Maddy, who is 15, asked me last night what guerrilla meant. I asked if she had been reading my blog and she said, no, she was doing a report on Fidel Castro. But in case anyone needs a refresher on the meaning of guerrilla it is a form of warfare where a smaller group resists the government by using unconventional tactics and counting on stealth and surprise. In guerrilla warfare this has to do with killing people. In guerrilla parenting - as I've defined it - it has to do with raising a bigger army.
In 1989, Rick and Jan Hess wrote A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ (check out the reviews - but if you want to buy a copy, I have them for for $12 including shipping - email me). In a chapter called "Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner," they list the birth order/family size of U.S. presidents, noting that a third came from families with four or more (up to 13) kids.
More amazing, a partial list of Christian leaders:
St. Augustine - fourth of four
Henry Ward Beecher -- eighth
Dietrich Bonhoffer -- eighth
Oswald Chambers -- fourth of nine
Jonathan Edwards -- eleventh of eleven
Charles Finney -- seventh
Dwight Moody -- sixth of eight
Nate Saint -- seventh of eight
Corrie Ten Boom -- fifth
Sylvanus Crosby, Fanny's grandfather -- nineteenth of 19
John and Charles Wesley -- fourteenth and seventeenth of 19
Interesting, considering the frequent assumption that kids from big families are less intelligent or creative because their parents can't give them one-on-one -- which leads to my favorite list, Composers (also a partial list):
Bach -- eighth
Mozart -- last of seventh
Beethoven -- fifth
Schumann -- last of five
Wagner -- last of nine
Offenbach -- seventh of ten
I guess the point is that God may have great things in store for us if we trust him to receive his blessings. My later birth children include a National Merit Scholar and a couple of incredibly gifted singers. But regardless of gifts, I can't imagine life without each one of them.
Other resources:
Maddy, who is 15, asked me last night what guerrilla meant. I asked if she had been reading my blog and she said, no, she was doing a report on Fidel Castro. But in case anyone needs a refresher on the meaning of guerrilla it is a form of warfare where a smaller group resists the government by using unconventional tactics and counting on stealth and surprise. In guerrilla warfare this has to do with killing people. In guerrilla parenting - as I've defined it - it has to do with raising a bigger army.
In 1989, Rick and Jan Hess wrote A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ (check out the reviews - but if you want to buy a copy, I have them for for $12 including shipping - email me). In a chapter called "Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner," they list the birth order/family size of U.S. presidents, noting that a third came from families with four or more (up to 13) kids.
More amazing, a partial list of Christian leaders:
St. Augustine - fourth of four
Henry Ward Beecher -- eighth
Dietrich Bonhoffer -- eighth
Oswald Chambers -- fourth of nine
Jonathan Edwards -- eleventh of eleven
Charles Finney -- seventh
Dwight Moody -- sixth of eight
Nate Saint -- seventh of eight
Corrie Ten Boom -- fifth
Sylvanus Crosby, Fanny's grandfather -- nineteenth of 19
John and Charles Wesley -- fourteenth and seventeenth of 19
Interesting, considering the frequent assumption that kids from big families are less intelligent or creative because their parents can't give them one-on-one -- which leads to my favorite list, Composers (also a partial list):
Bach -- eighth
Mozart -- last of seventh
Beethoven -- fifth
Schumann -- last of five
Wagner -- last of nine
Offenbach -- seventh of ten
I guess the point is that God may have great things in store for us if we trust him to receive his blessings. My later birth children include a National Merit Scholar and a couple of incredibly gifted singers. But regardless of gifts, I can't imagine life without each one of them.
Other resources: