March 3, 2005 8:28 AM
Guerrilla Parenting #3
In 1989, Rick and Jan Hess wrote A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ (check out the reviews - but if you want to buy a copy, I have them for for $10 plus shipping - email me). In a chapter called "Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner," they list the birth order/family size of U.S. presidents, noting that a third came from families with four or more (up to 13) kids.
More amazing, a partial list of Christian leaders:
St. Augustine - fourth of four
Henry Ward Beecher -- eighth
Dietrich Bonhoffer -- eighth
Oswald Chambers -- fourth of nine
Jonathan Edwards -- eleventh of eleven
Charles Finney -- seventh
Dwight Moody -- sixth of eight
Nate Saint -- seventh of eight
Corrie Ten Boom -- fifth
Sylvanus Crosby, Fanny's grandfather -- nineteenth of 19
John and Charles Wesley -- fourteenth and seventeenth of 19
Interesting, considering the frequent assumption that kids from big families are less intelligent or creative because their parents can't give them one-on-one -- which leads to my favorite list, Composers (also a partial list):
Bach -- eighth
Mozart -- last of seventh
Beethoven -- fifth
Schumann -- last of five
Wagner -- last of nine
Offenbach -- seventh of ten
I guess the point is that God may have great things in store for us if we trust him to receive his blessings. My later birth children include a National Merit Scholar and a couple of incredibly gifted singers. But regardless of gifts, I can't imagine life without each one of them.
Posted in Big families, Church Issues, Culture, Family, Homeschooling, Mothering, Pro-Life Issues | Permalink
Comments
I read A Full Quiver with an open mind, curious to see what the "air-tight," bright-line, biblical case against birth control was. Interestingly, it only served to convince me that birth control is NOT "sinful" because I felt the scriptures used by the authors were either taken out of context or used with unwarranted dogma.
It was as if the authors started out with a supposition, based on their personal feelings, and then searched to find scriptures to back that up.
While I respect the views of persons who are courageous enough to have as many children as is biologically possible (as long as they can raise them in a God-glorifying manner), I don't see that the bible blanketly condemns birth control as sinful.
Nonetheless, I can definitely appreciate what you're saying in these Guerilla-posts about Christian families thinking harder about how many children God wants them to have! And I do definitely agree that children ARE a blessing.
Thanks for your thoughts! :)
Posted by: Amy | March 4, 2005 5:10 PM
My husband and I have been married 19 years. We have 6 children. About six months into our marriage we decided to let the Lord lead in this area. We didn't read any book just felt that was the right thing to do. We now have six blessings. The first 5 in 7 years then a 7 year break and then our 6th. (My husband is fond of saying that the Lord had to give the land a seven year rest!). I am now 42 and still trusting God. I would never have thought things would turn out this way but God has been with us every step of the way.
Love your site. Keep encouraging women in the Lord.
Spunky
Posted by: Spunky | March 5, 2005 3:47 PM
Thanks for the lists about Christian leaders from large families. As someone who has a strong desire to see revival in the church in America today, I was particularly fascinated to learn about the Wesleys, Jonathan Edwards, and Charles Finney--men used by God to bring revival to America.
God bless you in your motherhood and your ministry! What a blessing you are to women and men.
Posted by: Brian | August 7, 2005 10:02 PM
