Name for our new baby

So, ever since we brought Josiah home, Nathanael kept saying "God is going to give us another baby and it's going to be a boy." Then he started saying we would name this boy Matthew. Now Forest and I thought our family was pretty much complete-we had two of each gender and life was kind of crazy. Well, God in His Providence decided to bless us with another child. When we found out, we kind of had to chuckle a bit. Nathanael had predicted the last baby's gender before we found out, what if he was a little bit of a prophet? So, when the time came for the ultrasound we snuck all the kiddos in the room to find out if Nathanael had been right for almost a year. When the lady waved the wand on the gender specific area, there was no mistaking it, we were indeed having another boy! So, after a year of hearing the name Matthew, how could we not use it? Besides, do you know what Matthew means? It means "gift of God." This is where it gets really special. Do you remember what Nathanael means? In Hebrew "nathan" means gift and "El" is one of the names of God. Nathanael's name means "gift of God" as well.

So, while our lives are about ten weeks from being a little more crazy, we are truly blessed to have so many gifts from our gracious God who does not ask us to care for these dear ones alone. He gives us the strength each day (and on those days I am worn out completely He gives the kids grace with each other too). He gave me a wonderful husband who helps out a lot (really a lot) with housework and rearing the children. He also has given us a wonderful church family who helps when we need a sitter for those doctor appointments or date-nights, prayer often, and other support just when we need it.

We are all excited to meet Baby Matthew, in about ten weeks.