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Living the Rhodes Life

Our lifestyle isn't easy for everyone to understand.  Big families befuddle most people. Comments like.... Whoa! You sure have your hands full..... You know how babies are made, right??...... You sure you know what you are getting yourselves in to?--- these comments and more are showered on us daily.  Oh, and let us not forget the classic,  Five boys! Why didn't you adopt a girl??   We don't expect others to understand.  Everyone chooses their own path. We are not martyrs, we are not trying to save the world.  We are told by well meaning friends and family daily, that we "can't save the world." We know that.

I guess what is hard for us to understand is....why is it so hard to understand why we would do SOMETHING?  Just because you can't fix the planet by yourself, doesn't mean you shouldn't use less water, or recycle, right?  Just because I can't save every kid from a rotten life, doesn't mean I shouldn't do everything I can for these two particular kids.   Every time you volunteer to do something you are having a positive impact on something.  Every dollar you donate, or piece of trash you pick up, makes a difference.  This isn't me judging anyone else.  I respect that everyone operates within their own set of personal limitations and boundaries.  I just want the freedom to work within my own, without judgement.  I do not feel extravagant for having a large family, I adore having a large family.  I don't feel guilty because I couldn't buy my son a new BMW for his graduation, while I realize that would have made him happy-- I don't want to encourage him to need things like that to be happy.  While I love the idea of daughters, that wasn't God's plan for our family, and that is ok with me.



We work hard.  We love our children.  We give time to causes we care about.  We give money when we can. We trust that our children are learning what it is like to risk things for the sake of others or for the sake of a belief.  I know that every well meaning person who secretly or openly jokes about our lifestyle, is also doing their best to instill values in their own children.  Everyone is trying to live their best life.  Live and let live. Love each other. Come as you are. Be what you want to be.  No one needs to be on a pedestal nor do they need judgement.  Let's just all get along.  Is that enough cliche for today?  Peace out.

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