Monday, January 3, 2011

Adalyn Faith Akin

We finally found a name for our little girl. I say "finally" because we had a boy name picked out since our last pregnancy, so we've been needing a girl's name for awhile. She already feels like an Adalyn. Finding a middle name was a little more challenging, but once we thought of "Faith," we knew it was perfect because our lives are centered around faith (both financially and every other way). Also, it was by faith that we trusted God to give us our little Addy. One of my main prayers for her is that she will have a child-like faith throughout her life. We have a tendency to make our faith, and therefore our salvation, so complicated. As humans, I think it's unfathomable for us to see how easy it really is. Sometimes things happen in our lives and we nearly demand an explanation as to why. All we have to do is come to Jesus like a child and trust Him. One of the definitions of faith is: confidence or trust in a person or thing. Children don't worry. Growing up, I never had to ask my parents, "Will we have enough food for tomorrow? Do we have enough gas to get to school? How is our bank account looking?" I knew that they would take care of me, just like we should know that God will take care of us. That's child-like faith.

My favorite salvation experience told in the Bible is probably the thief on the cross. His testimony is proof that there is nothing we can do to get to Heaven. He didn't say a prayer, he didn't walk down an aisle or get baptized. He didn't even have time to do any "good deeds" to earn eternal life. He simply had faith. He acknowledged that Jesus was who He said He was, and believed in Him. How incredible is that!? If you don't know Jesus, I BEG you to get to know Him! It's so easy and it's a relationship like no other. There is nothing we can do to earn Heaven. That's really comforting because if you had to do good things to get into Heaven, then what kind of bad things would keep you from Heaven? I'm as far from perfect as someone can get, so I would be in BIG trouble if my faith was based on what I did or didn't do. As one of our pastor friends says, "Is it like school? Do you have to get a passing grade to get to Heaven? And what is considered passing? Does that mean you have to get a grade of 59 or above? If I got a 58, could I still get to Heaven?" I'm so glad that God's system doesn't work that way! He's given us grace as a free gift, all we have to do is accept it.

And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. Romans 11:6

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23: 39-43

More baby stuff...

I'm still loving the second trimester, although this growing belly of mine keeps getting in the way. I know it's only going to get bigger and I'm anxious to see what that'll be like! It feels like I will never catch up on sleep. On my Christmas break, Nick and I slept in until 11:30 or 12:00 every morning (eh, afternoon?), but I still didn't feel rested and managed to fall asleep during every movie we watched. It's hard to fall asleep at night because I can't get comfortable and I haven't gotten a full night's rest since the beginning of the pregnancy because of my 4-5+ bathroom trips I take every night. I'm really not complaining, I'm just offering a disclaimer in case you see me with circles under my eyes looking like a zombie. It's also contributed to my already fuzzy pregnant brain. Yes, pregnant brain is a REAL thing! Trust me!

I am falling more and more in love with this little girl inside me. I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much that you don't even know. I think that now I know she's a she and I know her name, I already feel an even deeper connection to her. I feel like I can relate to her in some way. I'm still daydreaming about all the fun things we are going to do together! For Christmas, Nick gave me Beauty and the Beast on Blu-Ray and I can't wait for Adalyn to watch it with me! He also gave me some Barnes and Noble gift cards so that I could buy her some books and I stocked up! Books are my weakness, especially Dr. Seuss books. I bought her (okay, I bought myself) 19 Dr. Seuss books, Goodnight Gorilla, a book of Fairy Tales and a few Curious George books. It really is a sickness...

Hopefully in the next few posts, I will be able to show off her room! So far, everything is gender neutral. We wanted to be able to use the bedding and furniture for future children. We are going to girly it up with decorations on the wall, it's just a matter of finding things.

So, last but not least, we would like to introduce Adalyn Faith Akin! I guess it's not an official introduction, since she isn't here yet, but I had to put it in writing.

6 comments:

  1. That is such a beautiful name Julie! I am so excited for you all!

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  2. Such a lovely introduction! I will keep you and Nick and Adalyn Faith in my prayers.
    Nancy Morse from ESBC

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  3. I LOVE it!!! Not that you need my opinion, but I really love her name. Addy and Lailey are going to be buddies! I loved growing up with my cousins. Give 'em a few years and they'll probably be inseparable. You and I both have the seussitis disease. They're so addicting! We just read "Go, Dog, Go!" before bed tonight. (technically not by Dr. Seuss but Seussian enough to count. It has the Cat in the Hat logo, so that's fine for me.)

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  4. What a beautiful name, Julie. I LOVE Faith as the middle name and constant reminder of how she came to be and how she will learn to live her life. My oldest niece's name is Addie (short for Addison) and I helped pick it out, so you know I love that too.

    Your testimony is wonderful here. Just last night, I was listening to a segment on K-LOVE about giving your testimony. Now here you are, in perfect time, giving yours.

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  5. I just read through this post and it gave me chills! Beautifully written, Julie! Addy is so lucky to have you as her mother!

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  6. beautiful name, I love it. Faith is an excellent middle name as well. Someday when we are blessed with a baby girl she will be named Grace, because that is my favorite facet of God. Strong lovely name Julie, now we want to see another belly picture!

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