I remember what a shock to my system it was to deliver a baby WITHOUT an epidural. With our first two I had gone as long as I could on pitocin without requesting an epidural but I still finished the delivery pain-free. With our third child, I made it all the way through and was therefore stunned by the gripping pain of the transition stage. It overtook my body with such fervency! And that is how our third-born has approached life ever since.

She builds her own relationships with fervency: with our loving neighbor across the street; with our incredibly strong pastor’s wife; with my friend and preschool consultant. These special ladies see Arden coming and greet her with open arms as she crawls into their laps or puts her hand in theirs.  Arden makes her own path in life.

She keeps up with her siblings with fervency: she uses words and phrases that her older siblings never articulated at her age; she participates in their games and inflicts physical pain if it is required to avoid being pushed around. She isn’t even afraid to bite the puppy if he gets too pushy. She calls her siblings by name and they eagerly respond.

She loves with fervency: her favorite place in the whole world is in her parents’ arms. Throughout the day she will come up to one of us, hold up her arms and say, “Hold it,” her term for being carried.  If we are sitting down, she will say “Lap,” meaning she wants to sit in our laps. And then she utterly relaxes, contentedly sucking her newly adopted pacifier and caressing her hair with her hand. At other times, she will rush up to us and embrace us in as fierce a hug as her tiny arms can give. And who can but return such ardent love with equal fervency?

My husband and I pray over the names we give our children, knowing that we don’t know their future or their personality, but their Creator does. In the hospital, during labor, we finally settled on Arden’s full name which means: Fervent Melody of Joy.  It is with great eagerness that I anticipate this little girl’s future. She lives, breathes, sings, reads, plays, smiles, and loves with the utmost fervency. If her first two years are any indicator of what is to come, then I believe she will motivate us to live, love, pray, and seek God’s wisdom in parenting with the utmost fervency as well.

As we prepare to celebrate our littlest girl’s second birthday, I am thankful that God has chosen to show us His love by gifting her to us.