Behold, Believe, Be Raised
By John Piper
My Blog is Moving
4 hours ago
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
another similar post
This topic is like my last post but this comes from Stacy at Your Sacred Calling. I completely agree and feel the same about this.- Kim
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Jesus-full
"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate." (Psalm 127:3-5, ESV)
Over the last couple of months, I’ve contemplated and prayed over the various controversies and consequences of the term “quiverfull.” As some of you may know, our family was interviewed several months ago by the Religious Affairs reporter for BBC regarding the “quiverfull movement. Though we explained to him that we aren’t part of any movement, that we don’t view having children as some sort of fertility contest, and that I only gave birth to six of our ten children, we also told him we welcome all the children God chooses to bless us with; and we believe it is our responsibility (and joy!) as Christian parents to train them up in the way they should go.
It was refreshing to share with him the joy and awesome opportunity we have in the Lord to accept, nurture, love, and train up all the precious lives God entrusts to us—whether from our own womb, or through his Providential hand. Our curious reporter was intrigued, but seemed to want to focus on “the movement” and what sort of political motives must be behind our philosophy. Welcoming children into our family isn’t about a movement, we told him, it’s about a vision—a vision for “other-focused” living that will produce generations of Christians who love God with all their hearts, soul, and strength. I think he finally got it.
You see, it’s not about numbers—an out of wedlock mother of eight who is paid by the government to stay unmarried and dependent on the state could easily out breed most of us, if given enough incentive.
No; it’s about faithfulness. It’s about instilling in our children, our church, and our culture a passion for purity, children, family, and most of all, Jesus. It’s about raising up godly seed (Christian children) who aren’t focused on living for their own fleeting pleasures; but, are instead committed to glorifying God and enjoying Him forever—which involves loving one’s neighbor as one’s self.
"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”" (Galatians 5:14, ESV)
But you see, before we can do that, we have to believe it. Really believe it. We have to believe it so much that we are living it out each day without even thinking. We must value each life as much as we value our own—way down deep.
We live in a culture that is growing more and more apathetic toward the sacredness of life. Children are brutally murdered in the womb in the name of “women’s rights.” Elderly parents, to whom we are commanded to honor and care for, are forgotten in the name of convenience. The severely ill or handicapped are denied food and water, so they might die in the name of compassion.
Life. Its value, it seems, is measured only in what it offers us—or how it threatens to inconvenience us. The more I contemplate the value of children, the more I realize that my view of children is bound up in how I value life. Am I truly loving my neighbor, my own family, the lost, the poor? Am I looking for ways to bring more and more glory to my Lord? Or am I looking for a cold and dusty list of rules? Am I hoping for loopholes or excuses? Am I worried about my free time? My career? My sanity? Am I ready to blame others or circumstance for why I “can’t” do this or that?
You see, Satan hates human life. He hates godly seed. He hates all that God loves. And he lurks in the shadows ready to devour the fruit in our lives, if we give him the chance (1 Peter 5:8). How do we escape? Scripture does not tell us to flee; instead we are told to submit ourselves to God, resist the devil, and the devil will flee from us (James 4:7)!
Are we willing to lay ourselves at the feet of Jesus as obedient and selfless servants? Or will we refuse to submit to Him, failing to resist the devil? Will we allow Satan to devour our God-ordained love for our neighbor (human life) by focusing on ourselves and our own flesh? Will we forget our primary purpose in life, which is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever? I pray not.
Here’s the thing. It’s not about whether or not you believe birth control is a sin. It’s really not about that at all, and in some ways it distracts us from the real point. The real issue is far, far more important. It’s about loving God, loving our neighbor, loving life, embracing His revealed will, and working hard to live out the Gospel honestly and faithfully before a watching...and desperate world.
Let me ask you something. What do the heathen hear from the “quiverfull crowd?”
* “Birth control is a sin!”
Or
* “Children are a blessing! It is hard work to train them up faithfully, but we are committed to trusting God, sacrificing if need be, and enjoying every minute we have with each little one that God gives us!”
My husband and I came to our convictions without anyone giving us a list of rules. God revealed to us the blessing of life—children—and we learned to slowly trust Him with the details. Yes, we were confronted with Scripture by some bold and faithful brothers and sisters; but, their focus was the blessing of life—and trusting God.
"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:31-33, ESV)
As we learn to seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, He faithfully works out the rest. There are days when life is really, really hard. Noisy days. Dirty days. “I’m locking myself in the bathroom again” days! In fact, just this week, sin was bouncing off every wall in our house! “Mom! She messed up my whole game again…on PURPOSE!”
