Pat Williams - Youve Got to Be Kidding!: Real-life parenting advise from a mom and dad of nineteen

Im a parent of six. At times it seemed impossible! But nineteen? Incredible! Yet through such an enormous responsibility comes life lessons for us all. Wow! I mean, oh my!

D ICK E NBERG , sports broadcaster

This is the most wonderful guide for raising happy, healthy, self-confident children ever written! It will transform you, your children, and your home.

B RIAN T RACY , motivational speaker and best-selling author

Youve Got to Be Kidding! is down to earth, full of biblical wisdom, and touches all the bases! Parents are in for a great read and will be greatly helped in raising their kids for God.

J IM C YMBALA , pastor, Brooklyn Tabernacle Church

This is more than a booklets call it an incredible guide for living, whether youre a parent or not. Thank you, Pat and Ruth, for setting this high standard for all of us.

C HRIS S CHENKEL , Hall of Fame sportscaster

Pat and Ruth Williams are real and relevant as they share the delightful pleasures and the painful realities of raising nineteen children from various cultures within their own blended family. With the application of Gods Word and prayer, they have magnificently and responsibly accepted all the challenges. Their story will enrich your own efforts through the marathons of life.

C YNTHIA S WINDOLL , president and CEO, Insight for Living

Y OUVE G OT TO B E K IDDING!
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
2375 Telstar Drive, Suite 160
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
A division of Random House, Inc.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org). Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Details in some anecdotes and stories have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved.

Copyright 2004 by Pat and Ruth Williams

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

W ATER B ROOK and its deer design logo are registered trademarks of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Williams, Pat, 1940
Youve got to be kidding! / Pat and Ruth Williams. 1st ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-55205-1
1. ParentingReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Williams, Ruth (Ruth E.) II. Title.
BV4529.W575 2004
248.845dc22
2003027713

v3.1

In memory of my parents and my role models, Margaret and Alton Ellzey: I love you and miss you. You were always there for me. You challenged me to reach beyond myself. You always had faith in me and encouraged me. You gave me the love and guidance that have provided me with the strength to fulfill my dreams. Thank you.

R. E. W.

To my mother and father, Jim and Ellen Williams, who invested in my life from the day I was born. They laid the foundation that has allowed me to live up to my full potential. I am indebted.

P. W.

R uth and I would like to acknowledge the support, guidance, and patience of the following people who helped make this book possible:

Special thanks go to Bob Vander Weide and John Weisbrod of the Orlando Magic family for allowing Pat the time to write his books. We are both so grateful.

We owe deep gratitude to Pats assistant, Diana Basch, for all she does for our family and us.

We would like to give a huge salute to four dependable associatesproofreader Ken Hussar; Hank Martens, formerly of the Orlando Magic mail/copy room; our ace-typist Fran Thomas; and former intern Doug Grassian.

We owe a special debt of gratitude to Macario (Angel) Garcia, our friend and house manager, who has made untold contributions to our family over the years. Angel, we couldnt have done it without you.

A hearty thanks is also due to Bruce Nygren and the wonderful staff at WaterBrook Press. Thank you for believing that we had something important to say and for providing the support and the forum to say it.

To our cohort in writing this book, Dave Wimbish: Thanks for your time, dedication, and perseverance. We got it done. Good job!

And, finally, special thanks and appreciation to our children. Whether they know it or not, each one of them contributed something very important to this book. They are truly the backbone of our lives and give us the inspiration to live each day to the fullest.

N owere not kidding!

We have nineteen children.

Thats right. Nineteen.

You should see mouths fall open and pupils dilate when we drop that bombshell on unsuspecting new acquaintances.

It happens every so often at a dinner party or other social gathering where weve just met someone for the first time. After weve chatted about the weather, the Orlando Magics latest game, our jobs, or current events, the conversation almost always gets around to children.

So how many children do you have?

We try to be as nonchalant as possible.

Nineteen.

Pardon me? I dont think I got that.

I said nineteen.

Youve got to be kidding!

Pat will often add, I have parented nonstop, day-by-day, for thirty-two straight years and gone to Little League baseball games for twenty-one years without a single year off!

At this point in the conversation, weve experienced a number of interesting reactions. Some people slap their ear with the palm of their hand as if there must be something wrong with their hearing. Others have sprayed us with a mouthful of whatever they happened to be drinking at the moment. But most people just say something like: Good heavens! Why?

The best answer we can give is, This is what God wanted for us.

Youre joking right?

Nope! Having nineteen children is no laughing matter.

Did you plan on having nineteen kids?

Of course not. Nobody would plan on having that many children!

Are you two crazy?

Crazy, no. Stressed and frazzled sometimes, you bet. Someone has said that having three or more children is like having a bowling alley in your brain. You can just imagine what things are like in our brains!

This is when the challenge comes: What are your childrens names?

The person who asks this question always has a look on his or her face that says, I bet you cant do it. But we canand usually without even stopping to try to remember whom weve left out!

There are Jimmy, Bobby, Karyn and Stephanie, Sarah, Andrea and Michael, Thomas, Stephen and David. Then theres Peter, Brian, Sammy, Gabriela and Katarina, followed by Daniela, Richard, Caroline and Alan. Thats a final scoreso farof eleven boys and eight girls!