Sermon Illustrations
14th Child Gets Unusual Middle Name
A bountiful Michigan family added another boy to their clan, but what everyone's talking about is his unusual middle name.
Kateri and Jay Schwandt welcomed their latest son Finley Sheboygan to the world in late April, the 14th child in a group of all boys. And if you think fourteen is a lot of children, Jay and Kateri would agree with you, although Kateri is undoubtedly used to living in a large family, as she herself is one of fourteen siblings.
Nevertheless, Jay has gone on the record saying there is "no chance" that they'll have another one. "This realistically is the end of the road as far as making babies," he said.
Outsiders have speculated that their abundant household came from Jay and Kateri's attempt to have a daughter, and while the couple stopped short of endorsing the theory, Jay has an interesting anecdote to explain Finley's middle name.
Rather, Jay says his father-in-law once told them a fable of a Native American chief who was the father of many boys; this chief was somehow convinced that their last child would be a daughter. When the last one turned out to be a boy like all the rest, they named him "Sheboygan," short for "she's a boy again."
If young Finley's friends ever grow tired of stories about his 13 other brothers, he'll always have the story of his middle name, which has nothing to do with the similarly-named Wisconsin town.
Potential Preaching Angles: Children are a blessing, regardless of how they turn out. We may make our own plans, but only the Lord knows what will happen.