Netflix returned 19 Kids and Counting to their lineups, so of course, that means it went back to my instant queue and is what I watch before going to bed at night. When I first heard of the Duggars and watched them on the news and later watched their show, I was in awe. I didn’t understand how that family dynamic worked. I didn’t understand how they could afford to clothe, feed, and provide individual attention to each of their children. My thoughts could simply be summed up: I didn’t understand…
Until I became a mom…. Giving birth and experiencing your first child is just amazing, overwhelming, frustrating, and addicting!! We got pregnant with our second one–had to practice some restraint on that because we wanted one much sooner than we decided was responsible. When pregnant I had the same worries above that I thought about the Duggars. How could I love my second child as much as I love my first. Will we have the same connections? Will we afford the second child like we did the first?
The answers to some of these have been answered for me. Yes I love my second child as much as my first. We do not have the same connections, but I love the differences in my children. I love having different connections for different reasons. Did we afford the second child? Of course! Somehow we just make the time and room for another child. She actually needed less than having the first child.
The Duggars have it right. Children are a gift from God. They teach us so much about ourselves, who God is, and just how short our time here in on earth. They also model Christ’s love in their actions, reactions, behaviors, and so forth of their family. They’ve created a very tight knit family. They’ve created a dependency on God–not Mom, Dad, or siblings.
What does your family look like? Do you depend on outside sources for help with your family, or do you have a tight-knit closeness that your family depends on just the family? Is either way a good or bad thing?
Do your actions, reactions, and behaviors (to your children, spouse, others) model Christ’s love? How do we transition from selfish thoughts to outward and upward thoughts?
