WATCH CHILDREN ARE A BLESSING FOR FREE ONLINE NOW THROUGH MONDAY ONLY!

If you have never watched the documentary, Children are a Blessing, by the Moore family, now is the time to do it because you can watch if for FREE from now through the end of this weekend!

I will admit that some of my favorite parts from this movie are NOT from the video, but from the bonus features, so I would encourage you to get the DVD which is on sale right now for just $10!  You can get the DVD by clicking HERE! (affiliate link)

This is a really good documentary and it is encouraging in viewing children as a blessing!

You can watch this documentary from now until Monday at 10pm ET.  Click on the link below to watch the video and please remember to share by clicking on the Social Media options below this post.  This is an encouraging movie that all of your friends and family need to see.  Remember though, after Monday, you will no longer be able to watch it for FREE!


https://vimeo.com/39167938

Read More

Children Are a Blessing DVD Product Review

San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival Semi-Finalist 2010

(this post contains affiliate links)

Today I am going to review Children Are a Blessing by Moore Family Films.  I recently watched this documentary and it is wonderful!  If you were ever like me and wondered why people had so many children and what the Bible says about it, this is the DVD for you.  Even if you believe children are a blessing, this DVD offers wonderful encouragement!

This DVD tackles the tough questions that Christians and churches often will not talk about for fear of "offending someone."  I love the point that Shane makes in one of his interviews.  It's something often I have thought of, but he puts it in wonderful terms.  He basically says that we think we are "pro-life" when really we're just "anti-abortion" (paraphrased).  We don't believe in killing babies, but we're not standing up for life...we're just standing up against death.  Where do you stand on this issue?  I'm afraid that for much of my life I was just ignorantly "anti-abortion," not "pro-life" as I had claimed.

This DVD also tackles the Birth Control Pill.  So many of us Christians, myself included, have been deceived into thinking that taking the Birth Control Pill is the responsible thing to do; even by the church.  Yet, when we look at Scripture, we just can't justify it.  And certainly when we look at how the pill works, we can't condone its murdering of fertilized eggs (which are lives).

This documentary can be purchased for download, however, I encourage you to purchase the actual DVD.  There are some really great bonus features on the DVD that are not on the download...and I think the bonus features are just as great as the documentary itself!

One of my favorite parts of the DVD is one of the bonus features: The Children's Perspective.  Here you get to listen to the five oldest speak.  Not only are they well-spoken and far more mature than most of their peers, you can see their genuine gratefulness that each and every one of their siblings are here.  They are so grateful to their parents for not following the "norm."

As the family prepares for their newest edition, you will watch with encouragement seeing a family work together to bring glory to God.  As news of many Christian families being persecuted (more recently of the Christian Family in Texas), this film will encourage families to rise up and stand for life...not just against abortion....in a world that seems to look down upon them.

While our Country is having fewer and fewer children, Christians should be multiplying the earth with more and more children to serve and glorify our God.  Can you imagine what our world would be like if followers of Christ were in the majority?  Instead, we as Christians have fallen for the deception that we can't "afford" children or that it's not healthy for a mother to have many children or even that they are a burden.  Though society is telling us this, the Bible tells us something vastly different.  Will you listen to society or to the Word of God?  This film will encourage the family by reminding us why God designed the family the way He did.  It will encourage us in life...not in death.


If you love the Duggar Family, you'll love the Moore Family!  I highly encourage you to purchase this film!  It's wonderful for families, churches, and to pass along to friends!  I don't want to miss out on any children (a.k.a blessings) that God has for me and I am so glad that people like the Moore Family are standing out and helping to educate other brothers and sisters in Christ who maybe are being deceived as well!

Read More

We just made a VERY unpopular decision in our home!

This is a picture of my girls taken several months ago.

I have been putting off writing this post.  I actually don't like writing controversial topics, but I often write them because they're usually about topics that I once fell prey to:  thinking children are a burden, watching television, birth control, immodest dress...I could go on and on.  Thankfully, God has opened my eyes to these deceptions, and I am quite confident there will be more as I grow closer to God and see things that I try and justify now the way God sees it.  If you read my blog long enough, you will find posts about these issues and how God opened my eyes to my sin.  In most cases, I was just selfish and didn't want to see my sin, but there are a few to where I was just ignorant of the facts.  This is one of those situations.

