Spiritual Life: Little People, Big World

"The Roloffs' faith is also represented on the show, but in a very low-key—dare I say it—normal way. The family prays together at dinner, the kids go to a private Christian school, and they make references to the fact that they believe God created them this way for a reason."—Beliefnet.com

Secrets of the Roloff Family’s Success

When you’re handicapped with dwarfism, what’s the secret to raising a "normal" successful family?

Matt Roloff, the extraordinary Dad in TLC’s popular reality show Little People, Big World can tell us. Matt talks openly about his Christian values in the introduction to his book, Little Family, Big Values.

"If you were to travel west out of Portland, Oregon, and through some beautiful, gently rolling hills, you might find yourself on a thirty-four-acre farm called Roloff Farms.

That is our home and the home of our four children as well as an assortment of animals we keep as pets or livestock. It's also the site of a complete three-quarters-scale western town, a pirate ship on a pond, a three-story tree house, an almost full-sized medieval castle, a big pumpkin patch, one of the biggest zip lines in North America, and other projects we've either completed or have on the drawing board…

Our family—as varied as it is—works so well because Amy and I have had instilled in us by loving parents on both sides a set of family values, which we've built on and in turn instilled in our own kids…

The Story of Our Family

I was born a diastrophic dwarf, meaning that I am not only short in height just over four feet—but I also have severe problems in my legs, knees, hips, shoulders, arms, and the rest of my body. My joints, my hands, and my feet are all visibly deformed. The list goes on and on…

Amy is also a little person, but her condition is different from mine and not nearly as severe. Her genetic condition is known in medical terms as achondroplasia, which is another cause of dwarfism but one that doesn't carry with it nearly as many of the complications as I've dealt with all my life. For the most part, Amy physically leads a fairly normal life in which she is active and even coaches our son's youth soccer team. For several years, she held the difficult but rewarding job of being a stay-at-home mom. However, in the past few years she has started working outside the home—part-time for a local youth soccer club and also as a preschool teacher.

We have been married for nineteen years, and we are the proud, happy parents of four children, the oldest of which are our twin boys, Zachary and Jeremy, who were born in 1990. We also have a daughter named Molly, who was born in 1993, and another son named Jacob, who was born in 1996… Read more about the children and their grandparents here.

Defining "Family Values"

Amy and I agree on the values that are most important to us, the ones that are not negotiable in our home. For example, faith and love and hard work are all values Amy and I have near the top of our lists. That's the way it is, and the way it will always be in this home…

One of the most important parts of instilling values in children is making sure we don't just talk about the values but also demonstrate them the best we can in every way we can. In other words, we try not to be do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do parents but parents who practice what they preach. One of the most important examples of this is our faith. Amy and I could talk about faith all we want, but if we don't demonstrate it in both the way we talk and the way we live, then it's just air coming out of our mouths…

Family Values:
They're Not Just for Little People

I also believe that our disabilities have worked to our advantage in this area because they give such stark visual examples of how to put these values into practice. For example, when it comes to self-respect, our kids look at Amy and me and see that despite the fact that we are smaller than other people and, therefore, easier to overlook in some situations, we both have the kind of self-respect it takes to make sure that people know we're here.

Perseverance, another of the values we've listed in this book, is also easier to teach because in their father our children have grown up with a living, breathing example of someone who has had to learn the importance of persevering through sometimes extreme difficulties in order to enjoy success as a businessman, as a farm owner, as a husband, and as a father.

Although these values work well for us and fit in well with a family where both parents have physical limitations or differences, we believe they can apply to families of any size, height, or social class. And while we may place a higher value on perseverance—simply because I have had to persevere through so much more than most people—it is still a value that is important for every family to develop and instill…

To us, that's the look of a successful and happy family—no matter how big or small, short or tall it may be!"

Video Clips

1. Don’t miss the Roloffs in action in this touching YouTube video clip.

2. Bonus: Matt Roloff shares his inspiring values of optimism, faith, family, resiliency, role models, family pride, and love in these short Yahoo videos.

Up Next: November Book Fair Update

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Photos: USA TODAY blog, Barnes & Noble.com

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