We often get stares, glares, and rude comments from strangers about the size of our family, but we were shocked on Saturday by the comment one lady made.

We were all at the park and my husband and I were sitting on a bench with our one year old.  Our six, five, four, and two year old were playing together several feet away.  From across the way, a lady rose from a bench and headed straight for us.  She had a grave expression and my husband and I both braced ourselves for the comments that we knew were coming.

"I'm sorry," she said "but I just have to say something to you."  We both took deep breaths..."I am so pleased to see your large family!  Most young couples today just have pets.  Are you Christians?"  We nodded, now in complete shock as we tried to process what was being said.  "You are doing the Lord's work and I hope you will not get discouraged no matter what people say to you.  I consider you to be the pioneers of our day."  And she continued with several other kind remarks about our children but I was getting teary-eyed at this point and it was hard to concentrate.

It was very encouraging to meet a fellow Christian who shares our beliefs about children and it was so kind of her to go out of her way to speak encouraging words to us!  I hope that I will remember to encourage other large families that I see in public.  I suspect they rarely hear kind words from strangers.