Many of you know that I am very pro-life.  That is why I chose to have as many children as God wants me to have....whether it just be the two I have now or 10 more.  Even before I had accepted trusting God with opening and closing my womb, I got off of birth control after I found out that it killed a fertilized egg (since the Bible teaches life begins at conception)....I didn't want to have children at that point, at ALL.  But I am strongly against murder from conception, and I believe God is too.  Therefore, I left the birth control pill for good.

Well, a similar issue has come up, and in a place I would have never thought: my children's vaccinations.

I have always had my children vaccinated promptly.  My doctor even once reminded me that I didn't always have to bring my children in the day their wellness was due.  I can't help it.  I want to do what is best for my children.  I do not have the time, nor the smarts, to research about every single thing for my children.  Often, I have to trust the experts in some areas.

One of those fields I had chosen to do that was in the area of vaccinations.  Obviously, I did have some common sense on the issue.  Facts show that vaccinations (despite some documented severe risks to some children), do save lives.  History shows that if it weren't for vaccinations, we would likely have illnesses running rampant.  Despite serious risks to a small percentage of patients (that are at least documented by the drug companies), I felt like it would be an even greater risk to expose my children to potential illnesses that could take their lives.  I had always heard those arguments against vaccinations, but they seemed a little extreme to me.  I am all about doing things naturally and organically, and even though I only take a Tylenol about once a year, I don't think taking medicine every now and then will kill you.  I always looked at it as if one of my children must die...I would rather it to be from a vaccination that doctors told me that was safe rather than for my child to die from an illness that they contracted because I went against expert's orders.  I don't think I could live with that kind of guilt.

So are you kind of puzzled why my husband and I chose to stop vaccinating our children?  It's probably not what you think.  Basically, we found out that aborted fetal tissue is used to create many of these vaccinations.  I'm not going to get into all of the details about it.  You can do a quick engine search and see that this is true from both Christian and Non-Christian websites.  Trust me, I did a lot of research on this.  I didn't want it to be true.  I want my children to be protected from these illnesses, but not at the expense of an innocent child.  Oh sure, they claim that a baby would have been aborted anyways (as they supposedly choose the babies from those who were already going to have abortions).  But I don't want any part of those babies' blood upon my hands.  I don't want even their cell strain inside my children's arms.  It was just a no-brainer for my husband and me.

Now, I understand many Christian families will say that since we have no control over this issue that it's better that lives can be saved.  I am not judging other families' decisions.  That is not the purpose of this post.  Families have to decide what God would have them do for their children.  My purpose is to simply share our decision so that other families who have the same convictions as our family may be informed so they can make their decision with all of the facts.

My husband and I just feel as though that accepting the vaccinations against our personal convictions would be the same as us "saying" abortion is wrong, but condoning it with our actions.  That's how the devil works.  He knows that I may never go out and have an abortion, but he also knows that if put in a situation to where my children's lives could be at risk, it would be a tougher decision and I would probably try and justify it.  You see, the devil knows that killing a fertilized egg is the same as killing a 5 year old child.  He doesn't care that I won't go out and kill a 5 year old.  Age does not matter to him.  He doesn't care that I don't have the murder weapon in my hand, he just wants me to sit silent and ignore the fact that I could do something about it.

Take, for example the MMR shot (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella).  These shots used to be given individually.  But the drug company combined the shot.  Now, if you're giving your child their vaccinations, which are you going to choose?  Are you going to pick three shots or one?  Of course you'd pick one!  Who wants to make their children get three shots as opposed to one?!  So, eventually, they quit making the shots individually since they are no longer profitable.  You can now only get the MMR shot together.

Why does this matter?  Well it matters to our family because Measles and Mumps are made from animal tissue, but Rubella is made from a 3 month aborted baby.  So, if I want to protect my children in this Country from Measles and Mumps, I can't unless I go against my convictions.  What's frustrating is that there are moral ways to create these vaccines (some previously done in the U.S. and many done in other countries currently).

Here's a great link from Family Council on the matter of aborted fetal tissues and vaccines.

