My name is Libby, and I created this blog to share my thoughts about whatever is going through my mind that day. I am complicated and have many sides. I am married, with a dog and two cats. We live in Baltimore, Maryland. This first post will be about my thoughts on the quiverfull movement, and my own "infertility".
I have always admired the "quiverfull" movement, which is a movement based on the beliefs that God will choose when and how many children to give you. Members do not use birth control, and do not actively try or resist having children. They believe that God will give you the number of children that is exactly right for you. A popular quiverfull family would be the Duggars, who have the TV show 19 Kids and Counting on TLC.
Dave and I decided, when we got married, that we wouldn't actively try for a baby nor would we prevent it. We just decided to let nature take its course. We are not a "quiverfull" family, but we follow some of the basic beliefs. I think birth control is unnatural and can do devastating things to the female body.
Well, we have been married for over two years, and we have not gotten pregnant. Dave and I do not believe in using fertility treatments. We have heard too many horror stories of multiple births, and feel it is unnatural. If my body isn't getting pregnant, there must be a reason that only it knows best. I did get an ultrasound, and nothing is wrong. no PCOS, no blocked tubes, everything normal. We therefore believe, that it is simply God's will that we do not get pregnant at this time.
When people talk of the "quiverfull" movement, they think of families with huge numbers of children. However they do not think of the couples who say no to fertility treatments and simply take peace in God's desire to withhold children from them. However we believe that there could be many reasons that God has chosen not to give us children:
First, I work with children. I am a preschool teacher and a nanny. Over the past two years, I have cared for and taught over 14 children. If I had gotten pregnant during this time, I would not have had the opportunities to care for and teach these children. I feel that I have touched the lives of more children through not being a mom than I would have if I were. I take great peace in the following scripture:
For it is written: Be glad, oh barren woman, who bears no children, break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband" Galatians 4:27
I have a husband, but I am barren. I know that I will reach far more children in my lifetime than a woman who bears children. And I know that this is God's will for me. I have pictures of all of the children that I have taught or cared for on my bookshelf, and as the numbers grow and grow, God's will for my life will become more and more evident. And I will praise Him.
