Dilly

I call my daughter Dilly; do not ask why. There is no reason behind it; it just feels right. I usually come up with a pet name, and over time it morphs into several other names. Dill Pepper begat Dilliana, Dilliana begat Dill, Dill begat Dilly and so on. Nevertheless, since there is no real foundation for these terms of endearment, I often do not know what they mean. There is a danger in that. I could be calling my child something with a derogatory meaning without even knowing it. This is a problem because I am very intentional with my words. Scripture says, “Speak those things that are not as though they were.” What if Dilly means silly or clumsy or something even worse? I had no choice; I had to do the unthinkable. I had to Google the word, Dilly. I promised myself that if it had any type of negative meaning, I would immediately stop calling her that. Dilly: an excellent example of a particular type of person or thing. I could barely contain my excitement. Dilly was an actual word, and it had a great meaning; in fact, it had a wonderful meaning. Dilly actually describes my angel perfectly. Look at God. She is indeed an excellent example of a human being, and I had been speaking that over her all along!

“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, ‘As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee’" (Genesis 17:1-5). Here in Genesis God establishes His covenant with his friend, and in doing so assigns him a new name. Abram, the exalted father, becomes Abraham, father of many nations. The LORD made a promise, and he wanted to constantly remind Abraham and Sarah while they waited for it to come to fruition. Each time someone said Abraham's name, they repeated the promise. The promise God gave to the father of many nations is as much for modern-day believers as it was for Abraham and Sarah. We should know God's promises, and we should speak them repeatedly over our lives.

Romans 4:17 says, “God, Who gives life to the dead and calls those things which are not as though they were.” God can call things that do not exist as though they do because He knows they will. We have that same power through faith. Sarah's womb was dead, but God called it to life. We were dead in our sin, but God called us justified through Jesus Christ, forgiven by His blood. We ought to make a habit of treating matters the way God treats them. Speak the promise, repeat the promise, believe the promise until it comes to life.

My husband and I struggled to have our daughter for ten years. I remember reading Romans 4 and thinking about the power of God's promise. If my husband were going to be a father, I needed to start calling him that. I opened his contact in my phone and changed his name from Tensley to Abraham. Today he has gone to be with the LORD, but if you look through my phone, you will still see a contact named Abraham. Tensley never quite became a father of many nations, but God allowed him to become the father of Charlotte Penelope Brandon. God is faithful to do what He says He is going to do, just ask and believe on His promise.