My hormones were raging, my body was depleted of energy, my nerves were all on the outside of my skin, and my sin was being dredged to the surface of my being—and my children, as usual, responded in like manner.
But never once did I regret having them. Never once did I think, “What in the world have we done, having all these children!” No; I am humbled that God has chosen to bless me with these precious little lives, undeserving and weak as I am, because I know it’s not about me. It’s about training them up for Him—as difficult as that may be some days. Longsuffering is something I think we sometimes file away for missionaries; but, don’t be fooled (Eph. 4:2), we ARE missionaries! And as I submit to God—as I raise my children up for Him, He allows me to enjoy them as gifts from His hand.
So, stop focusing on the rules. Don’t get so caught up in the details! Start focusing on the blessing that comes from denying yourself and submitting to God and the details will take care of themselves. Am I “quiverfull?” No, I think I’d rather be “Jesus-full.” And because of that, I’m glad to stand aside; so, God might fill my quiver with whatever best glorifies Him.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Jesus-full
"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate." (Psalm 127:3-5, ESV)
Over the last couple of months, I’ve contemplated and prayed over the various controversies and consequences of the term “quiverfull.” As some of you may know, our family was interviewed several months ago by the Religious Affairs reporter for BBC regarding the “quiverfull movement. Though we explained to him that we aren’t part of any movement, that we don’t view having children as some sort of fertility contest, and that I only gave birth to six of our ten children, we also told him we welcome all the children God chooses to bless us with; and we believe it is our responsibility (and joy!) as Christian parents to train them up in the way they should go.
It was refreshing to share with him the joy and awesome opportunity we have in the Lord to accept, nurture, love, and train up all the precious lives God entrusts to us—whether from our own womb, or through his Providential hand. Our curious reporter was intrigued, but seemed to want to focus on “the movement” and what sort of political motives must be behind our philosophy. Welcoming children into our family isn’t about a movement, we told him, it’s about a vision—a vision for “other-focused” living that will produce generations of Christians who love God with all their hearts, soul, and strength. I think he finally got it.
You see, it’s not about numbers—an out of wedlock mother of eight who is paid by the government to stay unmarried and dependent on the state could easily out breed most of us, if given enough incentive.
No; it’s about faithfulness. It’s about instilling in our children, our church, and our culture a passion for purity, children, family, and most of all, Jesus. It’s about raising up godly seed (Christian children) who aren’t focused on living for their own fleeting pleasures; but, are instead committed to glorifying God and enjoying Him forever—which involves loving one’s neighbor as one’s self.
"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”" (Galatians 5:14, ESV)
But you see, before we can do that, we have to believe it. Really believe it. We have to believe it so much that we are living it out each day without even thinking. We must value each life as much as we value our own—way down deep.
We live in a culture that is growing more and more apathetic toward the sacredness of life. Children are brutally murdered in the womb in the name of “women’s rights.” Elderly parents, to whom we are commanded to honor and care for, are forgotten in the name of convenience. The severely ill or handicapped are denied food and water, so they might die in the name of compassion.
Life. Its value, it seems, is measured only in what it offers us—or how it threatens to inconvenience us. The more I contemplate the value of children, the more I realize that my view of children is bound up in how I value life. Am I truly loving my neighbor, my own family, the lost, the poor? Am I looking for ways to bring more and more glory to my Lord? Or am I looking for a cold and dusty list of rules? Am I hoping for loopholes or excuses? Am I worried about my free time? My career? My sanity? Am I ready to blame others or circumstance for why I “can’t” do this or that?
You see, Satan hates human life. He hates godly seed. He hates all that God loves. And he lurks in the shadows ready to devour the fruit in our lives, if we give him the chance (1 Peter 5:8). How do we escape? Scripture does not tell us to flee; instead we are told to submit ourselves to God, resist the devil, and the devil will flee from us (James 4:7)!
Are we willing to lay ourselves at the feet of Jesus as obedient and selfless servants? Or will we refuse to submit to Him, failing to resist the devil? Will we allow Satan to devour our God-ordained love for our neighbor (human life) by focusing on ourselves and our own flesh? Will we forget our primary purpose in life, which is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever? I pray not.
