Clearly, God is Gracious

I've said numerous times that the Lord has a sense of humor, and I think recently He's been chuckling at us in numerous ways. Not only were Mr. & Mrs. Planners' adoption plans halted by the Providential gift of our newest baby girl, but additionally here were are five and a half weeks from our expected move-date, and Archer's new employer still does not have a location for us to move to!

The Lord has truly been teaching us what it means that:

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."  

(Proverbs 16:9)

In our family Bible time we've been reading Genesis, and I've kinda gotten hooked on the names... people's names really describe who they are! So when I was thinking about a name for our new Batch, the meaning of the name became especially important. And of course we think it's beautiful, just like the girl herself!

Clara means "clear," or "bright,", and as we were praying for God's clear direction in how to be growing our family, He did make His will perfectly clear. No adoption for now, but another home-grown Batch for our family!

Her middle name, Jane, a feminine form of the name John, means "Yahweh (God) is gracious".  Throughout my pregnancy I was surprised at how "easy" a pregnancy it was (although frankly pregnancy usually treats me pretty well anyway), and I thought Lily was the easiest baby on the block, but really, Clara Jane is unbelievable! At 3 weeks old we can almost set a clock by her self-defined daily routine, and when she is awake, dry, and fed, she is happy just to hang out and look around quietly at her (not-so-quiet) big sisters. In many ways over the last 9 months the Lord has shown himself to be gracious to us, but especially in this: God (or, more precisely, "I AM") truly has been gracious to us through this beautiful and contented baby!

Another fun association is that John is my (Kimberly's) daddy's name, and my dad's grandmother's name was Jane - I knew her as "Mama Jane". My cousin Byron nicknamed her "Mama Janer" at one point, and somehow that got stuck in my mind after Clara was born, so I have to admit to calling her "Janer" or "Janes" (Lily's first mispronunciation of it!) as well. She doesn't seem to mind.

Daddy & Clara

Mama Jane, Kimberly and Melissa

Now that Clara is with us, I especially love thinking about her name and how the Lord chose to give this child to us.

Thank you, Lord, for Clara Jane!