Why Have Babies?

"Four is a good number, you're done, right?" This is a typical comment I get coupled with "What beautiful children you have!"  Well, these two comments don't really go together.  If my children are beautiful, why should I not want more of them?  Then, they would also say, "Wow, you have your hands full!"  Well, isn't better full than empty?

Candice Watters did an excellent job at answering the question of why have babies?  She writes:

 You may think your reasons for having babies are biblical, but if you're like me, you've absorbed a lot more culture and a lot less Bible than you realize.

Do you hope to have children? That's the question I've started asking the young married women God brings into my life. It's not as bold as the question Mary Morken asked me,^[1] but it gently opens the conversation about babies — enabling me to go, by God's grace, where most would say angels fear to tread.

Why press for information about such a personal decision? In part because I know how much I needed someone to ask me that question. Once married, Steve and I were on a path of delay. I also ask because we live in an age when there are a hundred reasons not to have babies and very little encouragement to have them; and because I'm convinced, from Scripture, that by God's design, babies are not only uniquely the work of marriage, but also a blessing from God. I want to encourage Christian couples not to miss the blessing.

What do women say when I ask? Their answers go something like this:

• "Oh, yes, we hope to have children someday."


• "We're focusing on our marriage right now."


• "We're saving for a house first."


• "We want to finish grad school before we start a family."


• "We want to pay off our loans before we conceive."

It's pretty much the same answer I gave Mary when she asked me about our plan for babies. I think that's one of the reasons I feel compelled to ask. We didn't really have a plan, but our non-plan of waiting till we reached some fuzzy financial goal was a plan of its own. Our plan was to delay. Fourteen and a half years and five pregnancies later, I know how in-the-now and incomplete our reasons were for putting off babies in our first year and a half of marriage. We thought we were being responsible, and because we deeply desired a family and were looking forward to having children someday, we assumed we were being biblical in our thinking. But we had absorbed a lot more of the culture around us than we realized.

We live in a world where people take great pains and lots of pills to prevent babies when they don't want them, and spare no expense to get them when they do. According to our culture, babies before you want them are an accident, mistake or crisis — a result of a birth control failure. And if you can't have them naturally when you decide you're ready, they're treated like a commodity you have a right to buy, as long as you can afford the price tag. Birth control is no longer a noun, something we use to prevent pregnancy; it's an adjective describing our whole culture. We live in a birth control culture, the key word being control.

Good Reasons to Ask the Question

Mary's question, "What makes you think you'll still be fertile when you decide you're ready to have babies?" jolted me because it offended my sense of control. I figured I knew best when I'd be ready to be a mom. Even though I wasn't on the pill, I was very much in the birth-control mindset. I thought this decision was up to Steve and me. We believed we were in control. Her question hit me like a bucket of ice water.

What if we're not in control? What if by saying no to children now, we miss our window of opportunity? What then? These questions raced through my mind, and later that day, they raced around our family room as we hashed them out with the Morkens. God used them to challenge our assumptions. Steve saved his best counter for last: "But, Dr. Morken, we can't afford them." Dr. Morken didn't waste time looking at our balance sheet or examining our checkbook. He knew we weren't paupers, but even that wasn't the issue. (He and Mary had a fraction of what we did when they got married and started their family, as have most human beings for all of recorded history). The point is that it's not about money. He went to the deeper issue: "Babies are wealth," he said. "Budget for everything but babies."

You can't measure the worth of a baby — a human being made in the image of God — with a spreadsheet or calculator the way you would material things, entertainment, travel or education. People have intrinsic value and worth that is unlike anything else in creation.

The truth is we weren't living on much of a budget, and we weren't really being intentional about getting out of debt. We just knew we liked our current life, our freedom to spend our double incomes the way we wanted to, to have maximum control over our schedules and time. Having a baby would certainly spin us out of control. But not like a car wreck. More like a Peter-walking-on-the-water-and-needing-to-keep-looking-at-Jesus-so-he-wouldn't-drown wreck. This would be bigger than us. And we knew it. We didn't want to lose control.

But we never had it to begin with. Ephesians 1:11 tells us, "In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will …" (emphasis added). Isaiah 46:9b-10 says, "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose…'" God is sovereign over what happens in our lives. Every bit of it.

The control we think we have is an illusion — something we realized once we started trying to get pregnant and it took longer than we imagined, and again after we had two babies, when we encountered secondary infertility. We really did think we'd be able to make babies if and when we were ready. We believed it was ultimately up to us. By God's grace and through the Morkens' challenge, however, we realized it wasn't. We stopped assuming our timeline was best; stopped basing our decision primarily on our comfort, ease and consumption patterns; and started asking God when He wanted us to start our family. We started seeking God's wisdom instead of the wisdom of men (Colossians 2:8). Scripture is sufficient for all of life — even the how, when and why of baby making (2 Timothy 3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:21).