Here’s the thing. It’s not about whether or not you believe birth control is a sin. It’s really not about that at all, and in some ways it distracts us from the real point. The real issue is far, far more important. It’s about loving God, loving our neighbor, loving life, embracing His revealed will, and working hard to live out the Gospel honestly and faithfully before a watching...and desperate world.
Let me ask you something. What do the heathen hear from the “quiverfull crowd?”
* “Birth control is a sin!”
Or
* “Children are a blessing! It is hard work to train them up faithfully, but we are committed to trusting God, sacrificing if need be, and enjoying every minute we have with each little one that God gives us!”
My husband and I came to our convictions without anyone giving us a list of rules. God revealed to us the blessing of life—children—and we learned to slowly trust Him with the details. Yes, we were confronted with Scripture by some bold and faithful brothers and sisters; but, their focus was the blessing of life—and trusting God.
"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:31-33, ESV)
As we learn to seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, He faithfully works out the rest. There are days when life is really, really hard. Noisy days. Dirty days. “I’m locking myself in the bathroom again” days! In fact, just this week, sin was bouncing off every wall in our house! “Mom! She messed up my whole game again…on PURPOSE!”
My hormones were raging, my body was depleted of energy, my nerves were all on the outside of my skin, and my sin was being dredged to the surface of my being—and my children, as usual, responded in like manner.
But never once did I regret having them. Never once did I think, “What in the world have we done, having all these children!” No; I am humbled that God has chosen to bless me with these precious little lives, undeserving and weak as I am, because I know it’s not about me. It’s about training them up for Him—as difficult as that may be some days. Longsuffering is something I think we sometimes file away for missionaries; but, don’t be fooled (Eph. 4:2), we ARE missionaries! And as I submit to God—as I raise my children up for Him, He allows me to enjoy them as gifts from His hand.
So, stop focusing on the rules. Don’t get so caught up in the details! Start focusing on the blessing that comes from denying yourself and submitting to God and the details will take care of themselves. Am I “quiverfull?” No, I think I’d rather be “Jesus-full.” And because of that, I’m glad to stand aside; so, God might fill my quiver with whatever best glorifies Him.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Good post
Here is a section of a good post from Raising Arrows
Psalm 127:3-5
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
We are what some people call QUIVERFULL. The term is used to describe any family who leaves their childbearing completely in the Lord's hands. This means no birth control, no sterilization, and no Natural Family Planning; no prevention of any kind.
But, what about PROMOTION? Does God want us to try to conceive? And, let me take it one step further...does He want us to use interventive methods to cause us to conceive?
These are all questions that the Quiverfull-minded family has to consider because there may come a time when the babies don't just "automatically" come every year or so. You may find yourself overwhelmed by the Baby-A-Year Club, only to find yourself frustrated when you don't conceive within your "normal" time frame.
However, this is where the rubber meets the road in the quiverfull walk. If you believe the Lord controls when you conceive, then you HAVE to believe the converse: the Lord controls when you DON'T conceive. In fact, I would suggest that for the quiverfull woman, having a baby every year is not nearly so difficult as going through a period of time when the babies aren't coming at all.
You can read my Quiverfull Journey here (parts 2 & 3 talk about my time when babies weren't coming):
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Do I believe a woman should NEVER seek methods to promote conceiving? NO. I think the Lord expects us to keep our bodies in working order, but we must be careful that we are not trying to usurp the Lord's authority. What are our motives? Remember, the Lord's plans are not always (dare I say, RARELY) immediately evident to us. So, we really must seek all interventive methods with much prayer and diligent introspection of our hearts.
Another issue that will more than likely rear its ugly head at some point during our childbearing years is something I call The Conception Competition. Even something as pure and good as being quiverfull can turn sour in our sinful human hands. We all know what this Race to Conceive looks like and feels like. We want to "keep up with the Duggers." We don't want another quiverfull family to "beat us" We find ourselves thinking, "Whatever will I do if ______ (name of another quiverfull mama) gets pregnant before I do?" Jealousy is never far from the surface.
It is perfectly natural for a woman to desire children, but when bearing children becomes our sole focus, the essence of truly being quiverfull is lost. The verse reads, "Happy is the man that hath HIS quiver full of them." (emphasis mine) We are not all going to have the same quiver. The Bible clearly warns us against comparing ourselves amongst ourselves (2 Cor 10:12). This only leads to jealousy and sinful behaviors. If we are totally trusting the Lord with our family size, then we MUST be content with our family size at any given point in time.
