Book Review and Super Bowl Fun

The Duggars: 20 and Counting

I have been watching the Duggars on TLC in their show 17 Kids and Counting (watch it Tuesdays at 9), which will soon be 18 Kids and Counting, as they just had their 18th child in December.

The intro of the show starts off with Michelle, the mother, introducing her family and explaining some of the ways their family operates. During this intro, I always try to remember each child's name and wonder at how many people watch this program for the entertainment of watching some kind of freak show.

Freak show. Michelle has given birth to 18 children. The kids never watch TV, just some educational videos. The kids are home schooled. The girls wear skirts and the boys wear collared shirts. And the intro shows the family standing in a circle, holding hands and praying. Weird!

Weird? It should be more shocking to us to watch the more common TV family dynamics of a dominating, high strung wife and a dopey, overweight and slothful father with the more popular parenting beliefs of "Let children make mistakes, (which is true in some circumstances, but for goodness sake!)" and where struggles with major addictions such as pornography, alcohol and drugs are not only accepted but expected. "It's something all kids/marriages go through."

No, it's not.

There aren't many things that, if I had the conviction and self-control, I wouldn't like to copy from the Duggar family. And now that I have read their book, I am even more convicted. This book reminded me of our commitment to pay off our debts and not accumulate more. It convicted me of my impatience with Maryn, John, the children I babysit, and others. It made me really think about home schooling and that, it would actually be more awkward to send my children away for 7 hours per day than it would to spend some extra time, money and make a few sacrifices to teach my own children and hold them to God's standards, under my authority, instead of to the State's standards and under the authority of people I wouldn't trust to take care of my cat. And be exposed to the disrespect, attitudes, language...of children such as those living in our neighborhood.

When you watch the show, you start to ask yourself questions, like, "Should children really be sheltered that way?" But if you watch it and you read the book, you quickly realize these kids aren't sheltered, and they're probably going to turn out quite well.

Anyway, get the book ASAP. You'll find useful, practical recipes, organization tips and things like that. You'll learn why the Duggars decided not to use birth control after a miscarriage, about Jim Bob's experiences with politics, some truly incredible, inspiring stories about how God has blessed them in times of trial. And how their faithfulness, prayers and patience have "paid" off in a variety of ways.

Super Bowl Fun

Maryn finally got to spend some time with her BFF London while not in a stroller or nursing in the "nursing room" at church. They loved each other. We tried to capture the cutest moments, such as when London was sucking on Maryn's thumb and when Maryn wanted to have her bunny-feet in London's face, but our cameras weren't fast enough. But it was adorable.