Why All the Arrows??

Some of you that don't know me very well probably have wondered at some point or another why my husband and I have so many children. It is a question that we often have to answer since, by the world's standards, we have a few more children than the average family.
I have always wanted a big family. I remember playing with my sister, and we would "play" our life as we dreamed it would one day be. I always had 8 - 10 kids, named them all and even had a plan for a set of twins somewhere along the line!
I met Dave when we were both 15 and were married by the age of 19 after Dave joined the USAF. We moved to NC and within a couple of months were pregnant with our first child. She was, I must say, a little bit of a surprise, but very welcome! We were so excited! I was the first in my family to be married and this would be the first grandchild on either side. Everyone was ecstatic. Julia was born a month before our first anniversary, and by the time she was 4 months old, we were hoping for a second child.
God blessed us right away and ten days after Julia turned 1, James was born. Again, we were thrilled to have another child and marveled at the goodness of God in our lives.
When Jim was a few months old, we got the awful news that Dave would have to spend his final year of duty in Korea. This would be an unaccompanied tour which basically meant that he had to leave his family behind. Let me tell you, this rocked our world! Here we are with two children under two, we own a house in North Carolina, our families live in Maryland, and Dave has to leave for an entire year!
My parents were gracious and asked the kids and I to come and live with them while Dave was gone. We put our house on the market and packed our things and moved back to Maryland before Dave had to leave.
While Dave was gone, he missed Julia's 2nd birthday, Jim's first words, first steps and first birthday. We didn't get to talk on the phone very much, but there were a constant flow of e-mails back and forth between us.
This was a trying time to say the least, but we look back on it now and can see how God used this situation for His glory in both of our lives. The kids and I even got to spend 3 months in Korea! We were able to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas and celebrate with Dave on his birthday before having to come home. These are wonderful memories.
Dave was able to walk out of the USAF and into a wonderful job in which he is still employed today. Now that Dave had a good job and we had a place to live, we were ready for another child. Nine months after returning from Korea, we gave birth to our 3rd child. We named her Christiana.
Up until this time we had pretty much taken the "ordering of our children" into our own hands. While we have never liked the idea of birth control pills, there are other means out there to "control" pregnancies, and we felt free to use them. So whenever we felt ready for another child, we simply stopped using contraception.
Sometime after Christiana was born, however, God made us both aware of the fact that we were not trusting Him to order our lives. Sure, we trusted Him with our lives and trusted Him to provide for our needs, but we were not trusting Him to provide us with the blessings that He wanted to give us.
In the Bible, God makes it clear that He opens and closes the womb. Who then are we to try and "close" our wombs? The argument here might be, "If God wants me pregnant, then won't he just cause the contraception to not work?" I don' t think so. I think that when you say, "I am not ready to have a child, therefore I am going to take every precaution not to get pregnant," you are basically refusing the blessing that God wants to give you.
Let me ask you something. If someone were to offer you a check for any amount of money simply because they felt compelled to bless you in that way, would you refuse it? I don't think so! First of all, you would not like to offend them by refusing their gift, and secondly, who doesn't like to receive gifts from other people?
Well, I believe that children are a gift directly from the hand of God. In Psalm 127 it says that children are a blessing from the Lord. Who are we to refuse His blessings?
It also says in Psalm 127 that children are "like arrows in the hand of a warrior. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." We are all involved in a spiritual battle. What warrior would go out to battle without making sure he had as much ammunition (in this case, as many arrows) as he could carry?
I am not saying that everyone should have a dozen kids. Some of you may have a smaller "quiver" than others. I am simply saying that God has given us the opportunity to receive these "arrows" directly from His hand. How can we say no to this gift that He has offered us?
After realizing all these things, Dave and I have given this area completely over to the will of God, and rejoice with every new blessing He sees fit to give us. What an awesome responsibility He as entrusted us with! We are raising the next generation of warriors for Christ! May God grant us wisdom in doing so!
"Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them."
Psalm 127:3-5