My husband and I are currently seeking alternatives for the vaccinations that contain cell strains from murdered babies.  But even if we never find it, we will trust God. 

About 40,000 people die in car crashes every year in the United States alone.  That's not counting how many are injured.  Yet most every day, I put my children in the car and take that risk...all to go visit my grandparents, to go to church, to buy groceries.   We takes risks everyday.  Certainly, I don't want to take any risks with my children's health or lives that are unnecessary, but I just personally feel that how these vaccinations are made are wrong.  Until they change their ingredients, our family can't support certain vaccines.

I've spoken with my doctor and done a lot of research before making such a large decision....but the evidence is there.  I can't ignore it.

I don't believe we'll ever find a cure for these diseases.  Where did these diseases come from?  They came directly from our (mankind) sin.  They are a consequence of our sin.  If we were to find cures for all of these diseases, and never have consequences for our sin, there would be no reason to turn to God.  But since God is a loving and merciful God, He chastises us and does whatever it takes to get our attention.

I know that someone getting a disease (say an unborn baby, perhaps) doesn't always mean it is their direct sin.  It may be the sin of their mother.  However, there must always be a consequence for sin.

The world, and even professing Christians, spend so much money on trying to stay alive and healthy.  I believe in treating your body as a temple, but I also know that we will all die one day.  We all want to die at the ripe old age of 100.  No one wants to die young.  But what if it is God's will for you to die young?  What if He wants to use a terrible disease to bring others closer to Him?

I'm not saying it's wrong to go to the doctor and try and cure your sickness.  What I am saying is that if you spend your entire life trying to stay alive, but you never fully live out God's will for your life on a daily basis, you might as well be dead.

I welcome comments from those who do not agree with me.  However, it is important to respect each other's decision.  Even a month ago when I was pro-vaccinations, Mark and I always previously supported a parent's right to vaccinate or not. 

Once again, my purpose in this post is not to stir up debate (unless it's healthy) or to divide Christians on this issue.  I just want to make sure that this information is out there.  It is up to you and your husband to pray and seek God on the issue.  May all decisions we make for our families be covered in prayer.

I will post a link to one of the sources I used in my research.  This source is a Christian family physician, and I like the way she put the information together the best.  You can easily see what vaccinations were made from aborted babies and which ones are not.

However, her information is no different from all of my other research.  The facts are the same no matter where you look.  The only difference in the articles I find are whether it is immoral or not.  I don't leave that up to the researchers or writers of these articles, I leave that up to the Spirit's conviction upon my heart and the Bible.  Just like the birth control issue...how the pill works is not debated...it's science.  But the debate is on whether a fertilized egg is a life or not (although it should not be a debate among Christians).  The same is true for vaccinations.  The facts are there.  It's simply an issue of whether you believe it is immoral to vaccinate your children with these ingredients or not.




Here is a copy of the PDF File you can download for more research:
http://www.epm.org/static/uploads/downloads/Vaccines_Using_Tissue_from_Aborted_Babies.pdf


Click here for a list of vaccine ingredients straight from the CDC's website.  


Take note of Human Albumin and WI-38 human diploid lung fibroblasts being used as well as other scary ingredients in your vaccines.  If you read the ingredient list and still take the shots, I respect your decisions.  But please, don't do as I did.  Always make informed decisions and know what it is you're are putting in your precious children's bodies.

I encourage you to write drug companies and let them know (whether you give your children the vaccines or not) that you want them to stop using innocent children's tissue for their vaccinations.

Read More

Why I Went From Wanting ZERO Babies to Having as Many as God Will Bless Me With!

 

 

If you had known me several years ago, you'd know that children were not in my picture!  I only have one older brother and I have never really had much experience with babies.  Although I enjoyed children, it was only in small increments of time, not allowing for too much responsibility.

I remember telling friends how I wanted a hysterectomy when I got married (of course no doctor would do a procedure on such a young girl with no children).  Sure, I knew God could change my heart on children, but I figured if He ever did down the road, I'd just adopt.  People couldn't believe I didn't want to experience having a child, but it was nowhere on my radar!

