On this really "normal" Saturday I've just been reflecting on my week. I went back to last Saturday. and finding out that my new expected grandchild is a girl! I am sure right now that you are wondering why the very grainy, bad picture above is even on this page. So, here is the story of how Jesus spoke the name of this new precious little one. Gwen and Tim had always planned on having four children. As a matter of fact, Gwen had always announced that she would have "two girls, a boy and a girl" when she grew up. It seems like somewhat of a stretch to imagine that a little child would know the make up of their future family. But, in Gwen's case, it seems to have worked out. Each of Gwen's children has a very special and meaningful name. Names are extremely important to Gwen and Tim and they spent a great deal of time making the decision on the names of each of their children. Lia - Aurelia Nora. Nora was my Grandmother (my mom's mom that she never knew). Ellie - Elliana Lyn Louise. Ellie's middle names are for me and her other grandma. Zeke - Ezekiel Timothy. Timothy is for his father, and how he got the name Ezekiel is a LONG story for a later blog. Earlier this spring Gwen told me that she and Tim had settled on a girls name, in the event that she actually had a girl for their fourth child. The name is Annaleigh. They would call her Anna. Now our family tree is loaded with the name Anna. It is certainly a family name. But Gwen said that they could not come up with a middle name that made sense. Then on May 17, 2013 - before Gwen even knew that she was pregnant, I had a dream.
I know that I have said those words more than one time on this blog. But I frequently have dreams that contain a message or a word from Jesus. The dream that night was very brief, but when I woke up I knew that there was a message in it! I saw Gwen, very pregnant and she was standing holding a large photo in a frame. The frame was facing towards me. Gwen was smiling and the picture in the frame was the picture above. While I was wondering exactly what the meaning was of this odd dream, I was thinking just that Gwen would indeed get pregnant and have a third girl. Then when I arrived home, I went up to my scrapbook room and dug around until I actually found that photo. And I stared at the names Ellen, Nora and Louise. And then I knew that Ellen was the chosen middle name for Annaleigh. Lia is Nora, Ellie is Louise and Anna would be Ellen. WOW! This is particularly interesting because Ellie's middle name is, in fact, after Tim's mother. Yet, she has the name Louise! Isn't Jesus so amazing? He can make sure that HE chooses our names and seems to work it all out! So I texted Gwen that I thought I knew what Annaleigh's middle name was! She wasn't even surprised when I told her the dream and the story. So I am anxious to meet Annaleigh Ellen. Her name means Gracious Field & Light! But I will be waiting until the end of January/early February to meet her!
Over the last few years, I have been reminded over and over that there is a purpose for looking carefully at my ancestors. There is a spiritual heritage that has been sown into our generations and the seeds come forth in our life in many, many ways. For me, my grandchildren are expressing the growth of branches of our spiritual family tree. As I was looking at the picture tonight, I came across a letter that belonged to my mom. It was written to her by her Aunt Effie. Effie is the sister of Nora, Louise, and Ellen. When I was in high school I begged my mom to write to her aunt to find out more about her mother. For some reason she had never considered doing that. So, she wrote the letter and we waited. Finally we received a LONG and detailed letter that was actually written down by one of Effie's daughters. By the time this was written, Effie was in her 80's and physically not well. She actually died a year later. But the information that she shared in that letter, has blessed my family in amazing ways. I really believe that Lia has the middle name Nora partially because of that letter. Effie gave us insights into who Nora was. She was well liked, active in church and had a love at first sight experience with my grandfather. She had an incredible soprano voice that was so powerful it could be heard several miles away (when she was singing in church on warm nights, with the doors of the church open). She chose to marry a man who was outside of the expected! He was German and she was Norwegian. As a matter of fact, when she met my grandfather's family, they spoke only German and she spoke only Norwegian! What courage and strength she had. She was very musical and played the piano and organ. She cared so much for her family, that when her own mother died (when her sister Effie was only 9 years old), she brought Effie home and treated her as a daughter. Effie told my mom in this letter, how much she was like her mother, Nora. I remember that my mom said she had never heard that before. Effie said that my mom looked very much like her mother. As Gwen grew up, I began to see how much she was like me and my mom. And really so much like Nora. Anyone who has heard Gwen sing knows that she does NOT need a microphone to be heard! And she has so many of those same character traits that Nora had. What a blessing that she used Nora's name. Even though Nora's life was short, Jesus has used mightily, the deep spiritual heritage she sowed into her family. While she only lived 32 years, her impact on her generations continues on.
Jesus, thank you for family. Holy Spirit, it is amazing how you show us what is really important in our life. I love how you remind us to look beyond our present circumstances and see things from your perspective. Thank you for using this special dream to weave our new little granddaughter into the fabric of our family. Father, you planned for families when you planned creation. How wonderful and wise you are. Help us all to see our generations as beautiful growing organisms. And remind us that who we are and what we do, has an eternal impact. Thank you Jesus! Amen
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