This morning I went into the hospital for a medical procedure.

“Who will be driving you home?”

Our 16 year old had brought me because they hadn’t mentioned someone 18 or older would need to sign the discharge paperwork, so he’d headed home.

“I don’t know. My son went to trade with one of his older brothers.”

The nurse seemed non-plussed, “How many children do you have?”

“Eight and they are all home! We are having a wonderful time. That’s why I don’t know who will come.”

Quite often when we share that we have eight children, folks at first feel sorry for me, though I soon disabuse them of that notion, then worry about the world, “But, what about overpopulation?” so I was delighted to see the topic of the Jeub Family’s blog post today, Global Problems Concerning Fertility. The Jeub Family blog is one of the very few that I have on rss feed and regularly read. It’s worth it.

My background is in the hard sciences, so I have been very interested to see how very far the popular conception of issues like global warming and overpopulation differs from the science available. Today the Jeubs link to and discuss a fascinating and timely article by Mark Steyn, Elizabeth’s Barrenness and Ours. If you have any concerns at all about whether you ought to listen to that still small voice encouraging you to welcome another child, you need to read this article! If you have ever asked a large family, “Well, what about overpopulation?” you need to read this article. If you think I’m crazy, you really need to read this article! 🙂

I love the sciences. One thing I have found, though, is that contrary to the post-modern constructivists, truth is not what the current community of scientists agree that it is. If it were, why did the new Ice Age we were threatened with in the 70s so readily morph into the Global Warming of the 2000s? Instead scientists “see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.” Our tools are imperfect, as we are, so our science is only our best understanding of the moment. And our understanding of overpopulation is drastically misunderstood by the majority. Check out Overpopulation is a Myth for short, fun videos explaining the science. Unfortunately much of what we “understand” by listening to the mainstream media is more sensational than science.

How much more reliable is the Word of God that never changes? So, we read “the lack of  people is the downfall of a prince,” and we see it happening around us. We hear,

³ Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
⁵ Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

and believe it and act on it and see it proved true. God’s Word is like that.