The average family at their evangelical church has 8.5 kids. Of course we know what causes it - we practice all the time." "That's always my favorite one when I'm pregnant," Kelly says. And they've gotten used to the comments from outsiders, such as, "Do you know what causes this?" "That's what his word says, so why we're trying to fiddle around and controlling ourselves, we need to stop doing that."Įighteen years and seven children later, the Swansons live on Jeff's dairy farm salary of less than $50,000 a year. God opens and closes the womb,' " Kelly says. "We just started thinking, 'God is sovereign over life and death. And Kelly says that she and Jeff decided that God knew how many children they could handle. "When we first got married, we actually didn't want children," Kelly's husband, Jeff Swanson, says.īut then the Swansons began to notice that the Bible was very high on big families.
The Swansons subscribe to the Quiverfull movement. The 40-year-old mom has seven children the youngest is 6 months. "At least I remembered your name," she says. But in listing their ages, Kelly gets Elisha's age wrong. If they didn't raise their own food, Kelly Swanson says, they'd spend $1,000 a month on groceries for her gaggle of growing children, including 15-year-old Josiah and 13-year-old Elisha. Her mother, Kelly, fries 3 pounds of sausage from the family's own pig and toasts a 12-inch loaf of homemade bread. While cooking a typical predawn breakfast in the Swanson household in Shelby, Mich., 10-year-old Lydia Swanson cracks a dozen eggs laid by the family chickens. Those in the Quiverfull movement shun birth control, believing that God will give them the right number of children.
CHILDREN LIKE ARROWS IN A QUIVER FULL
Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." The movement, called Quiverfull, is based on Psalm 127, which says, "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. "It's God's design it's beautiful."Īmong some conservative Christians, a movement is giving new meaning to the biblical mandate to "be fruitful and multiply." "Family has always been the foundation of church and society," Misty says. Misty and Seth Huckstead (seated) of Grand Rapids, Mich., have six children and another one on the way they plan to have as many children as possible.
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