WHAT KIND OF CHILDREN?

I have read studies that say at the rate Christian's are producing children in our culture today, our religion will die out within so many generations (I can't remember the number). In contrast to that, Muslim is the #1 fastest growing religion. The reason their religion is growing so much is not because of evangelism but because they have an average of 6 children per family who are then going on to produce many more Muslims. The average "christian American" family has the same number of children as non-christian Americans, which is around 2. Why is this? Why don't we look different than our culture? The easiest and most obvious way to advance the kingdom of God is to produce godly offspring. If we as Christians will quit trying to control our every decision in life, including when and how many children we have, then God can use us for his glory. Isn't that what we are on this earth for? The first commandment (dubbed The Genesis Charge) the Lord gives us in the bible is, "Be fruitful and multiply, and replinish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Genesis 1:27-28 Why is it that we feel compelled to obey all of God's other commandments but overlook or ignore this one, the 1st one (study the bible to learn more about God's Laws of First and their importance)! This commandment does apply to each and every person who is married and follows the Lord. And we don't just have to accomplish this with blood offspring, there are many children who need a godly family to adopt them. So, are you doing your part to replinish the earth with godly offspring?

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By Nancy Campbell - Above Rubies

Malachi 2:15 RSV, "Has not the one God made and sustained for us the spirit of life? And what does he desire? Godly offspring. So take heed to yourselves and let none be faithless to the wife of his youth. For I hate divorce, says the Lord the God of Israel."

God reveals His heart about marriage in the above Scripture. He wants the wife and husband to be one. He wants them to be faithful to one another. He does not want them to be divorced. And He makes His reason for saying this very clear. The disruption of marriage tampers with the godly offspring. The thing that God looks for in marriage more than anything else is godly children. This is His heart's desire. He looks eagerly for the coming children. This is His plan for marriage.

It is the nature of God to want children in His image. And because we were made in the likeness and image of God, it is inherent in mankind to want to have children in our image. We long to see who they will be like. And yet we now live in a distorted age. Couples have been so brainwashed by humanist deception that they often refuse to have children, or at least limit how many they have. They live counter-culture to God's kingdom and to their own instinctive design. While they live to their own desires, God waits with patience to see children born in His image. Grandparents wait to continue the godly dynasty.

Each new precious baby is created in the image of God and He wants His image multiplied in the earth.

But even more challenging is that it is not just offspring that God looks for. No, it is godly offspring. The margin in my Bible says, "the seed of God." What kind of children are the seed of God? It is even more challenging again when we find that the Hebrew word is elohim. As you know, the name Elohim is one of the names of God, the first name that God introduces himself to us in Genesis 1:1. This is only one name of God and it occurs 2,570 times in the Bible.

Elohim is used 35 times in Genesis 1:1 to 2:4 revealing God's creative and governing power. He created this vast universe by His spoken word. Elohim is the one who brought "cosmos out of chaos, light out of darkness, habitation out of desolation, and life in His image." (Nathan Stone) Because we are created in His image, we also have the ability to create. God has put into our mouths the power of the spoken word. We can minister life or death by our tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) God wants us (and each new babe that is born) to create and speak for His kingdom and His glory. He wants the godly offspring to fill the earth with His words, His truth and His character.

Elohim also reveals God as a covenant keeping God. There are many Scriptures revealing this but here are a few.
Genesis 17:7, "I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God (Elohim) unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."

Genesis 9:15-17, "And I will remember my covenant... And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature..."

On Joseph's death bed he said, "God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." (Genesis 50:24)

When Solomon dedicated the temple he prayed, "There is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart." (1 Kings 8:23)

Elohim is a covenant-keeping God. He wants us to also manifest covenant keeping. This is how we reveal the image of Elohim. He wants each godly offspring to be a covenant-keeper. It is interesting that God talks about the godly seed coming forth in the context of a covenant keeping marriage. Malachi 2:14 RSV says, "The Lord was witness to the covenant between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant."

It is not having lots of children that will solve the world's problems. It is having godly children who will impact the nations for God. May God enable us to welcome the godly seed and train them to truly reveal the character of Elohim. There is no career that can come anywhere the enormity and power of this vision.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Oh God, please help me to be a faithful covenant-keeper and to train my children to be the same."

AFFIRMATION:

I have the awesome privilege to raise the "seed of God."

Birth Control and Natural Family Spacing

This may not be of interest to everyone out there but I ran across this post i wrote on another blog several years ago. This is kind of our "how we do things" story.

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"Children are a gift from the Lord. They are his reward... Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Psalm 127 3, 5a
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Here is my story of letting go of control in family size and spacing babies.




For most women out there the thought of not knowing when and how many children they will have is scary, or worse, having too many and too close together, is worse! We want to be "ready" and not surprised by His little blessings.





