Jim Bob Duggar - The Duggars: 20 and Counting!: Raising One of Americas Largest Families—How the

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Our purpose at Howard Books is to:

Increase faith in the hearts of growing Christians

Inspire holiness in the lives of believers

Instill hope in the hearts of struggling people everywhere

Because Hes coming again! Published by Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 www.howardpublishing.com www.SimonandSchuster.com

The Duggars: 20 and Counting! 2008 by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Howard Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

In association with Nunn Communications, Inc. literary agency.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Duggar, Michelle.
The Duggars : 20 and counting! : raising one of Americas largest familieshow they do it / Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. 1st Howard trade pbk. ed.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-8563-3 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 1-4165-8563-X (pbk.)
1. Duggar, MichelleFamily. 2. Duggar, Jim BobFamily.
3. FamilyUnited StatesCase studies. 4. Family sizeUnited StatesCase studies. 5. Child rearingUnited StatesCase studies.
6. Christian lifeUnited StatesCase studies. I. Duggar, Jim Bob.
II. Title.
HQ536.D86 2009
248.8450973--dc22

2008043706

ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-8563-3
ISBN-10: 1-4165-8563-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-43918-853-8 (eBook)

HOWARD and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Edited by Sue Ann Jones

Cover design by John Lucas

Interior design by Masterpeace Studiology

Photographs from family collections, with thanks to photographers and friends including Peter Query, Sara Quinett at Sara Jane Photography, Tim Porter, Bedford Camera, and Highlights Photography.

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version.

To our children, grandchildren,
great-grandchildren, and all the
generations to come.

Our vision, and our earnest prayer,
is that you will follow the Lord with your whole heart and life, and that you will strive to make a difference in the world for good. If what weve written here encourages you in that direction,
even long after were gone,
our greatest hope will have been fulfilled.

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord:
and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Psalm 127:3

Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar

Meet the Duggars

Before There Were Twenty, There Were Two

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
so are children of the youth. Happy is the man
that hath his quiver full of them.

PSALM 127:45

Its morning at the Duggar home, and today is a very special day for our big, busy family. Were going to Silver Dollar City, an 1880s-style amusement park in Branson, Missouri, which is a two-hour drive from our home in northwest Arkansas. Were hoping to be at the park by 9 a.m. so we can have a full day of riding the rides and enjoying the music shows. That means were up early, and the older children are helping us make sandwiches and pack our cooler with water bottles and snacks.

The younger ones are settling into their seats at our long dining table to have their cereal. If all goes well, well soon be loaded into our big van and rolling happily down the road just as soon as breakfast is finished.

Uh, Dad, I think youd better come out here, one of the big boys says, coming in from loading the cooler into the van.

I (Jim Bob) dont like the look on his face. This cant be good. What is it?

Well, last night when we were cleaning out the van for the trip, I guess someone left one of the windows down, and Milky Way [our cat] got in and... His voice drops to a whisper. She pooped in the van, and it smells awful .

Ooops! Sorrrrrr-y, one of the youngsters calls as his overturned cereal bowl empties its contents onto our extra-long dining table. The milk drips down to the floor through the crack where the two parts of the table join. He comes running into the kitchen, his shirt and pants soaked, just as another voice comes echoing down the hallway: Mom! We need you in here!

Uh-oh, I (Michelle) say, following the direction of the voice. It appears the cat wasnt the only one who hadnt made it to the litter boxor the bathroom.

By 9 a.m., our intended arrival time at Silver Dollar City, were still at home, but we have made progress. Now weve cleaned up the table, changed soaked and soiled clothing, cleaned up the cat mess, aired out the van, and sprayed it with odor stopper. If Justin can just find his shoes, we should be ready to go.

Wheres the last place you saw them? someone asks.

They were right there , he says, completely dumbfounded by how his sneakers just seemed to mysteriously disappear into thin air. He scurries off to look for them just as one of the other kids passes by and says casually, I think I saw his socks and shoes out by the trampoline last night.

Justin runs outside barefooted and finds his dew-soaked socks and shoes in the backyard. Someone is sent to the clothing room to find a dry pair of shoes, and for a moment, there is hope that we might actually get the van loaded and head out of the driveway.

But then one of the children comes running across the yard and trips over a toy, and oh dear, theres blood and lots of tears, and What do you think? Will he need stitches? Mom comforts the wounded, does a quick examination, and determines the injury needs only a Band-Aid and a kiss.

e- Mail to the Duggars

Q: Whats the hardest thing about having a large family?

A: The blessings far outweigh the difficulties, but there are some difficulties. One of them is getting somewhere on time. It takes us about ninety minutes longer than most families to get ourselves pulled together, everyone dressed and ready to go, and loaded into the van or bus. Sometimes by the time everyones buckled in, weve forgotten where we were going! (Just kidding. We can always ask one of kids; theyre always ready to go.)

There are also some practical challenges. For instance, even though our home has seven showers, only the first few get a hot one. The rest have to wait their turn in line for the water heater to catch up.

Several minor calamities later, the miracle happens at noon, three hours past our anticipated arrival time, when we are all finally loaded into the van and happily departing for Silver Dollar City. To save time, we eat our lunch in the van, but then, because of the curvy highway to Branson, we have to make a few stops due to car sickness. Before we know it, the two-hour drive stretches to almost three hours.