I remember lying in my bed trying to sleep, but I couldn’t. Despite my childlike understanding of God and the Bible, I sensed an urge to ask Jesus to come into my heart. I knew I needed to give my life to him. After saying a short prayer, I ran excitedly to tell my parents about my important decision. Since it was past my bedtime, they encouraged me to go back to sleep and promised we would talk more in the morning. 

In the following days and weeks, my parents along with other trusted people counseled me in my decision to walk with Jesus. On Easter Sunday, a year after praying to receive Jesus, my father baptized me. In front of a crowd of people I was symbolically “buried to my sin in death” in the water and “raised to walk in the newness of life” with Jesus. 

“I want you to know how proud I am of you - know that you are daily in my prayers. Love, Memaw” 

This is how my grandmother concluded the last letter she wrote to me before she died.

Not long after marrying Taylor, I began the legal process to change my name. Married couples sometimes choose to change (or not change) their names depending on their culture or personal preferences. We decided that I would give up my last name and take his family name. In a small way this reflected our new relationship as we became the “Whitley Family” together. 

After our sons were born my husband and I mailed out little birth announcements to share the news and celebrate with our family and friends. The cards featured an adorable baby picture (of course!) and other information like the baby’s weight and date of birth. We also chose to explain briefly the meaning of the names we chose for our children. 

The Bible also contains a birth announcement. Except this one seems highly unusual. This announcement came before the baby’s birth. Even more unusual, the message came from a heavenly being in order to inform the parents exactly what they should name their future child.

I remember getting lost at the grocery store as a little girl.

As my mother shopped, I became distracted by something on the shelves (probably candy!). When my mother moved on to look at more items, I kept examining the sweets and walked in the opposite direction. Suddenly, I realized we were no longer together. I panicked and ran between the aisles searching for her.