Home Life...A Funny Story of Faith and Courage

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A few weeks ago, at the doctor's office, the nurse asked me where'd I get the names of my children, "Did you get them from a book?" DearHubby and I purposely named our children what we did because we wanted a way to open up an opportunity for us to share the gospel without being so forward. However, I never considered what I would say when I was really asked about their names. So when the nurse asked me where I got the names of my children I froze and gave her a very watered down answer.

The next day at our Women's study, I told my DearFriend D about my situation at the doctor's office. Later on, she called me with a revelation. "Your birth announcement has exactly what you need to say! You could start off by saying, 'My husband and I wanted a way to share our Christian faith and so we named our children these names to do that,' then you could just say what you wrote on your birth announcement!"

I thought, "Good point!"

Well, this past Friday, while we were at Chick-Fil-A for dinner, I had the opportunity to share the gospel with someone using my children's names. There was a family sitting next to us who had a newborn also. We asked the age of our newborns and found out that our babies were the same age. So, we got to exchanging the names of our babies. The husband then asked me, "Why did you name your daughter that?" As he asked this question, I grew really nervous, but I also worked up the courage to answer the question because I had practiced in my head what I would say; I would just repeat everything I wrote on the birth announcement. After I gave my whole spiel, the husband said, "Oh, I wondered if you knew what the meaning of your baby's name is because I'm a pastor." As he said this, a bit of disappointment ran through my mind...Here I was thinking that I worked up the courage to share the gospel with someone who didn't know it and all along I was sharing it with a pastor...

DearHubby and I joked about it in the car, on the way home. At first we joked and said it was "wasted" courage, but then we said that it was great practice. DearHubby also said that the pastor actually seemed encouraged by my sharing of the gospel; that there are brothers and sisters out there willing to set forth the gospel of Christ.

God is so good :) He allowed me the opportunity to share the gospel and the opportunity to work up the courage and tell of his story as practice...And as I shared this story with my DearFriend D she said, "Who knows, although you weren't directly sharing with someone who didn't know the gospel, who knows who could have heard you while you were sharing it?"