A favorite professor of mine once said to me that when God told mankind to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth that I didn't have to do it all by myself.
There's a story behind our family's size:
When we were engaged we had our first unresolvable discussion (aka fight) while listening to a set of tapes on expectations and marriage. (Our pastor thought these would be good for us since we had only known each other 5 months.) This particular tape was on how many children we would like to have. I said, "4." Jim said, "2 and let's wait 5 - 6 years." I thought that he was hard-hearted and selfish. We put away the tapes and decided that God would give us grace and wisdom when the time came.
We'd been married a little over a year and were expecting our first child when we attended a Basic Youth Conflict Seminar and heard Bill Gothard talk about the value of a large family. I don't remember what he said, but I felt I heard the Lord say that "6" was our number! Ohmigosh! What was I going to say to my husband? Well, God was good enough to say the same thing to him.
So here we are with 7 children! When we were expecting our 6th, I heard the Lord say, "Six and a surprise." Now what was I going to tell my husband? Without intending to, we conceived another baby, but we miscarried her 4 months into the pregnancy. I told the Lord that I didn't like that surprise. Losing a baby was hard on all of us. My husband and the Lord wanted another. Thus, Emma!
There's a story behind our family's size:
When we were engaged we had our first unresolvable discussion (aka fight) while listening to a set of tapes on expectations and marriage. (Our pastor thought these would be good for us since we had only known each other 5 months.) This particular tape was on how many children we would like to have. I said, "4." Jim said, "2 and let's wait 5 - 6 years." I thought that he was hard-hearted and selfish. We put away the tapes and decided that God would give us grace and wisdom when the time came.
We'd been married a little over a year and were expecting our first child when we attended a Basic Youth Conflict Seminar and heard Bill Gothard talk about the value of a large family. I don't remember what he said, but I felt I heard the Lord say that "6" was our number! Ohmigosh! What was I going to say to my husband? Well, God was good enough to say the same thing to him.
So here we are with 7 children! When we were expecting our 6th, I heard the Lord say, "Six and a surprise." Now what was I going to tell my husband? Without intending to, we conceived another baby, but we miscarried her 4 months into the pregnancy. I told the Lord that I didn't like that surprise. Losing a baby was hard on all of us. My husband and the Lord wanted another. Thus, Emma!