Most of this thought process stemmed from sin.  I was so selfish.  There were things in my life that I wanted to do and children would hinder me.  Children were a burden to me (although I would have never believed that thought at the time).  I mainly masked it with, "I couldn't afford children right now," but deep down, I knew if I wanted children bad enough, I could sacrifice a lot more.  I just wanted my current lifestyle to remain or increase...but I was not prepared to lose most of it for a baby.

Sure, the Bible does speak about children being a blessing.  But I guess I thought that only applied to others.  I was NOT motherly AT ALL!  I had only changed a couple of diapers in my life (which was during babysitting) and I did NOT want to go there again!

Let me insert an excerpt here from My Testimony:

"When you're dating, everyone can't stop asking you when you're going to get married.  Then, once you're married, everyone can't stop asking you when you're going to have children.  Well my response was, "NEVER!"  I didn't want kids.  Sure Mark always wanted one or two...maybe a boy to carry on his family name, but he has always been respectful to my feelings in this department.

Most of the kids I had been around seemed like "terrors"...yes I knew it was because of the way their parents raised them (or didn't raise them).  I had been around some good kids too, but honestly, I was selfish.  I wanted certain things in life, and I knew a kid would be a "burden" or a "hindrance" in me getting to those goals.  Sounds terrible, right?  Well, it was.  But that is exactly how I felt...primarily because that is how media and schools were teaching you.  Children were a burden.  So I adamantly did not want children or any other burdens in my life!

About a year and a half into our marriage, something intrigued me.  I can't remember exactly what it was (may have been the new Duggar show on TV), but it struck me.  I believe it was when they were talking about how after they miscarried, their doctor told them that it was likely due to their use of birth control.  This shocked me, and yet I wanted to know more.

I guess this stuck to me because years prior, I had this discussion with a family doctor I worked for.  He and I were on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but we often enjoyed debating in the break room about hot topics.  I enjoyed debating with him because he was knowledgeable and he would debate, not argue.  At the end of the day, we always agreed to disagree.  I still have a lot of respect for him.

One day, he told me that he couldn't understand how I was so pro-life and believed that life began at conception, yet that I felt birth control was okay.  I had no clue what he was talking about.  I was not sexually active, so I had honestly never even thought about birth control.  But I knew that about everyone I knew, including the women in my church, used it....so it must be okay, right?

I immediately went home to study this topic.  I usually always knew immediately my position on our debated topics, but this is something I had never even considered studying.  So I did your basic Yahoo Search for things like "Does birth control cause abortion,"  "Does birth control cause a miscarriage."  My results?  Well on the entire first page, at that time, everything I found said that birth control did NOT cause abortions or miscarriages.  So I kinda wrote the argument off, and I don't think it ever came up again.

So here I am, now married, and on birth control (which is funny that I even began taking a pill every day because it takes a lot to get me to even take a Tylenol), and this topic has come back up (like I said, probably from seeing a Duggar episode or something).  There had to be something to this.  I immediately had to go and do some more research.  This time when I did my search, I found out WHY all of those websites said birth control did not cause an abortion or a miscarriage:  those same sites don't believe life begins at conception!

When I did the research, I found that birth control actually thins the lining of the uterine wall, preventing the fertilized egg from attaching, thus killing it.  I was shocked!  All of those sites agreed how this birth control pill worked, but that they felt it was okay "because it was just a fertilized egg."  But in my book (as in the GOOD BOOK), that was a life!  Thus, that was an abortion!

I later found a book called "Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions," by Randy Alcorn.  You can get a condensation of the book for free by clicking here.

This book is actually very helpful.  It found all of the same information that I did, but he puts it in lamens terms.

I immediately got off the pill!  I didn't want to cause an abortion.  I continued my research, trying to justify a way to take the pill, but I couldn't!  Thus, I had to get off the pill.  But my heart hadn't changed about children.  I still didn't want them!  How was I going to keep from having them?!  I was unable to use condoms and such, so this became a huge scare that I could become pregnant!  I often didn't want to become intimate with my husband for fear of pregnancy.  This fear controlled my life!  It took about a year of prayer and my husband reminding me that God really will take care of us. (Don't you hate it when your husband is right, and you know it, but just don't want to admit it because it's hard?!)

