About Elizabeth & her Blog
Elizabeth is a winner of Top 25 Moms with Big Families - 2012
Did you always want a big family? If not, when did you change your mind?
When we got married, I wanted one child and my husband wanted three, so we compromised with ten! ;) (That's his line and he's sticking to it!) ;)
Actually, we started off with the vision of the "perfect" little American family, which in our minds was two children, a dog, and a cute little house in suburbia with a white picket fence! Reading "The Way Home" and "All the Way Home" by Mary Pride shook me up at my core and got me thinking about the purpose of children and Who should decide how many children we had. As I wrestled through the concepts in that book, searching them out in Scripture, I knew better than to even mention such radical ideas to my husband! However, I began to pray that his scheduled appointment for a vasectormy would be cancelled. God answered that prayer by supernaturally arranging circumstances so that my husband cancelled that appointment and never looked back . . . . :)
Then, the Lord worked in both of our hearts through His Holy Spirit, through a godly family He brought into our lives, and through the book, "A Full Quiver," by Rick and Jan Hess, to get us both to the point where we were willing to put our fertility on the altar and trust Him with our family size. We felt fear, freedom and elation mingled together as that decision was made and acted upon!
I prayed that God would give me at least two months before conceiving, and He did! That was over twenty years ago now!
And the rest, as they say, is history! Ten children later we would not do it any differently! I'm not saying it has been easy or challenge free -- but as my Mom always told me, Nothing worth doing is!! :)
What's a common misconception about big families?
Apparently, the biggest misconception is that the parents of large families are ignorant of basic Biology! I'm basing that on the most common comments of, "Don't you know what causes that?" and "Don't you know there is a fix for that problem?"
These comments are sad, because it shows what the prevalent attitude is towards children in our culture. They are considered to be expendable, too costly, a burden, and a huge inconvenience. Having children is considered to be an optional appendage to a marriage, and one that is often considered to be too great of a sacrifice to a woman's body and her career.
Another common misconception is that large families are a burden on society, draining precious resources from our "over-populated" world. Actually, well brought up children are a blessing to society in a variety of ways! And in a purely economic sense, they stimulate the economy, provide jobs, and pay for people's Social Security! Without sufficient children being born, our western civilization as we know it is gradually dying and our economy will crumble.
There is also a misconception that there is not enough love to go around in a large family, but I think the Duggars have helped to dispel that myth! Love just multiplies in a large, happy family!
How many children do you have? What's the age difference between the oldest and youngest?
I have ten children this side of heaven. My oldest daughter recently turned 27, and my youngest daughter will soon turn 8, so there is a little less than twenty years between them. My mix is six daughters and four sons.
What are your favorite Blog Posts?
