Michelle, You Truly Are One Of My Heros!!!!!

As most of you already know they are going to have their 20th baby....and I know most people will roll their eyes and say they are crazy.  With all the rolling of eyes and criticism she always returns the with understanding and truth.  Made me think of this...Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.  Philippians 2:14-16


I think God is soooooo good and I am so encouraged by this family.  I think all of Michelle answers were awesome in this video.  Obviously, 20 kids is not Gods plan for everyone but it amazes me to see how many kids they are raising up in the Lord and sending out into this world for Christ. 

This may sound offensive and really it's just a thought that passed through my head for a second......What if...it was the non-believers who closed their wombs and the believers who adopted more and left their wombs open to whatever God saw fit?  Honestly, it was a split second thought.  I wonder what the world would look like?  Don't get me wrong, I believe God is completely sovereign through it all...all of our fears and doubts.   

 So good...Had to pass it along.


http://lawngospel.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/every-child-a-miracle-brothers-we-are-not-darwinists/

He has many more great writings HERE you can check out.  Unfortunately though, he is going to be shutting down his blog very soon and will be going a new direction.  I am not sure if we will still be able to link to these writings (I am hoping so).  

I am happy for him and his new direction and have no doubt it will bring glory and honor to our King.  I will always be eternally grateful for the wisdom his blog brought to me in a time I was seeking truth. 


If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraides not; and it shall be given him.  James 1:5

SERIOUSLY LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!!

                                                  (REMEMBER TO PAUSE MY MUSIC PLAYER)

                

It May Be A Secondary Issue But It Still Needs To Be Discussed

If you look under the lists of blogs I have listed you will see "Lawn Gospel."   His blog has been a wealth of information, scripture and wisdom for me at a time I was searching.    I have read and tested read and tested and I still have yet to find untruth.  No pedestal....... just a man who I feel is very educated in this area.  If you choose to go onto his blog this is WHERE you can read the countless articles he has written on the matter.

Although I do believe this is a secondary issue next to the gospel which is primary, I also believe this topic is not being addressed enough or at all in the home or at church which is very sad.  How and when we grow our family is a very important issue.  Growing up in a Christian family it was never discussed, nor was is discussed in our church.  Having already talk to my parents about this, I now know the reason it was not discussed in our home....... It was never discussed in their home nor their churches.  Generation to generation of not discussing. 


There are Primary Physicians and then there are Specialist, they both are very important to the body.  I believe Lawn Gospel is a Specialist.  Not to be misunderstood though......if we do call ourselves Christian then we all need to specialize in the gospel.

He (Lawn Gospel) recently posted this and I thought it was well stated. I keep telling him I am waiting for his book to come out.

• 1) I affirm that God is the author and creator of Life, that no child is conceived apart from His active work in sovereignly creating a body and soul at the instance of conception. (Psalm 139)
• I deny that conception is the mere biological by-product of human sexual intercourse.
• 2) I affirm that the Bible teaches that fruitful sex within marriage is a good thing. I further affirm that certain texts teach that children are a heritage from the Lord, and that the fruit of the womb is a reward. (Psalm 127)
• I deny that the Bible teaches that children are only sometimes a reward, but are other times predominantly burdensome or inconvenient. I further deny that the Bible teaches an idea of sex that is intentionally barren.
• 3) I affirm that everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. (1 Timothy 4)
• I deny that context determines the goodness of a gift of God, and that context determines if such a gift can or should be rejected.
• 4) I affirm that God is sovereign over all things, including conception.
• I deny that God’s sovereignty removes our responsibility to act in accordance with his will and not contrary to it. I further deny the hyper-calvinistic assertion that “if God wanted us to get pregnant, he would find a way around our birth control”.
• 5) I affirm that the Bible teaches Christians to be both wise planners and faithful stewards.
• I deny that the idea of “family planning” is a biblical concept. I further deny that the rejection of a gift can be considered faithful stewardship.
• 6) I affirm that God has given to mankind the gift of medicine.
• I deny that birth control is a proper and biblical use of medicine, if medicine is  to prevent and treat disease, since that would imply and respond to pregnancy as a disease rather than a naturally healthy state.
• 7) I affirm that it can be considered “normal” for married couples to conceive.
• I deny that such an idea of “normal” gives us license to presume upon the blessings and gift of God in children, and see no difference in declaring that we will go into such and such a city, and buy and sell and make a profit. (James 4)
• 8 ) I affirm the fact that the Bible is not solely a list of prohibitions, but is rather a historical-redemptive revelation of Jesus Christ complete with mandates, commands, examples, precedents, prohibitions, counsel, etc.
• I deny that the absence of a direct prohibition in Scripture is equal to acceptance or condoning of the use of contraception, especially in light of the many related mandates, commands, examples, precedents, counsel, etc.
• 9) I affirm that there are philosophical and historical links between contraception and abortion – both in the West and in human history in general.
• I deny that contraception and abortion are vitally linked to the point that they can not be helpfully separated for the sake of conversation. I further deny that individuals who agree with contraception are necessarily in agreement with the philosophical and historical links to abortion.
• 10) Finally, I affirm that a sinner is justified by faith alone in Jesus Christ, apart from works.
• I deny that because contraception is not a “gospel issue” that its morality is therefore outside the bounds of serious Christian conversation, conviction, and consideration.

