Blessings from God

Can you imagine losing your child to an unforeseen, tragic event, maybe a car crash or a fatal disease? Probably not. In fact, studies have shown that most people never truly recover after going through the loss of a child. According to Stephen Marsh, "Many people report that immediately following their loss, they lost the ability to stand, talk and think at the same time. Severe loss is incapacitating. The period of substantial incapacity normally lasts one to three years when a child dies, nine to fifteen months for a miscarriage."

What if your child were taken from you, perhaps kidnapped by a stranger and you were forced to live out the remainder of your life not knowing where your child has gone and possibly spending all of your time trying to find them? The bond between a parent and child drives many in this situation to seek out their child with only a small glimpse of hope keeping them focused.

Now, imagine that your child has been taken from you and you know exactly where your child has gone. Would you be able to accept that you will never see your child again? Sadly this is common amongst international couples that go through a divorce and depending on which countries are involved the outlook is more often than not very bleek.

In the case of one American man, his recently divorced ex-wife took his two kids to Japan and when the father tried to bring them back home to America he was arrested and held as a prisoner in Japan. Oddly, Japanese law states that when a couple splits, one parent makes a complete and life-long break from the children.

This story was extensively covered on CNN today, and while I thought I was going to blog about coping with the loss of a child, I have suddenly realized that this entry should just be an extension to my previous blog about marriage.

Let's face it, the issue surrounding this story is not really the differences in international divorce law. The issue here is really WHY ARE THESE ADULTS GETTING MARRIED AND HAVING CHILDREN?

I will try not to harp on this for very long because I have clearly said my fair share about this, but for the sake of finishing what I have started I will say this, marriage should be entered into lightly with someone you know, trust, love and share a strong foundation with. Furthermore, parenthood should be considered only after your rock solid marriage has had time to cool off from the hot flame that was used to mold the two of you together. And finally, divorce is not an option! I realize that is a strong statement, but if you followed my previous statements you would not be at this stage anyways.

Children are blessings from God, given to us from God for a short time, and never truly ours in the first place. It is God who chooses when we will receive them, how long they will be with us, and when they will return to him. It is never our decision to keep them from the life that God has given to them, including the parents they were born to in a marriage that God has blessed.