On Monday, April 4th, at 7pm, Jamie delivered our little girl, and now we are blessed and excited to introduce her.
Born weighing 8lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long, she arrived after a rather long labor and we are thankful to all of you who were praying for us through this time that God was able to sustain Jamie through the process.
Meet Mara Linnea Knipple
Mara has several stories behind it, but it is a name that God put on Jamie’s heart before we even knew we were pregnant. In our minds, Mara is short for “Maranatha”, which was used as a greeting in the early church meaning “Come, Lord Jesus”, reminding all to look forward to his return. It is also a reference to East Africa where Jamie grew up, or specifically, the game park know as “the Mara” (Maasai Mara).
Linnea is a good Scandinavian name, but is also a reference to Lynn, which is my middle name as well as my dad’s.
We were released from the hospital on Wednesday and now we will continue to stay at my parents place in Pennsylvania for at least a month or so. (And we are thankful for that, as Grammy has come to the rescue of these sleep deprived parents a couple times already)
As many people have asked what this does to our plans, we will continue to follow where God leads, including the fact that He has lead us to Haiti for this season of life. We look forward to introducing our little girl to her new “uncles” Anderson, Waly, Gayly, Fleury, Bouki, and Daniel.
Please continue to pray that God would give us wisdom regarding what work we should be doing, when (and where) we should be traveling, and for favor regarding getting proper paperwork for Mara and (hopefully) letting her and Jamie visit her extended family in Finland.
P.S. We also announced in our last post that God has provided a family vehicle for us to take to Haiti. In case you missed it, here is what our 2000 Isuzu Trooper looks like:
And look to our last post for more information 🙂