    

Oh my gosh, how bad do I want to go to this!!!

The Baby Conference from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT DAWNS BLOG!!!! Thanks Dawn for the great post!

http://familygregg.blogspot.com/2010/03/if-you-are-interested-in-planned.html

Obedience first, Understand later

Have you ever discerned something but can't quite put it into words? I have those times. I know eventually God will spell it out for me but until then I need to heed to the Holy Spirit who whispered those words in the first place. Like the saying goes "obedience first, understand later".

So a while ago I started to ask God to reveal cultural things to me and bit by bit he has. I am sure you have heard the saying "wait a couple of years after you get married to have kids." It was said to me and in fact, I am sure I have probably said it too. I have daughters so I think of these things (marriage, children, etc.) often.

If I am suppose to raise my girls in the instruction of Lord then I want to make sure it is God's instructions coming out of my mouth and make sure I am not contradicting the scriptures.  Now, I know not all cultural sayings out there are contradictory to scripture but there are some I am really rethinking. This particular one my girls will never hear from me.

There is a responsibility and a purpose that comes with marriage and the bible is clear on that.

So like I said before I couldn't quite put words to my discerning thoughts but this guy sure did for me.

http://lawngospel.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/family-planning-lets-consider-a-pre-emptive-strike/

PREGNANT

I suspected I was pregnant so I finally broke down and purchased a pregnancy test.  When I say I broke down and finally purchased a pregnancy test, it is not an easy thing for me to do.  After years and years of infertility and tons of negative pregnancy tests,  let’s just say I really don’t like peeing on a stick any more.  Anyway, the test did show positive and of course excitement and fear began to fill my heart.  I called my doctor to let them know and they asked me to come in for a blood test, which later did reveal what the pee stick had already told me.  I was already feeling tired, bloated and hungry but I was also cramping and spotting.  After my visit to the doctors I went straight home to pray and get into the word.  I praised God for this pregnancy and I began to cast all of my cares/ fears on Him which I will detail later in the post.

As some of you know, many months ago Neal and I were convicted that we were not totally giving the future of our family over to the Lord.  We went through years and years of infertility and pleaded with God to bless us with children.  We were completely and utterly dependent upon Him during this time.  However when God blessed us with three beautiful girls, 2 of who came home through our amazing journey in adoption and our third which God blessed us through my womb, we realized we were no longer dependent in that area of our life.  After three beautiful gifts Neal and I both agreed we were done.  That was when we decided to go back on birth control.  Normal, right?  At the time we had no hesitations about birth control.  We were happy, content, satisfied and our desire had been met.  We really didn't have the desire to have more children.

Back in July, God began to change my heart and open my eyes to huge things, things I never thought would ever cross my mind.  Things that had never been talked about in the Christian community I grew up in.  Things our church didn’t talk much about.  Things that the culture (satan) had gotten a hold of and deceived me of.  And if you don't think birth control is a cultural thing then you are fooling yourself.   But is birth control wrong?  Good question.  I would point you to study the scriptures and see how God describes children. I think it is also important to read more about hormonal Birth Control which can be an abortifacient.  Lastly, but most importantly, I suggest prayer. 

