Who to Believe?

by Melanie | December 28th, 2011

This morning I went into the hospital for a medical procedure.

“Who will be driving you home?”

Our 16 year old had brought me because they hadn’t mentioned someone 18 or older would need to sign the discharge paperwork, so he’d headed home.

“I don’t know. My son went to trade with one of his older brothers.”

The nurse seemed non-plussed, “How many children do you have?”

“Eight and they are all home! We are having a wonderful time. That’s why I don’t know who will come.”

Quite often when we share that we have eight children, folks at first feel sorry for me, though I soon disabuse them of that notion, then worry about the world, “But, what about overpopulation?” so I was delighted to see the topic of the Jeub Family’s blog post today, Global Problems Concerning Fertility. The Jeub Family blog is one of the very few that I have on rss feed and regularly read. It’s worth it.

My background is in the hard sciences, so I have been very interested to see how very far the popular conception of issues like global warming and overpopulation differs from the science available. Today the Jeubs link to and discuss a fascinating and timely article by Mark Steyn, Elizabeth’s Barrenness and Ours. If you have any concerns at all about whether you ought to listen to that still small voice encouraging you to welcome another child, you need to read this article! If you have ever asked a large family, “Well, what about overpopulation?” you need to read this article. If you think I’m crazy, you really need to read this article! :-)

I love the sciences. One thing I have found, though, is that contrary to the post-modern constructivists, truth is not what the current community of scientists agree that it is. If it were, why did the new Ice Age we were threatened with in the 70s so readily morph into the Global Warming of the 2000s? Instead scientists “see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.” Our tools are imperfect, as we are, so our science is only our best understanding of the moment. And our understanding of overpopulation is drastically misunderstood by the majority. Check out Overpopulation is a Myth for short, fun videos explaining the science. Unfortunately much of what we “understand” by listening to the mainstream media is more sensational than science.

How much more reliable is the Word of God that never changes? So, we read “the lack of  people is the downfall of a prince,” and we see it happening around us. We hear,

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

and believe it and act on it and see it proved true. God’s Word is like that.

  • Lydia

    So many Christian people have bought into Satan’s lie, that it is ok to have your 1.2 children.  I grew up in an age where there were very few Titus Two women around to encourage having more than one or two children. 

    God created the human body and He knows what is good for it.  He also has a purpose for marriage, godly offspring see Malachi 2:15.  He will provide for you and your children what you need, and sometimes it is not necessary what you want.

  • Megan

    I would love to have more children, but my husband is afraid we can’t support them financially. How are we supposed to raise multiple children in an uncertain economy?

  • http://www.thekindlecrew.blogspot.com/ Jenniferkindle

    thanks for all you do! i’m giving you an award on my blog jan.1st.  be sure and check it out.  http://www.thekindlecrew.blogspot.com

  • http://twitter.com/raisingrealmen Raising Real Men

    Megan, it is frightening when you look at what the media and government say about how much it costs to raise a child. We’ve found, though, that it really isn’t as hard as all that! All those numbers assume you are buying everything new for each child (which is ridiculous) and don’t take into account the economies of scale. For example, when my friends who have a small family buy steaks, they buy the small pack that’s $9 a pound, but when I buy steak, I buy the whole ribeye or whole sirloin and pay $2 or $3 or at most $4 a pound. We ends up costing us the same amount in the end.

    I don’t say this lightly. We have struggled financially for quite a few years with the added costs of the medical crises we’ve faced like cancer. We have found, though, that God not only meets our every need, but also seems to delight in giving us much of what we want. This verse has been a great comfort to me:

    I have been young, and now am old;
             Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
             Nor his descendants begging bread. Psalm 37:25

    Children don’t cost nearly what people think they do, and God has promised to provide what we need for them.

    Much love, Melanie