Isn't She Lovely

I'm Blessed: Children are a Blessing

Some of my very favorite blessings are my children.

In an effort to join up with Gretchen's I'm Blessed Series,

I wanted to tell you about the opportunity to watch this documentary called

"Children are a Blessing"

free until April 30th.

It was stories like the one in this movie that the Lord used to show Dennis and I that He wanted us to stop trying to control how many children we had.

Had we listened to the well-meaning advice of others (and the crass, rude and bold comments from many others), we would not know more than half our children.

Children are a Blessing begins with a brief history of the evil intentions of those who worked to bring about the wide spread use of birth control.

The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it. ~ Margaret Sanger, Founder of Planned Parenthood

The film then affords viewers a small glimpse of some of the joys of life in a large family as the Moore family welcomes their tenth child into the world. This lovely and encouraging documentary was a semi-finalist at the San Antonio Independent Film Festival.

My disclaimer:  this movie makes me want a white rocker placed on our back forty, where I can watch my children play as nicely as theirs.
My family plays tackle football on a yard strewn with sandbox toys
and they try not to trip on the occasional carcass of some critter the dogs have brought in from the woods.

This film is a view into one family's life--not every family who surrenders control of their fertility wears skirts, homeschools, or has helped their children to memorize Scripture so beautifully.
What you don't see in the film is that their kids get runny noses and scraped knees, too,
and that they have most likely spent a night or several up with sick children.
I'm sure that they, too, get dressed for the day only to be spit on by the baby
and have a child who struggles to learn to read or to master long-division.
Mrs. Moore has lots of laundry to wash and floors to sweep and dishes to do, just like you and me.

At the core, our similarities with the Moore family include
our view that God is sovereign over all creation,
of the husband as head and leader of his family,
and children as wonderful and precious gifts.

Watch it and be blessed!

Chalk Drawing

 My little artist

 on Grandma's sidewalk

 in her Easter finery and with a days-old scrape on her cheek

drawing pictures for Mommy.

Ilovethisgirl.

Rare Indeed

 Easter 2012

This is a day you can mark on your calendar:

We were ON TIME for church

aaaaannnnnd

a picture was taken of us, with all eleven people looking at the camera.

This is rare, people.

Rare, indeed.

Because this?

Is far more common.

What I'm Saying, and What I'm Not (aka My Standard Disclaimer)

It has become glaringly obvious that some of the people who read and comment on my blog don’t share my worldview. This is fine; I welcome their comments and curiosity, but it does contribute to some misunderstandings. I’d like to help rectify that by stating some facts that are, in my mind, unspoken assumptions underlying all my posts.

Because we believe that God has asked certain things of us, I will continue to tell you about them--even if those things are counter-cultural and make you upset with me--for God has said, "What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs."  Matthew 10:27

Depending on who you are and where you are coming from philosophically, these points may either seem painfully obvious or shockingly [insert insult here: closed minded, old-fashioned, arrogant...].

Dennis and I believe that:
God is sovereign over all of creation. (Psalm 33, Psalm 97)
Our chief end is to glorify God in everything we do. Though we too often fall short, it remains our goal. 1 Corinthians 10:31)
Scripture is infallible and fully sufficient to teach us to serve God. Whatever we need to know about Him and His nature and requirements of us is contained either explicitly or implicitly in the Scriptures. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
There is no neutrality. All people, institutions, and ideas are either for Christ or against Christ. Education is not neutral. Law and government are not neutral. Families cannot be neutral. A blog is not neutral. (Matthew 12:30)
Right and wrong are absolutes, and they do not change because someone feels ok about something. Sometimes there is more than one good (God honoring) option; sometimes there is not. You (or I) may feel convicted to do things a particular way – but we may still be wrong. Thus, we go back to the Scriptures. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

When I state what we believe or how we do things in our house or family---

We ARE NOT saying that anyone who does differently is in sin and/or going to hell. You might be in sin, and I might be so bold as to state my opinion to that effect. But don’t worry--nobody ever went to hell for disagreeing with me. You must answer to God and His Word. 

We ARE NOT saying that anyone who reads the Scriptures and comes to a different conclusion or conviction based on the Scriptures is wrong and we're right. Again, you might be wrong and I might be right. I’ll probably think so. But your job is to make sure you are acting in accordance with Scripture, not with me. 

We ARE NOT saying that my generalizations cover every case imaginable. Yes, you can always think of exceptions, but it is poor logic to argue the rule from the exception.

We ARE NOT saying that we are perfect and have all the answers. God has called us to judge righteous judgements, so it is our duty to try to come to the right answers. I know that some of my answers will be wrong, but my own fallibility should not stop me from seeking to know and serve God better. 

To sum it up: Some of what I write will deal with principles, while other material will deal with methods. 

Principles are issues where there is a Biblical teaching at work: you (and I) are either right or wrong on this one. Obviously, I’ll try to stay on the right side. You might come to a different conclusion, but one of us is right and one of us is wrong. 

We draw our applications from convictions: convictions derived from Scripture. Part of what this blog is about is the idea that someone somewhere might be interested in or appreciate what we are doing or be helped by understanding why we do it.

This is why I try to be sure I am reasoning from Scripture – but I don’t feel as though I have the last word on Scripture. God grants us broad liberty in Christ, and Jesus’s blood covers lots of mistakes.

I have also changed my comment process, since there were some who couldn't play nice.  I will no longer allow anonymous comments.  As I tell my kids, if you feel that strongly about something, you'd better at least be willing to sign your name to it.

Thanks!

Let's Play Nice

I'm not sure how many of you have been following the conversation in the comment section of my post on letting God determine the size of one's family, but it's been quite a long one!  Yes, a long one but a good one in my opinion.

From here on out though I would ask for this change:
I will still allow anonymous comments, but would appreciate if you would sign your first name.  (I wouldn't know if you made it up either, would I?)

Thanks!

The Driver's Seat

Have you ever been a passenger in a car that was driven by someone else?
Wasn't that terribly irresponsible of you?
I mean, my goodness, you had very little if any control over what that person was going to do!  What if he drove too fast?  There you were, hurtling down the highway and you had no control--in fact, had you grabbed the steering wheel, you likely would have gotten hurt.
Did you know the exact route the driver would take?  You couldn't know for sure; he or she could easily go to the left or the right and you wouldn't have any control over that.
How did you know you would arrive at your destination at the right time?  Could you really trust the driver to get you where you needed to be, when you needed to be there?
Were you in the back seat, telling him how he really should be driving?


Or...were you content to sit in your seat, trusting that the driver knew what he was doing?

This is another way to look at my views on birth control:  I am trusting that my Driver knows what He is doing; that He has a plan for my life and for my children's lives.  I trust that He knows what's ahead and that He will send whom He will, when He wants because He is trustworthy.

I am excited to see what He has in store for me on this ride that is my life.