Family and the Culture of Life

Growing up, I was always asked, “Are your parents Catholic?” due to the massive pack of siblings I went places with.  No, they aren’t Catholic.  “Oh, are they Mormon?”  Nope, you got even further away; I’ll give you another guess.  “… Are they Pentecostal?”  Wrong again.  I presume this last question came because I have five sisters and all six of us had fairly long hair.  But you see, my parents are “Christian,” other than that, they never put a label on their faith.

My parents are both firm believers in Christ and they each have a deep relationship with Him as well as with each other.  There was never a shortage of love between them; I suppose that’s why I am the second to youngest of nine children.  Each sibling has profoundly impacted my life.

Originally, my mom said she didn’t want any children when she got married.  She didn’t even like kids.  I count the blessings that would have never been if God gave her what she thought she wanted, there are nine of them. Every child is a blessing in some way. If God had given my mom what she thought she wanted, she would be missing out on nine blessings in her Life. Fortunately, God knows better than we do.  Yes, I consider myself a blessing.  Conceited, I know, but I included my other eight siblings as well.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, and God calls children gifts.  So many people don’t see them that way though.  So many people think my parents are crazy for having so many kids, and I don’t disagree that my parents are crazy, crazy awesome.  My mom is the most patient person I have ever met and my father is wise.  Both rely on God for their strength and accept His gifts as they come.  God chose to give them nine little bundles of joy (who then became toddlers, teenagers, and most are already adults).

And what if my parents had decided they only wanted to accept three of God’s child-gifts?  The world would have two children’s ministry leaders and a teacher, which is great.  But there would also be a void of two additional teachers, a soldier, a makeup artist and photographer, me, and a lovely young woman aspiring to work as a therapist.

Being Pro-Life is very important to me—I may not have ever been born if my parents weren’t Pro-Life.  While I must admit there were times when I selfishly wished I was an only child, I can’t imagine my life without any one of my siblings.  We’ve had our ups and downs like every family, but now we are closely knit.  If a cord of three strands is not easily broken, what about a cord of nine.  Try to break that!

Yes, we are that typical Christian, homeschooled family.  Sort of.  Okay, not really, but we were homeschooled through at least the eighth grade.  Yet, despite the common belief about homeschoolers, we still had tons of social interaction via sports, church, and neighbors.  Yes, we used to know and talk to our neighbors.  We even had conversations with them about our faith sometimes.  *Gasp.*

How many people on your street, block, or in your complex do you know?  I saw how much the world changed when I went back to my parents’ and realized I didn’t know if any of the neighbors I had known were still living in those houses.  I need to start reaching out to people again and meeting those who live all around me.  Maybe you do, too.

Spread the love.  Spread the Culture of Life.  The culture of death is certainly not scared when we sit back and do nothing.  Let’s spread the Culture of Life that will leave the culture of death terrified.  I had parents with nine children to teach me about being Pro-Life, but all you need is a neighbor, a parent, a sibling, or a friend to build the Culture of Life.  Where will you begin?

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