The Great Joy

This morning I presided at the Holy Baptism of two children- twin boys. I was also able to preside over the course of the last five years at the Holy Baptism of their mother, two sisters, and one brother. Dad serves in the US Army and was in Iraq when the twins were born; now he has returned and the boys have been washed clean in the blood of Jesus Christ. What great joy, the Lord preserving the father of five, and the Lord saving the two little ones by His Name and promise. Lots of joy to go around. I pray that Our Father will give this family some more great joy in the future, and that He'll use me as His instrument to administer the salvation that is full and free in His Son.

New Synodical Resolution on Birth Control

...to be considered in convention this summer!

A reader alerted us on 4/27/10 to an overture for the LCMS convention on the subject of birth control. The LCMS Reporter Online now reports that the Theology and Church Relations floor committee has declined the resolution on birth control, as was easily predicted, but surprisingly it was declined with a resolution composed by the floor committee itself, as follows:

...a final resolution declines three congregation-submitted overtures -- to end all official theological talks with the ELCA; to request the Synod president not to attend ELCA Churchwide Assemblies; and to return to a Scriptural position on birth control. The committee cited the encouragement of 2Tim: 2:25 to "correct opponents with gentleness" so that God might grant them repentance as reasons for the first two declinations. As for the third overture, the committee noted that the Synod has never had an official position on birth control."

Yes, that is true. There was that strange 1981 CTCR report on sexuality referred to the synod for "study" - but it was never adopted in convention. It is also interesting to note that the recent resolution that was submitted did not claim the LCMS had its own official position on birth control. It stated the following:

Resolved, That the 2010 LCMS convention declare that the LCMS still accepts the scriptural position of Martin Luther on birth control and the position long promoted in the LCMS by such ortho- dox LCMS theologians as John H. C. Fritz, Walter Maier, Martin Nauman, Theodore Laetch, and many others.

It is precisely because the Purple Palace has never officially adopted a resolution in contradiction to the longstanding teaching of the church catholic (including 400+ years of unanimous Lutheran condemnation of contraception), that the original overture was simply suggesting that this longstanding Scriptural position of the church (the one promoted on this blog) should be acknowledged by all who honor their fathers in the faith. No resolutions need to be rescinded. The truth only needs to be reaffirmed.

The "democracy of the dead" has spoken loudly and clearly for thousands of years, and its unanimous voice has only been very recently (and quite unofficially) contradicted by the chronological snobbery of "the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about." False teaching on this subject has, indeed, been published by CPH and propagated in our seminaries, dismissing our fathers in the faith as ignorant and unenlightened while praising the likes of Margaret Sanger.

The Baby Conference

Babies: Blessing or Burden?
a conference from Vision Forum Ministries

There are very important distinctions between "Quiverfull Lutherans" and the typical Christian Reconstructionist brand of "Quiverfilling" found amongst our Reformed brothers and sisters. As the Vision Forum is distinctively Calvinist, I wonder how hard it would be to pick the bones out of this fish. Nevertheless, I have found quite a bit of the material produced by these people and their friends to be a great blessing (for instance, this book co-authored by one of the presenters at this conference).

Thou Shalt Not Steal

Ergo, Don't Have Babies

At home in the zoo

They've never used these cats in a Yaz commercial, yet, but they might as well. Cats, even the ferocious, man-eating ones, are cute.

This is in the Big Cat Country at the St. Louis Zoo. In case you can't read the text, this is what it says:

"The need for contraception in zoos may seem surprising, but it is vital for successful breeding programs. The Wildlife Contraception Center helps scientists facilitate controlled pairings. This high-tech matchmaking allows individuals to live in natural social settings. To make sure only pairs recommended by the SSP breed, some cats are put on birth control. Sometimes even the same type and brand a human would use!"

Medicating against Motherhood

Great article at the Hausvater Project by Rev. Robert C. Baker:

As the Pill Turns 50, a New Generation Seeks to Rediscover Marital Chastity

Growing Up to Be a Child

I gave this high school baccalaureate homily yesterday in Bancroft, Nebraska. It is about being child-like and open to God’s blessings, even if we don’t expect or plan on them, because we have a true, caring Father in heaven.

