There is a family in Arkansas that has attracted some attention. From newpaper articles to the Today Show to the Discovery Channel, many people want to here about them. Why? The mother just had her 17th child! How cool and amazing is that?!
They also home school their children (so she obviously stays home with the children) and have built a 7,000 square foot house with no debt (my husband would love that!)! That’s almost more amazing then having your 17th child. Everyone pitched in and they built their house themselves (well, at least most of it.). It is said that they have a professional kitchen that is worth an easy $100,000, but they only paid $11,000 for it because they bought everything at an auction. And I can’t even begin to imagine the organizational skills that are needed to run such a household. Jim Bob (he’s from Arkansas, remember?) is a former state politician and is a real estate broker/owner. So he does make good money, but still, you need more skills then just being able to make money for that size of a household. It is also state that they have a food budget of $2,000 a month. We have a budget of $260 a month for everything pertaining to the household and the menu; I can’t imagine having almost 8 times that amount per month. But, we only have 6 people (soon to be 7) in our house, not 19! That makes a difference.
I must admit that I have inwardly cringed before at the thought of having 13, 14, 15 or more children. Why? Because I was stupidly concerned about how we’d look (God has taken that nonsense out of me, thankfully). So when I “see” people like the Duggar family, I am refreshed anew to know that God does know what we can handle and that each child is a blessing from God, no matter what other people might think.
I am excited to be having my 5th child! I’m counting down the days, I really am. Not so much to have the pregnancy over with (although I’d be a liar if I said that’s not part of it), but most of it is because I want to hold our baby. I am proud of the family God has given us and want to show others what blessing children are.
I was looking at some pictures taken of Adam and me when we were still dating and newly married. Boy, Adam looks young! I don’t think I look as young as he does, but I think that’s because he has a beard now and having a clean-shaven face makes him look younger. And I find it interesting to look back then, and see us here now 7 years later, with #5 on the way and we’re living lives neither of us could ever have guessed. You know, I wouldn’t change anything (okay, well, I wouldn’t mind changing not living in town and living on some acreage, but you know what I mean.). I truly am happy doing what I’m doing, even if it means I put up with comments like “Every time I see you, your pregnant” or “Yeah, it about that time again, isn’t?”.
I can’t imagine what Michelle Duggar puts up with. And I only have 5.