Three Little Girls

While in high school and college, I wasn't the person that I am today. In the process of "finding myself," I became pregnant. Three times. By two different guys. All three pregnancies ended in miscarriages. For a long time, I was in denial. I didn't want to accept what had happened or to acknowledge the circumstances that surrounded the events. I had gone so far as to even deny to myself that it mattered that I had lost children. Something in my heart tells me that they are all little girls. A few weeks ago, at the encouragement of my husband, I finally named them. My three little girls, Sarah Elizabeth, Anna Naomi, and Hannah Grace.

Since I like to study names and their meanings, I'm doing a post on my daughters' names. And yes, I intended them to all be Biblical names, or of Biblical reference. 

Sarah - Hebrew. "Princess." In the Old Testament, the wife of the patriarch Abraham. Came into vogue with other Biblical names in the 16th century and was enough of a staple for 400 years to have spawned a variety of nicknames. 

Elizabeth - Hebrew. "Pledged to God." One of the 30 most popular girls' names in the U.S.;  in the top 5 in Australia, Canada, and Great Britain. Used in full, it has a pleasant, old-fashioned ring, though some research attaches a "seductive" connotation to it. It is a source of endless diminutives and nicknames. 

Anna - var. Ann, Anglicization of Hannah. Hebrew. "Grace." One of the most frequently used names for girls until the mid-19th century, when it became less popular. When Elizabeth II of England named her daughter Anne in 1950, it became more prominent, but is still more common as a middle name. Though Ann may seem plain to many, its numerous derivatives offer plenty of variety. (I chose Anna after the prophetess Anna in Scripture.)

Naomi - Hebrew. "Pleasant." Old Testament name; the mother-in-law of Ruth, who, after her sons died, said  "Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me." Naomi came into English-speaking use not with the Puritan revival of Biblical names, but in the 18th century.

Hannah - Hebrew. "Grace." In the Old Testament, Hannah is the mother of the prophet Samuel. The name was steadily popular from around 1600 through the 19th century, peaking around 1800. It is now emerging from disuse, though the European forms of the name -- Ann, Anne, Anna, etc. -- remain far more common.

Grace - Latin. "Grace." Originally had nothing to do with physical grace, but rather with divine favor and mercy. Used in that sense by the Puritans, and taken to America, where it was very fashionable at the turn of the century. Periods of popularity followed in England (in the twenties) and Scotland ( through the fifties). Little used now, but ripe for revival. 

God Still Speaks - Part 2

You are being trained to rise up and fill the places that are being emptied. This is your destiny. You are to be the strength for many. You will be the heart of the cause. Many have poured into you. Now it is time to raise the next generation into a God-fearing people.

You will be mother to the lost, a guide for the weary. You will teach the innocent and foster the abandoned. Your home will overflow with children. There are many who will be blessed by your spirit and your strength.

The big white house is yours. I will make a way. Do not fear your debts. They will be cleared. It is time to clear the house, two and no more.

There is a God. His heart beats for you still. There are words left unspoken. I AM is the plan. It is Ha-Shem who guides your heart. Look not to the right nor to the left, but only straight ahead. For it is in that path that your needs will be found. Follow the course laid in front of you and you will find healing all of your days.

You seek my conviction? It is in these ways that you will be lost. You know that which is not yet surrendered and the havoc which it will bring.

It is not yet time for you to unleash the demons. There are others who first must be made ready. You do not fight, nor provoke, and that is the way it must remain for a season.

I am training you to be a wife and a mother, for it is not only your children that you will raise. There are many who will be blessed to call you Mother, even in the throes of their rebellion. You will be a lover to your husband and a source of his strength. It is he who will be blessed to know you, in an intimacy greater than you have ever known.

It is through you that those you know will come to know Me. It is through your teaching that hearts will be won. Teach with the same fire and vigor with which you worship Me, and the hearts in your care will be mine.

So, follow too, the Spirit and the longings which guide the heart, the heart which seeks to know all of Me. Use the wisdom of the ages which is imparted to you, and let your wisdom stay the course.

In all things, fall into Me. For I am your hope and stay.

Seek ye now the wisdom of the Lord. Find thy heart in Me. Know that your prayers are heard.

Your impatience, may it be tempered with grace and molded with love, for it is not to be denied. When  you seek, you will find. Though your heart may be broken, it beats in time with Mine.

Seek now the whole knowledge of God, for it is time. Prepare thyself in the ways of the Lord, for the time to fight is nigh. Pour thyself into all you do, and abandon conventional wisdom for it is lies.

Speak now, through your fears. It is faith that conquers death. Hear this, and speak your plea. Plead for those who do not know Me.

It is in your pain that they see your strength. Do not be afraid, know that I am near. It is love that will show them the way. It is the hearts of the broken that I give you this day.