I have always said, since i was young, that i wanted 6 children and of course every one laughed, but i see now that the Lord was preparing me for what He had in store. After our 2nd child was born, I read "A Full Quiver" by Rick & Jan Hess and "Be Fruitful and Multiply" by Nancy Campbell (both of which i recommend and have to lend out if anyone is interested). These books lay out a Biblical approach to family size and spacing. I also read a secular book called "Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing" by Sheila Kippley and learned mainly what not to do, like use pacifiers and let your baby sleep through the night too early (by letting your baby be nourished and comforted through nursing on demand). The Lord really tugged at my heart to let go of trying to control when and how many children we would have. So, we decided to let go and just see what happened only using demand breastfeeding as a natural birth control.





Ok, so i thought, "here we go, I am going to have one baby right after another because everyone says breastfeeding does not work to space babies." I had given God control, but in my mind, doubted Him by assuming i would turn up pregnant any day. I went through countless pregnancy tests because i was just sure i was pregnant every few weeks.


FYI-I started my cycles back at 6 months of age after our 1st baby, but he used a pacifier, was on a schedule, and started solid foods at 4 months, which i know now, contributed to ovulating earlier. When he was 12 months, "we" decided we were ready to have another baby, which made them 21 months apart. Not that i would trade anything or that it won't happen again, but i had a really hard time adjusting to 2 babies that close together.


So back to my original story, months kept going by and i wasn't pregnant. I couldn't believe it! I thought God gave every woman who "let go" lots of babies one after the next. How foolish i was to assume God didn't know what was best for our family! He knows how much space needs to be in between each child and He won't give us more that we can handle or afford, because they are all his anyway. It's when we "control" things on our own, that we may make things harder for ourselves. My 2nd son was 19 months old when i finally had a cycle (by demand nursing this long most women will have 1-3 infertile cycles). The next cycle was fertile, and we got pregnant. So the spacing was 2 years and 4.5 months, far better than i could have "planned" to space them. And i have to say that adjusting to 3 children was by far easier, than having just one and then two.


God truly showed me how loving and caring He is about little old me and my family. He knows best! Only God knows how many more children we will have, but i hope it's lots. I can not imagine being "done" and never feeling a baby move inside me again or kissing and smelling a beautiful baby head, but whatever the Lord has in store, He will prepare us and provide. Children are truly a gift from God and will one day grow up to serve Him. How exciting to be part of that! How can I deny God my womb, when it isn't mine to begin with.





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Addition- After our 3rd child was born, our story was a little different. I began my cycles when she was around 13 months but did not conceive again until she was 19 months. How ever the Lord chooses to space our babies is His own will. In this case, i went a couple of months, got pregnant, then miscarried, went a few more months, then got pregnant again. The spacing was again around 2.5 years-perfect!

We have been blessed again, 1 year ago, with another baby girl. We now have 2 boys and 2 girls. Everyone tells us if they could choose what pattern to have their children in, this is how they would want it. Funny thing is, this was God's plan, not our own. We could never plan as well as He can!~

We still don't know when or how many children we will have. We just take life day-to-day and wait for the Lord.

ClickN' READ Phonics

The price right now is $29.99 through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op plus a $2.50 processing fee. This is a lifetime membership and can be used with every child you have, but only one at a time.

We have looked at this program before and done several lessons. My boys loved it, however, i couldn't justify spending another $60 on a phonics program. When i ran across this deal we signed up. Owen is very excited to get started on this soon.

Just thought i'd share my deal of the day with anyone interested!

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The Homeschool Buyers Co-op has launched a special offer for an online animated phonics program.
Go to http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/32973400/ for more information.

The Homeschool Buyers Co-op is pleased to present a special offer for a LIFETIME subscription for ClickN' READ Phonics, an award-winning, online, animated phonics program from ClickN' KIDS, Inc.!
Used by 1500+ schools & 1000's of homes in over 60 countries, ClickN Read Phonics starts kids learning to read immediately. This online beginning reading program, designed by nationally recognized research professor Dr. J. Ron Nelson, contains precisely sequenced, research based lessons that play like an animated computer game. Simple enough for children as young as 4 years old, but teaching the complete K-3rd grade standards based phonics curriculum; this program is for EVERYONE learning to read!
ClickN' READ Phonics's on-screen instructor speaks to your child exactly like an expert reading teacher would. ClickN' READ Phonics is for children who are learning to read English for the first time, those who are struggling with reading, children with learning disabilities, and even adults who are learning English as a second language. Best of all - it's designed for independent use!
ClickN' READ Phonics retails for $59.85 but by purchasing through the Co-op you save a bundle (scroll down for our current savings - the best price anywhere!). But hold on to your hat - this product is a LIFETIME Subscription AND it is fully transferable when you are done using it - with no extra fees!