You are about to take a large step. You are leaving the security of your family on the way to becoming a grown-up. I'm not going to burden you with changing the world, though. Even if it were possible, that is too much to lay on someone. Instead, my advice is to be child-like.

This may be exactly what your trying to avoid, but this is what God Himself would have you do. Adults seem to have everything planned out; they act in control. That is what you are supposed to become. So, you are told to worry about your education, career, family, and success. That is quite a lot.

If you take that route, pretty soon you are worrying about how you are going to pay for your unborn child's college tuition, before you have even started college. That doesn't sound very fun. What I am saying is don't lose that child-like wonder. Don't narrow your future based on your own limited imagination. The only thing I can promise is that your future will not turn out like you have planned it. To be a in-control, set-in-stone, perfectly planned-out adult, is not possible. You have a heavenly Father who likes to chuckle at our plans. We are all children, even if we don't admit it. And that is the only way to approach the future---without depression or psychosis. Because someone else is in control.

To children, life is a mystery. They embrace the unknown and get excited about the many possibilities. They ask questions and want to know why. They think like the words of Psalm 8: When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

We really are like grass, that is here today and gone tomorrow. Old age and forgetfulness will come to us all. If you live long enough, you will likely need someone else to dress you. Don't aim to change the world. After all, fathers set their children's goals.

You have a perfect Father, who will be a father to you. In Jesus Christ, we have forgiving God, who truly cares. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" [Matt 6]

Enlightened adults act like they have it all figured out. But what joy is there in knowing the end of the story? Being a dependent child is more freeing and interesting. Children are free to make mistakes. A good father might let you skin your knee, but not break your neck.

We need a perfect Father. When sins overwhelm and your plans disintegrate, be a helpless child. Then you are strong in the heavenly Father's strength. This Father sacrificed His perfect Son Jesus, so you could be His child. So be a believing child. A loved and protected child. Don't worry about your future, but trust in His fatherly care. You are very valuable to Him, whether you have a career or not. This is the only way to have true life.

Children do not aim to be successful, they instead try to please their father. In this way, let the Lord determine your success. Be open to His blessings, even if you didn't exactly choose them. Let God worry about your future. Just enjoy what He gives you. After all, life is short on earth. We would rather be with our true Father anyway.

A song-writer [Bob Dylan] once wrote: "He not busy being born is busy dying.'' To be a child, a child of God, is to be alive. Just strive for what is right and do your best. He will lay out a good path for you. He will pick you up when you fall. Even less than perfect earthly fathers do that. A child sees each day as a gift, not a burden. Never stop learning. Even if you are done with homework, you need a Good Teacher. Jesus calls and instructs by His Word. Listen and learn from Him. He will not flunk you. He will guide you to the heavenly Father.

Classes are almost over, but there is much to learn and see and do. So much, that I hope you can say this, as a child of God, about your high school years: "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now. [Bob Dylan again]" Amen.

You Must vs. You Can

When troubled or worried, I always used to tell myself that I'd just have to trust God. And, when trials would overwhelm those I love, I’d tell them as well: “You’ll just have to trust God.”

In recent times, I have instead learned to put it this way: I CAN trust God! (as in, God is entirely trustworthy, I can trust Him 100%!!!)

It’s amazing the difference there is between thinking "I have to” and "I can.”

This is how I can go to sleep at night and face each morning with peace: “…for into Thy hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and ALL THINGS!”

Of course, this doesn’t get us off the hook from striving with our best efforts to fulfill our vocations. However, it does free us from worry and fear. Even through all our failures and sins, God will turn all things for good. We do the best we can, and only with God’s help, knowing that we can trust Him for the results. There is tremendous comfort in this attitude toward God, because it simply looks at His attitude toward us.

Like an infant in the arms of a loving parent, we CAN trust God. An infant doesn’t think: “I have to trust mom and dad.” An infant just trusts.

The Law says: You must trust the Lord.
The Gospel, on the other hand, says: You can trust the Lord!

In the Bible story depicted in stained glass in the header of this blog, Jesus says:

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

Lord, grant us all such childlike trust!

