Introducing Verity Irene

A few nights ago, after we put our younger four children to bed, we sat down with the older four kids and outlined the information we had received that day. It was a peaceful, calm conversation. Some tears were shed, but the Holy Spirit was so very, very present. We allowed them to ask or say anything they wanted, and though a few questions surfaced, for the most part they were very, very quiet. Our 9-year-old daughter was the most visibly distraught—thankfully she was sitting by her daddy and snuggled up close.

We shared our baby’s name with the children during that time together, and the next day we shared with our prayer circles. We would like people to be praying for our little girl by name, and we want anyone who follows our journey to think of her as a person in utero. Most people who know our clan know that The Name of the Baby is always a Well-Kept Secret in our family…we share the gender ahead of time, but it has been fun waiting to tell our babies’ God-given names at their birth. Not even our parents or our other children know the babies' names before their actual arrival (much to their chagrin!).

This situation is obviously much different. We do not know how long we will have this little girl on earth. One of the stirrings of our hearts is to proclaim the truth about Life—it is a gift from God, the Creator, and He makes no mistakes. This morning’s Bible reading for me included Psalm 116, and one verse states, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (v. 15). We know from Psalm 139 that our lives are precious in His sight as well, and while I don’t deny that I had a good, ugly cry for awhile as I read through this whole Psalm (verse 1—oh, my soul), I am so incredibly grateful at the way His Word is living and active and speaks to us.

And so, we would like to introduce Verity Irene.

Verity…Truth.
Irene…Peace.

The name Verity has been on my heart from the very beginning of this pregnancy—God plainly spoke His Truth to me not only about our very specific situation (long before even knowing about Trisomy 18), but He has also continued to press His eternal truths on our hearts. We pray that we can share those truths with others along this journey.

I knew my mother's first name and my middle name was Greek for "peace." And it was so, so obvious that God was pouring out His peace that passes all understanding all during the weekend as we waited on pins and needles to get to that ultrasound. His peace continues to flood our souls, even as our emotions rise and fall—plunge, even. May His peace resonate in our whole family during this journey, and may others SEE that supernatural peace and desire to know the Prince of Peace on a personal level.

For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:13-16