Good Reasons to Have Babies

The world says babies are expensive, that they diminish your happiness, and that they limit your spontaneity. They are, they do, and they will — just like a whole host of other things (some worthwhile and some not) that you'll say yes to in your lifetime. Those negatives are not the whole story. And they're not reason enough to delay starting your family. Babies are wealth. They increase your joy, and any challenges they may bring are God's means for your sanctification.

Babies are God's blessing. God's first words to His newly created man and woman were a blessing but also a command, "Be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28). Children are a reward from God. "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward" (Psalm 127:3). The blessings God promised His chosen people in the Old Testament when they entered the land always included the fruit of the womb: babies (Deuteronomy 7:12-14).

Babies are part of God's good design. The only thing that was not good at creation was man being alone (Genesis 2:18). We were designed for community, fellowship and family. Sex and babies were part of the created order, and the procreative process was in place before sin entered the world. Having babies is part of the normal order of creation. Why?

God wants the earth to be full of people. Isaiah 45:18 says, "For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): 'I am the Lord, and there is no other.'" And how will all these babies come to know God and worship Him?

Married couples are called to make babies — disciples of Jesus Christ.^[2] All Christians are called to make disciples (Matthew 28:19), that is, spiritual children. But Christians who are married have the added calling — where God enables them — to make physical offspring (Malachi 2:15). Couples are called to be fruitful and faithful to raise children in the fear and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), to the praise of His great glory. And where will that glory be fully realized?

Heaven will be full of worshipers. Only people are made in God's image. Every baby born is an eternal being made in God's image, with the potential to praise Him. We know that one day the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9). Babies born and given hope through Christ are those people who will one day enter heaven. Where there will be "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" (Revelation 7:9-10).

The Bible is full of glorious motivation for having babies. Steve and I just weren't in the habit of studying those passages. We didn't even know about a lot of them until after we started researching for our book Start Your Family. It's not that we weren't reading the Bible. We were, but we were reading with an eye toward what we hoped to get out of it, rather than coming to it to learn what the Bible says about God. We are people of our age — influenced by the world around us that says you read the Bible for what you can get from it. God calls us to something different. Scripture tells us that we are responsible for studying God's Word, for hiding it in our hearts, for knowing what God commands and obeying Him.

You don't have to be married to answer the question, "Do you hope to have children?" It's helpful to start thinking about it now. Recognize where the desire for babies comes from. Then submit your desire to God, and let Him shape it to conform with His will, resisting the pressure around you to conform it to the pattern of the world. He'll change you in the process, making you more like Him. And that's one of the best things about His good gift of children: the way they point us to our Father.

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Baby-Led Introduction To Solids

This is a good article on starting babies on solid foods.  I don't like the idea of "baby-led" because it makes it seem like baby is in control.  But in reality, you are in control.  You decide when baby is ready to start and you decide, pick and choose baby's food.  Baby in control, in my experience and opinion, is dangerous.

**This post has been entered in “Works for me Wednesdays” at We are THAT Family!**

When it comes to solid food, all babies start eating it eventually. The typical wisdom (of late) has been to start baby on rice cereal at 4 – 6 months, the follow up with vegetables, then fruits, and later, dairy and meats. There have been different ideas through the years (including starting babies on rice cereal as early as 2 weeks old!), but one thing all these “plans” have in common are that babies are spoon-fed their early meals.

Not so in baby-led solids.

Baby-led solids is a relatively new idea. Babies are never fed from a spoon or offered any type of purees. They are also rarely offered grains as a first food, but instead are given ripe, raw fruits and vegetables, cheese, or even bits of meat. The food is placed on a tray in front of them, and the baby is encouraged to do what he will with it — play with it, smash it, lick it, and eat it. If he chooses not to eat, that’s okay.

Babies obviously have to be a bit older before they start solids for this to work. Most babies are more in the range of 6 to 8 months, and some are even older before they’ll actually eat anything this way. The idea is that if the baby refuses to eat at all, or refuses a particular food, he must not be ready for it. If he DOES choose to eat something, he must be ready for it and he clearly wants it. This gives the baby all the control over what and how much he eats. Since the baby has (hopefully) had demand-feeding up until now, he has always had control over how much he eats (and when), and he has self-regulated well. With baby-led solids, he can continue to self-regulate his eating.

We will be doing baby-led solids with Daniel. He is about 5.5 months at this time, so too young (although he does try to grab our food sometimes!). We’re hoping to hold off until 8 months. This is especially important to us because of the history of food allergies. We are hoping that he will not eat things that do not make him feel good (sometimes, kids with allergies will refuse all foods until they are over a year, or certain foods, because they seem to know it is not good for them).

So, WHY would anyone do this? And what should you feed first?

Kelly Mom has a good chart and FAQ on starting solids. She recommends no earlier than 6 months, and cautions that solids DO NOT REPLACE BREASTMILK (or formula)! Solids are only for tasting and experimenting until around age 1. (Side note: Kelly mom says that babies who start solids earlier and eat more of them tend to wean earlier, too. If you have already started your baby on solids before 6 months and s/he is eating a fair amount, and you had hoped to breastfeed for quite awhile yet, don’t worry! We started Bekah at 4 months and she ate a lot of solids, too, and she is still an avid nurser at 23 months. So, whatever “mistakes” you make, you can fix or overcome!)

