You Can Stand Under My Umbrella...

I was 24 years old when I had my first child. A precious daughter. Ready or not here she was. I dreamt of having a girl my whole life. I grew up playing "house" all the time. I wanted to be a mom, specifically to a little girl. I believe at one point in my childhood, God put that desire in me. And on February 9, 2010 that desire was fulfilled. My Ellah Grace made her entry at 2:13 pm after a long hard labor. 

My husband and I take naming our kids pretty seriously, because we believe names carry identity. I remember early in mine and Jon's relationship I was in the car with him probably in the middle of crying about something, worried I was going to lose the best most amazing guy that ever walked into my life. Jon in all of his patience and love for me proceeded to pull into a parking lot and pull me out of the car, hug me, look me in the eyes and say, "The whole world could be storming around us, but Katie you will always be safe under my umbrella of love!" is this real life? I was in full blown love with this guy and at that moment he gave me a picture I needed to see. Almost a decade in and he has never stopped affirming his love for me. When he made me that sweet promise, it came from a depth of love that has only grown. Anyways, some time after that Jon and I were in the car again and heard a song come on the radio called "Umbrella." We both had a little freak out moment because Rihanna clearly stole our little umbrella moment months earlier and wrote a whole song out of it!!!!

        "When the sun shines, we shine together. Told you I'll be here forever, Said I'll always be your friend, Took an oath that I'm a stick it out till the end, Know that we still have each other, You can stand under my umbrella, You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh...."

And to the reader, your welcome for getting that song stuck in your head. Anyway, at one point in our engagement we had the song on and as I was singing the "ella, ella, ella.." part it was as clear as day... that word..."ella" it was a name. It was going to be our future daughters name. At that point we didn't know then that 10 months into our marriage God was going to bless us with a pregnancy, a daughter... one I have always dreamt of. God's grace for me is BIG. I was a young 20 something year old that had a lot to learn about how to be a wife and a mom, but yet God chose me to serve and love a husband I don't deserve and to be a mom to a girl who is a strong leader with a huge future ahead of her. His grace for me is beautiful.

Ellah Grace - Her name means, "bright light elegance unmerited favor" I should also mention that the "H" at the end also symbolizes the breath of God. And that's Ellah, she is the brightest. She lights up our lives in so many ways. More importantly she has a way about shining on other peoples lives and showing love in a nurturing, joyful way that can only come from God.

What a gift she is. 

A couple of days ago she was asked to be a part of a photo shoot for our kids ministry at our church. I think it's important to mention that the clothing needed to be bright colors. So there we were in the church studio with her bright green and white dress on waiting for her turn. Behind us there were a bunch of fun props that could possibly be used by the kids. When she was up next 2 of the guys on the team said confidently, "Give Ellah the umbrella." Immediately as she was getting suited up with her umbrella and sunglasses my mind jumped back to Jon telling me about our umbrella of love, and then I saw my beautiful daughter standing there holding her umbrella. She should've just had a team of angels singing behind her because I was having a major moment. I was staring straight into a glimpse of God's supernatural faithfulness. My heart flooded with thankfulness as I watched my little girl smiling for the camera holding that umbrella. We use that metaphor a lot in our lives still as we are teaching our kids about staying inside "God's umbrella," but that's another post for another day.

I just wanted to say all of this to say to you the reader, or to you Ellah Grace when you read this, God answers prayer. He tells beautiful stories of love all the time, whether you're a parent or not God loves you, He see's you and His grace is BIG for you. My picture of His grace on that day was Ellah. Unearned favor that reminds me how God loves me. What is your picture of how He loves you? If you don't know, then ask God. He loves you, and He is a personal God who desires relationship with you in a capacity you will never fully understand. The bible says in Jeremiah 29:12, "In those days when you pray I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly you will find me. I will be found by you says the Lord."