HE KNOWS HER NAME - ISABELLA

Names are important to me (read more here) so, I did not name my firstborn lightly. I immediately began praying for a name. God had a perfect plan for her life and I believed her name would be indicative of that, I just had to wait and listen. After more than a year of trying to conceive I got pregnant with my first daughter. I knew it was a girl and had her closet full of clothes even before the sonogram. I had purchased a daily pregnancy prayer journal and prayed for her almost everyday. One day the scripture at the bottom of the page was “I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” 1 Samuel 27-28 The night before I found out I was pregnant I was reading a book, Who Will Love Me? by Joe Jackson and the Lord spoke to me on page 41: Taken word for word from Who Will Love Me? by Joe Jackson "And sometime before dawn God spoke to me. I will never again have any doubt about children. I want to share with you what He told me. He told me that these were not really my children, but they were His. He is just letting me have the joy and responsibility of raising them for Him. He has entrusted me with their future. Listen! Our children belong to God, and we are just instruments in raising them. Someday they will pass away and return to Him if we have done our job. That is our responsibility and duty." It was the first time I ever considered that this child I prayed for was not mine at all, but His. It was a huge revelation. His child? That changed everything for me. It shifted my self-focus and made it God focused and after months of selfish thinking, desires, prayers and actions – I surrendered. My process of conception was a time of great healing. There were things in me that God healed that are of great benefit to me, my children and my relationship with Him. As the pregnancy progressed my husband and I chose two names and said we would name her when we saw her. She was born with big, beautiful brown eyes and a head full of dark hair, but that did not help us decide. The first time they placed her on my chest I looked at her and prayed, “Lord I prayed for this child and you granted my request and I dedicate her back to you.” It was not until the next day that we chose her name Isabella which means “dedicated to God.” Had the Lord not spoken to me the night before I found out I was pregnant I may not have been able to speak, let alone pray the words, “Lord I prayed for this child and you granted my request and I dedicate her back to you.” God’s plan and purpose for Isabella’s life included me surrendering mine to Him (completely).

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” 1 Samuel 27-28