I can’t keep silent about how faithful God has been to provide for us. If you’ve read my ebook Finding Financial Freedom, you know that several years ago we ended up under a mountain of debt due to a number of events in our inexperienced business ventures. I frame this post that way because in a worldly wisdom sense, it seemed ridiculous for us to have any more children (we had 4 at the time). In fact, at the “bottom”, we were swamped with debt and my husband was forced to change jobs which left us with no insurance. About a week after we were counseled to “not have any more children right now”, we discovered we were expecting our 5th baby–just 4 months after our last child had been born! Yes, a surprise to a nursing-only mom.
Interestingly, we had complete peace. And, the insurance dilemma wasn’t a dilemma at all as his new job picked us right up. Still, from an outside perspective, we didn’t appear to be very wise: BUT, we had decided to receive the gifts of children God had for us, and you know God is in the business of “confounding the wise”–and so it has actually been the most thrilling thing to watch.
Fast forward. We have paid off an astronomical amount of debt in the last 5 years with just a little left, all with extra work that the Lord has provided for my husband and the little bit extra I’ve been able to make from home. And despite the warnings about how we shouldn’t have more children (ironically, no one has ever told us “you shouldn’t go on any vacations”, or “you shouldn’t go out to eat”–it was children who always got cut out of the picture, and they probably cost much less than many other things in our lives!), none of us has ever been hungry (not even close) or gone without shelter or clothing or even occasional “frills”. In our poorest of times, we were still wealthy, compared to most of the world.
And now, expecting our 8th child, again, we found ourselves without insurance–something that usually brings panic to an expecting couple. But again, the Lord has been faithful–beyond faithful to provide. My husband has a delivery job in the summers…the next job he has will pay for the birth of our baby–entirely–with a few dollars to spare. The job will last 3 days. (We are also members of a medical share program which would help reimburse in the event we needed it.)
All that to say that even as I must remind myself of God’s faithfulness, and how we really can’t rely on today’s circumstances to predict the outcome of tomorrow, I hope to encourage you as well…
“My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory”.
11 comments
thanks for the encouragement Kelly!
God has provided for ours too. We home birth, which is cheaper than the hospital. I can’t nurse but the boys and us have always had food. I have an overabundance of little boy clothes. We choose to be more frugal than others in certain areas (such as cloth diapering which a lot of people won’t do, but it saves us over $1,000 a year, so we choose to clean poop instead of throwing it away at that price). I needed a bassinet for this new baby, and God has provided one of those…we can borrow one from a friend for the entire time we need it, all we have to buy for it is sheets. Which are cheaper than the bassinet.
A good book with some great ideas for money and space saving is Mary Ostyn’s book “A Sane Woman’s Guide to Raising a Large Family”. She has ten kids, I think six of them are adopted.
This post couldn’t have come at a better time for me. No, I’m not pregnant (unfortunately) but I needed to hear this today.
I love your comment on how your never hear “don’t go on vacation” or “don’t go out to eat”. It’s rings so true about what our society thinks is really precious.
If the sparrows don’t worry, why should we? God sent His Son to die for us. Surely He has the perfect way to take care of us as we trust in Him. God doesn’t seem to be running out of those cattle on the thousand hills, does He? :}
And He does provide “abundantly, above all that we could ask or think”. This idea of trusting God for all aspects of our lives is really missing in churches today – including in the lives of alot of pastors. How different some of the comment threads would be in your last few posts if people could take hold of this promise.
I learned this lesson from a pastor friend of ours who were encouraging us to go on a retreat with them. We told them we were broke and couldn’t go. His reply? “I’ll go ask my Father for the money, He’s the King, and he’s not broke.” Guess what, we were blessed with the extra amount needed for the trip.
Thank you for posting this, I need to keep this in mind, everyday. I am currently expecting my third child. when this baby arrives I will have 3 children under the age of two (no twins). Some days it is hard to remember why we chose this for ourselves. We are young, so many people just cannot understand why we are “wasting” our youth. On the worst days, when I feel 20 years older than I am, I wonder too.
Then I read something like this and I remember all the wonderful reasons, and the doubt vanishes. I have gained so much from my husband and children, more than anything financial gain could bring me. So when the naysayers make nasty comments about our reproductive habits, I smile, No matter how much I explain the reasons why, they will never understand. I smile because I know they cannot understand. When they were faced with the same choice, they sacrificed life for money. Trust in God, for trust in riches. They did not make the same choices we did. They stand behind their choice and I stand behind mine. When I am 80, I hope to be surrounded by the hundreds, seeing the faces of my children and grandchildren and maybe even great grandchildren. How lonely to be surrounded by only your money, with your children grown and in search of their own riches, no time for children or their aging parents.
Kate, very soon I also will have three children under 2 with no twins, and people are nasty to us too. Even people in our church. Nice to know someone else in the same position!
Kate & Mrs. W.
Though each family shares its own unique burdens, rest assured that you are not alone in occasional feelings of being overwhelmed or even wondering “why”.
You may have already read them, but here are a few links to older posts I thought may encourage your heart…I even read them again myself from time to time–we ALL feel discouraged at some time or another…
http://generationcedar.com/2008/11/dying-to-live.html
http://generationcedar.com/2008/07/motherhood-and-sufferingis-it-sign.html
http://generationcedar.com/2008/06/we-need-more-arrows.html
http://generationcedar.com/2007/04/crying-out-for-more-children.html
http://generationcedar.com/2008/06/just-imagine-if-they-had-not-been-born.html
Lots more…but I’ll stop there
Kate, I’m sure you already know this, but just as a reminder, here’s what the Bible says about your youth:
“Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,So are the children of one’s youth.” – Psalm 127:4
What are arrows for?
Provision – Hunting and putting good food on the table.
Battle – propogating and spreading God’s kingdom (not talking about earthly “holy war” or anything, we battle in God’s ways).
Can’t say as I see a problem with spending one’s youth in this way – preparing for glory, and serving God.