O' Baby

Hey Loves 

Feels so good to be back at the laptop; God knows it has taken a lot to get here.

Life has been so busy trying to settle in our newest edition to the family. 

On the 31st of July, we welcomed our 8th baby, which makes five girls and three boys. The girls are leading in number and ruling the roost.

I never imagined that I would be a mother of many, but as we know that God's plan will always be greater than ours, I shouldn't be surprised. 

I look around at my family though it can be overwhelming, I feel so blessed. They are my constant reminder that no matter how tough it can be, the blessing is grander than I could have imagined for myself. 

Over the years, as my family has grown, I have been asked a few questions regarding my choices to have more children.

• Are you going to have more children?
• How many children are you planning to have?
• Is this the last one?

or I am being told;

• No more children, yeah. 
• Do not have any more children. 
• You're spitting them out like smarties.
• You must walk in wisdom. 

When I consider wisdom I am always drawn back to the word of God, Knowledge is to gather the information, understanding is being able to comprehend or interpret it, and wisdom is knowing how to apply it. 

Many have shared their concern regarding my physical health and mental health. 

Yet, the most common has always been, "Do you plan on having any more children?"

A little while back, I never knew how to answer these questions honestly. I had not yet understood how I felt about having such a large family. Of course, I love being a mother and love my children immensely. However, I cannot ignore or deny it can be a difficult and stressful experience, especially when doing it in your strength. 

During my last pregnancy, something in me clicked, and I became very fed up and less patient with the questions and comments. Whereas I could laugh it off previously, this time around, it became less funny and not so tolerable.

I understand people's concerns; I also get that not everyone will get your process and the call on your life. Everyone will not like or respect your choices, but that's it; it's your choice!

I spent the entirety of my pregnancy and time in my recovery learning to be content with my process and purpose. For this to happen, I had a lot of conversations with myself, God and my husband. 

I also spent time in the word of God, as it's always good to have the word to back up your revelation, as well as doing research, not for anyone else at the time but more so for myself, so that I could be solid in my convictions. 

During this time of seeking understanding of God's word and will, I felt the need to share the revelation received as I sensed that many women have similar issues and concerns in their lives. 

I wanted to use this as an opportunity to answer all the questions and concerns regarding my many pregnancies. 

Firstly, it's the grace of God I was blessed with a second chance at life. I had four wonderful children in my first marriage. I longed even then for more children, but my late husband did not want more, so we agreed to settle with what we had; I was extremely grateful. 

As many of my readers know, I was widowed. I never believed I would get married again, let alone have more children. 

As you know from previous blogs, God opened the door and presented the opportunity for me to get married again. 

Before discussing the idea of more children, my husband made it his business to adopt my older four and gave them his last name, due to his own experiences, his goal was one family, one unit, one name, one agenda, The Royal Fords, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (1 Peter 2:9).

The talks of more children came to the surface; it just so happened that we both wanted a large family. When considering how many we wanted, his response was always, as many as the Lord will allow. 

I never understood what that meant; my responses were very different, I would consider what I thought to be a reasonable number, never really considering God in the matter and his will for my life, despite my daily prayer of "Thy will be done". 

In reflection, I had to repent very quickly, as all my adult life, I would give God control of the areas that made me comfortable; everything else I could handle. 

It's as though I ignored all the words spoken and prophecies given over my life; in acknowledgement of that, I should have known that I would have a big family. 

Big families are not for everyone and many have their opinion on the matter, and that's ok, as I do not live to please people, I fear God alone and that is how we all should live. Do not let the opinion of those living as they please cause you not to live your truth. 

When I consider my steps, it is in a manner that my family and I are at peace with, My husband agrees and our children are happy. 

Many get concerned that children in big families get lost or suffer. "The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow (Proverbs 10:22). When done God's way, these concerns will not apply. 

Many people, believers or unbelievers know the scripture (Genesis 9:7) "And as for you be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it." 

