Following up on this thread and this, the Duggar family is now expecting baby no. 18, due on New Year's Day.

Happy Mother's Day: Woman pregnant with 18th child - Yahoo! News (May 9, 2008)

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Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor, The Matthew Poole Project

"On land, at sea, at home, abroad, / I smoke my pipe and worship God." -- J.S. Bach

I would not want the spotlight. Just sayin'.

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Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI


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I would not want 18 kids. Just sayin'.

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Aaron Josh Wright
Second Baptist Chruch, Humble Tx
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

I'm happy for her and their family. They are blessed. I have opinions that go both ways...however, some are based on speculation, some on knowledge, and either way, they all end up being my opinion which means nothing, zilch, nada.

Simply wish them well

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JC
URCNA
PA

That is what I like to hear. We need build families if we are ever going to exercise dominion on the earth.

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Daniel Ritchie
Saintfield, Northern Ireland - Queen's University, Belfast:History/Politics
Member of Dromara Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (Covenanter)
http://reformedcovenanter.wordpress.com/
The Regulative Principle of Worship: Explained and Applied (Xulon Press)
A Conquered Kingdom: Biblical Civil Government (Reformed Worldview Books)

I just got my George Bush refund check, I would like to have their version of it...

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Erick Bohndorf
http://qayaqtraveler.blogspot.com/
Jeremiah 23:16,17, "Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you."

May the Lord continue to bless them. We went shopping today with GW's check and took the four young ins, , can't imagine 18. God gives more grace as we need it.

Yet, there is no mistaken, "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate".
Psalms 127:3-5

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Paul W.
Ordained Pastor, SBC
Girard, Illinois

My blog: A Pilgrim's Ponderings Wife's blog: Grace in Bloom

They most likely won't be getting one...there is an income limit.

I went to their website and there was a photo of the family in Bible study. Did my heart good.

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Ivan Schoen, Pastor
Maranatha Baptist Church
Poplar Grove, Illinois USA
http://maranatha-sbc.org/
Husband to Nancy
Father to Sherril, Sarah, Kathryn
Grandfather to Phillip
Faith is the refusal to panic. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

It's not the number of children...some people can't even shop with one child! (I love shopping with my entire crew though )

Some trips are better than others, some have even been excellent with no problems whatsoever. To be honest, Beth and I want so badly to represent Christ well as a family in the stores together and make big families look good, welcome and desirable. Some days we get comments like"Wow, you guys do so well with four, I could never do that, how do you do it". Today, we got some looks that expressed, "I am so glad I do not have four kids" and, "there a reason I do not have children", these are not the looks we want and this is not how we want to portray Christ or big families.

If you got any pointers, feel free to share. Beth was in tears today. BTW, how big is your crew if you do not mind my askin'.

I'll bet that the mother of soon-to-be-18-kids still cries each time she hears Baby's heartbeat for the first time, and each time she sees its first ultrasound image!

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Bethany W.
SBC
Girard, IL

My Blog

Pilgrim's Progeny;

I have three children and when they were younger we went to the grocery store..and I had told them they behave and we get out of there in a timely fashion we will go to Taco Bell and get lunch, if they didn't behave and it took longer..*I* would go to Taco Bell and get lunch and they would go home and have PBJ sandwiches..they didn't believe me..they started acting up..when we left the store..I went to taco Bell bought ME lunch to go, and took them home and made them PBJ's...they were NOT happy little campers..but when we went to the store after that..they behaved..at least the older two did..

With my son, I have been known to put everything back on the shelves and take him home..once he asked "Why are we leaving, you didn't buy any food?" I said, "well, I told you, you act up, I am leaving without buying anything, you apparently didn't believe me." Didn't have near as many problems with him after that either..and if he started acting up and seen me start putting things back he would be, "okay, I'm sorry" and start behaving.

If she does something like that, she can let you know whats going on, and she can tell your kids, that when you get home THEY can explain to daddy why there are no groceries for dinner tonight...(and if you can swing it, you can make them PBJ sandwiches and you can take your wife to get something fast food or whatever that you know your kids like as well).

Do you think something like that would work?? Or something you'd want to try with them?

but back to the topic, of the Duggars,

I think it's great..they had a show on TV we watched one night where they were traveling as a family, made me wonder how they could afford the trip to California (going to Disney and a few other places along the way, the Grand Canyon, with a plane ride over head) with all those kids..I know I can't afford it with three kids..

They met up w/ another large family and had lunch..all the kids helped out with the cooking and cleaning up afterwards...but it would certainly be stressful...

But the kids pretty much all wore handmade clothes, and hand-me-downs, did two or three loads of clothes every other day..but they worked together..

To me, with all those kids, reminded me of a family reunion with all my cousins..there were some 21 of us all together at once, but there were always more than two adults..

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Bobbi Clark
Covenant Member
Pinewood Pres. (PCA) Middleburg

When I kept Silent, My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. Psalm 32:3

Very true, Beth...and I'm sorry to hear about the tears; they come to all of us, trust me. When I only had 2 little ones and a newborn, I taught my older two to always hold my skirts with one hand and for my little girl to hold her own skirt with the other hand (to keep her from touching things and so I would always know where they are). I have seven children now and we have them pair up. At the moment, I wear the baby in a wrap and have the toddler in the shopping cart. My other children will pair up leaving 1 free (usually the oldest). We generally walk with Daddy in the front, children paired up walking behind him, and me with the buggy last. If I need to be up with my husband, then my oldest son takes over the shopping cart. This means though that I can see everything and gently make corrections as needed. It takes time and I believe has helped that we've consistently grocery shopped together as a family from little on with them.

LadyFlynt;

I think it helps that daddy is shopping with you, I wasn't that blessed when my children were younger..

BJClark and Lady Flynt, Thanks for the encouragement, even though it was a little I sure needed your kind words.