Large Families

By Wendy Jeub | Family Life

6 Comments

Click to enlarge

This artwork says it all, in my opinion. I hope it blesses you today. Keep up the good work, moms!

About Wendy Jeub

Yes, Wendy Jeub has brought 16 children into the world, and loves each and every one of them. So much so, she'd welcome more!

rufus

the artwork looks like how the world sees children. but as we christians should see children as our blessings as how we nurture them as plants. when moses was a baby pharaoh tried to kill all male babies but the two midwives who saved many babies and god blessed them.but the problem is with christians they don’t see children as blessings but prefer money . i live in a muslim country thankful there is no abortion mills here. mother theresa said how can there be too many children?that is like saying there are too manyflowers’.let us be focused on god ‘s kingdom instead of the the world help orphans . families in america can adopt kids in the foster system where there are more than 100,000 kids. if all this kids are adopted there won’t kids in the foster system.
Lia

I really admire your desire to raise so many kids, but I don’t agree with your back view from the Bible. The verse in Psalms 127 used by many concludes “when they contend with their enemies”. King David wanted to have many arrows because he had many enemies. Jesus said Love your enemies. Second, King David had tons of wives, so he could have many arrows, and I don’t think Christians should have many wives. So kids are a blessing, but they are not our arrows against our enemies.
Besides that, the man God considered the most faithful man on earth in his time was Noah and he had 3 kids by the age of 500 years. Abraham had only one, as his wife was barren. Isaac had only 2, the twins. Jacob had 12 but with 4 different women. I think Leah had a maximum of 7 kids. And I heard somewhere that according to Jewish tradition the man would only approach his wife again after her labor when the baby had been weaned.
So, I find it interesting that in a modern age there is this movement of being natural by having lots of kids and yet only being able to achieve these many kids because of modern medicine. In the past, most babies did not survive the first years and the rate of maternal death was really high.
I don’t think that there is nothing wrong with having many kids, but there is something wrong in thinking that it is a commandment to Christians to have many kids. There is no such thing in the New Testament and we are all saved by grace, no more commandments to achieve a holier state.

Motherofmany13

It is not a commandment you must have a large family but it is put across in both old and new testaments that we trust God in all areas of our lives. I have no idea what it must be like to trust God and be barren but God does. In a world filled with people who want sex but no commitment nor children is becoming very common. I would not encourage an unsaved person to have more children but if asked I would encourage believers to trust God in this most important area of our lives.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1362549172 Sabrina Scheerer

First of all, I don’t know of anywhere in the Bible it says for a husband not to approach his wife until a baby is weened, that would sure be asking a lot! The Old Testament laws say 40 days for a boy and 80 for a girl I believe (I would have to double check those times but it wasn’t more than a few months) before the woman was considered “clean” and could resume marital relations. (Its also interesting to note that a woman was considered unclean during her cycle and for 7 days afterwards when she was to wash and make a sacrifice and then was considered clean for her husband to “approach” that would result in them coming together at almost the exact right time for a pregnancy to occur…so I don’t think God was trying to limit the number of children with these rules, seems more like He was encouraging them).

The Bible never gives any example of people limiting their children, those you mentioned naturally only had that many it wasn’t because they prevented it somehow.

The folks you are referring to who are “going natual” and having as many children as possible….for most the “goal” is not how many children you can have, its as the other poster mentioned, trusting God with that decision instead of trying to take things in your own hand and control it. I know people who would LOVE a big family but don’t have more than one or two due to circumstances not in their control. They have the same beliefs about leaving it to God but the outcome is different.

Its also important to educate yourself on how hormonal birth control works. Yes there are other ways to prevent a pregnancy but hormonal birth control can and sometimes does prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg. I (and many others) believe life begins with sperm meets egg and a new and unique person with its own DNA and soul is created, therefore I cannot and will not do or take anything whose purpose is to prevent that life from taking hold in my womb and developing to its full potential. Yes there are “natural” reasons an egg may not implant but that is not in my hands. I cannot in good conscience purposely do something that may have that outcome.

Almorr

I notice that there is a trend in some parts of the United States to “go natural” and this is not just Roman Catholics, a lot of other couples of Christian Denominations are doing just that. Apart from the Jeub family, I have come across many other couples who are having 6 or more children, there are 2 couples who have 19 children, and many others that have 10+. Interesting situation considering that most homes have only space for a small family of 1 or 2 children

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1362549172 Sabrina Scheerer

That depends on how you decide how much space is needed per child. Each child does not HAVE to have its own room….