We cannot spend our time being jealous of others or feeling as though we are less-than-quiverfull because we "only" have X-number of children. We must wholeheartedly enjoy OUR particular quiver. We cannot assume that since we have been having a baby a year that that trend will continue. God does not "guarantee" your fertility.
And having babies IS NOT a status symbol. Children are not "points" you "collect", they are blessings you receive from the Lord. We must appreciate each and every one for the individuality of their particular blessing. Showing off will only taint your quiverfull testimony.
Lastly, let your babies be babies. Enjoy every second you have with each of your little blessings. Should the Lord bless again, wonderful! Should He not, you have not spent so much time focusing on a future baby, that you have neglected the babies you do have.
It all comes down to TRUST. Do you trust the Lord to be the author of YOUR perfect plan? THAT is the essence of being quiverfull. So, please enjoy YOUR quiverfull!
Psalm 127:3-5
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
We are what some people call QUIVERFULL. The term is used to describe any family who leaves their childbearing completely in the Lord's hands. This means no birth control, no sterilization, and no Natural Family Planning; no prevention of any kind.
But, what about PROMOTION? Does God want us to try to conceive? And, let me take it one step further...does He want us to use interventive methods to cause us to conceive?
These are all questions that the Quiverfull-minded family has to consider because there may come a time when the babies don't just "automatically" come every year or so. You may find yourself overwhelmed by the Baby-A-Year Club, only to find yourself frustrated when you don't conceive within your "normal" time frame.
However, this is where the rubber meets the road in the quiverfull walk. If you believe the Lord controls when you conceive, then you HAVE to believe the converse: the Lord controls when you DON'T conceive. In fact, I would suggest that for the quiverfull woman, having a baby every year is not nearly so difficult as going through a period of time when the babies aren't coming at all.
You can read my Quiverfull Journey here (parts 2 & 3 talk about my time when babies weren't coming):
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Do I believe a woman should NEVER seek methods to promote conceiving? NO. I think the Lord expects us to keep our bodies in working order, but we must be careful that we are not trying to usurp the Lord's authority. What are our motives? Remember, the Lord's plans are not always (dare I say, RARELY) immediately evident to us. So, we really must seek all interventive methods with much prayer and diligent introspection of our hearts.
Another issue that will more than likely rear its ugly head at some point during our childbearing years is something I call The Conception Competition. Even something as pure and good as being quiverfull can turn sour in our sinful human hands. We all know what this Race to Conceive looks like and feels like. We want to "keep up with the Duggers." We don't want another quiverfull family to "beat us" We find ourselves thinking, "Whatever will I do if ______ (name of another quiverfull mama) gets pregnant before I do?" Jealousy is never far from the surface.
It is perfectly natural for a woman to desire children, but when bearing children becomes our sole focus, the essence of truly being quiverfull is lost. The verse reads, "Happy is the man that hath HIS quiver full of them." (emphasis mine) We are not all going to have the same quiver. The Bible clearly warns us against comparing ourselves amongst ourselves (2 Cor 10:12). This only leads to jealousy and sinful behaviors. If we are totally trusting the Lord with our family size, then we MUST be content with our family size at any given point in time.
We cannot spend our time being jealous of others or feeling as though we are less-than-quiverfull because we "only" have X-number of children. We must wholeheartedly enjoy OUR particular quiver. We cannot assume that since we have been having a baby a year that that trend will continue. God does not "guarantee" your fertility.
And having babies IS NOT a status symbol. Children are not "points" you "collect", they are blessings you receive from the Lord. We must appreciate each and every one for the individuality of their particular blessing. Showing off will only taint your quiverfull testimony.
Lastly, let your babies be babies. Enjoy every second you have with each of your little blessings. Should the Lord bless again, wonderful! Should He not, you have not spent so much time focusing on a future baby, that you have neglected the babies you do have.
It all comes down to TRUST. Do you trust the Lord to be the author of YOUR perfect plan? THAT is the essence of being quiverfull. So, please enjoy YOUR quiverfull!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
ITS A GIRL
We confirmed today baby number 4 is another precious girl, Her name is Felicity Ann and we are expecting her arrival in late March.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
New ideas
This blog http://toomanykidsinthebathtub.blogspot.com has some great ideas that I am thinking of trying thought some of you would like checking it out, I have not searched the whole thing just found out awhile ago when on sacred calling. I like their treasure jars and family closet, I have been thinking about a family closet for awhile since reading it in the Duggar book, I would need to invest in some organizational tools to complete this project though so it may have to wait.
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