A Crazy Man at Wal-Mart

     A couple months ago, I was at Wal-Mart shopping for a Mother's Day card when an older black man approached me.   He said, "Hello" to Emerson, and then proceeded to ask me what I was going to name my little girl.  I was kind of thrown off and to be quite honest, I just thought maybe he wasn't "all there."  So, I simply told him Emerson was a boy and that we weren't expecting a baby.  He, however, was persistent with his question, "What are you going to name your little girl?"  Seeing that he wasn't going to give up, I replied, "Well, we've talked about the name Lylah."  Abruptly he responded, "No!  That won't work!  Why would you name her that?"  I told him it was a name my husband and I both agreed on, but he said, "You need to choose a name the Lord would agree with."  At this point, I was still thinking this man was just a crazy but it was what happened in the rest of the story that really made me question whether this man was crazy or was he something more?
     We continued to talk for a couple of minutes about the Holy Spirit and how He speaks to us, but then what he said about stopped me in my tracks.  He said, "The Lord wants me to remind you that twins run in your husbands family."  My mother-in-law is a twin.  My mind was swirling.  "Who is this man?  How does he know me or my husband?  God are you really speaking through this man? "  As my mind continued to race he  continued with, "And his mother has never had twins has she?"  My mother-in-law has had 8 children, none of which were multiple births.  I think my jaw dropped at that point as I was in shock.  He concluded our conversation with, "Well, that was all the Lord would have me speak to you now, so I'll be on my way," and walked off.
      Needless to say, I couldn't even focus on picking out a card.  I thought, "Oh my!  Am I pregnant?  Am I going to have twins?  What just happened?"  I tried to call Jeremiah but couldn't reach him, I had to tell someone what had happened so I called my mom.  As I told my mom the story, she said, "I just keep hearing the word 'favored.'  I don't know whether it's God saying you are favored or that maybe this little girl will be favored?"  When I got home, I took a pregnancy test and it came up negative, but then I looked up the meaning of Lylah and discovered it means "dark beauty."  I still like the name but with these circumstances, decided that perhaps we shouldn't name our little girl Lylah.  Over the next 48 hours, at the most random times, I kept hearing the name "Annelise" running through my mind.  So, finally, I decided just for curiosity sake, I decided to look up the meaning.  Much to my surprise Annelise means, "Favored, grace, and God's bountiful blessing."  Wow!  Maybe the man at Wal-Mart wasn't crazy.  Maybe he is just a messenger from God.  I called my mom and told her she wasn't going to believe this but the story gets even better.  We were both in awe of the situation.
     Now, a few months later, we are expecting our second child.  Will it be a girl?  I guess we'll know in a few more months?  My husband, along with several family members, are convinced that we are having twin girls.  As for me, I'm not too convinced that we are having twins.  I think God just spoke that to me so I would recognize it was Him speaking and not just a man.  I have my first ultrasound October 18th; until then, we'll just have to wonder.
     While this story is crazy, this situation continues to prove that God still speaks to us.  The same God that spoke to people in the Bible, speaks to me- even if it's through a crazy man at Wal-Mart.