Funny Quote from Owen

We have recently acquired 2 orphaned lambs and are bottle feeding them. The boy is named Levi because he looks like a Jewish Rabbi with a little white patch of fur on the top of his black head/body and the girl is named Clementine because she is just so cute(she is mixed black and white). I will have to post pictures sometime soon!

The boy lamb is already beginning to excersize his "maleness" much to my dismay, he is only 2 weeks old. However, upon viewing this act, Owen came to me and said, "Mommy it was so funny, the lambs were running a 6-legged race!"

Now how do you explain that one!

Christmas Letter

Here is our Christmas Letter for 2008 for those who did not get one in the mail.

Welcome to another installment of the Davis Family Christmas Letter for 2008. As always, we have lots to be thankful for and are so grateful for all of the Lord's blessings. The time has flown by extra fast this year as we have raced to keep up with children and the happenings of life. Here's the run down:

Cody is 7 1/2 and loves to build. Mostly he builds with Legos, but also boxes, blocks sometimes, Lincoln Logs, and anything he finds that can be wrangled into a structure of some sort. We definitely see architecture or construction in his future. He is a Wolf Cub Scout this year and loves to be outdoors. He is an excellent tree climber! He also loves to wrestle with his Daddy and Owen. Cody has such a sweet, gentle heart and is always so patient and caring towards his brother and sisters and others. We were blessed to see him choose to publicly profess faith in Christ through baptism this year.

Owen is 5 3/4 and loves animals. Mainly he loves horses, but any ol' animal will do. Some days he begs for a horse and other days he begs to go see Mr. Jason, a friend with a farm. He is a cowboy/farmer at heart! Back in September, we had an instant goat farm when some friends needed to evacuate for Hurricane Ike. Every time I looked for Owen, he was in the pen hugging on or just standing with the goats. He loved it! We recently let him bring home 2 little fish just to get satisfy his hunger for an animal. It's working so far! He also loves to cook and help me in the kitchen. Owen has a very strong will, but also a smile and hug that will melt your heart.

Claire is 3 1/4 and loves baby dolls. She spends large parts of her day rocking, wrapping, strolling, dressing, feeding, slinging, and singing to her babies. I love to watch her do this when she doesn’t see me. She is going to be a wonderful mama some day! She is my first child to enjoy arts and crafts. We already have big plans for future crafting and sewing projects and I can't wait. Claire has a sweet, servant's heart and is an amazing helper. She is always ready to jump in and get what ever is needed and goes above and beyond to help others. She is such a beautiful picture of the servant's heart that Jesus had and is always inspiring me, as this is an area I struggle in.

Kate is 11 months and is on turbo mode right now. She took her first step at 8 months, 3 weeks and was full blown walking at 10 months. She has so much to keep up with around here and doesn't want to miss out a bit. She just discovered climbing this week. More than once we have walked into the kitchen to find her up at the table dumping a cup or finger painting with unfinished dinner. She knows how to get up, but hasn't figured out the getting down part yet. Kate is such a wonderful baby. She has a mouthful of teeth when she smiles that is so cute and is very cuddly. She loves her brothers and sister best of all. It is so sweet to see her face light up when she sees them each morning. She is such a blessing to all of us and her presence is so peaceful to our family!

I am happily married to an amazing guy of almost 10 years (wow!) and absolutely love being a mama to my children. I feel so blessed to get to be home with my family all day and I love the everyday life challenges of homemaking and homeschooling. This past year I have enjoyed working on projects like sewing, canning, soap making, bread baking, candle making, crocheting, learning to play the guitar and piano, learning about essential oils, and organizing my home. To those who ask how I do it all, the answer is faith. I am nothing with out the Lord. He is my rock, comforter, shield, strength, deliverer, fortress, shelter, strong tower and many other things! Some days are challenging, but the Lord is always so faithful to give me the encouragement and support I need to be able to get through it. When I count it all joy, including the good, bad, ugly and even stinky, I find joy!

Kenneth has had his best year so far for his business. And funny enough, he has spent more time at home with us than any other year before. He has figured out that commercial wastewater jobs are the way to go. Although he may have to travel for days/weeks at a time to do these jobs, one or two a year are plenty and the pay out is so much higher than spending all his time going from one residential job to the next. He still does the smaller jobs in between, but the pressure to find lots of them is off. He is such a great husband, father, provider, and leader to me and our children. I find myself falling in love with him more and more than I ever thought was possible!

So that's it in a nutshell. We are still here in our little country home living our quiet, simple life for the Lord. You can keep up with our happenings on our blog at www.definitelydavis.blogspot.com. I have been better about posting more often so check it out from time to time for pictures and life goings on.

May you feel the hand of God upon your life in these uncertain times and learn to turn to Him in faith to supply you with all of your needs, emotionally and physically. May you never forget, "This is the day the Lord has made, Rejoice and be Glad in it!"

From our family to yours-
Grace and Peace,
The Davis'