Death of a Dream

Last week was National Infertility Week. With Mother's Day coming soon, and Father's Day not long beyond, with Confirmation Sunday just recently passed for many of our congregations, it is worth pausing to remember those from whom God has withheld the blessing of children and offered instead a journey of patience. More awkwardly, we also remember those who have withheld God's blessing from themselves, only to later desire it, but not find it.

The following article traces one couple's difficult quest to conceive: Death of a Dream. The article concludes with the realization that whether childless or child rich, one must wait upon the Lord who blesses in His own manner and His own timing. Sadly, however, the article begins with a recognition (though not so clearly a regret) that the couple's recent struggle for fertility had been preceded by a five-year insistence against fertility:

When my husband and I married, we made a deal: We'd wait five years before starting a family. Five years would allow us to start our careers, be on better financial footing, and have time just for us. So when the moratorium passed, with anticipation, I stopped using birth control.

After 12 months of not taking the Pill and still buying tampons, I started to research the subject. "Eight-five percent of couples trying to conceive will become pregnant within one year." Red flag. We were already past that.

It is odd how frequently pastors emphasize in pre-marital counseling that marriage takes three--the husband, the wife, and Christ who holds them together--and yet when it comes to self-imposed infertility, so many couples follow in the path of the woman writing this article: "When my husband and I married, we made a deal...." Where was Christ in that arrangement? For five years she and her husband pushed away God's gift of children, and then after one year of failed attempts to conceive, followed by some invasive procedures, they felt their dream of having a child was dying. How alive had that dream been during their first five years of marriage?

If we, as Christians, truly want our dreams to live, we must put to death the sinful flesh, drowning that Old Adam through daily contrition and repentance, asking God to forgive us for our prior attitudes and actions that have sought to thwart His will, and to give us the strength to rightfully seek and accept His current will for our lives. We must let our own dreams die, and learn to dream the dreams that He has for us. Just as those who delayed coming to the Wedding Feast had their invitations revoked, so also God's gift of fertility may only be available for a time.

Marriage and Family - Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Robert Preus - 1988

In 1988 at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, the President of the Seminary Rev. Dr. Robert D. Preus and his lovely wife Donna were asked to give a presentation to the seminarians and their wives on the subject of marriage and family - especially as it relates to life in the parish. With the help of Apple's Garageband software, I have extracted and digitally remastered the audio from a VHS copy of the presentation provided to me by Rev. M. L. F. Freiberg in May of 2007.

This 94 minute presentation is a treasure trove for not only seminarians and pastors, but for all parents.

You can right click and download this MP3 and listen to it on your iPod or another MP3 player if you wish. You will want to listen to this several times to mine all of the gold nuggets contained therein. In addition, here is a PDF of the handout of Bible verses Dr. Preus mentions in the discussion.

NFP: Why We Don't Bother

Excellent guest post by Pr. H. R. Curtis over at CSPP:

http://concordiansisters.blogspot.com/2010/04/guest-post-nfp-why-we-dont-bother.html

For Better Not for Worse

A Manual of Christian Matrimony
by
WALTER A. MAIER, PH. D.

http://olcc.us/files/olcc.us/Maier%20-%20FBNFW/

(Birth control is covered in Chapter 27 - not scanned online yet as of this post)

The Crucible of the (Extended) Christian Family

Spending this weekend with about three-dozen members of my wife's extended family (which is only about half of her side of the family) up at the family lodge (a.k.a. P&BRR), and then a post by Rebecca over at CSPP, On the setting of standards and the adjusting of expectations, got me thinking...

Experience has shown me that living as Christians in a large and extended family provides a paideia that no other institution can replace. From the youngest to the oldest, from the newborn grandchild to the aged grandparent, and from cousins to in-laws, the more we all collide, the more every member of the Christian family continues to grow every day in faith, wisdom, and love - and in repentance for the lack of faith, wisdom, and love such a crucible of life reveals daily in each of us.

