During the 1990s, one area of my law practice that did very well was collections. At its peak, my law firm was filing several hundred small claims cases per year to collect money that was owed to our clients. Many of our clients included doctors (past due medical bills), grocery stores (bad checks), video rental stores (late charges and failure to return videos), and landlords (past-due rent).

There was a man named Terry who owed one of my clients more than a thousand dollars for services that had been provided to him. Terry was in his mid-30s when I sued him. After we filed the lawsuit, we forwarded the court papers to a “Private Process Server” who then delivered the court papers to Terry at his home.

After being served with the papers, Terry called my office and started yelling and cussing at me. I explained to him that we had the legal right to file a lawsuit to collect the money that he owed to my client. After telling me that I would never see a penny from him, he hung up the phone.

Terry failed to show up for his initial court hearing, so the judge signed a judgment order which stated that Terry owed my client the amount of money that I had sued him for. Shortly thereafter, I filed a Citation to Discover Assets (“citation”). A citation is similar to a subpoena. A person who is served with a citation must show up for the hearing noted on the citation or a Writ of Body Attachment will be issued by the judge for the person’s arrest.

Terry failed to show up for the citation hearing and, as a result, was later arrested and taken to the county jail. He was then required to pay a cash bond before he was released. When he was released from jail, Terry was given a notice to appear in court for a continued hearing on the Citation to Discover Assets.

At the hearing, Terry was combative and refused to answer my questions. The judge ordered him to provide answers to my questions and it was at that time that I found out that he had a good-paying job with the State of Illinois. He refused to agree to make payment arrangements with me and again told me that I would never collect a penny from him.

After the hearing on the citation, I filed a wage garnishment notice with the State of Illinois. When a wage garnishment is filed, an employer is generally required to withhold 15 percent of the net wages of the employee until the total amount has been paid in full.

After Terry received a copy of the garnishment notice, he called and demanded that I release the wage garnishment. I told him that I wasn’t willing to release the garnishment because I had an obligation to my client to collect the money that was owed. In a calm tone of voice, Terry said, “I know where you park your car and I know the route you walk every night after work to get to your car. From now on, you better watch your back when you walk to your car.”

I responded to Terry’s threat by saying, “That’s fine, Terry. You don’t know this, but I grew up in a family of 17 children. I have eight brothers and they’re all hunters. Within 30 minutes of me hanging up this phone, every one of my brothers will know where they can find you if anything ever happens to me.”

I hung up the phone and never heard from Terry again. I collected the money that was owed to my client and moved on.

I thought about my experience with Terry last week when I read an article that stated that the U.S. birth rate had hit an all-time low in 2013. The article was based on a report that was released on December 4 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After I read the article, I started thinking about the benefits of growing up in a large family. One of the many benefits was having siblings who were always willing to help me out when I was in need.

According to the CDC report, the number of babies who were born in the U.S. in 2013 was 3.93 million, which was down by 9 percent from 2007. In 2007, there were 4.32 million babies born in the U.S.

The government started tracking birth rates in 1909 (105 years ago) when the birth rate was 126.8 births per 1000 women between the ages of 15 and 44. In 2013, the birth rate was 62.5 births per 1000 women between the ages of 15 and 44, less than half of what it was in 1909.

We are at a point now in America where we are not having enough new babies to replace the people who are dying. It is impossible for an economy to grow and flourish when its population is declining.

Every new baby creates a ripple effect through the economy. The 3.93 million babies that were born in 2013 have already created hundreds of millions of dollars of economic activity from sales of formula, diapers, beds, toys, car seats, clothing, etc. In 18 years those babies will be driving cars and entering into the workforce and it will be their taxes that will support our government and aging population.

If we were still having babies at the 1909 rate, the number of babies born in 2013 would have been 7.97 million. Those children would be generating more than twice the amount of economic activity that is currently being generated.

Is it any wonder that corporate leaders and politicians are trying to figure out ways to allow as many foreigners into our country as quickly as possible? These people are needed to replace the children who should have been born in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

The problem with the current plan is that a large number of the foreigners that are being allowed to enter and stay in our country are going to end up qualifying for government benefits — benefits that have to be funded by American workers. This is one of the many things that happens when a nation abandons God. The economy eventually breaks down.

I’m extremely grateful that my parents weren’t willing to cave in to the pressures of society to limit the size of their family.

I’ve got to go now. I need to call a couple of my brothers to set up a time when we can go hunting.

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