Children are a blessing

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar believed children are a blessing and decided they would allow God to decide how many children they should have. Toward that end, they eliminated the use of contraceptives and Michelle delivered a child roughly every eighteen months of their marriage. The Duggars passed this philosophy down to at least one of their children. Their oldest son, Josh, included the promise to allow God to decide the number of children in his family as part of his wedding vows. The story opened with an acknowledgement from Michelle and Jim Bob. In that section, the couple thanked their children for being "a blessing from the Lord."

They went on to write that they were grateful because the children were "seeking God's will for your lives, working together and for being each other's best friends." Michelle admitted that there were times of trouble...