This observation and experience, which has intensified over the past ten years of my life, may explain why I have gone from being an educational entrepreneur and desiring to move my family to greener pastures where the external culture at least appears better, to being a homeschool advocate who desires nothing more than for his children and grandchildren to marry fellow believers and settle down near one another, where they can contribute and partake of the blessed heat generated in this crucible of the extended Christian family living under the cross in the forgiveness of Christ.

First Things on Contra-Economics

This article in the current issue of First Things is a must read. In “Bitter Pill,” economist Timothy Reichert, according to the byline, “reveals how the contraception boom has shifted wealth and power away from women.” Here’s a snippet:

With this essay, using the language and tools of modern social science, I will articulate the position that contraception is socially damaging. I will also demonstrate that contraception is in fact a sexist practice. Using straightforward microeconomic reasoning, I will unpack the behaviors engendered by artificial contraception. I will show that the contraceptive revolution has resulted in a massive redistribution of wealth and power from women and children to men.

Make sure you read the rest of this important article. If you aren’t one already, click here to become a First Things print or online subscriber.

Repenting of Jonah’s Duplicity

Excellent post by the Rev. Kevin Golden of Village Lutheran Church in Ladue, Missouri.

HT: Concordian Sister Rebekah

Only Twelve?

For those who might not know, clergymen of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, have two documents circulated to congregations considering the sending of a Divine Call to a pastor. One is a Self-Evaluation Tool (SET). In the SET a pastor answers a series of doctrinal questions, well not really doctrinal mostly comments about pastoral practice and reactions to various synodical resolutions. This is done so that calling congregations and district presidents can ascertain, for example, if the pastor will break out his acoustic guitar as worship leader, say the black/do the red, or go cruciform on Good Friday.

The second is the Pastor's Information Form (PIF). The PIF gives the pastor's birthday, educational background, pastoral experience as well as the district president's evaluation of the pastor's conduct of the ministry.

The PIF also gives marital status of the pastor; his wife's name and birthday, their anniversary and the names and birthdays of his children. And how many numbered blank lines are there for the pastor to list his children???

TWELVE - 12 - !!!

Now this is good stuff I say. The Synod is anticipating that her pastors will be having large families. Too bad there is no room on the form if you get Duggersized. Still, I think this is great and I thought Missouri deserves a big attagirl! Attagirl Missouri! Encourage those preachers to have a dozen then maybe this whole decline in membership will be take care of itself as the old beloved synod desires (expects???) her pastors to follow the Word..."Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth...Suffer the little children to come to me...".

See brothers, those PIFs are not so bad.

Let the little children come?

The 10:30 a.m. divine service had just concluded. After making the sign of the cross while blessing the congregation, Pastor Meyer made a few announcements, one being a reminder of the special “open forum” that would be held in a few minutes. He explained that it would be for getting feedback from the congregation in preparation for the next Sunday’s voters’ meeting. Generally, that was a cue for the apathetic members of the congregation to head for the parking lot. This day was different. The congregation was at a cross roads.

The meeting was packed, buzzing with several conversations simultaneously. The chairman called the assembly to order and announced the business to be decided at the following Sunday’s voters’ meeting: whether to approve the finance board’s recommendation to increase--dramatically increase--tuition at the congregation’s Lutheran elementary school. The floor opened for suggestions.

John Shoemaker, a parent of three, two of whom were enrolled already, the third of whom would start kindergarten the following year, spoke first. “I’m afraid that a lot of families, ours included, will struggle to afford Christian education if the tuition goes up. We have always appreciated the way this congregations values its children, and the support from the congregation’s budget that offsets tuition.”

Bill Bachman, a member of the finance board, spoke next. “I wish the congregation’s subsidy could continue, too, but the fact is, contributions have been down, utilities and health insurance expenses have gone up—largely beyond our control—and we’ve had to freeze salaries, but that still isn’t enough to make a balanced budget.”

Several others spoke. Some gave assurance that God would bless the congregation and the budget would balance itself. Others raised philosophical questions, debating the pros and cons of tuition vs. congregational subsidy and of charging different tuition rates for member families vs. non-member families. That last topic became an unexpected turning point in the discussion.

