Dey and Dee's Updates

The story behind the story...finally!

Well, some of you have been anxiously waiting...I know! :) Here are some little tidbits about little Esther which I think are pretty neat!

As most of you know, thanks to my complaints, this wasn't an easy pregnancy for me. But besides the excitement of bringing forth a new life and a new member to our family, I sensed there was more to this birth. I have been going through a pretty dry time in my spiritual life and somehow I felt that I wasn't the only one. This often happens to me where I experience things not just personally but also as an intercessor or representative of others either in the church or in the city, etc. Sorry if you don't understand all of this, but it's too much to explain in one post! :) Different friends at different times were praying over me and the baby within and would say things like, "I think this pregnancy/birth/baby is a picture of what is going on in the church right now." I agreed. Someone also said, "I keep hearing the words - name her well." This was interesting because just that week Deyan and I had been talking about names and I felt like, girl or boy, we really needed to decide on a strong name and none of the ones we were thinking of were fitting at all.
Fast forward a bit to 6 weeks or so before due time. I had been asking Simeon throughout my pregnancy what kind of baby we were having and he would never answer me. All of a sudden he started saying, "Girl baby!" So I jokingly asked him what we should call her and he said, "Esther." I thought it was cute, that he must be thinking of his Veggie Tales or something. But as the days and weeks progressed, every time I would ask him he would say the same thing! Dey and I started thinking more seriously about the name and began to really like it! Needless to say, we weren't surprised when a girl popped out and we knew exactly what to call her!

Esther means "star", but more importantly is her story in the Bible. First of all, she is the only female to have a book named after her! You can read about it in the Old Testament. But the jest of the story is that she was chosen as Queen of Persia (after 1 year of primping and preparation) out of all the women in the kingdom. She was a jew (unbeknownst to the court), a minority and not very well-liked people group at the time. She saved an entire generation by stepping out in courage and doing something that could have caused her death. She also relied on God for everything and had many people fasting and praying for her. There are many parallels I can draw to the here and now, but they would be better explained in person. Read the story and see what you think! Either way, I know that my Esther is destined to be a strong woman who will follow God and be a leader in her generation!
Her middle name is Iova which means "God will establish."

Then there is the timing of her birth. I had been praying and trying to go into labour for 3 weeks with no success. Our church was going to be having its 10th annivserary celebration and I was hoping to participate, with a newborn in tow, not still pregnant! But God had other plans and they were perfect. I had an incredible woman's breakfast on the Saturday morning and again received confirmation that this birth was not just going to be a physical act, but would release something in me personally, especially related to the prophetic. There is more detail to this story, but again would be better shared in person.

That night I went to church and danced my heart out in an awesome worship/celebration service. Simeon did too! I was not surprised to go home with regular contractions! Oh, and Saturday was the official day of the church's 10th anniversary. Esther was born on Sunday morning, the first day of a new beginning for our church. She weighed 8lbs 8oz, was born after 8 minutes of active pushing (which would have been much faster if she didn't have her hand up by her head) and emerged at 8:04am. Notice all the 8's? The number 8 means "new beginnings". Neat, eh?

I have definitely felt a difference since her birth in my own spritual life. Like there is new life coming out of me and I am excited about it. And the more people I talk to, the more I find they are experiencing some of the same things...at the same time! So, although I don't want to read too much into it all, I truly believe there is something significant about all of this and I can't wait to see it unfolding. There may be more to the story that I have forgotten, but I think I'll leave it at that for now. Esther sure is special and a wonderful addition to our lives! And we are grateful for her big prophetic brother too! :)

posted by Deanna Momtchilov @ 12:21 AM