Emma's Story

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." 
Psalm 37:4

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes."
Psalm 37:7

These are the two verses that God gave to me over and over the Summer of 2005.  Not only was I praying as to how to move forward with the children in our family, but I was also praying specifically for a baby girl.  After much prayer and Biblical confirmation, I knew God was telling me I would have that baby girl I desired.  I also knew, through Scripture, that it wouldn't be right away.  There were other things that needed to happen first.  I was satisfied with that. 

A month or so after God gave me confirmation that one day I would have that baby girl, I was sitting in the balcony at church, listening to the Sunday sermon.  I was not thinking about the baby, or children, or anything of the like.  But, I heard a whisper, "Emma Claire".  Since it came out of nowhere, I wrote it down and stuck it in my Bible.  A few weeks later, I found that name I had written down.  I felt like God was telling me there was something special about this name.  So, I looked up the meaning...just to see. 

Emma means "complete" and Claire means "with clarity".  God gave me the name of this baby girl so that we would know two things.  One, Emma Claire would be a gift from God, and two, when she came to us, we knew she would complete our family.  Our foster care journey would be over at that point.  I tucked this away with a smile.  God is so good and fun!  He not only gave me a promise of a baby girl, but He gave me her name and something to look forward to!

I prayed for that baby girl.  I had no idea how we would get her...where she would come from.  But, I had no doubts that she would eventually get here.


(more of Emma's story to come...)