Ray Lindemann, a retired schoolteacher himself, raised his hand to be recognized. “Mr. Chairman, and fellow members of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, the issue before us is not simply a matter of meeting the budget, nor of determining the proper balance between congregational subsidies and parents’ tuition payments. The question is whether we value children, whether we say with Jesus, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.’ And, the question is, if we do believe that, then how will our works follow our faith?”

“Some would say, that if we really value Christian education, then the congregation will subsidize as much as possible, perhaps even—as in our sister congregation, St. Timothy Lutheran—to the point of there being no tuition for member families, and just a small load of book and activity fees. Others would say such a plan is impractical, especially given our current situation here at Good Shepherd, with the number of members laid off during this economic recession.

“But let’s take a broader look, for a moment. Why do we even have a Lutheran elementary school in the first place? Why do we offer Sunday school between the 8:00 and 10:30 services? Historically, Lutherans in America regarded Sunday school primarily as an outreach ministry for non-members. It was assumed that adults who had been raised in the church could provide their own children with basic instruction in the home, through family devotions. Sunday school would supplement this, of course, but it wasn’t the main thing. Now we’ve come to the other extreme, where Christian parents enroll their children in one Vacation Bible School after another, hopping among all the congregations in town, as if VBS has become a free daycare service. Now, that’s wonderful, of course, to have the children learning God’s Word all summer long, but shouldn’t we instead be reaching out to the unchurched with our VBS and Sunday school programs? I fear we have lost the proper focus.”

“Is the Lutheran elementary school any different? Why is it that both a mother and a father should get a job, so they can earn enough money to pay for someone else’s mother or father to teach their children all day long? And why is it, that the teachers would not instead be at home raising their own children? Perhaps this is not the time or the place to mention it, but I find it scandalous that two of our teachers have children under the age of three, whom they drop off at daycare in order to serve in our school. Perhaps we need to seriously rethink what it meant when Christ said, ‘Let the little children come to me.’”

The chairman paused in silence, as murmuring cascaded across the room. Sheepishly, Karie Habeck, a woman in her early twenties, raised her hand. Just six months earlier she had accepted a call to teach the first and second grades. One month before arriving, she had gotten married. “I want to thank the gentleman for voicing his concerns. I am—I have,” pausing to swallow, she continued, “It’s just that I’ve always dreamed of being a teacher. I thought this was God’s plan for my life. I also dreamed of marriage and children. I assumed work and family would somehow fit perfectly together, and they did, in my little dream world. Of course, a little girl doesn’t stop to think through the practicalities of it all. In college, as I trained to be your Lutheran elementary teacher, the importance of the teaching ministry was instilled in me day after day. This is God’s special calling for my life. And yet, aren’t I called to be married now, too? In the capstone class at college, our professor advised us to use birth control for at least the first few years of our teaching career, to help us get established. He said then it would be easier, if we had a child later, to take a maternity leave and get right back into the classroom.”

Some of the older people in the congregation sat uncomfortably. Sex had never been the topic of discussion at a voters’ meeting before, but before anyone dared to interrupt, the teacher continued. “My husband and I love each other. We love this special time in our life, as we begin our new life together. But I feel, somehow, well, robbed. I feel like a part of marital bliss can’t be ours, if we deny ourselves the prospect of having children, just so that I can be a teacher to someone else’s children. Oh, please don’t get me wrong,” she quickly added, holding back a tear.

“I love teaching! I enjoy working with your children! But I feel lost. I’m not sure which role models to choose. I deeply appreciate the help that the experienced teachers have given me. They are wonderful mentors, as far as teaching goes. But am I to follow in their footsteps, and put my kids in daycare so I can continue teaching? Is that the way to ‘have it all’? It’s not that I ever wanted to be a ‘career woman.’ I just always thought, somehow, that being a Lutheran elementary teacher would be totally family friendly. By now listening to today’s discussion, I must admit, I’m really not so sure. In fact, I have a confession to make: my elementary education degree doesn’t really mean that much. Most if not all of you parents out there could adequately teach your children in your home. Why, then, do we even bother having children, if you’re going to put yours in school with me, and I’m going to put mine in daycare with someone else, and all of us will miss out on the cutest, most memorable moments of their lives—and they’ll miss out on ours?”

Pastor Meyer stood up. He looked out at his congregation, the sheep of Good Shepherd Lutheran. Silently, he prayed for the Holy Spirit to give him the words for such a time as this, and then he said ...

Great Article

from Salvo Mag on how contraception (and subsequently abortion) has stripped women of their freedoms.

Fulfillment of the Law & 1st Article Gifts

Often times when speaking with others about procreation, the issue of one's own fulfilling of God's command comes into play. They say, "But I have fulfilled the command to be fruitful, I have multiplied." Recently one such discussion then led into, "I've been fruitful, I've multiplied, and without making possessions and idol, why can't I stop having children and enjoy the finer things in life?"

I think this is the perception of most in our culture. If they are Christian, they feel that they have fulfilled God's command by having children. And the second, in regards to material possessions is the predominant view.

There are two main theological issues at hand here that I would like to address here:

1. Fulfillment of God's Law

First off, no, God does tell us how much we must multiply by, but neither does he give to us to say when we have "done enough." So you say, you've been fruitful, you have multiplied. Good for you, you Pharisee who looks to the law as yours to fulfill and earn God's grace. The reality is, God gives to us to be fruitful and multiply. And this is not only a "pre-fall command" (as I have heard others say) but one that is given again after the flood (Gen. 9). Being fruitful and multiplying, i.e. having children, is not about fulfilling God's law. We will never fully fulfill God's law, for we are sinners. For this reason, God sent his Son, to redeem us who are under the law (Gal. 4). We must stop looking to ourselves as completing God's work in us, for that is the way of the Pharisees and the Romanists and many American "Evangelicals". But God's law is fulfilled in Christ, we are recepients of his good and gracious gifts... which brings us to:

2. 1st Article Gifts
To be fruitful and to multiply is a part of God's good and gracious gifts to his people. As repeatedly discussed on this blog and elsewhere, children are gifts of God. Rarely will a Christian argue this point. But what about not having more children so that I may enjoy the finer things in life? Regardless of one's words, looking to earthly and material goods for oneself is nothing short of idolatry. You either idolize yourself in your own fulfilling of God's command or you idolize money and possessions for yourself. God has not promised that you will be provided with the finer things of life, you may never own a new car, you may never be able to eat steak and seafood on a regular basis, you may never even have an Armani suit, and you may even never get to go on that fabulous vacation you dreamed about. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with such things, but these are not yours by birth right, they are additional gifts. God "richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life." (1st Article of the Creed, Small Catechism)
In our society, the definition of needs is so highly scewed. The arguement of prohibiting children from the standpoint of gaining earthly possessions is idolatry and shows a lack of faith in the 1st Article of the Apostle's Creed, that we will provided with all that we need to support this body and life. Oh and by the way, did you notice that one's wife and children are part of these same 1st Article gifts

We should not be as fundamentalists, who hinge salvation itself on the fulfilling of God's laws, but neither are we given to reject God's gifts. No other gifts mentioned in the 1st Article of the Creed as listed in the Small Catechism, would anyone reject, except that of children. No, salvation does not depend on it entirely, but hearing God's Word on the issue, receiving God's gifts, earthly gifts as well as the gifts given to us in Christ, "for all this it is our duty that thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true."

Ladies, your clock really is ticking: 88% of eggs lost by age 30

In the Let’s Start Encouraging Young Folks to Marry and Procreate Sooner department, we have this from The London Telegraph:

The new research by the Univeristy of St Andrews and Edinburgh University is the first to colate the actual decline of the “ovarian reserve” – the potential number of eggs women are born with – from conception to the menopause. It shows that on average women are born with 300,000 potential egg cells but this pool declines at a much faster rate than first thought. By the age of 30 there is only 12 per cent left on average and by the age of 40 just three per cent.

Dr Hamish Wallace, the co-author, said: “Our model shows that for 95 per cent of women, by the age of 30 years, only 12% of their maximum ovarian reserve is present, and by the age of 40 years only three per cent remains.”

Best to set aside the “it’s better to have kids after college and career” myth right away, don’t you think?

HT: Ladies, your clock really is ticking: 88% of eggs lost by age 30