Saturday 10 May 2008

Rewards of Athletism Around the Waist



Go ye into the world, multiply and fill it so the good scripture says. Religion mean different things to different people. The Duggar family parents from Arkansas Michelle and Jim Bob are on a birthing spree. Michelle, 41, and Jim, 42, have been married for the last 24 years and already have 17 natural children with number 18 coming soon. To this amazing couple they are simply following their evangelical Christian movement called Quiverful, which teaches that children are God’s blessing and that husbands and wives should happily welcome every child they are given.

Married in 1984 when they were just 17 and 19 respectively, Michelle and Jim Bob decided to pray for as many children as God would give them. Within a year, Michelle was pregnant with the first of their two sets of twins. What is more, the real estate agents parents claim their family is debt-free. Effective utilization of the ready labour helped build their 7,000-square-foot home in Tontitown. Psalms 123 verse 3 which proclaims that children are a heritage of the Lord is the motivation for the prolific and fertile Bob and Michelle. They simply let the Lord decide for them go athletic around the waist and plant. They are both so proud of their prowess so much so that they consider the choir natural gift. Michelle adds, “we would love more, and the power of the Lord took our faith to give us another one.”

Full house and still counting
The maths is just mind boggling. The Duggar crowd of 17 range in age from 20 years to 9 months. In the mix are 10 boys and seven girls. With two sets of twins, Michelle has gone through 15 pregnancies that ended in 13 natural deliveries and two Caesarean sections. Consider this Michelle has been pregnant for more than 11 years (135 months to be precise) with an average of 18 months between births. The family estimates it has used 90,000 diapers and launders 200 loads of clothes each month in a row of industrial-size washers and dryers.

The Duggar family consumes 5 loaves of bread each day. Their transportation is facilitated by nine vehicles including a 21-seater mini bus. On average all members of the family have combined to work approximately 39,000 hours on their home.

And we thought Africans have large families. Well, if only feeding this multitude would be as easy as the commensurate excitement from ecstasy during their manufacture. The Duggar school for kids would be handy for an African subsistence farming family but a headache at meal times. They would need tagging that threatens to exhaust all letters of the English alphabet.

9 comments:

Shiko-Msa said...

Ai Taabu let me digest this one over the night. I'll be back here first thing in the morning.

Shiko-Msa said...

Taabu I'm back. This family is lucky they have some money to live on. I'm trying to imagine if there was a similar family back home in the village. Or even in urban centers. They'd have to be working just for food and nothing else.

But on the positive side it must be fun growing up with so many brothers and sisters.

Mo said...

Wanjiku, it is fun! Believe me.

Had many siblings and half-siblings. Actually, we were more than this family. :D

Shiko-Msa said...

Mo Ma us we're 20 brothers and sisters. From 3 mothers lakini not one uuui!. It's fun I agree. When we were growing up our father used to shuffle us between the different mothers for boning purposes and it worked. We are all very close to date.

Infact I want to write my growing up story just for the memories.

Shiko-Msa said...

Ngai fafa Mo Ma/Taabu I meant bonding not boning. uuuui some of these typos Gosh! Soreee!

Taabu said...

Lucky you folks Mo Ma and Ciku. What a crowd. BTW Ciku you better borrow me and another to make complete 2 football team=22. No rigging please nor top up, just REAL PEOPLE.

Shiko-Msa said...

Taabu then you and Mo Ma are welcome to my family and we make 22. But some of us know zip about football. Except that David Beckham is Victoria's hubby. Lol.

Mo said...

Ha! Same here, 20 kids from 5 Queens & 1 King.

So much fun.

Taabu said...

I repeat you folks Ma and Ciku are a lucky lot. You come from true and traditional African famiolies where SHARING is instilled from infancy. Lucky you could manage the basics. Imagine the IRRESPONSIBLE villagers ATHLETIC around the waist on birthing spree oblivious of what to feed them on.

Now 20x2=40 and we only need goalkeepers to form 4 teams. I will make sure I recruit the right chaps and the best TWO TEAMs meet in the final. No matter what I will be in the final. Ciku no rigging nor top up please.

Taabu on Taboo