:
Theyāre awesome though.
Aaron Smith:
Theyāre really awesome, but I donāt want one of those.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay, so hereās a hard question. How do we afford it? How do you afford having a big family?
Aaron Smith:
Well.
Jennifer Smith:
Kids equal money.
Aaron Smith:
They do. Well Iāll say this, I know we can afford it with our income and Godās really blessed us, and allowed us to live off of our ministry and the books weāve written. But where weāre at now is not how it always has been. I feel like as weāve had more children, weāve increased and grown, and weāve made wise decisions, weāve been faithful. Weāve tried making really good decisions on work and how we made money, and how we saved money, how we spent our money. So, I would say in this day and age, probably it could be hard, but I think the trick is doing what the Bible says, and being faithful, good stewards. Making wise decisions, all I know is we can afford it and weāve continued to trust the Lord.
Jennifer Smith:
Thatās kind of what I was thinking, is that when you trust the Lord it doesnāt matter what the thing is that youāre trusting Him for or about, youāre just trusting Him and youāre praying, and youāre sharing those requests with Him. And youāre making known what your needs are, even though He already knows, and thatās I donāt know, I just love that relationship with God where we get to come to Him, even if weāre worried about it or have some concerns and then he gets to show us what we need to do.
Aaron Smith:
And this is what I know, and you even mentioned this to me, is if something drastically changed in our finances, you know whatever that may be, Iām just going to go figure it out.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. Get creative.
Aaron Smith:
Thatās what we do, weāre like I have to go work somewhere and Iāll make phone calls to find that job, and the reason I know I will do that is because Iāve done it. Before we had kids and we tried finding work, in what was it, 2008?
Jennifer Smith:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Aaron Smith:
2009. Right in the middle of the recession, and no one was hiring. I went and worked for free for someone for almost three weeks.
Jennifer Smith: And then they gave you the job, paying.
Aaron Smith: To prove to them, and then they started paying me, but thatās how I think, is well Iām going to do what it takes. Currently Godās blessed us for what we do in our work and our ministry, we can support ourselves and we can pay for things. But if something changed, Iām not going to just give up. Iām going to go get a job, and work.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. Okay, well what things are harder with a bigger family? I just thought that was an interesting question.
Aaron Smith:
Going out to eat, anywhere.
Jennifer Smith:
Finding a big enough table.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah. Finding a restaurant that will let you bring all your kids.
Jennifer Smith:
For me itās-
Aaron Smith:
You got to go to loud, big family restaurants.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
Thatās what youāve got to do. That give some sort of free thing like chips and salsa, or bread.
Jennifer Smith:
Thereās lots of those.
Aaron Smith:
So that you can have a-
Jennifer Smith:
[inaudible 00:37:11].
Aaron Smith:
These are tricks of the trade right here, okay.
Jennifer Smith:
I was going to say, taking photos, because like a selfie with you is like here snap this, and you look at the camera and you smile on cue.
Aaron Smith:
They donāt have long enough selfie sticks, for the size family that we have.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay, but the kids donāt have long enough attention span, so you canāt get everyone smiling at the same time.
Aaron Smith:
You can maybe get two thirds of them to look at the same time, but then theyāre looking right past the camera, or theyāre ā¦ Photos thatās a funny thing.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. A little bit harder with bigger families is bath time, because it just takes them longer.
Aaron Smith:
Oh thatās true.
Jennifer Smith:
We have a lot of littles, so I think itāll feel different once our olders are getting older.
Aaron Smith:
Oh, speaking of taking time, I pride ourselves in how fast we get in and out of the car. Even with four kids.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay. But weāre going to have five now.
Aaron Smith:
Well, we donāt have a car that fits them, so weāll have to leave one somewhere, or.
Jennifer Smith:
No. No.
Aaron Smith:
No, yeah, things that are harder ā¦ you know whatās hard? Coordinating, like if Iām going to take some kids, going with all the kids anywhere by myself.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. Just being mindful of that because our kids are so small. We have four and seven.
Aaron Smith:
Two of them are potty trained but still need help. I canāt just say, āOkay, go to the bathroom Iāll wait out here.ā So, bathroom issues.
Jennifer Smith:
Bathroom, yeah.
Aaron Smith:
Thatās a hard thing, itās almost a bit like the diapers, like I wish you were in a diaper right now. Itās awesome that theyāre potty trained, but the diaperās so much more convenient, which is funny because early on with less kids, youāre like, diapers what? I canāt wait until youāre potty trained. This is the thing with growing families. Okay.
