HANNAH’S CHILDREN

Written by

HEATHER KING

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Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column begins:

Author Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, Harvard-trained economist and mother of eight, realized somewhere along the line that “in a two-child world, an eight-child choice begs for an explanation.” 

The result is a book called “Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth” (Regnery Gateway, $24.99). 

Pakaluk happens to be Catholic but she didn’t choose her family size because the Church decreed it. Our stance on abortion and birth control notwithstanding, as Pakaluk points out, “There’s no doctrine that it’s holier to end up with more kids.”

READ THE WHOLE PIECE HERE.

Comments

3 responses to “HANNAH’S CHILDREN”

  1. Angela Avatar
    Angela

    “…it’s holier” is something I’ve struggled with all my marriage and childbearing. (Granted, I got started at 39 for first one to take home?) However, it still feels like I missed out. God knows what He is about, but I haven’t shaken the thought that I was to be the mother of many had I started younger. I do have so much hope when I see families who have been blessed with lots of kids (more than five). I hope the world and church will come to embrace bigger families.

    Reply
    1. HEATHER KING Avatar
      HEATHER KING

      Yes, Angela…and to embrace life in general…thanks for commenting.

      Reply
  2. Susan Manus Avatar
    Susan Manus

    Excellent post on what sounds like an excellent book! I was one of those women who knew from my early teens that I wanted a large family, or even if I could only have a few kids at least live a life devoted to raising my children instead of a career like society was peddling. I love that quote from the book, “to delight in them as the Lord delights in us, that that thing, call it motherhood, call it childbearing, that that thing is the most worthwhile thing in the world — the most perfect thing I am capable of doing.” That sums up exactly how I feel, and yes I know it’s also a sacrifice and not an easy life. When I read about women who think like this, I feel like I have found my tribe. And yet…despite all my efforts and all my fasting and prayers God never brought me a husband to have this family. I am nearing 60 and still struggling to find God’s plan for my life, if it was never to be a mother.
    This is such a refreshing contrast to all the young people nowadays actually chosing to be childless! The smarter ones will realize when they are older and wiser (and unfortunately by then probably no longer able to have children) that a self absorbed life doesn’t even make yourself happy in the end. We must give of ourselves to receive anything good in life.

    Reply

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