La Leche League weighs in on baby-led solids, too (frequently called “baby led weaning;” I don’t like this term because it implies that you are putting the baby from breastmilk onto solids, and this shouldn’t be true — baby should continue to breastfeed while adding complementary foods).

It’s important to know how a baby’s gut develops. (Click the link for indepth information. It also thoroughly explains the “leaky gut syndrome” I mentioned in a previous post.) If a baby is exclusively breastfed from birth (no supplementation at all), his or her gut will close and begin to mature around 18 weeks. Solids should never be started earlier than this. In babies who are formula fed or who have been supplemented with formula on occasion, it takes even longer for the gut to mature. Using probiotics can help, although breastfeeding is best. The reason that solid foods can’t be started until the gut has closed and matured is that until this time, large, undigested proteins can get from the intestines into the bloodstream, where the body can begin to attack them as foreign invaders, creating an allergic reactions. When the gut is mature, proteins don’t pass into the bloodstream until fully digested, and therefore don’t create allergic reactions (this is why special formulas have pre-digested proteins or even basic amino acids, in an attempt to bypass this issue and cause no allergic reactions).

However, age isn’t the only thing to look for when starting solids. The calendar is a good start — as in, don’t start sooner than 6 months of age, unless advised for real medical reasons (a lot of doctors will say “sure, 4 months is fine!” but not have any particular reason why your child NEEDS solids so early; I would not consider this a medical reason). But also look for:

*Doubled birth weight
*Ability to sit unassisted
*Development of the “pincer grasp”
*Interest in food (watching you eat, grabbing your food)
*Loss of the tongue-thrust reflex

If your baby doesn’t have ALL of these, he’s not ready for solids. Solids, contrary to popular belief, will not help a babysleep through the night (there is controversy regarding babies with reflux, but my personal belief is that reflux is usually caused by allergies, or immature digestive system, and neither is fixed by feeding unnecessary food, or drugs). It is important to note that breastmilk contains 22 – 35 calories/ounce, and formula contains about 22 calories/ounce. Early solids will typically contain 5 – 10 calories/ounce, and should make up a very sparing part of the child’s diet. Put this way, it’s obvious that breastmilk is the fattiest and most filling food, and that solids will not “fill the child up” and help him/her to sleep longer.

Once a baby IS ready, though, here are some good first foods:

*Avocado
*Squash
*Sweet potatoes
*Chicken (cut in very tiny pieces, to avoid choking)
*Cooked apples (cut in very tiny pieces)
*Cooked pears
*Egg yolks (no whites)

You will notice that no type of grains are on this list. This is because grains are not good for young babies. The Weston A. Price Foundation recommends that no grains be introduced until around age 2 because babies have a very hard time digesting grains. They actually recommend that animal products (egg yolks, then liver, then other meats and butter) bebaby’s first foods, starting fruits and vegetables only after 10 months. Babies don’t handle “roughage” well as adults do, because they don’t produce much amylase, an enzyme required to digest grains and other roughage.

Introduce foods only one at a time, no more often than every three days. It can take awhile for reactions to show up, so iffoods are introduced too quickly, it can be hard to tell which is causing a reaction. In children with a family history of allergies (especially siblings), waiting a week between new foods is a good idea. Reactions may include the following:

*Diarrhea
*Vomitting (especially projectile)
*Constipation
*Hives
*Trouble breathing/anaphylaxis
*Eczema
*Night waking
*Screaming
*Belly pain/upset/gas
*Cradle cap

Please be aware that eczema flare-ups ARE a sign of allergy and are NOT normal (Bekah’s eczema ONLY flares up when she’s eaten a food she’s allergic to, and her doctor has indicated this is a sign to watch for). Please also be aware that some of these symptoms can be a sign that the baby is simply not ready for the food and NOT an allergy, but it still means you must wait awhile before trying it agai
n. It is a good idea to introduce filtered water and a good probiotic at the same time as you introduce solids to hopefully minimize any reactions (per Bekah’s doctors).

A lot of babies experience severe constipation when rice cereal is introduced first — Bekah did. They actually cry and strain. This is not normal, and is a sign that their bodies are not ready to digest grains. Many parents are told this IS normal and are advised to give their babies juice, or worse, medical suppositories. The best answer is to stop feeding grains and start with other foods, or simply wait longer to feed foods at all. Remember: babies are NOT supposed to be getting a large portion of their calories from their food yet. They are only tasting and learning about new textures, experimenting.

When introducing a food, cut up a small bit of it into tiny pieces and place them on a highchair tray. Sit the baby in the highchair, and encourage him/her to play with, lick, and eat the food. If s/he is not interested, don’t push him/her to try it. Just wait a couple days and try again. Always watch your child carefully when s/he is eating, especially in the first few months. If the baby indicates s/he likes the food and wants more (baby sign is really great for this), or wants some help, go ahead and help. This is BABY LED, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help if the baby would like you to.

