arlo

we gave him the name "finn" to announce him as our last.

i remember feeling so finished.

 with two wild boys... two and under... and a third arriving soon...

 my cousin came for a visit with her beautiful, big family (four sons first with two daughters at the end) and i asked her, "how did you do it?"

"once you learned how exhausting it actually is, how did you keep going?"

 she told me simply, "God gave me my number. He told so clearly me how many were meant to come to us. without that end in sight i never would have been able to have more."

 her words stuck with me.

 but i never asked Him for a number because i did not want to get an answer.

finn was born and "done" quietly stood. until one sunday. 

 we were sitting in the chapel overflow, way back in the metal chairs and echoey gym, when i felt the Spirit of God reach me.

 i believe that the Spirit of God- the Holy Ghost- is a member of the Godhead, along with God the Father and Jesus Christ. i believe that God can speak to His children through the Holy Ghost.

i feel the Spirit of God sometimes, probably more than i even recognize, really.

this is the way i say it.

 people of diverse beliefs might use different words to describe the sensation, and i love that.

statements like "it just felt right," or "i just knew."

adjectives like "warm," "bright," and "powerful."

 sudden convictions, fantastic enlightenment.

God acting in love to teach and guide. 

 sitting in that church meeting, where i could hear little of what the speaker was saying, i felt so clearly- almost like a voice telling me- that there were two more.

as unsolicited as the inspiration seemed, my heart must have secretly longed for guidance. right off i felt as if this prospect was our path.

and that is how the idea of evy came to us.

 thank God. thank God.

 and now gwen.

our dear daughters.

shall we go back and name this sweet boys "arlo?"

(In English, Arlo was first used by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene and is thought to derive from the Celtic word Aherlow, meaning “between two highlands.”)