Jennifer Smith:
Moving on.
Aaron Smith:
Hereās a question that we actually do get asked a lot, are we done?
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah, or this one, do you guys have a number?
Aaron Smith:
Like a number in mind.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah.
Jennifer Smith:
Do you have a number?
Aaron Smith:
Yeah. Like when are stopping, essentially, itās like have you had enough yet? Is your quiver full enough.
Jennifer Smith:
Aaron just, okay youāre quoting a scripture that I brought up, but youāre being silly about it. I want to share it.
Aaron Smith:
Well, just share the scripture and I wonāt be silly about it.
Jennifer Smith:
Okay. Hold on, but you didnāt answer the question.
Aaron Smith:
I was trying to skip it.
Jennifer Smith:
Do you have a number?
Aaron Smith:
Okay. I donāt have a number.
Jennifer Smith:
You donāt?
Aaron Smith:
And that doesnāt mean Iām, how do I say this? This pregnancy specifically has brought up some deep conversations with me and you, maybe we can go into those another episode, but itās not that I donāt have a number, like, oh you know if we have 24 kids Iām totally cool with that. Actually, that terrifies me to think about that, but just knowing where my heartās out of God, I want you to guide us in this, and I want to trust you, itās irrelevant. Like having a number is irrelevant, if that makes sense?
Jennifer Smith:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Aaron Smith:
So, I donāt know. Because to be honest, itās highly unlikely because we get pregnant really easy, but we could just stop having kids out of nowhere. It could just happen, weāve known people that theyāve had a bunch of kids and then boom, just they didnāt have any more kids. Or it took them a long time and then they had their next kids years later. So, a number to me in my mind, the way I think about it, is its irrelevant because itās not like how I think about trusting God in this area is going to change at that number. Does that make sense?
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah.
Aaron Smith:
So I just donāt think about a number.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. So we donāt have a number. Iām with Aaron on all of this, we donāt have a number and we donāt know when weāll be done, because weāre just at this point taking it one pregnancy at a time, and trusting the Lord with each pregnancy.
Aaron Smith:
Itās impossible to know whatās around the corner.
Jennifer Smith:
What that looks like.
Aaron Smith:
We donāt know what Godās doing in our life, we literally donāt know how our bodies are going to be next year, or tomorrow. I mean, not to sound weird, but we just donāt know things. I just donāt want to make assumptions about my future right now. I donāt know.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. Okay, so the scripture that I wanted to share with you guys is Psalm 127, one through five. āUnless the Lord builds the house those who build it labor in vain, unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain, it is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for He gives to His beloved, sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward, like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of ones youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them, he shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.ā
Jennifer Smith:
So I really love this passage when it comes to talking about children, and even though it says, āBlessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.ā It still doesnāt say how many to put in that quiver, thatās okay, you donāt need a number. But it does say that, āChildren are a heritage from the Lord, and the fruit of the womb.ā
Jennifer Smith:
So when I read that, I go-
Aaron Smith:
A reward, it calls children a reward.
Jennifer Smith:
A reward. That is so beautiful to me.
Aaron Smith:
I love that it puts it in the same sentence of, āFor he gives his beloved sleep.ā Itās almost like Godās like, parents are going to think this is funny. Eating the bread of anxious toil. But I feel like this is, all the things that children might cause in our life, like we toil, weāre anxious for our children and Godās like, no, no I give you sleep. So I think we could unnecessarily add anxiousness and toil to our life in trying to control all of this, and we just canāt. Or I guess we can, we desire not to in our home.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. So one question that I really feel like is an important one to ask, is how do you share your attention with each kid? Because with Elliot he had us for two and a half years before I had Olive.
Aaron Smith:
I know and he reminds us of that all the ā¦ Iām just kidding.
Jennifer Smith:
No, he does not.
Aaron Smith:
Remember the daysā¦
Jennifer Smith:
No. But with each kid, there is truth to the capacity of you only have so much of you, and to give, but I donāt know, explain that.