Though many consider the instruction to have numerous factors beyond populating the earth, it cannot be denied that the concept of multiplication and fruitfulness through reproduction was most certainly God's desire, though not isolated to this alone. 

Additional scriptures were brought to my attention such as; (Psalms 127:3-5) "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

I have read this verse before, yet it was only now that it was relevant to me, it had a whole new meaning, I felt a sense of pride looking over my tribe, knowing that each of them is a reward. What have I done that the Lord will be pleased enough to reward me?

Blessed is the man who has his quiver full of them, Makes you ask the question; what it is about children as to why they have been compared to arrows ( I guess that's for another blog to come). 

" The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock and abundant crops" (Deuteronomy 28:11),

The Bible is full of words that help to understand that having children are not something I should take for granted, they are a treasure in the eyes of God. 

Before receiving the revelation, I had my plan to protect myself from having more children, continuously ignoring that niggling frustration in the pit of my stomach, a feeling that felt too close to guilt, yet I could not fathom why?

I look back on my history of self-protection, and all failed me. I fell pregnant on the pill twice, the implant damn near ruined my sanity, the hormones caused me to gain an immense amount of weight, and I went through severe depression and nothing, not even counselling sessions made sense of what I was experiencing on the inside. To top it off, when I decided to remove the device from my arm, the nurse could not find it; she spent an hour digging a hole in my arm with no luck. My depression was so bad, I considered cutting it out myself. 

It would be another dreaded two weeks before I would be free from the bondage I created to escape God's blessings. 

Did I learn my lesson? No. I had not come to my revelation yet. Baby number 7, God told me not to go and get the coil, yet fear gripped me; I did it anyway. Only two weeks later to find out It caused me to have an infection, It had to come out immediately. 

Curiosity had me research what contraception I could use that would not offend my body with hormones and not offend God. 

Well, Surprise surprise there was nothing, I came across information that would change my entire perspective on contraception, have me in a state of repentance and officially surrender my entire will to God in exchange for his. 

There are debates that most if not all contraceptions are a form of an abortifacient. 

Most contraceptions are designed to avoid fertilisation, but that is never guaranteed, unfortunately, should a fertilised egg make it, the contraceptive is also designed to reject it. 

I am no science teacher lol, I'm just a woman trying to understand the call on my life. Please I encourage everyone reading my content to do your research, Even scripture and spiritual encouragement, please seek the truth for yourself, I never claim to know it all, or always be right.

I share my convictions, revelations and my truth, for those who God intends it to be for, I know it is not for everybody and that's ok.

This post is a sensitive topic and probably considered taboo, it is not meant to condemn anyone or make anyone feel bad for their choices or life decisions, this is simply and solely about me and me alone. my walk is not yours and yours is not mine. 

This post is to answer the continuous question regarding my choices, and as I have chosen to some degree to make parts of my life public, I thought it fair to address the matter. 

Based on my desire to walk in God's total will for my life, I opted not to play God with my body. I have also chosen not to use any foreign objects in my body. 

Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

We are all offered free will, God does not force his plan on anyone, nor does he force us to do anything. I have chosen to surrender and give up my free will, for his perfect will for me. 

God has proven time and time again that he has the power to give life or not. 

So my answer to everyone's question is God's will be done. He may bless us with more, he may not. We will all just have to wait and see, lol. 

I trust him regardless, as he has not failed me yet, and he never will. As he has promised in his word, he supplies and takes care of our every need.

I focus on his business and he takes care of mine, a great exchange.

I look forward to continuing this journey with those who care to ride this ride with me. Through this journey of trying to live out God's will entirely, it's not easy being so transparent, but I feel its important, as it's rare that we get a real-life view of the ups and downs, trials and tribulations that come with this walk, and so that those who are in silence do not feel alone but have a loud sister in christ who has answered the call to be open, exposed and honest. 

My life is not my own. 

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God (Acts 20:24).

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, I hope it encouraged whoever it needed to. 

Love to all x

 

Matthew 6:25-34

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Philippians 4:6-7

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Jeremiah 29:11

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.