Once you have introduced several foods, you can start to put more than one on the tray at once, or serve some of the family’s meal to the baby (for example: egg yolks cooked with some meat). Introducing butter and coconut oil early on is a good idea, too, because both provide the needed saturated fat and cholesterol to the baby ( coconut oil is cholesterol-free but does contain the medium-chain fatty acids found, besides coconut, only in mother’s milk). The Weston A. Price Foundation has lots of good ideas on feeding babies (linked above).

In case you find this article a bit strange and lest you think I feel like I’m a “perfect parent” for doing things this way (as it’s been brought to my attention that sometimes I come off that way when I don’t mean to), let me tell you about my experience feeding Bekah. She was given formula supplements from birth to 6 weeks, then exclusively breastfed until 4 months. She was started on rice cereal just prior to reaching 18 weeks. I did this because she had stopped sleeping well at night at 3 months (although she was STILL only waking once per night, which, believe me, is a whole lot better than Daniel’s doing now at almost 5.5 months) and I felt like she needed “more” and it would help her sleep through the night (it didn’t. She only starting sleeping through the night “most of the time” at 22 months). Within a week we were trying pears, peas, bananas, apples, carrots, and various other foods. We didn’t wait more than 2 or 3 days in between foods, and I didn’t note any allergic reactions as such (horrible constipation from the rice cereal, followed by diarrhea and night waking from peas, which we now know she is allergic to). By 6 months I kind of was trying to hold back, but also sort of letting her eat “whatever.” I spoonfed her everything, and made purees for her. I usually fed her either a puree of fruit or vegetable (broccoli was another common one early on) for her meals, or I fed her over-cooked, mushy, cut up fruit or vegetables. When I didn’t have any around (I never bought any jars), I would feed her whatever was around — pastacoated in canned tomato soup, cream or cheese soups, even Taco Bell cheese roll-ups once or twice. I loved that she’d eat anything. At 8 months or so I’d give her “whatever” half the time, and sweet potatoes mixed with brown rice for dinner. That stopped at 11 months after she got the stomach flu and refused to eat it anymore. Right around her birthday, she stopped eating anything except apples, bananas, bread, cheese, and potatoes, when previously she’d eaten anything. Just after this we started discovering all her allergies…and since then we’ve been on a roller coaster ride of trying to heal her, get her to try new foods, etc. etc. She is FINALLY willing to at least try most foods now, and is sleeping through the night…most of the time (she is 23 months). There were months and months where we just had to feed her more applesauce, or another slice of bread, because she literally would not eat anything else. It was very frustrating. Anyway — we’re trying really hard to avoid that with Daniel, so I’ve done all this research on how we can do a better job feeding him so that (hopefully) it doesn’t happen again. Knock on wood.

How and when did you begin solids with your baby? What did you feed first? Has this post brought new ideas to you about infant feeding?

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How To Start Baby On Solid Food Safely

With the rise of food allergies on babies, it is important to understand why and how to introduce our babies to eating solid food?  Babies are started on solids far too early now days.  It was not so in past generations.  Some have even told me how they let their baby eat at three months.  This is one of the reason for many baby sicknesses and disorders like eczema, constipation, food allergy and digestive disorders and others.  Babies's stomachs are not developed enough to digest most foods until after one year old.  Even then, stomachs continue to mature so they can't fully digest many vegetables until 5 years old.  So, Mom, relax if your toddler doesn't like vegetables.  If he is over one year old, continue faithfully to offer cooked vegetables but never force them on your child.  You enjoy them as to encourage him to try them.  It will take about 15 tastes before they develop taste buds for it.  It is a battle not worth fighting in contention.

Ok, back to baby food.  Process foods have been outlawed in our home, at least by me.  The law is broken once in awhile though.  How could highly processed rice cereal be the first food I give my baby?  To be clear, babies don't need any other nutrient from solid food than breastmilk (or formula).   What you can do is introduce them to the concept of solids, different textures and tastes, and eating skills.  You can do this when baby seems ready, usually wanting to grab the food you are eating and when they have developed pincer fingering- picking up small objects.  Nothing should be given to babies before 6 months.  My ideal would be after one year.

My experiences:

My second daughter, Destiny, didn't eat until one year old.   She did great.  I didn't have to worry about food allergies.  She was ready, her stomach was moredeveloped and has been a healthy girl.



Danielle, my first one, tried out pureed carrots at 6 months.  She flared up with eczema in her face.  I stopped the food and kept her on breast milk.  After a year she resumed solid food with no problem.  She breastfed until she was 3 and a half years old.

