Lately, everything reduces me to tears: sappy commercials, a birth announcement in the mail, songs on the radio. It’s a pregnant thing. My latest tear-jerking episode came when I heard a song by Marie Bellet. The song is about a woman who is looking at the results of a positive pregnancy test—a little pink line that shouts her world is about to change.

In part, Bellet sings:

Seems like nothing ever turns out like she planned it/ And she could not afford one more surprise/But even though no one would understand it/ She was picturing the fingers and the eyes/What would people say? They’d roll their eyes and sneer/ Blind her with the light of reason/ Cripple her with fear.

Oh I understand it! I understand it well. I think about the woman who said to me, "How did your kids take the news? I guess by number seven it’s no big deal." No big deal? It ‘s a huge deal. My kids hooted and hollered and jumped for joy. I think all the time of this baby—a real live person with fingers and eyes and golden curls and soft, sweet smelling skin. I can hardly wait! Because he or she is number seven, I appreciate even more the blessings this birth will bring.

Do people sneer? You bet they do! One man said to me, "How many does this make, seven? What are you, Catholic?" When I replied affirmatively, he said, "We are too. But we don’t do that." Mentally, I flirted with the idea of asking him to tell me what exactly they did do. Instead, I said, "That’s too bad. The Church’s teaching on openness to life is absolutely beautiful. To understand it, embrace it, and live it is one of the greatest gifts you can give to your marriage and your family. You’re missing out on the best part." He looked at me like I had seven heads and turned away. Oh well.

Do I fear? I sure do. It’s a scary thing to be responsible for seven children. It’s a scary thing to give birth. But I fear much less now than I did many years and many children ago. Now, I trust more. I have learned, through childbearing, of God’s faithfulness. God is good all the time. I know that now and I am comforted by it when times are bad.

Bellet goes on:

Oh but God sent her a lifeline, will she have the heart to take it?/Will we ever find out, will we ever find out, will we ever know?/God sent her a lifeline, the angels pray that she will take it. Save her from herself, let the child within her grow/Let her be a sign of contradiction!/Let them revel in the scandal of it all!/Cause truth is more powerful than fiction/Let her hear the sweetness of the Call.

Marie Bellet has eight children. While the song could be about a woman who is contemplating this pregnancy and considering abortion, I think Bellet speaks to the heart of mothers who look at the test and see "one more soul" and are temporarily overwhelmed. These babies, these precious souls, are our lifelines. They are our paths to sanctity. Another man asked me recently, "Why do you need seven children?" I’d never heard that question before. Need seven children?

Yes, God thinks I need seven children. Speaking of women, St. Timothy writes, "But she will be saved through motherhood, provided women persevere in faith and love and holiness, with self-control"(1 Timothy 2:15). For women who have been called to marriage and motherhood, childbearing and childrearing is how we travel to heaven. It’s not the mere biological conceiving and bearing of children, it’s the rest of the verse: it’s persevering in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

I admit, it was easier to be patient and loving and self-controlled about five children ago. There was no chaos. I was able to manage quite nicely under my own power. Now, I have to continually take matters to prayer, to re-evaluate, to stretch, to grow. Some people might only need one child or two to teach them the lessons my six have taught me. But I’ve always been rather stubborn. I need seven!

And then there is the woman who won’t consider one more soul. She won’t yield her own will to the Creator’s and co-operate in God’s greatest gift. Will that woman be saved from herself? Will we ever find out, will we ever know?