Quiverfull


Quiverfull is a mindset more than a physical definition.  I am coming to understand this more and more as I read about it.  

Psalm 127:3 - 4
"Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man whose quiver is full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."


Genisis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."


A Quick definition: "Being quiver-full is accepting that the size of one's family is ideally not up to personal choice. It is the surrendering of our family size to the Lord. It is not striving or obsessing either on limiting pregnancy OR on causing it. In discussion of this issue I think it is important to move the focus away from the condemnation of birth control and towards the issue of increasing trust in Him to include control of the womb."


As Quiverfull author Rachel Scott writes in her 2004 movement book, "Birthing God's Mighty Warriors," "Children are our ammunition in the spiritual realm to whip the enemy! These special arrows were handcrafted by the warrior himself and were carefully fashioned to achieve the purpose of annihilating the enemy."

Quiverfull advocates Rick and Jan Hess, authors of 1990's "A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ," envision the worldly gains such a method could bring, if more Christians began producing "full quivers" of "arrows for the war": control of both houses of Congress, the "reclamation" of sinful cities like San Francisco and massive boycotts of companies that do not comply with conservative Christian mores. "If the body of Christ had been reproducing as we were designed to do," the Hesses write, "we would not be in the mess we are today."

Nancy Campbell, author of another movement book from 2003 called "Be Fruitful and Multiply," exhorts Christian women to do just that with promises of spiritual glory. "Oh what a vision," she writes, "to invade the earth with mighty sons and daughters who have been trained and prepared for God's divine purposes."

My Own Confessions:  I am in LOVE with this movement and agree wholheartedly that God is ultimately in control and I desire to turn over all aspects of my life to Him (including my womb) even when my human tendency is to attempt to take control.  As Justin and I have been contemplating the term Quiverful we realize that we have been in line with this movement from the get go.  Each child has been a blessing, each time we have done nothing to either prevent or promote conception (other than gettin' busy! which is obedience to God in itself) and we treasure each child as exactly placed by God into our family.  But, as I began reading about Quiverful by definition which I had not before had a term for it, I started to feel restless as if suddenly I would have a dozen children and the growth of our family would be out of control somehow.  I imagined it becomming far out of my ability to effectively mother, Satan told me I was unprepared and inadequate for such a calling.  To be honest, I still find myself a little frightened by the idea.  We had never said we would stop having children but we had also never said we wouldn't.  It has been many months now since first hearing the term for what I believe we already embraced.  But, something still holds me back.  I know it is FEAR and although I do not want to be FEARFUL I find that I must confess that I am.

I want to do what is right. I want to honor God with our family.  I want to be the mother He has designed for me to be to my children.  I recognize that when I am FEARFUL I am doubting characteristics about God that I know full well I ought not to doubt. God is the provider, the sustainer, the giver of life, and our rest.  I want to meditate upon that.

So pray with me as we continue to follow God's direction for our family.  And maybe you too will find Quiverful to be the path God has chosen for you!


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