But how could I let go?  I mean this wasn't just trusting God in the little things.  In fact, I had felt like I had always trusted God in most things...mainly because I never had to trust Him in something that was so big to me before.  I wanted to trust God, but I honestly felt like I knew what was best.  I knew people who had used things like the Rhythm Method, but they still had several kids, and I had no clue how I was going to keep from having even ONE!

Sounds crazy, right?  I finally realized, after about a year, how crazy I actually sounded.  We think it's crazy, those people out there who go to sperm donors and pick out their future child's dad, in hopes of having the perfect child.  They try to find a doctor or lawyer, someone who is good looking, all in hopes that their child will have the same qualities.  But honestly, I wasn't doing something that much different.  I wanted to determine how many kids, if any, I would have: when I would have them, where I would have them...and basically my entire life.  It was all about CONTROL (hence the name, 'birth control')!  I wasn't trusting God with my life, and it's a shame, because God has always shown me that He knows better for my life, even better than I know for myself.  I often heard people say things like, "God gave us common sense to use...that's why we shouldn't just have 10 kids!"  But if they're saying birth control is that common sense to use, well, I don't think God would approve of something that kills a life.  So that threw that argument out the window for me.  Others would say things like, "If we all had 15 kids, this world would be overpopulated."  They're right, but not everyone IS going to have 15 kids...the average family only has 2.1 children, so I'm pretty confident if a few thousand families out there want to have several children, we'll be alright.  Actually, overpopulation is a myth.  We are actually, UNDERPOPULATED!  If we keep this rate up, our economy will suffer according to history.

Therefore, we decided, that it was best to leave the amount of children we have up to God.  God says they are a blessing.  If He were to give us any other blessing in our lives: a new car, a million dollars, wonderful friends, etc., we wouldn't hesitate to receive His blessings.  We would be so thankful.  So if God says children are a blessing, why would I not want to receive them as a gift as well (it's because I didn't truly believe they were a blessing...I was actually calling God a liar in my heart).  So reluctantly, I began trying to trust God (my husband had been trusting Him in this area for awhile now), and not too long down the road, I got pregnant.

I had mixed emotions, I was scared to death, but I was so excited!  God had already shown us He was in control.  He allowed us to move home to my dad's home (which he didn't live in) for rent free, and my husband, about two months before becoming pregnant, received a job offer for a job making what he and I, currently, were both making!  This allowed us to either live a nicer life, or for me to stay at home!  We chose for us to have me staying at home and for us to make the same amount of money!  That way, if times ever got tough, I could still go to work.  If I was already working and times got tough, we wouldn't have a backup plan.  That has been the best decision for our family!

We see the fruits of me being able to stay at home with my children.  They have made me a better person.  I am learning patience, self-control, love, kindness, and so many other character qualities that have been lacking in my life.  Don't get me wrong, I still have a long way to go, but day by day, hour by hour, my children are making me a better person.  I love teaching them and playing with them!  Children really are a blessing!  I can't believe it!  I was so sure I didn't want them, but God really does know better for my life than I do myself!  I have learned my lesson after this one!  God's Word must always come before my fears or feelings!  He will guide me through and take care of me!  He is always right!!  And even though I like to pretend I'm always right, I know the truth!"


So that is my heart of having more children.  It's not a popular decision.  It is certainly not a decision I ever thought I would make.  But I realized early on in my life that following God would not be easy as it wasn't for Jesus. 

Click the link below to watch a 2 minute trailer on Children being a blessing!

I am not giving you this information to judge or condemn you and your decisions.  I am giving you this information because I wish it had been shared with me so long ago.  If you have already prayed about your decision in this area and have sought God's direction for your life, then you need to follow Him.  We will all be answering to Him one day for our decisions, not to one another. 

I encourage you all to comment below with your research and what God has laid upon your hearts.  However, let's be respectful to one another.  We may all choose different decisions, but ultimately, it is our decision to make.  Let's just encourage one another to have information for both sides of the issue so that we may make all of our decisions informed and covered in prayer.

Please remember to subscribe to my monthly newsletter by entering your e-mail address in the box in the top right hand corner of this page.  You can also share this article via Pinterest (by hovering your mouse over the picture above), or by other forms of social media by clicking the buttons just below this post.

Read More