Noah, however, would want to eat at 7 months.  That's when he showed signs of ready to start leaning to eat.  But I was so careless to let him grab pieces of bread.  This severely constipated him.  For two months he suffered from constipation.  I eliminated grains and only allowed him to try soluble fiber foods like fruit.  Drinking an herbal tea also helped him.  I had a hard time keeping him away from food.  To this point, this little boy loves to eat.  But since he was 9 months old, no more constipation.  After a year old, he was fine eating everything.  But I was always cautious on the bread.

Then Liberty here started taking food in at nine months.  At 8 months I would give her the carrot, celery, cucumber and apple sticks for her to grab and play with, not eat.  That is all they need when we sit at the table and they want to eat.  They will be content.  But at nine months, she wanted more.  So slowly I gave her some food.

Here is a list of good foods to start with:

Avocado

egg yolk (cooked, not the white)

blueberries

chicken stock

cooked vegetables

cooked apples, pear, peach

cheese

yogurt

Bananas can be constipating and create mucus, so I stay away from them until one year old.

Of course, you will introduce one at a time.  Remember, taste buds are being developed.  Try to keep the food simple without sugar and salt.

Overall, keep it simple.  Food introduction before 1 year is only for taste and learning how to eat, not for nutrition.  Breast milk is all they need at this time.  After a year, baby can eat pretty much everything.  But be cautious with anything that would upset him.  Keep vegetables cooked.

What are some ways you start your baby on solids?  What are some experiences you have had with your babies?

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Inhuman: Undercover in America's Late Term Abortion

As I cried through this video and was reminded again that today is National Day of Prayer, how dare we ask God's blessing on our nation?  Humiliation, repentance, from all of us also for allowing this infanticide all across the nation.  Please share and pray.  Women (and men) are destroying America.  May their eyes be open, may justice be brought to land.  The blood of millions of little ones cry out to the Lord, "when will our blood be avenged", I hear.  I really fear what will become of us if this isn't stopped.


It can be stopped, we must each do our part.  Sign the petition.

What are some ideas to bring more awareness to this?

 

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Knowing The Truth About Vaccines & What The Bible Has To Say

Extremely important for all parents to know.  I have seen the harm done to children after vaccines.  Close friends, who regret vaccinating their child because he withdrew into severe autism right after the vaccines visit, vow never to vaccinate this way again.  Even in my own children, I have see the huge difference with my eldest daughter who got all the first 6 months vaccines and my other three who have none.  She has a weaker immune system than her siblings.  I really regret it too.  And what about the torture these precious babies go through?  What a welcome to the world!  This is one thing that pierces my heart.  I can't see little ones suffer.  I saw the plea in the face of my little girl when I took her in for the last time.  I never went back.  In eight years, I have never visited a doctor.  Disclamer: I am not against Doctors.

My brother just informed me that they are giving the vaccines now in the womb.  Every pregnancy a mother has, as a routine, she gets vaccinated for the unborn baby to get the "immunity".

What the Bible has to say about Vaccines?

I am very thankful for people like Mary Tocco who educates parents about vaccines in a clear, deeper way.   Here are some Biblical reasons she states not to vaccinate:

Biblical Reasons Not to Vaccinate

Public law 97-280 passed by Congress of the United States of America declares the Bible to be the “Word of God” and directs citizens to “Study and apply the teachings of the Holy Scriptures”.

It is a fact that the vaccine manufactures and the abortion industry have been working together since the 1960’s using aborted baby tissue to develop vaccines on. This tissue is often referred to as Human Diploid Tissue in the literature. The vaccines currently being made with aborted baby tissue are the Hepatitis A, Measles Vaccine, (MMR) Rubella vaccine and some flu vaccines. Many other vaccines are contaminated with animal viruses that are foreign to the human body and can cause serious health problems.

The Bible teaches that the truthfulness of an issue is to be sought and should stand on no less than two or more witnesses. (Deuteronomy 19:15).

The following is the result of a study on biblical parental responsibility in regards to the practice of unclean, unsafe vaccines:

• A diligent study on vaccine safety and effectiveness reveals that there are many informed and qualified researchers and doctors who have found and teach that there are many serious health risks involved with vaccines. The Comprehensive Child Health Immunizations Act of 1993 made known the fact that there are risks to vaccinations by stating “Vaccine information should be simplified to ensure that parents understand the benefits and risks”. Congressional Records (2000 – 2003) have shown that the pharmaceutical companies are more concerned with profit than they are with safety and have knowingly used toxins in the manufacturing of vaccines regardless of the risks.

• The Bible teaches us that children are a gift from God (1 Timothy 5:8). Some vaccines are produced using aborted baby lung tissue, which is man and government profiting from the murder of our innocent children. To partake in vaccines is to support those individuals/government who no longer have respect for the sanctity of human life.

• The Bible teaches that the parents are entrusted with the care and welfare of the child. (1 Timothy 5:8). Parents, not the state, are responsible to make health care decisions on behalf of their children.

• The Bible also teaches that there have been times in history when evil government and government employees have attempted, through force or color of law, to intimidate, harm or destroy the children of God’s people. (Exodus 1 and 2 and Matthew 2). Therefore, if a parent feels that vaccines are not safe, it is their responsibility to defend our children from and individual or government who is attempting to subject our children to those vaccine risks.