Aaron Smith:
A perfect way to explain it, I think I even mentioned it one time in another podcast, like last year, one of the earlier podcasts. As we have more children, itās impossible to give each one of our children equal time and attention. Now we can really cultivate individual relationships, and be intentional, and I can go on a daddy date with one, and a daddy date with another, and we can cultivate that. But thereās just no way to give each child what you could give them if you only had one. But I donāt think thatās a bad thing, I actually believe itās a good thing and the reason I believe that is, as our kids grow, Godās doing a lot of things. Not only are the parents involved in how we raise them, and what we teach them and what we show them, but thereās also now siblings and they have to learn, and share and realize that itās not all about them, and they have to give time to their sibling to mom and dad.
Aaron Smith:
And they have to share the attention, and they donāt get all of it. They have to split it.
Jennifer Smith:
Thereās a lot of growth opportunity for all of the kids, and the parents.
Aaron Smith:
Well, and for us.
Jennifer Smith:
And the parents.
Aaron Smith:
Yeah. So I think itās how God intended it. Now that doesnāt mean if someone has only had one child that theyāre going to be totally broken, but that child will have a harder time learning what it means to share and give attention away, and not have it all to themselves, and thatās a reality. Itās an only child thing, but on the other hand you have many children and they do have to learn to give away time, and that they canāt have what they want all the time, which is hard. It literally sometimes crushes us, weāre like we canāt love them the way we want, or we canāt ā¦ But then that challenges us and actually makes us grow and realize that we canāt be our childrenās saviors, we canāt be everything to our children, they need Christ.
Aaron Smith:
So at the end of the day, the very thing that we wish we can give to them, we couldnāt give to them anyway. All we can do is point them to the one who can. Now that doesnāt mean we intentionally deprive them of love and things like that.
Jennifer Smith:
Never.
Aaron Smith:
No. Iām just saying, Iām not saying we manufacture that situation, Iām just saying the reality of not being able to give them everything, not being able to fully love them and give them everything that they emotionally and spiritually need because weāre divided, is necessary. So thatās just my thoughts on this, and itās not fully fleshed out but I just feel like itās part of Godās design that our kids would learn to need him, because we canāt be that for them.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah. Well, when I think about that question I just think about how things have been going for the four kids that are outside of the womb right now, and Iād just like to encourage parents that we have such an incredible amount of time to invest in them, together as a family unit. So even though they may not all get that individual one-on-one time, you do get to spend quality time when you do stuff like family Bible time or around the dinner table, or playing with them on the ground. And you donāt want to miss those opportunities, that is your time to invest in your kids and maybe itāll be when youāre on the back porch and you call one of them over, or the other ones are playing and you just get-
Aaron Smith:
You just whisper something into them, or-
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah, or you get two minutes to have a conversation with them, and you talk about stuff that they like, and you find those moments to invest and build up those relationships with them, individually amidst the group. So Iāve been really encouraged by that in my relationship with the kids.
Jennifer Smith:
I wanted to share another scripture, and I know weāll be wrapping up soon, but if you guys havenāt dug into Psalm 139 yet, I really encourage you to, and look at it from the perspective of you once as a baby, and your relationship with God. And if youāre a parent, look at it from the perspective of your children. Itās just so beautiful, itās so beautiful, but something that stuck out to me as I read it more recently, was Psalm 139, verse 16, it says, āYour eyes saw my unformed substance in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.ā And so you get this really beautiful picture of how God intricately wove a baby inside of the motherās womb, but then thereās this small verse about how the days that were formed for me, like God formed not just me, and my body and who I am, but He also formed the days that were going to be before me and how I was going to walk through them.
Jennifer Smith:
And something that stood out to me is, in this first trimester Iāve been the sickest that I ever have been in a pregnancy and it was really difficult because I had four other kids to tend to. Thankfully it was summer time and it was a slower time, and so we just played a lot, but even in those mundane days where youāre not feeling well, or theyāre just slow and youāre hanging out with toddlers, those were days that the Lord formed for me, and I get to embrace those and savor them. I donāt know, I just thought it was really beautiful.
Aaron Smith:
Thatās great. I love that. And so before we close I want to read one more piece of scripture, and itās in the Old Testament also, itās in Jeremiah 29, itās where we get the famous verse, Jeremiah 29:11, if you donāt know what that is, you should look it up. But itās a pretty awesome part of Jeremiah, and itās right after the Israelites have been taken into captivity into Babylon. You know they were taken from their land, theyāre taken into captivity, not an ideal situation. But whatās awesome about this is the picture that we get from it, because we are currently held captive in a Babylon. Weāre exiles, as believers weāre not in our home, we are ambassadors in a foreign land, right?
