"It's Lookin' Like a Boy...."

One year ago, on the 17th of March (St. Patrick's Day), we found out that the baby I was carrying was a boy -- Luke.

We were surprised because Marc claimed he "instinctively" knew this baby would be a girl. He even had my parents, some other family members, and a few friends also convinced Luke was a girl. Don't tell Luke this when he was older, but we even occasionally (before we knew) referred to him by the girl name we had picked out. We were that sure Luke was a girl, thanks to Marc's instincts.

So, when the sonogram tech said, "It's lookin' like a boy," Marc had to admit he was wrong.

It took us both a little bit to "accept" (for lack of a better term) that Luke was a boy. We didn't mind it AT ALL, but it still took a bit for us to change our mindset.

It's a little scary -- raising a boy. In "Bringing Up Boys," author James Dobson does not give good statistics about boys.

-- Boys are six times more likely than girls to have learning disabilities.
-- Boys are four times more likely than girls to be diagnosed as emotionally disturbed.
-- Their rate of death in car accidents is 50% higher than girls.
-- 77% of delinquency related court cases involve boys.

God obviously thought that we were equipped, with His help of course, to raise a boy. He gave us one.

Marc and I both feel privileged that God has entrusted us with Luke. We pray daily for wisdom and guidance in raising him to be a man of Godly character, a man who will one day become the leader and provider of his household, a man who will love his wife just as Christ loved the church, a man who will raise his own children in a Godly way....

When I was pregnant with Luke, many people would ask me if we were having a boy or a girl. When I excitedly responded, "a boy," I sometimes saw a look of disappointment, like he wouldn't be as much "fun" to raise as a girl. I sometimes overheard people talking to some other women I knew that were having girls. The response about a girl was amazingly more "chipper." I even had one woman say, "Oh, my boys were terrible to raise."

How is that encouraging?

I've always found "men jokes" to NOT be very funny. Now, I want to cry when I hear one. So often, they are so degrading toward men. I know that, as a mother, I can't protect Luke from everything wrong in this world. But, like all mothers, I want to so very badly. Some of the jokes and media criticism of men is only the beginning of what I want to protect him from.

How will I combat the criticism? I will pray to God for wisdom. I will pray for Luke's future wife now. I will pray that Marc and I do the best we can (with God's help) in raising Luke to be a Godly man.

All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children's peace. Isaiah 54:13

Here's Luke at the beginning of this month....sitting there like a Little Man, looking up to his dad.