My husband recently started a new job, but with starting a new job comes all the stress of being the “new” guy. My husband is a pretty resilient man, he just usually rolls with all the “cheap shots” geared towards the new guy. Well, when you have a large white 15 passenger van that you sometimes drive into work, you know the ridicule is going to be magnified. “Don’t you know how to stop that? or “Wow, really having 10 kids, that’s insane, if my wife wanted me to have that many, I’d divorce her.” or “You really want to go nowhere fast!”
sad….sad….sad…cheap shots made from the world.
One thing that I do know from living life is that when people are uninformed about something, they usually think its a bad idea. Just because they don’t know any better.
And most people are misinformed about large families.
My husband is a very wise man when it comes to speaking what he believes. After enduring some ridicule last week at his employment, he laughed them off and just went with all the “shots” and then he turned to one of the workers and said, “Do you love your child?” The guy kind of hesitated and stopped for a second and said, “Well, yes I love my child.” My husband then said to him, “If you can imagine that little amount of love that you have with your one child, I have that multiplied by 10! Why would I want to deny myself all of that love?” He said the guy kind of stopped in his tracks for a minute and then was quiet.
People in the world don’t realize why they do what they do. Most people are on this hamster wheel of life, that just keeps spinning around and around and around. With no real directions or destinations of getting anywhere in life.
They continue with life, doing what their parents did–get married, have 2.1 kids, what society has told them to do–goto college, find a job, work 9-5. It is a continuous wheel of never ending sameness. They don’t really get anywhere they just kind of “blend” into society.
Society doesn’t want you to go against the status quo—for fear of disrupting it or creating disharmony.
One of my husbands favorite quotes is this:
“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”
Henry David Thoreau
We want to live life to the fullest. Having a large family has filled our life so full of love that it is indescribable. Now is that for everyone? No, I don’t believe God has called everyone to have ten children. God has called US to have ten children and love them and bring them up as unto the Lord. We love our life, we love our crazyness, we love being together doing things together every moment that we can.
Most every weekend and night is spent doing this…
Children playing, being children. Isn’t this what life should be all about?
Letting our babies enjoy watching leaves float down the river. Enjoying the simpleness of life.
Whether you have a large family, or small family, or no family at all, get outside this fall and enjoy some of Gods natural beauty. Find a local park and start exploring. We have come across many beautiful scenic areas, just by visiting the different parks in our area. Pack a lunch or take a dinner, just enjoy being outside spending good quality family time. Be unplugged from the world get back to fun, talking, and knowing your children or spouse. Do things like you used to do before life got a hold of you?
So what are you going to do? Are you going to jump back on that hamster wheel, or step off and start enjoying life with your family?
Be simple, be basic, no big packing, no big fancy foods, just jump in the car, grab a diaper bag for little ones, some peanut butter sandwiches, apples, and water. That is all a person needs–simplicity. Go have fun, enjoy, live life the way that God has intended you to.
