We did practice birth control, and put a final stamp on it after 3.. but my heart longed for more, each month was an emotional challenge for me and my husband to whom I complained. Eventually I took my prayers to Our Lord, and God answered my prayers. We had a surgical reversal, and now I have 2 more, there have been 5 other pregnancies, and now this little one on the way. Each one – even the ones with the Lord now – have been a blessing, each teach me daily about walking out my Faith In God.. Each bring me fantastical joy. Mine are almost 15, 13, 11, 3 and 20 months. (oh and 37 days pregnant!)

My family went through some devastating experiences 2 years ago, but it was from outside influences. The kids are all young enough that they think our family is the best family that ever lived and that Mommy and Daddy are wonderful. I haven’t experienced the kind of pain that you talked about, Robin, from my own children not understanding our beliefs or lifestyle. I don’t know what the future holds, but right now the Lord is creating such a unity and love among my children that I feel so blessed every day to live life with my children. Of course, it’s not perfect, but as we pray together, and we spend time together in the Word, just like you advocate in the HOW approach, we are getting closer and closer to the goals of family closeness and unity.

I have testified on my blog about my oldest son. He is just so amazing that I can’t even fully describe how much of a blessing he is to everyone in our family. Other people are amazed at his wisdom, his loving attitude, and his kind spirit at 16 years of age. He was already on this path before we started using the HOW approach, because God just took over with him and turned him into a lover of truth and a lover of God, but the things we do in our homeschooling each day just reinforce what God is wanting him to learn, and he tells anyone who asks that our home school is awesome and he loves it. He is as excited about it as I am. We just let the Spirit lead, and God leads us into exciting discoveries in the Word and fascinating studies about countries and cultures and the whole thing is a lot of fun!

I’m really enjoying this season of my life. It’s a lot easier than when all of my kids were 10 and under. Now I have some wonderful helpers. I see God changing each of us as iron sharpens iron even in our own “little” family. We confess our sins to each other and try to keep everything out in the open so that the enemy can’t use anything against us. I encourage my kids to walk in love, walk in truth and walk in the Spirit. We try to deal with problems as they arise, not ignoring them and thinking they’re just childish things that don’t matter. I wasn’t so intentional in the past, but I’m getting better at it as the Spirit helps me know what to do in each situation.

I’m thankful for the trials and the changes they’ve produced in all of us. I’m also thankful for this time of rest and restoration. I know the Lord has great plans for each of my children, and I’m thankful that He has them in His hands, and that I don’t have to know everything. It takes a lot of pressure off of me to do everything just right and not make any mistakes or miss anything important. Sometimes I’m afraid I’ll miss something with one of my kids, because of the number of them, but He is always faithful to let me know what is going on so that I can be there for them when they need me.

Thank you, Robin, for your example and your willingness to share with those following behind you. I enjoy reading about your family and the interactions between you and your adult children and your younger children. I have all of that ahead of me, and I like to get a glimpse of what may be in store for me and my family. It’s kind of hard to imagine any of my kids growing up and leaving home. I know it will happen, but I’m not going to dwell on it! Thanks for sharing your wisdom and experience with the rest of us.

Love,
Penney

My kids are not grown yet, my oldest is only 16. I do wonder at times if my kids will accept our convictions about having a family. Will they follow in out foot steps or be even more bold than we have been in our walk with the Lord. I hope the later is true! I never dreamed that having 10 kids (& not sure if the Lord is done) could be so hard and rewarding all in the same day.

I can’t imagine my life with out 1 of my kids. They each play a special part in God’s purpose for our family. I wish so many times that other parents could realize the huge blessings available to them if they wouldn’t limit their family to just the 1 girl & 1 boy, or whatever their idea of a perfect family size is. We may not get to do all that smaller families do, but for us we don’t need to.

Thanks again for the reminder of just how blessed I am to live in this really full, really loud & amazingly exciting house. I like to tell people that God has a great sense of humor by giving someone like me 10 kids. Proof that he knows me better than I know myself!

Dana – mom of 10