Aaron Smith:
So, very similar to Israelites, we live in a Babylon, we live in a home thatās not ours, and I just want you to listen to Godās message to the Israelites as they go into this land. Into a foreign land thatās not theirs, into captivity and as exiles. And whatās awesome about this, you know going back to what I was talking about, about fears of this world that we live in, this I believe is still Godās heart for Godās people. Not just the Israelites, but Christians, not that we replaced the Israelites, but when I read this youāll understand.
Aaron Smith:
So, it says this, it says in Jeremiah 29, verses three through six, āThe letter was sent by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkia whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, it said this, āThus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles who I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce, take wives and have sons and daughters, take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters, multiply there and do not decrease'ā So, in this time of exile God doesnāt tell them, just get by, just wait, donāt worry about trying to settle in.
Aaron Smith:
He says, āBuild houses, have children, plant gardens.ā
Jennifer Smith:
I feel like whatās really cool about this, sorry to interrupt you, but in the midst of being exiles, and being somewhere thatās not familiar you have these few verses that are so comforting and build familiarity through family. You know building houses and experiencing marriage and multiplying through birth. Those are really comforting things to me when I think about building a home, and a family. I donāt know.
Aaron Smith:
Well, and they didnāt understand it then, the Israelites, but God was giving this command not just for them, but for the lineage that was going to eventually bring us the Messiah, Christ. Heās telling, donāt decrease, multiply, grow, become the nation that I want you to be. And so what made me think of this is, we just had this baptism at a river, and we started off as one small home church and weāve since now branched off and that weāre three home churches now, and all three home churches got together this last Sunday and we did a baptism. And several people and children got baptized, and it was awesome and there were so many people. Where it started with this eight families, there was like 50, no there was like 70 families. There were so many people there, and Iām just thinking, how awesome is this?
Aaron Smith:
And I was standing there watching all the children play in the water and I was thinking, all these children werenāt here a couple of years ago. And so all I thought is, in a few years weāre going to triple in size just by having children, and not just oh look we had a bunch of children, but all of us desire to raise our children to know God, to know his word. And so our desires to disciple them, and I was just thinking, when God told the Israelites, he says, āMultiply there, and do not decrease.ā He still has that heart for us as Christians, weāre exiles in Babylon currently. Not that Babylon, just the world, weāre in a world thatās not our own, weāre waiting for our Heavenly home.
Jennifer Smith:
Yeah, not of this world.
Aaron Smith:
And God desires us to not decrease. And that is incredible, and itās not just so thereās a bunch of kids, he desires Godly offspring. Go read Malachi, and youāll know what I mean. But I just, I thought that was beautiful. He tells these Israelites, this is a terrifying time, and Heās like hey, build houses, plant vineyards, have children, increase. So, I just pray that this encourages you listening that hey, we go through things, we have questions and fears and we have no clue how weāre going to do this. And to be honest almost every day I feel like I donāt know what Iām doing, but Godās good and His grace is enough for us, and weāre having a fifth child.
Jennifer Smith:
And weāre both really excited about it.
Aaron Smith:
And weāre both really excited. And we would hope youāre excited for us too, and be praying for us because weāve got a journey ahead of us. And as always we end our episodes with prayer, so Jennifer would you pray for us?
Jennifer Smith:
Dear Lord, you are incredible, and we trust you. Trusting you is not always easy for our flesh, but you are trustworthy and your timing is divine. Help our hearts to trust you even more completely. Thank you for our families, thank you for the gift of children, thank you for your provision. We pray that in every season, whether itās difficult or smooth that we would praise you because you are good. We pray for understanding, we pray for maturity as parents who desire to raise awesome children who know you and love you. We pray we would walk in wisdom every day, and we pray that you would be glorified in our marriages and in our families as we proclaim your truth. We surrender to you Lord, and we ask that you continue to help us in our weaknesses. We boast in your name, in Jesus name, Amen.
Aaron Smith:
Amen. We hope this encouraged you, as always thank you for joining us. You guys are awesome. Have a blessed week, see you next time.
Aaron Smith:
Did you enjoy todayās show? If you did, it would mean the world to us if you could leave us a review on iTunes. Also, if youāre interested you can find many more encouraging stories and resources at marriageaftergod.com and let us help you cultivate an extraordinary marriage.