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What's in a Name?

It's good to be home! I took little "Cornbread" to the doctor this afternoon, then had errands and had to wait on the prescriptions, then still had to get back home. Tiring, especially when you have 3 sick, irritable children! But anyhoo, I'm glad I followed my instincts and took him in. I was right it was an ear infection. (Odd and random fact about me: I can often smell an ear infection. Many years of working in early childhood education + mommy to many = strange and gross talents!) Had I waited on huge symptoms to appear, he would have been so miserable! As it stands though, it is only one ear and he has a pus pocket in his throat (sorry, another gross item there) so that is probably why he isn't eating.

Well, shifting gears now, if you look back you will see a post I did recently on the nicknames I use for my family on this blog. In real life, I often get asked about my children's names. It's something that (most) people put a lot of thought into. Did you hear about the couple recently who wanted to sell the right to name their unborn baby? I have a very close friend expecting a baby girl. She and her husband have a beautiful, feminine name chosen. Somehow I just can't imagine them approaching this honor in such a frivolous way! God shows us in His word just how important a name is.

Without actually disclosing their names I'll share how we decided on our children's names. With each pregnancy I just always seemed to just know if it was a boy or a girl. One thing that pointed to this was our ability to come up with a name we agreed on.

With my first pregnancy my husband wanted to have a Junior. But I knew he hated his first name so I was reluctant to stamp that on the baby! In fact, when we started dating he refused to even tell me what it was. All he would give me were vowels. Finally months later he forgot his wallet at my house and yes, I snooped! When I saw it, I just thought, "THAT is what he was so embarrassed about???" I didn't find it to be anything so bad! But, I loved his middle name and the fact that it is spelled in a unique way and I knew I wanted that to be passed down. So all we needed was a first name. The one we chose came from the Bible and is one that to me represents strength, redemption and promises kept. It is a solid, masculine name and one that I had always loved.

So my next pregnancy came along 9 years later. I knew that I knew that I knew it was a girl. And we came up with a name by combining a feminine version of his name with a combination of my first and middle name. Unfortunately the pregnancy was not healthy and it ended in a miscarriage. This was devastating for us. Maybe sometime I will share a little more about it. Suffice it to say, there are still moments that remind me I should have a 9 year old running around mothering her little sisters and helping out with her baby brother. One fine day, though!!

The next time around I once again knew without an ultrasound that it was a girl. However, it also was not a healthy pregnancy so I had boo-coodles of ultrasounds by the time she was born!We could not come up with a boy's name at all. I wanted something soft and feminine. I knew I had THE ONE when I came across a name that: the first 3 letters are the last 3 letters of my first name, the next 3 letters are the last 3 letters in my maiden name, and the last letter is my middle initial. (have I confused you yet?!) We combined it with another feminine version of my husband's name. She truly represents the two of us!

The next thing I knew I was expecting another little girl. It wasn't hard to name her. I had a name ready this time and we quickly agreed upon it. The first was one I had struggled over with the last pregnancy. The middle was a name I had loved since the days of trying to get pregnant with my first. This time they fit. I trace them back to scripture and for me, her name represents God's blessings upon us. Totally appropriate since when she came along I felt as though my cup runneth over!

With this last pregnancy my husband guessed before I did that we had been blessed once again. I figured it was a boy but felt a little shy about announcing my opinions. For the first time we had trouble deciding together on just what the name should be. Finally during church one Sunday evening I got exasperated and told God, you give messages on names to people all over the Bible why can't you tell me what to name this baby? Immediately I heard an audible answer to my prayer! "G-G-God, is th-th--that You?" It wasn't a name I had always loved. It wasn't a name I had even considered. Yet, when I looked it up in the Bible, then later to see the meaning, I was intrigued. So I decided to put it to the test to be SURE I had truly heard from God. I told Him I would not tell anyone the name but if the FisherMan came up with the same name I would know it was from God. Some time later we went to the bookstore after a doctor appt. and looked at baby name books. I can tell you Wesley was one we considered. Then he said I like ______. He probably thought uh-oh because I teared up and said really?!

Now for the middle name! We thought about using Wesley since we liked it. Then I had a conversation with my cousin. He is only a year older than my oldest son. I never really got to know him on a more personal level until the FisherMan was called to a church in the area where they live and we spent a few years there. Then he and my son went to school together and played basketball together. I just love him to death. Well, he is a real cutup and he got started about how I should name the baby after him. I said, "Well, ya nut, there's only one problem with that. I already have a son whose middle name is the same as well as hubby's. I can't be a George Foreman and name all my boys the same thing!" (you know, he has something like 10 or 11 boys all named George!) So he suggested giving him the family last name. I wasn't sure how that would sound. After we hung up The FisherMan and I got to talking about the middle name though. It is also my uncle's middle name, my mother's brother. My wonderful father (insert sarcasm here) was never around when I was growing up so the men I looked up to were my uncle and my grandfather. The more hubby and I thought on this name the more we liked the idea of naming our baby after my uncle and my cousin. So we kept it quiet until he was born and then surprised them with it.

I love all my children's names and it is neat to me that they all have a story behind them. There was not a nonchalant attitude in bestowing a name on any of them. The boys have strong names they can be proud of and the girls have beautiful, feminine names. They point to family, love, and most of all giving glory to God for all of it! Isn't that what having children is all about?

Comments

  1. Wow...I had heard most of this story before, but it's just so eloquently put. It's amazing of what's put into picking out names. It's so hard. I keep praying for our "little rooster" so that he may carry on Papa Rooster's family names. I think that is such an honor. Hmmm...to think about it, Chicken Little also carries a derivative of Papa Rooster's name, plus we carried out the spelling that his family uses with their names. And I love how our names flow together. I know God put us all together for a reason, but hearing our names together just makes it sound that we were meant to be a family. Now if I could just talk Papa Rooster into, little roosters 2-5....LOL....He'll get a kick out of that!!!!

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  2. Mama Hen: God has the timing under control just as He has the knitting together in the womb under control. So it is amazing to think He also already knows our children and their names!

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  3. You are so right! Be encouraged and take heart. Blessings

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  4. So sweet, and great storeis behind their names! Another great blog! I still think you need to write a book! :)I miss you! :)

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  5. Tiffany: I miss you, too! Oh, for two rockers and naptime, KWIM? :)

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