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It's A Boy

At the time that I started attending Water of Life Church, we had one daughter. We had decided a few months previously that we would have a second child, but Kathie was not yet pregnant. After what seemed to be quite a period, I finally told God that if He wanted us to have another child, fine. If He didn't, fine. It seemed that after that conversation, Kathie became pregnant immediately.

At church, Doyle had taught us that we could hear God. Gods word says in John 10:4 that His sheep know his voice. We have to hear it to know it. I was considering what had happened, and told God, You gave us the child, give me the name. It surprised me when that came out of my mouth. Later that night, while eating dinner, just as I was taking a bite of mashed potatoes, I said Evan. When I said it, I knew that it was the name of our child. My wife looked at me in question. I then told her about my prayer and that it was God who gave me Evans name. She didn't believe me.

The following Sunday, I was speaking with a man at our church, and I asked him if God would give you your child's name. He started to read in the bible where the angel told Zacharias (Luke 1) he would have a son and to name him John. As the man read this, I began to shake. I was being delivered of fear and doubt. I had been a Christian for about 3 months at this point. I had a hard time believing God would speak to me. I thought I had to be around for awhile before that would happen.

At the beginning, I was excited that I had heard God. It seemed so natural. As time went on, the devil worked very hard at getting me to doubt God. People would comment on Kathie being pregnant and ask if we knew what sex the baby was. I would tell them that his name was Evan. They would then ask if Kathie had a sonogram. I would tell them no, and that God had told me his name. This would virtually always bring the same reaction. They would roll their eyes and walk away, or simply tell me I was wrong. There were people in our church who also reacted this way. Some said that I was a new Christian and thought I heard God. They said that it was so sad that I was deceived.

As time went on, more and more people chose to think I was wrong. My own family did not believe me and Kathie continued to question me. As we purchased items for the new baby, the things we bought were for a boy. This seemed to bring more pressure. Everyone, including the doctors said that it appeared the she was going to have a girl. The doctors were afraid the baby was breach, so they started to take sonograms. Now the devil really kicked in. The doctors told us that normally they cant be sure, but in this case they were positive that we were having a girl. Kathie would come home and tell me the things they told her. I would tell her, His name is Evan.

I fought through that whole pregnancy to believe God. I refused to consider any other names. Finally, in the last month, I told Kathie that if she wanted to come up with a girls name, to do so. At that point, I wasn't strong enough to tell her to be still. When the time came for the delivery, everything happened very quickly. We had to rush to the hospital and barely made it before the baby came. As they prepped her, I put on my clothes. The doctor said that the baby was breach and that they would have to do a C-section. At that point in my life, I didn't know that was a lie. As he proceeded, I sat beside Kathie in the delivery room. The doctor, looked at me just before he pulled out the baby and asked, Are you ready for your daughter? I told him. His name is Evan. He then pulled out the baby and lifted the child up in front of him. It didn't take a doctors license to know that the child was a boy. The doctor was stunned. He said in amazement that it was a boy. At that point, Evan peed on the front of the doctor. I laughed and said to the doctor, That's for calling him a girl for six months. The doctor was not the happiest man in that room. I was.

Many people became very quiet after finding out Evan was a boy. God did this miracle for me to convince me that I can hear him. If you obey God and do His will, He will speak to you. You can know his voice. You don't have to go to a priest to find out what God is saying. Trust in the Gospel. Adhere to it and you will hear God. Believe in the Gospel and you will be delivered, just as God delivered Evan and me.

Oh by the way, the name Evan means gracious gift of God.