• The Bible teaches that the body is “The temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) To inject known neurotoxins into our children or ourselves, which have known health risks, would be a violation of these biblical teachings.

• The Bible teaches that there are clean and unclean animals and that God’s people are not to put the unclean into their bodies. Many vaccines are made from the blood of diseased animals, decomposed animal parts and are not sterile.

• The Bible teaches that when man’s law contradicts God’s law, His people must obey God over man. (Acts 5:29). Therefore, be it known, should any policy, edict or legislation of man decree our children must be vaccinated, we must obey God rather than man just as Moses’ parents of old, we will do so without fear. (Exodus 2).

• The Bible teaches us that we are not to harm or wrong our neighbor. (Romans 13:10 and James 2:8) Our decision to decline vaccines does not wrong or threatens our neighbor. If vaccines were truly effective, the neighbor would not be in danger from someone who is not vaccinated.

Therefore, be it known, that based upon the teachings of the Holy Bible, it is our religious conviction not to have our children our ourselves vaccinated. We desire to be at peace with those who may feel or think differently than we do on this issue and that is why we humbly explain the choice we have made. We will protect our bodies and our children from the injection of neurotoxins, retroviruses and foreign animal proteins that are in vaccinations.

Are Vaccines Safe?

This is a thorough talk on the basics about vaccines that every parent having a baby needs to watch to make an informed choice about vaccinating their baby:

 

 

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Blessed Motherhood

Oh, Mothers of young children, I bow before you in reverence. Your work is most holy. You are fashioning the destinies of immortal souls. The powers folded up in the little ones that you hushed to sleep in your bosoms last night, are powers that shall exist forever. You are preparing them for their immortal destiny and influence. Be faithful. Take up your sacred burden reverently. Be sure that your life is sweet and clean.--JR Miller

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Liberty Joy's Birth Story

THE PREGNANCY:

Joy’s birth story begins during pregnancy.  The Lord has had our family in a state of total dependence to Him for our everyday needs.  That means that this time I didn’t know where help would come from for the birth.  Tricia, our last Providential help too was gone to Ohio and all other midwives would charge about $5,000 and we had no insurance to have a hospital birth either.  But we wouldn’t have a hospital birth anyway.  This prayer for help during the birth would not have been so concerning if I had easy previous birth experiences.  But, breaking the “bag of waters” had been a need and when to do that and how to do it with my super thick membranes and who would do it had me all concerned.  Thus, during the pregnancy almost everyday, I turned to the Lord with a deep cry from my heart because I knew He was stretching my faith to believe Him blindly on this birth, not knowing what would happen at all.  All I had was my worrisome past experience but also His faithfulness in providing in the last couple of weeks before Noah was born.  I decided to TRUST in His faithfulness again.  He drew me so close to Him during our communion every morning.  Reading and meditating through the Psalms on trusting Him was life changing.  My faith was strengthened; I didn’t doubt He would come through somehow.

Physically, around the 5^th month, I began to experience low back right side sciatica or pain.  I asked the Lord if I He would heal me or send me to a chiropractor for this.  The very next week, at church, my good friend Andrea decides to send me to her chiropractor, a very good one too, for as many visits as I need to.  It turns out that he tells me, “your pelvic bone is twisted. That is why your babies get stuck.  Your problem is fixable and it will be different this time.”  Well, I was so hopeful.  I knew the Lord had sent me to him.  The rest of the pregnancy was still the same, as far the nerves pinching, discomfort, sometimes not able to walk.  So I didn’t know how much the adjustments and exercises would help, but I kept faithfully at them.

In May, I had a dream that Jo caught my baby in the water.  Her and Jose were the only ones at the birth.  The incredible thing about this dream was that the baby came so quick that I didn’t even feel it.  With my eyes closed, I was still trying to push when Jo tells me to stop pushing because baby had been born.  Her name was Liberty Joy.  I woke up and felt, not that this dream would come true but that the Lord was reassuring me to trust, everything would be fine.

Finally, the Lord provided a midwife, a sister in the Lord, who was willing to help.  She greatly reduced her fee for us and our church decided to cover that whole fee for us.  I had also asked Jo for help and she graciously accepted.  But she would be very busy the whole week prior and the due date because she was teaching and would probably not be able to make it.

THE BIRTH:

This time contraction began about 3 weeks before as some spotting and low back pain that would stay on my back for some time.  I believe my cervix had begun to dilate.  As a result, I was slow and had greater discomfort getting around

On Sat. July 28, the due date, I began with contractions, but these felt the same as the rest I had been feeling, so I wasn’t sure they were birth contractions.  They continued mild through the day and by midnight I knew baby was coming soon.  Jose prepared the birth pool, called Jo and Melissa and Dorothy.  Dorothy would not be able to make it, our Doula.  Melissa thought I still had hours to go, since I had told her I labor long and Jo decided to come right away even though she had had a heavy week and very long day.

