We (The Kings') are in a totally different place then we were last year. So much has changed in our lives over this past year, and we find ourselves here, in 2013, at the beginning of a new journey in life and ministry. We shared about some of the most recent changes in our life in an update post back in November, but today we want to give you a more detailed look at what is possibly the biggest ministry opportunity that we will be taking on this year and for the rest of our lives: the ministry of raising a child.
Back in August, I (Lauren), received the best birthday gift ever, the news that we were finally expecting our first child. After almost 4 years of a heartbreaking struggle with unexplained infertility, it took a little while for the shook and disbelief to wear off. To some extent, we are still reeling from the shock of it all, but we are so happy and excited, and we feel extremely blessed! In November, we discovered that are baby is a precious little girl, and we are anxiously awaiting her arrival in April.
As soon as we found out that we were expecting, we began talking about meaningful names for our new addition. To us, a name is a very special thing, and we wanted our child to have a name that meant something special and reflected how God was at work in our lives and would be in hers as well. So, for our precious little girl, we have chosen the name Ember Faith, our little spark of faith.
Here is the story behind that name:
In early August, before we knew that I was pregnant, we took my 2 younger brothers on a late summer camping trip in the Smoky Mountains. Daniel, who is 9 years old, had never been camping before. So, this was a chance for us to teach him some things about camping and the great outdoors. One of the things that we taught him was how to build a fire and how to cover up the embers of the fire with ashes at night so that it would be easier to build a fire again the next morning. All through the night, the glowing embers of the fire would be stifled beneath a thick layer of ashes, but in the morning, we would dig through the ashes to reveal the faintly glowing embers. Then, we would blow on those embers and watch as the oxygen caused the embers to spark into flame again. We would then add some kindling and more wood until we had a nice morning fire.
Weeks later, as we were thinking of meaningful names for our child, we thought about our love for the mountains and camping and we remembered our recent camping trip. The name Ember popped into my mind, and as soon as I said it out loud, we both fell in love with it. The name Ember Faith, our little spark of faith, would describe perfectly what God had been doing in our lives. He had removed the ashes that were smothering us, and with the breath of His Spirit, He had reignited the embers of our faith.
Over the past year, our faith has become stronger, we have learned to trust Him more fully, and He heard the desires of our hearts...giving us the opportunity to become parents, an opportunity we thought we might never have.
Today, marks 100 days until Ember Faith is due to arrive, and for the next 100 days, we are going to post prayers for our little girl. We both feel very strongly that this 100 days of prayer for Ember is going to make a huge difference in her life and ours. We welcome all of our family and friends to join us on this journey and pray for us as we begin this very special ministry of forming, shaping and guiding a life entrusted to our care.
oh lovely :)
ReplyDeleteI love her name, i think it's perfect :) x