Family...

Family-
I’ve always wanted a big family. I love movies like “Cheaper By the Dozen” and “Yours, Mine, and Ours”. I used to enjoy John and Kate + 8, but obviously that was not something I wanted to model my family after. Just the thought of have a brood of little youngsters, and even more, young adults that are close and support each other in all things makes me excited. Sure, in a proud kind of way, being the patriarch of hundreds of Grandkids is a cool thought also.
The definition of a big family varies from person to person. I’ve always wanted eight children. To me that’s a good size family. Farming families from only a generation ago would have a dozen or more. Obviously that was to reduce labor costs at the farm, but it’s still an awesome thought. Logistically when you are blessed with more than six kids you have to start thinking about buying busses, limousines, or helicopters and it can be a daunting thought.
Then there’s faith. Without 100% faith we are just showing our pride and ignorance to reality. It’s God’s decision to bless us with kids or not and it takes faith to trust that He will provide for you. When Angela and I pray for the guidance for the future of our family we are just asking for His plan to be revealed so we know which decisions to make. So when we were praying for God’s guidance on the future of our family we had open eyes. He answered quickly.
God has blessed us for a third time and in June we will be welcoming another Shiver baby. We are so thankful for this blessing and another opportunity to help mold another soldier for the kingdom of God. Boy or girl we will be thrilled to start the process again from the beginning. Angela and I often wonder how it is possible that we can love both of kids more and more each day. We didn’t know we had that much love in us. We want to be with them always and share everything we have with them. The amaze us and make us laugh constantly and now there is another one to show even more love too. Sure, there are things that are a little bit scary about going from two kids to three kids, but that is just lack of faith.
Being outnumbered in the kids to parents ratio, having three kids under four years old, feeding three kids, and putting three kids through college (who will all be in college at the same time, mind you) are just a few things to be scared about. The cost of college + inflation multiplied by 3 is a mind blowing number (rivaling our government’s debt), but God will provide where he sees fit and we will be happy with whatever He chooses for our family.
Needless to say, we are excited to see what God is doing in and through our family. If it were up to me we would keep having kids until we can’t anymore, but the only plan that matters is God’s. We are learning to trust Him fully and with everything and it will be awesome to see what He does.
We will keep you all updated on progress, gender, and name (maybe) of the baby as we know it. Thanks for reading and caring for our family. Praise God for another life in the Shiver family!