I started to bake a birthday cake at midnight through contractions when Jo arrived.  After we rested for about an hour or less.  Jose really wanted to get as much sleep as possible.  But I couldn’t stay in bed any longer, so I jumped in the pool and felt much better.  Jo joined us and we chatted for the next 3 hours or so.  I stayed in the pool the whole time managing the breathing through the contractions.  I noticed when my breathing started to change.  Jose called Melissa to better make her way over here but by that time she was caught up with another birthing mama who two weeks late.  A couple more transitional contractions and I felt my first pushing contraction.  I went to the bathroom to empty bladder and anything else I didn’t want in the pool.  While in the toilet a couple more pushing contractions came.  On the first push, THE BAG BROKE!!!  I couldn’t believe it! A miracle!  The Lord knew I had so much desired to have that feeling.  I quickly made my way to the pull because I knew what was coming.  In just a couple more pushing contractions I began to feel the “ring of fire”  I couldn’t believe it!  Already? I thought.  Well, yes, it was. In the next two pushes baby was born.  Jo positioned herself and caught the baby, lifter her up and placed her on my chest.  During this whole time, Jose is on the phone with Melissa, a total time of about 7 minutes.  At first Jose had announced “a boy” when Jo lifted the baby up because the umbilical cold hung through her legs.  It was about 10 minutes after that we realized it was our blessed Liberty Joy all this time.

What a joy!  My dream had come true almost to the detail.  She was born at 4:45 am.   Jose boiled our hair cutting scissors and cut the cord.  Melissa came at 8:30 am.  I was so relieved when she came because I had been straining myself trying to get the placenta out.  For almost 4 hours I couldn’t really relax and enjoy my baby.  But Melissa did it quick and easy.  Praise the Lord!

I looked up to God and I cried to Him saying, “how could I ever doubt You.  You have once again been so good to me and so merciful.  You crown me with your loving-kindness.  Your faithfulness has been displayed for the glory of your Name in every detail of my life.”

Amen.

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Fertility Reversal

I just met a couple who had a fertility reversal.  Like many others, they had been deceived by the world's culture but after learning of how God sees life and that children are a blessing, the husband had a reversal.  For those discouraged by the amount of funds you need to do this here is hope.  There is a wonderful ministry called www.blessedarrows.org .  This particular couple live in California.  But they found a doctor in Oaklahoma who did the operation for about $1500.

May the Lord prosper you and make you fruitful.

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Blessed Motherhood

"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is place in her bosom to be nursed and trained! 

Could she have but one glimpse in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into it's soul to see its possibilities could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no others hands the sacred and holy trust given to her."

JR Miller from his book The Family

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Care for your baby, Learn about Vaccines

Research that Vaccines are safe and have "saved the world" are simply biased and not true.
I really implore all mothers to really research and know all you can about every vaccine before deciding to vaccinate your little ones whom God has entrusted to YOU, not to doctors or vaccine companies whose sole purpose is to make money, dumb down people, and reduce population world wide. I highly recommend watching "Are Vaccines Safe?" DVD by Mary Tocco to get you started.

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Lactation Cookies

Recipe,  good for the whole family, even our guests like them, shhhhh, just don't tell what they are for.

1 C butter
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
4 T water
2 T flaxseed meal (no subs)
2 Lg eggs
1 t vanilla
2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
3 C Thick cut oats
1 C Chocolate chips
2 T Brewers Yeast (no substitutions)

Preheat oven at 375.

Mix 2 T of flaxseed meal and water, set aside 3-5 minutes.
Cream butter and sugar.
Add eggs.
Stir flaxseed mix into butter mix and add vanilla.
Beat until well blended.
Sift: dry ingredients, except oats and choc chips.
Add butter mix to dry ing.
Stir in the oats and then the choc chips.
Drop on parchmant paper on baking sheet.
Bake 8-12 minutes.

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Noah's Birth Story

Noah's birth was miraculous.   I experienced a strength that only God can give.  Labor began April 8th around 6 pm with mild contractions.  I was shopping and stopping in the middle of the isle for a contraction.  I was knocking things down from the bulk section but no one would of guess, "this lady is in labor!"

We hurried home to make dinner, put the girls to bed, put groceries away, do last  minute cleaning, laundry and bake a birthday cake!  Quickly labor progressed with more painful contractions and more back to back.  I never time them, I really haven't gotten the rythm of time.  I'll try next time.  At first I was worried that I was having back labor again.  My last two births were also back labor and both babies were born posterior.  I had done everything you can think of to try to turn the baby this time and try to avoid back labor again.  But God knows best.  This time I was able to manage and control this stage much better through relaxation.  My husband and Tricia, our good friend midwife, were with me all night.  We had great conversations all night about having a self-sustaining community.  I was not tired or sleepy  but I'm sure they were.   I was in the birth pool most of the time.  This is my second time having a water tub for labor and delivery and it is just great, especially when you're having back labor.  Well morning came and nothing.  I starting pushing contractions about 7 am April 9th, but nothing progressed.  I could feel baby's head but that was it.  After 6 hours of pushing, I prayed to the Lord not to let me end up in the hospital.  I admit the second stage of labor was hard because no matter what we tried, there was no progress.  Again, as with my two prior births, the bag of waters  was bulging.  It wouldn't let the baby's head come down.  It would go in and out, in and out.  I wanted Tricia to rupture the bag but she had hoped for no intervention.  Well, this is one of the reasons we didn't have unassisted birth because of our past experience.  Finally she did break the bag.  By this time I was and looked awfully drained.  My husband worried that I had no strength left to push this baby out.  Mostly, Tricia worried of the state of the baby, being in the birth canal for such a long time.  But baby kept strong.

