Thirty- two years ago a very sweet and gentle child was
birthed into our lives. My labor was the easiest of all three and even
surprised my friend who accompanied me while my husband hoped to get to the
hospital to witness the birth. He arrived just in the nick of time to see his
beautiful daughter born. We held her in our arms in awe, so calm in comparison
to our feisty son! When it came to naming her, we have an interesting story behind
her three names, Mara Lynn Elizabeth.
One early afternoon about two weeks before my due date I went
for a walk up the road and sat down by a gurgling brook. I wanted to pray about
the birthing process since my first labor had been very long and painful. As I
sat on a rock a distinct impression came into my mind. You’re carrying a girl,
not a boy. This was before gender relevel parties, and I was shocked. I had
already chosen an unusual boy name, Moses, and had not looked for any other. My
first son’s name was Aaron and I thought the two would make a dynamic team for
the Lord. Not only did this revelation coma to me, but a gentle voice spoke to
me, “Name her Mara.” Mara, I thought. I never heard the name before. I
immediately got up and walked briskly back home, contemplating the revelation.
I went right to the baby name book and discovered Mara means
bitter. Bitter, I declared! No way am
I going to name my baby girl bitter. I told my husband and he said to pray
about it. I did. I looked up the story in the Bible associated with the name,
and interestingly it involved Moses. When the people got to the bitter waters of
Meribah (the name Mara is derived from this), he threw in a stick and the
waters became sweet. That’s it, I thought. She will be a sweet child to soothe
any bitterness away. Yet I wanted a name associated with water to confirm this.
I found it, Lynn, which means cascade of waters. Perfect!
When I went into labor and held my baby girl in my arms I wasn’t
so sure about the name. I didn’t want her to be called Marilyn. We waited for
three days to name her. The nurse came in and nudged us. My husband thought
that if God told me to name the baby Mara, we should! So, we decided it would
be best to name her Mara, but then my husband also wanted to add another name,
Elizabeth. It was the name of his sweet sister and had many good associations. Elizabeth
was also the mother of John. So, her name became Mara Lynn Elizabeth Estes. It
reminded me of the name Miriam, the sister of Moses, who was drawn from the water.
Some people wondered why we gave her two middle names. Though
it was a mouthful, I knew the reason why. Of course, one of our friends misinterpreted
the name and thought we were bitter over having a girl, but that was so far
from the truth! She turned out to be a very sweet little girl, gentle and
contemplative! God knew it all beforehand. Isn’t that just like Him!
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