So I started this post
on March 10, 2014, and am just now finishing it. “Better late than never” seems
apt here. Anyway, read on if you’d like. :)
I have finished the Smit book about unrequited love. Not
recently, I actually finished it sometime in December or January, but hopefully
the concepts stick with me for a while. I loved it just as much as I did the
first time I read it. I even got teary-eyed towards the end. It’s interesting
to hear her side of things about the new creation order that we are moving
towards. This is in contrast to a recent speaker I heard talking about modeling
Eden in regard to marriage. Even though he mentioned how Jesus introduced the
future, the kingdom of God, he still went back to Eden. While Eden was perfect,
since Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, it hasn’t been perfect. So, Eden is a
model, but is it the end-all model? I’m tending to side with Smit when it comes
to examining the implications of using Eden as our present model of marriage.
For example, what does this imply about having children? Is having children for
everyone in order to “fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28)? Is the emphasis still on filling
the earth at all? I can’t remember exactly what passage Smit referenced, but
she was talking about how the family of God is made up of those who have
believed on what Jesus has done for them and have a personal relationship with
God. The emphasis is no longer on adding people to earth, it’s on adding
members to the family of God.
This is helpful to me when thinking about my own future, and
if I desire to have kids in that future. I don’t have a firm opinion on that
topic yet, but it isn’t something I want to do by default or because so many
around me are making the choice to do that. I want to be intentional about it.
Has anyone read this book by Smit, or have any opinions on
the thoughts I’ve shared about it? About having children?