Immediately after she ruptured the bag, I jumped into the pool because a huge contraction was coming.  Something got into me or came out of me that nothing would stop me in pushing so hard.  Tricia's and Jose's faces just expressed what they didn't want to happen at this point, for me to burst open, but PRAISE THE LORD! baby's head was born.  I rested for about 1 or 2 minutes and another huge contraction came and I pushed the rest of the baby out.  Wow!  I've never felt so relieved in my life, everyone else too.  I just held baby in the water and laughed of joy.  He was born five minutes after the water bag was broken at 1:22 pm.

Once again, how blessed we were for another healthy and very special birth.

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Be Fruitful and Multiply!

We like to call it "Unplanned Parenthood", not that children are not planned.  They are planned by the wisest and greater, Creator mind.  For God knew every child even before they are born.  He knows best what we need and when we need it.

Here are a few reasons why it's best to "Be Fruitful and Multiply".

1.  It is God’s original intent since Creation.  It has been His first commnad to man since it's creation.  Wow, how much time did God think they needed to get to know each other before having babies.  No need for that in an unfallen world.  As newlyweds embrace Christ like characters, babies are always a blessing.

2.  God’s Word has something to say about  abstinence for married couples:  after birth and during menstruation.

3.  Psalm 127: Blessed is the men whose quiver is full of them.  4.  Psalm 128: Blessed is the woman

5.  Deut. 28 :4  “I will bless the fruit of the womb”.  Children are a blessing period, not an inconvineance or a curse or expensive.....

6.  God's commnad of  "Be Fruitful and Multiply" is against the Eugenics movement presently mascaraded as "population control" or "birth control"

7.  These are the 10 commandments of the New Age:


The ten commandments are as follows:

• Maintain humanity under five hundred million in perpetual balance with nature


• Guide reproduction wisely, improving fitness and diversity


• Unite humanity with a living new language


• Rule passion, faith, tradition, and all things with tempered reason


• Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts


• Let all nations rule internally, resolving external disputes in a world court


• Avoid petty laws an useless officials


• Balance personal rights with social duties


• Prize truth, beauty, love...seeking harmony with the infinite


• Be not a cancer on earth...leave room for nature...

8.  Humanistic minds say: “Overpopulation is the world’s top environmental issue” ScienceDaily (Apr. 20, 2009)

9.  The Muslim culture that is not influenced by American Culture have a goal and a purpose.  Please watch:  http://www.youtubhttp://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=122103e.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU

10.  God desires godly multigenerational seed

11.  God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob… God thinks Generationally.

 

12.  Children are highly desired in the biblical Hebrew culture:  Rebekkah’s sisters bless her as she marries Isaac: “May your children be millions and nations, and may the possess the gates of their enemies” Gen 24: 60

13.  A Holy Purpose: A key for Multigenerational Blessing. Isaiah 58:12

14.   The Feminist movement has come against children so as to make women feel like children are a burden.

15. The Enemies of God who are against this holy command:

Karl Marx 1860’s

Charles Darwin 1860’s

Robert Owen 1830’s

Margaret Sanger 1860’s

John Dewey 1930’s

16.  The Pill is an abortoficient invented to reject God's blessings of children.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=122103

17.  We should pray to have several children and not limit God in how He wants to bless us.  We should aspire to see our children possess the gates of their enemies.  We should should study and prepare to raise them to be exemplary effective Christian warriors.  We should think ahead, not only to our children but to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  We must be passionately in love with our children.

Key FAQ’s:

1.  How can a couple enjoy a sexual relationship without the worry of getting pregnant?

This is the number one question we get.  The question itself is full of erroneous thinking and a western mindset.   Everytime a couple comes together they reflect the very image of God in becoming one and should submit the outcome of that union to God who is the one who opens and closes the womb and is Sovereign above all things.  And the consumation of Christ and His Bride in the coming Wedding of the Lamb of God.  This culture has perverted that which is only holy and created by God and has made it a sport of selfishness.

2.  Is it a sin to do family planning?

We're no one to sit in the seat of judgement for the salvation of your soul, but upon all the evidences listed above God's Word says that "if you know what's good and you don't do it, it's a sin (James 4:17). Why would anyone not want to get blessed?

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