Happy 8th Birthday, Amara!

Today our oldest daughter turns 8 years old! These past 8 years have been filled with many great memories and it is a joy and a blessing to have Amara as a part of our family!

Amara, you are a gift from the Lord and there are many things about you that we love and appreciate! One of those many things that is especially a blessing is your love for little babies. Your care for your many dollies and your tender, kind, and loving manner with your precious newborn sister, Tirzah, is a gift to this family and will serve you well in your preparation for your future role as a mother! We are praying that God will grant you many children at the proper time and that you will commit yourself to raising each child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, just as the Bible teaches us!

Another aspect that is greatly appreciated is your strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! At this tender age, you have a good understanding of many foundations of the Christian faith, such as the perfection of God's Holy Word, the truth and importance of the literal 6 days of creation, the preciousness of life because it is a gift from God, the need for the sacrifice of Jesus to take away our sins, and the requirement to enter heaven through the acceptance of God's gift of salvation by repenting of our sin and believing in the Lord Jesus. Amara, may you always have a wholehearted devotion to the Lord and may you have full assurance in the truth of the Bible! Additionally, may you order every aspect of your life in accordance with the teaching of Scripture, which is able to lead you in every situation that you encounter.

Yet another area of your life that is a great blessing to others is your very infectious laughter! You have such a great laugh and it is such a delight to be able to hear you find such joy in the world around you. May you always be able to laugh at the many things in life that God has given for your enjoyment because of His love for you and may you help others to also have laughter on their lips!

Amara, you are very special, precious, and dear to your family! As your parents, we commit to bringing you up in the ways of the Lord and we desire to model for you what it means to live a godly life. Our heartfelt desire for you is that you will be a bright and shining jewel radiating God's love to everyone around you. The following Scripture verse captures our thoughts for your future:

that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace (Psalm 144:12, KJV)

Amara, may you be sensitive to God's leading and allow Him to polish you like a cornerstone on a palace! In so doing, you will shine forth God's love to others and bring His name honor and glory!

Happy Birthday, Amara!! We love you very much!

It's A Girl!!

Our hearts are filled with joy as we announce that we have added a new baby to our quiver! We are so blessed to welcome this new child into our beloved family and we commit to training her in the ways of the Lord by teaching her from God's Holy Word! On Friday July 10, 2009 at 12:49 P.M., Tirzah Mercy Jachim entered into this world! She weighed 8 lbs, 5 oz, was 21 inches long, and is a precious and beautiful baby.

Her name was selected with much care and prayer! Tirzah is an Old Testament Bible name found in the books of Numbers and Joshua. The name means "pleasantness" and describes well how we felt all throughout the pregnancy about this one that is fearfully and wonderfully made! Based on God showing us such incredible mercy through the conception, growth, and development of this baby throughout these past 9 months, we have chosen her middle name to be Mercy! It is only through God's mercy that we live and move and have our being. In addition to these two names being a great expression of our gratitude to the Lord for providing us with this precious gift, the name is intended to give her a vision for her future. We are seeking to have her be a representative of God's mercy to others through being a source of pleasantness to those whom she contacts! We will diligently be raising her to be a model of godly femininity and we will be training her from her earliest days to be a keeper at home!

And now for some pictures of these precious and irretrievable early days:



Our other three arrows with Jill and newborn Tirzah!





Congratulatory flowers for my beloved bride on this blessed occasion!





Sweet little baby sleeping!





Wide-eyed baby girl!





Our new little baby in the loving arms of my dear wife!





Proud daddy holding little darling daughter!





Amara joyously holding her new little baby sister!





Aidan delighting in his sister!





Jordan smiling at his newborn sister!





Getting ready to leave from the hospital!





En route home!

Changing Shape--Month 9

Wowie!! We are on the home-stretch now!! The little bear at the top says 10 days to go, but really it is only 6 as I am scheduled for a C-section on the 10th. It is coming fast. I feel like I am pretty much ready, but aren't there always things you can keep thinking of to do?

The waiting is the hardest part.

Please be in prayer for baby's safe delivery and my safety during delivery and recovery.

We will post baby photos as soon as we can. Unfortunately, that will be a few days after delivery (once I am home) since we have no laptop to load pictures for you all while I am in the hospital.

May God richly bless all of you for praying me through this pregnancy of God's mercy.

~J