We have a son!

You might have seen our announcement video a while back… Well, our little one decided to come in to this world a little earlier than we were expecting and surprise us!

On July 1st Brooke and I were back from our first swim of the season, when Brooke’s water broke quite unexpectedly. I called 911 and Brooke was rushed to the hospital. Just under 1 1/2 hours later our son Josiah Daniel was born via emergency C-section.

There are so many miracles that have gotten this little one in to this world, and so many more we are continually expecting the Lord to perform. We just wanted to write about a few of them to testify to the faithfulness of our Lord.

{Josh} On the night of July 1st, I was outside the Operating room waiting for Brooke to come out of surgery. Just a little under 30 minutes in to the surgery, the doctors and nurses wheeled out our son. “You have a son!” were the words out of the nurses mouth. I remember feeling so relieved and thankful that Josiah was born, that he was alive and doing well for a baby born 3 1/2 months early. The surgeon performing the C-section stepped out of the OR and came up to me. “I just wanted to let you know that time was of the essence in this situation – If you had come just a couple minutes later, I don’t believe the baby would be alive.” The Lord was sustaining our little one even before he fully made his appearance in the world.

{Brooke} The mere fact that my body signaled to cause my water to break alerting us that something was happening inside of me. The mere fact that I was 25 weeks (and 3 days) along and not 24 weeks and my baby was considered “viable” in the world’s standards – viable enough to consider saving my precious boy’s life. The mere fact that if we were even just a few minutes behind I wouldn’t have my sweet son. The mere fact that HIS peace that transcends all understanding washed over me the minute my water broke and instead of fear – words of prayer and trust came out of my mouth. The mere fact. There are a lot of facts in this story HE is scripting. Facts that declare the work of our Father’s hands.

A little bit about Josiah’s name…

Josiah means: The Fire of the Lord; Intuitive Perception. The Lord who purges & refines, the God who heals. 

Daniel means: Spiritual Judgement, Integrity, Spiritual Discernment. God is my judge. A man of excellence and prayer; resolute and wholly given for His Master. The most common comment we receive about Josiah is that he’s a little feisty one! He’s very active and strong. I’m excited to see how the Lord develops that in the coming years, and sharpens our arrow to be ready to send forth against the enemy.

In the Bible, Josiah was king at 8 years old – the youngest king recorded. (You can find the full story in 2 Kings 22-23:30). His story is about the power of God cleansing Israel, and bringing healing to the land. He did not turn to the right or the left, and the Bible says, “And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.”

Daniel was a prophet during the Babylonian captivity (read about his story and prophesies in all of the book of Daniel). He refused to follow the king’s orders, and served only one Master – the King of Kings. He was among a few that were chosen from Israel as some of the young men who were upright, skillful, and full of wisdom. He ends up being a council and prophet to the Babylonian kings Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, chosen as first above all princes because of the Lord’s spirit that resides in him. Even when the other princes tried to kill him by having the king sign in to law a decree that required all those bowing to another god other than king Darius be thrown in to the den of lions, Daniel made friends with the lions that were meant to destroy him, and king Darius turned his heart to the Lord because of Daniel’s actions.

Josiah Daniel has a strong name for one who was born at 2 pounds 2 ounces & 12 inches long and yet … “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” {1 Corinthians 1:27}

We stand amazed that as we see how perfectly of a fit Josiah’s name is for him. The depth of meaning of names have always been important to the both of us. We took our time as we thought over names for our arrow. When we settled on Josiah Daniel – there was no doubt in our mind, if we have a boy this name is the perfect fit. In Isaiah 49:1(b) it says, “The LORD called me before my birth; from within the womb HE called me by name.” The Lord has been guiding our every step throughout this time and in SO many ways He has revealed His knowledge, sovereignty, and power. He has truly gone before us and Josiah’s name is just one instance where the LORD has shown us that. Josiah was called by name, the Lord has known him before the foundations of the earth. Josiah’s life in these past 26 days have refined Josh and my faith and trust in our Lord and Master. Ever deeper. Not only that the Lord showed us in that first day, July 1st, when Josiah came into this world early, the fact that Josiah of the bible became king at a “premature” age and then to top it off our Heavenly Father said, “And do you not remember? I named your son Josiah – Jehovah who heals!” He knows how to strengthen our hearts!

God has a grand plan for our Mighty Man (m&m) and He has started even now. It blows us away to see how one life, so young, can affect so many, and draw us all deeper still into the vastness of our Lord!

“But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. “For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

Isaiah 43:1-3b