We get asked a lot of questions, people often want to know just what do we believe? Many people see our lives and mostly that of our many children and simply wander, “What’s up with all those kids?” As normal as I feel most of the time, I do realize on ocassion that we’re just not. Though we know several familes similar to ours, we are all a bit different. Different in no way meaning bad or even better, just different.
Many have asked us, even recently, “Are you Mennonites?” Several other’s have wanted to know if we are Amish or Catholics? I’m sure a lot of that stems from us having eight children. We do not believe there is anything wrong with being those things, we’re just not. Others also take notice of the way we live our lives, you could call it, lifestyle choices. We’ve been called crazy more than a time or two, I can’t entirely argue against that. So what do we believe? I’ll let my husband speak for himself, this is my answer (though there is untiy, his word choices may be different). In short, We believe in Love.
What is Love
So, what is Love? Better yet, who is Love? I will tell you most assuredly that God is love. We believe in the simple gospel message. This simple, yet profound message is basically, mankind chose darkness rather than light and was separated from His Creator, but God so full of love and rich in mercy had a plan to reconcile man back to Himself. Therefore, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus was God’s greatest gift of love to us.
After years of the world in waiting, the Savior came as a baby through a miracle virgin birth. He was protected by God and grew up to one day accomplish the greatest mission ever given to any man. The will of the Father was to save the world through Jesus. He died on a cross, giving His life as a ransom for ours. He paid the price that was required to save every man, woman and child that would receive Him. We believe in Romans 10:9, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, that you will be saved.”
The Greatest Love Story
Jesus chose God’s will over His own, it was not forced upon Him. In the garden of Gethsemane, the book of Luke tells us in chapter 22:42-44 that Jesus prayed “Saying , Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground.”
It was out of love and obedience to the Father that Jesus died for humanity. In the above verses, Jesus admits that he has a will (as do we), but he chose to surrender it to the Father’s. Wow! What love and obedience! The Bible tells us in Romans 5:8 that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
In the book of 2 Peter 3:9, we see that it is not God’s will that any should perish. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God loves us! God’s will is for all to come to Him and follow after Him. Jesus is the way back to God.
He wants us to believe in His Son, repent of our ways and live for HIm! He doesn’t even leave us alone. After He left earth, He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in all believer’s that would receive him. By the power of Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) and His Word, we have the ability to overcome all tempatations to sin, and be His witnesses.
Are we perfect then? No, of course not, but if we stay with Him and ask forgiveness quickly if we fail to do right, He is faithful to forgive us. By the grace of God we are saved, not by our own works. If we live in the light however, good works should be manifested through us. God’s word is also clear in that we should not have a lifestyle of sin. The wages of sin is death (separation from God), He does not want that for us! God calls us to a life of holiness, His Son being our perfect example and Holy Spirit being our helper and guide.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23
“Be holy for I am holy” 1 Peter 1:16
Good Plans
God’s plans for us are good. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God loves His children and wants good for them. Because man has a free will, he deivices his own plans, but God’s ways are higher. When we choose to believe in Jesus and follow Him, the Bible tells us we become a new creation. 2 Cor. 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Thank God almighty that after Jesus died on the cross, God didn’t leave him in that tomb! On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead! Death could not hold him! Because He lives, we can live eternally with Him! Because of Jesus, we can live a victorious and overcoming life.
“But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” Acts 2:24
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.” Col 3:1
What do we believe then? We believe in the love of God. God is Love, which is told to us in 1 John 4:8. We choose to believe in God and to serve Him. He is worthy of all honor and glory! This loving Creator who has given us every good and perfect thing from above is worthy of all our love. We believe in the goodness of God, we have tasted it!
So, What's up with all those kids?
So, what’s up with all those kids? We have a bigger than average family in our day and age for sure. How do our beliefs effect the size of our family? Well, we simply have found God’s word to be true. God’s word says children are a gift from God and they are a great blessing. There is no religious teaching that we adhere to that says we have to have a bunch of kids, or that we should never limit the amount of children we have (in a natural way). Though, there are teachings like this out there, we do not follow them, nor do we condemn those that follow them.
We simply had some children and they were the greatest blessing to our marriage besides Jesus, and so we had some more. Since so many people ask, I feel it’s ok for me to be honest and say we’re crazy about each other. Intimacy is very important to us and we believe in natural forms of family planning. That my friend is a recipe for the potential of lots of babies.
In short, we did not set out to have a large family, it was not something we planned out from the start. We’ve had some real surprises along the way, I call them blessed surprises. That’s always been ok with me, because I love surprises! We love our kids and each one is truly a gift from God! They are our inheritance. We couldn’t imagine our lives without them. Who doesn’t love to receive a gift? Especially when it comes straight from the Father.
Some people can’t understand why we would want this many kids. To those people I say, our kids bless us, they truly bring us joy. It certainly is not an easy life (work wise), but it’s worth it to us. Some of the best things in life often require the most work (at least in our experience). I am so thankful to God and feel honored that he has entrusted me with all these little humans of His to care for. Who am I to be so blessed?
Having a bunch of kids may not be something you want to do or maybe something you’re even able to do, and that’s ok. We are all different, not better or worse. You are free to choose the kind of life you want to live and we are free to do the same. It’s only my hope that you will all choose Love, because I’ve tasted of it and let me tell you, it is good.
“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him.” Psalm 34:8
