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You know, I honestly thought it was poor taste to announce yet another of her pregnancies when her own daughter-in-law was working on her 1st. I remember thinking that she was sort of stealing Anna's thunder a bit.

I wonder how Anna felt about that, maybe like she's in competition with her mother-in-law. Although, Anna seems to be a very sweet girl so maybe it doesn't bother her.
Not being a competative person -- not even a little bit -- this wouldn't occur to me. I think it has a certain weird factor, perhaps even an ick factor (being pregnant along with your mother-in-law), but
competition wouldn't occur to me.
Do you think Michelle is competative? Does she like seeing her kid-count go up for its own sake?
I've heard both Anna & Josh say several times that if God wants to "bless" them with only 2-3 kids, that's just FINE.
I think that's a fairly common attitude for kids who come from large families. They KNOW the effort and sacrafices that go into large-scale parenting, and they've already "done their time".
In fact, I'm not too different. I'm the oldest of five (I know, I know -- it's not even in the same league, and I'm not unhappy about that!), and I chose to have only two. Two of my siblings have one apiece, the other two have none. So my parents have only FOUR grandchildren. Fewer grandchildren than children. This is not uncommon.
In my own case, it was about money. We grew up without anything, and it wasn't fun. We were each allowed two pair of shoes per year; if they wore out or if our feet grew -- too bad. We each got 3-4 pair of jeans at back-to-school time, and often by springtime they were tight /high waters. We had to wait for things like eye glasses. My husband and I have done well financially, and we have purposefully chosen to give our girls LESS than we could afford to give them . . . but they've never, ever had to wait for necessities.
I think I can speak for most Christians when I say we don't "spin" the circumstances in our lives to make them positive. Most of us do think everything happens to us for a reason. We just don't know right now what that reason is.
I know what he's getting at -- but I don't think he expressed it well. The Bible says, "All things work together for good for those who love the Lord." He means that we, with our limited insight, do not always
recognize that things happen for a greater good. Sometimes we look back and see that what appeared to be a setback was really a good thing for us (for example, I remember being
devestated when I didn't get into the grad school I wanted so badly . . . so I got a job and met my husband). And sometimes things happen TO US for the benefit of other people; perhaps to give them an opportunity to help us, perhaps to give us a chance to serve as a positive example. And often we just never know WHY things -- good or bad -- happen to us, but we're
supposed to trust that God has arranged our life circumstances in such a way that it's the best thing for us. Since
we have no choice but to take what comes, it doesn't matter on a practical plane, but it can change our attitude towards what happens to us.
Going out on a limb -- making a wild guess with absolutely nothing to substantiate it -- IF this child has ongoing medical problems or dies, it might be the turning point for Michelle. It might convince her that enough is enough, and that could save her life . . . allowing her to remain here healthy for her existing children. Imagine if she died in her 20th pregnancy, leaving behind multiple toddlers who still need lots of care and teenagers in need of guidance. Or perhaps it would serve as an example to other people (her own daughters and daughters-in-law?) that moderation is a good thing?