The Whole Truth…..
I have been trying to think about how to write this post for a long time. I know I have various readers with different belief systems. You all know that I am a Christian, some might call me a conservative. I honestly don’t know how I would classify myself other than an imperfect follower of Christ. My problem lies with when there is a difference of opinion often we go on the defense or even worse, on the attack. Now lets be clear I am not talking about anyone in particular…just what I have observed in the past. I am going to attempt to explain my answers to a few questions I get asked that, up until now, I have skirted around. I am not trying to defend or push my view but just simply state this is where Dave and I are at…this is how we see things. If you think I am a quack job…well…we are all entitled to our own opinions…but at the end of the day we all have to live with our decisions.
SO ARE YOU GUYS DONE YET…OR ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE ANYMORE?
My answer would usually go something like this.. Oh I don’t know I suppose anything is possible.
THE TRUTH
Quite some time ago Dave and I decided to trust God with our family size. We believe that God is the author of life. We can prevent life but we can’t create it without God. Even fertility treatments fail. There are many verses in the Bible where it talks about God opening and closing wombs. I know there are many people who put no faith in the Bible, I know there are some who feel that was long ago we have so many advancements. For us it came down to if we are trusting God with our lives why not our fertility as well.
WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO STOP? 10 KIDS 20?
I don’t know, I think those kind of numbers are unlikely. We neither try, nor prevent getting pregnant… we thankfully take the blessings that come our way.
WHAT IF YOUR HEALTH COULD BE SERIOUSLY HARMED BY FUTURE PREGNANCIES?
Excellent question. I asked my OB after Hannah was born if he felt I was putting myself in harms way by getting pregnant again. His reply was at that point he did not see any issues with me being pregnant again. I have successfully delivered 5 healthy children. The truth is that there are high risk pregnancies when women are in there 20s, 30s, 40s etc. Skinny women overweight women, women of various race….any pregnancy has the potential to become high risk. He told me if that became the case then he would take the proper precautions. If we had a high risk pregnancy and we were told that I would be jeopardising my health if we got pregnant again then of course we would consider our options. As much as we feel that God has said children are a blessing we would also concede that we have a responsibility to these little ones already entrusted to us.
WHAT ABOUT OVERPOPULATION?
Well, I am not an expert on this issue as for the bit I have read there seems to be as many arguments for it as against it. All you have to do is google overpopulation fact or myth and you will see what I mean. The truth that is unarguable is, here in Canada we have an aging population with a declining birth rate. Presently Canada is at 1.5 and to sustain a population you need 2.1. So well some could argue that we are adding to overpopulation I like to think we are doing our bit to help out our declining birth rate :).
I hope I have answered your questions and not created a whole bunch of new ones. If your wondering why I have never come out and just said Yes to the first question before. It is because we aren’t the norm, even in Christian circles. Dave gets jabs all the time at work, he has been told he’s crazy, that he’ll regret this one day etc. Maybe some people don’t know what to say to us and that is okay…unfortunately we’ve had lots of hurtful things said. We have been made to feel like 16 year old kids doing something wrong. In reality Dave and I are 100% committed to each other, we are crazy about our kids and value our family immensely.
All of that said…Dave and I joyfully announce that we are expecting…
Dave asked about the 3 I said that’s how many babies…hahaha it just means more than 3 weeks. I haven’t seen my doctor yet but we are thinking end of February beginning of March. When we told the kids it went over Hannah’s head for now, Elijah is extremely excited as are all of the other kids. Joel thinks it will be a little brother and that we should name him Saxon.
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10 Comments
Heidi
Congrats!!! So happy for you!
*Mirage*
Congratulations! 🙂 I think it's wonderful when parents who are committed to God and each other trust Him with their family. I am due with #3 next month and have had some very nasty comments already. I usually just smile my brightest smile and say how excited we are and that we pray to be blessed with a 4th someday! That usually shuts their mouths pretty fast. 🙂 I would like to say that me and my husband have also left God in control of our fertility, but my husband is not there yet. I am only recently on that track in my beliefs… I think it finally sunk in a year ago when my son turned 1 and I began to feel the itch for more children. My husband was set against more than 2 while I was becoming convicted to leave the ultimate number up to God, despite my difficult pregnancies. God has since convinced him that 4 is a good number (hence my being preggo with #3) and I'm feeling blessed that I can just sit back and pray and trust and leave it alone until we get to 4 and trust that by the time we need to make a decision about something more permanent after someday-baby #4, God will have worked out His will in my husband's heart and mine so that we are on the same page finally. As I said I'm pregnant and I have very rough pregnancies. I read all your posts and pray for Joel and your family! I blog very little these days and respond to others' blogs even less due to being sick with hyperemisis gravidarium among the other natural ills of the third trimester but I do think of you often and wanted you to know.
Kathy
CONGRATULATIONS!! Wondeful wonderful news!! Isnt it amazing that God uses US in such an amazing miracle?
Savannah
Congrats! After having spoken to you once about this topic while Joel was in the hospital the first time (not sure you'd even remember..was a very brief discussion lol), I felt like God was laying it on my heart to trust him with the size of our family as well. After both of us praying about it, we decided that any excuse we came up with basically was not trusting God. Most of our family hasn't had more than 2 kids, and even Christian family thinks we're nuts..oh well.Praying that you have an easy and safe pregnancy!
Moni
Yay!!! Children are a blessing of the Lord! You are a blessed family, a true inspiration and an example to this society as to what is truly important. Thanks for sharing the news 🙂 I'm really excited for you guys. And as for what other people may think – they will always have an opinion, I wouldn't be so concerned… You are where you are supposed to and want to be, and that, at the end of the day, is all that matters. I get a ton of flack just for being a stay at home mom… it used to bother me a ton, but then I realized how much value there is in this and that fancy jobs with fancy stuff does not replace this amazing thing called family. Unfortunetly families are falling apart all around us, so I think *we* are the ones who have it right, not *them*.Love you guys! Hope you are feeling ok 🙂
ticc
Congratulations!!! Prayers are with you and your family, and may you have a safe and healthy pregnancy. Have a wonderful day!
Seasons of Life
Congratulations Cheryl & family on the newest little one the Lord is growing! "Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,the fruit of the womb a reward." Psalm 127:3Behold – gets our attentionheritage from who – the LORDa reward – YES, children are a gift…a reward.Rejoicing with you and praying for your little boy, Joel. May the LORD place His healing hand on him and grow him into a mighty warrior for His name sake.Blessings in Christ ~
Larien
To be honest I had to look through my emails to see if I was the one who asked about your HUGE crew and why you'd have more…but I didn't email that (must have only thought it…) and you do have a lot of kids, and they are all gorgeous, and so very different from each other. Now if I can just get out there to visit you guys!!! I'm sure that I could get all of the kids riled up somehow ;)?
Cheryl
We would love to see you and I don't mind the question as much as the negitivity that comes with it sometimes but I know that you'd ask out of curiosity only we miss you!
Wendy
That is wonderful news! Congrats to you and Dave.