Purpose for Childfree Couples

-
(stock photo from online of Gustav Klimt's painting "The Kiss")

Lately I am struggling with finding my writing voice. I lost it completely like a seemingly irrevocable case of laryngitis a month or two ago. A part of me still refuses to give up hope that my desire to write is gone forever and that I will again feel a sense of purpose with writing. (If you know the Lord, please pray for me.)

In the meantime, I have been contemplating the alternative life of purpose that a Childfree couple can have. Often we assume that a couples' purpose is solely in having and rearing children, but the Bible says that a married couple's purpose is to represent the love that Christ has for His Church. Whether you have children or not, your marriage will hopefully demonstrate to the world this godly love and as all Christians are called to do regardless of marital status or age, we are to love to the point of making disciples of all nations.

Every couple I have ever met has had a unique image and strength. I enjoy seeing how creatively people live out a sense of purpose in their lives, and it is fascinatingly intricate when two unique individuals combine their lives and purpose. Whether you chose not to have kids or you don't have kids by circumstance, what are some ways you are uniquely able to love those around you and impact the world?

Here are some of my brainstorming ideas:

1. Use your resources to sponsor poverty-stricken children (as in through Compassion International)
2. Mentor through Big Brother-Big Sister
3. Host dinners in your home for international students from a local college campus, or find students who can't go home for holidays to invite over
4. Act as a host family and open up your home for international students through a local school program
5. Volunteer with your local humane society
6. Adopt a road/highway in your area to help keep it clean
7. Tutor high school students in a subject you know well
8. Visit elderly folks in a nursing home nearby, maybe even "adopting" a particularly lonely person to visit as a couple on holidays to bring gifts and talk with them
9. Become high level contributors to your local art/history museum, zoo, or nature place in order to support them and be a contributing force behind making art/learning/nature available to your whole city
10. Get to know your neighbors and find ways to love on them, invite them to your home, connect them with other neighbors to build a sense of community in your area

More to come!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Bunch of Busybodies

-
Image
"What'chya doin'?" -a goat in New Jersey, 2011 (photo y Laelia Watt) Standing at a bus stop recently, I absentmindedly checked my Facebook page for the fifth time that day, when it hit me. It has been a while since I could remember what it is like to not be aware of what 30 friends were thinking at any given time. I like Facebook. It is a great tool which has helped me categorize all my photos, keep in touch with family members scattered all over the world, and has sparked many fun conversations with my friends over the years, but I suddenly missed having my brain filled with only my own thoughts during the day. As a person who has moved frequently throughout my life, the oddest thing about social media is that the thoughts, activities, photos, and political leanings of the friends I would normally leave behind and slowly drift from, are suddenly displayed daily for me to peruse. Don't get me wrong, I like keeping in touch with old friends, and as I said, I...
Read more

Losing the Weight of Shame

-
Image
(Me with yearling horse at the University of AZ Equine Center. Photo by my Aunt) In my journey, I've been focusing more on seeking joy in my body. These are some free-flowing thoughts to express a few thoughts I have had along the way: There is so much SHAME out there from every direction. All the "how tos" of "losing weight" and "never good enoughs" drown out the joy that is eating powerful, life-giving foods and doing exhilarating things that one loves! Walking, riding my bike, dancing, Pilates, canoeing etc are things I can't wait to do! I don't run for exercise, because I despise running unless absolutely necessary. I say, pursue activities that make you feel happy to be alive and thankful for your body! Do you ever marvel in awe at the way your body moves? Study human anatomy and physiology, and you will discover that the simplest move of a muscle requires an intricate chain reaction of minute proportions. One tiny malfunction,...
Read more

We Don't Know Everything

-
Image
(Example lesson in a photo: We only see part of it. Frederick the cello-LCW 2009) Science and Religion, (for the purposes of this essay, here referred to as their societal and historical entities), have much more in common than either camp has deigned to admit over the past few centuries. As any cursory glance of history will prove, both have been wrong at one time or another. This fact is not easily swallowed by the followers of those who believe Science holds all the answers to the exclusion of Religion, and it is equally unpalatable to the followers who believe Religion holds the only answers to the exclusion of Science. These are the commonalities between Science and Religion: 1. They have both been wrong, resulting in dire consequences for humanity and the environment, for the well-being of those who are more vulnerable among us, and for humanity's general understanding of the world and our place in it. 2. They have both been right too,resulting in astoundingly beau...
Read more