Enough Love To Go Around

When I first saw the cover of A Love that Multiplies: An Up-Close View of How They Make it Work, I have to admit that I had never heard of the Duggars (Michele and Jim Bob) Accuse me of living under a rock, but such was the case.

My first impression was what a wonderful couple to adopt all those lovely children and provide a safe and loving home for them. It didn't take long to learn they were (all nineteen of them) biological off springs. Then my thoughts, and for this I apologize to the Duggar parents.

I thought along these lines: how selfish of them to bring all those children into a world with such limited resources. I had these thoughts without the benefit of reading all the book.

The more I read, the more I thought how I must be, if not wrong, a little harsh on the family. As I read I found the family is a model for using and reusing the resources that the earth provides for us. The fact that this is probably necessary in this family is besides the point.

Same goes for helping out in the family. Everyone has a job to do and does it well. In fact, as they get older, it appears many of them will turn their expertise into life-long jobs that will support their families.

The family gets a lot of attention with the books, the television show and the numerous outlets (her and foreign) that film clips of the family, but they have not adopted the celebrity syndrome.

All the above information had a great deal to do with changing my mind, but in the end it was the love and care that each member had for each other that told me the Duggars were doing it right. The children are well versed in the arts and know how to make do.

How many children in this county are lacking this level of treatment we see with the Duggar family? I would hazard a guess that they are doing better than fifty percent of the general population.

Of course, we all couldn't (and wouldn't want to) do this, but the Duggars deserve our respect for rearing such a large number of well-behaved and stable children that no doubt will become productive citizens themselves.