THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING CHILDREN!       DO 688          5/78

         1. I THINK YOU KIDS KNOW I TRY TO BE MERCIFUL & EASY ON PEOPLE, & I almost spoil them, if anything. That's the thing that upsets me about the way that some of these kids & overburdened mothers are being treated.
         2. I mean to tell you, just from experience in handling goats, if there's any time the goats or sheep need the shepherd & need a lot of extra care it's when they're lambing.
         3. The lambs are the INCREASE of the flock! And they are, in a sense, your future labour force. They'll SOON begin bearing wool & meat & they are the INCREASE.
         4. And any Shepherd who kicks out a mother with three children on the road, just because he doesn't want to have to support them, is just plain daffy, out of his mind! It won't be very many months before all those little kids are going to be good witnesses & good litnessers & some of the best assets he's got!
         5. But it costs you something in the meantime. It costs you something to have little kids, & it takes a lot of tender loving care & feeding & so on.
         6. Just like the farmer when he wants to get a crop, he has to go out there & he has to plow & sow & fertilise & water. He does a whole lot of work that he doesn't get anything out of for a long time until harvest & marketing, & then he finally gets the payoff.
         7. I believe the local Home is able to handle those average few children.--If it has several children of various age groups, fine, then it merits an extra worker or two to help them take care of the extra children--but right in the Home! Right there!--Where the parents can constantly keep an eye on how well they're being taken care of!
         8. If the parents are busy & they've got a lot of other responsibilities & they can't be taking care of their own children all the time, they should have workers to help them, like we do.
         9. At home they're with their parents more & the parents get to SEE that they're cared for. The kids know that their parents love them even if they're busy & can't be with them all the time.
         10. I THINK EVERY INDIVIDUAL HOME IS ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR OWN CHILDREN. The parents who NEED to take more of an interest will be FORCED to, & the parents who WANT to have their children around to care for will be ABLE to.
         11. People with children are not exceptions. They're a major part of the Body & it's very few & far between that you find a couple who don't have children at all, it's almost impossible!
         12. Caring for children is part of your everyday life. Each Home has children, & everyone in the Home should know that they're expected to help out with the children while the parents do dishes or do other essential work.
         13. EVERY CHILD SHOULD BE A LITNESSER OR A LITNESSING ASSET. Have you ever noticed how the Gypsy women beg? I don't think I've ever seen a Gypsy woman begging yet without a babe in arms & two or three little children.
         14. I don't see why mothers can't also do some litnessing, & most mothers have proved very successful litnessers with their children, little extra assets.
         15. TAKE THE CHILDREN LITNESSING & PROVISIONING & USE THE CHILDREN! Train them up in the way they should go as a DISCIPLE, not as a SCHOOL product!
         16. OUR CHILDREN OUGHT TO FEEL LOVED BY EVERYBODY. And we ought to feel like they are all OUR children. I said this a long time ago, clear back at TSC: "Don't you talk about my kids & your kids, they're OUR kids!"
         17. I CONSIDER IT EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP SUPPORT THE CHILDREN. It should not only be the parents & childcare helpers alone who contribute to the children's support, but we need to spread the load out a little more.
         18. They're our children, & our system is responsible for their welfare. The Family is responsible for all its children. You say, "Well, I don't have any kids, so why should I pay for their support?"--Well, they're still your kids!
         19. They are the children of the Family, therefore the entire Family is responsible for them.--Not just those that happen to be their physical parents, because they are our coming generation.
         20. They are our population, they are our future citizens! Therefore we are all responsible for them & we should all contribute to their education & well-being, all of us!
         21. The kids are pulling their own weight, so as far as I'm concerned they're certainly worth it. They deserve our support simply because they are ALL of our children. They belong to all of us & they are our future.
         22. CHILDREN ARE ONE OF THE BIGGEST ASSETS YOU'VE GOT! My children practically put me in business, & yours can do the same for you if you train them right & if you get them out witnessing & litnessing. My KIDS finally were supporting ME!
         23. It wasn't long before my kids were out there doing better than I was & supporting ME: They don't have to be very old to do it. Don't tell me kids are a drawback or a liability! Look at Davidito: He helps me know there's a reason for living! PTL!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family