So, through tears, praying, Gods word, reading, A LOT OF READING, a lot of tears, a lot of praying, counsel, debating, and wrestling we finally realized that we needed to go back to the place we were when praying for children during the (long) season of infertility.  We need to be completely and utterly dependent on Him for our family again.  Like I said our desires had been fulfilled but were His?  Our intentions/desires were of course for a family but, not too big and not too small, manageable and affordable so as to best steward our time, energy and provisions (hmmm, that is worthy of another post).  Those are all good intentions right?   As Neal and I began to dig deep we realized our intentions were lacking.  Hebrews 4:12 says... For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The root issue why we didn't want a large family because that would mean more money (who's money?), more time/energy and more work (my selfish heart).  Neal and I began to ask ourselves questions like; do we really trust whole heatedly that God knows what’s best for our family, big or small?  Would he provide what is necessary (not above and beyond) whether big or small?  Would He actually create a life (baby) that is not supposed to be here? (Psalms 139:13-16)  How were we viewing the possibility of more children?  As a gift/reward Psalms 127:3 or as a burden?  I can't remember the last time someone gave me a gift and I looked at it as a burden.   We also realized we were on the receiving end of things and God was the giver of the gift/reward if he so desired.  That was a big one for me.  I was controlling rewards??  It just didn’t seem right.   We realized too that we needed to receive everything (trials and blessings) with thanksgiving  1 Timothy 4:4 and be open to the possibility that He may have more in store for us.  And that He did.

Neal and I realized we were lacking in our knowledge of Gods word and also felt we were lacking in our faith.  So we chose a different path for our family.........."and whatever is not from faith is sin." Romans 14:23 

John Piper explains it well: "This, I believe, is what lies behind Romans 14:23. Sin is anything, any act or any emotion or attitude, that does not sprout from the soil of such confidence, in the God of hope. 'Whatever is not from faith is sin.'"

I know some of you are probably thinking we are crazy, we have lost our minds and that’s okay.  Really!  This is the choice God has called us to make.  If you are truly interested in reading more about the choice we made  READ HERE. 

Anyway, like I started to say in the beginning of this post, we are pregnant.  Well..... we were pregnant.  This morning we miscarried and I can’t begin to tell you the comfort I felt even before the miscarriage.  And the peace I have felt does surpass my understanding.   As I mentioned earlier I had fears that began to fill my heart when I realized I was pregnant.  Some of those fears were; I was already cramping and spotting (which I know could be nothing) but I have miscarried before and I believe it was my lack in progesterone.  I am pretty sure that was what helped me sustain my pregnancy with Madi (not to mention it was by the grace of God I carried her in my womb).  This time around I realized I did not have any progesterone on hand and I could not get some quick enough for it to make a difference.  Another fear is the insurance we currently have does not cover maternity.  

After praying through my fears God began to bring things to my mind that has put my fearful heart at peace.  He reminded me of the study I did not too long ago In Exodus 16.  God supplied for all of the Israelites needs and if God could “rain bread from Heaven” then He certainly could supplement for what my body was lacking.  Also, a while ago, before I even knew I was pregnant I was contemplating a home birth.  I had already been doing some research on midwives and Neal was open to the idea as well.  So whether a home birth was the answer to the lack of maternity coverage or not, we truly felt God would provide.  We have been off of birth control for a while now and we are in the search for affordable maternity coverage and God knew that.  He could have allowed the pregnancy to happen sooner as well as later but He chose now.  

After finding out I was pregnant I found this video.  I have played it at least 10 times a day and if it was not playing out loud it was playing in my heart.   It has brought so much comfort.  This morning I woke up to find out I was miscarrying my two oldest girls (who do not know yet what mommy is going through) were singing JJ Heller’s song “His Hands”.  God was bringing comfort through my daughters.  How sweet that was to my heart, tears of sweet comfort.  This miscarriage was also another opportunity for my husband to protect me and love me!   

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28

I am sad and my heart is grieving right into His comforting and loving arms that hold me still.  We have received His peace and we still completely and utterly depend on Him for our family.  He is the giver and taker of life, the one who purposed life, the one who knows exactly what our family needs, the one who is the giver of “our daily bread”.  The one who will bring good out of any situation, the great provider and protector, the one who is so worthy of our trust and praise.

Words Move Me

There are many things that are on my mind right now that I want to write about but on the one hand I have not had the time, and on the other hand it is not all clear. So for now I just want to encourage you to be blessed by others writings.  Make sure you check out the great post by Lawn Gospel.  He writes so well and really drives the point home!  Convicting and so timely.

http://lawngospel.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/amazingly-needed-omnipotent-grace/