Thinking back

This was originally posted in August of 2008 and we have since added a new little one into our family so I thought I'd add to this...

.....................................................................................................

When we were expecting our first born we found ourselves eagerly anticipating the day we would hopefully find out if a little boy or a little girl was entering our new family. We would spend hours at night pouring over our baby name book, talking about and playing with different names we liked. The day finally arrived and as I was on the bed with the warm jelly on my stomach the ultrasound tech asked if we wanted to know what we were having. Yes was our eager reply and she quickly replied Its a boy. That night as we lay in bed, we knew his little name. A name that was very special to us. A name that would carry much and would bless. We kept his name a secret until he was born, until he was first introduced to the man that he was named after. Not only was he being named after someone whom we loved, we loved the meaning of his name.

John Alvin

gift of God ... friend of all

***

Our second child was on their way and this time it was a surprise. We poured over boy and girl names. Praying... desiring to speak life into this little one. We were so excited to be welcoming another little one into our family and loved the anticipation of a surprise... it was better then Christmas morning yet somehow, we knew what the name would be if this was to be a little boy and found ourselves perplexed on a little girls name. Even as we drove to the hospital that early morning we had our list of girl names and our one boy name. And then our second son was born...

Benjamin Aubrey

strong, mighty in spirit ... noble

***

Another precious child was joining our lives, our family. We were so excited and decided to keep this little one a surprise as well. For some reason, during this pregnancy person after person kept informing us that we would statistically have another little boy. We would love to have another little boy but a girl... a little girl... As hard as it was for us to find a little girls name when we were pregnant with Benjamin, we gravitated towards little girls names this time. Brent was the one who brought up the idea of this name if it was to be a girl - not only would we be speaking life to her, she would be reminding us, pricking our heart every time her name was uttered.

Faith Elizabeth

firm believer... oath of God

***

We knew that we were going to have another little one but we were still caught by surprise with this new little one growing inside. We were excited and loved that someone new was joining our growing family but we were busy and life was changing quickly. We found ourselves moving before she was born and somehow it just seemed easier to find out what we were having. Do we need to save the baby boy clothes or the baby girl clothes? The ultrasound technician was quite confident in his skills and quickly showed us that a little girl would be joining us. We had many girl names that we loved yet we kept being pulled back to this name. The meaning... how could we step away from this one? The other names just seemed... they just seemed to lack depth when we compared it to this one. This is the name, this has to be her name.

Olivia Grace

peace, she walks with God ... patient, full of grace

***

A new little girl was to be joining our family... another precious girl... how good God was to bless us with this. Each little person in our family was thrilled that another little one would be joining our family. In fact, they would often ask if we could have 12 kids altogether. We loved seeing the joy that they were experiencing as we were getting ready to have another little girl join us... these were such sweet days. We have always been a little slow in making that final decision on names and this time was no different. Names that we had pondered in the past came up, new names that we found were put onto the list, all names though were talked about and prayed about. what name would be perfect for this new one growing within? And then we found it... a name not even on the list, coupled with a name we had loved since the beginning of this journey. Yes, yes, that is to be her name.

Alaina Brooke

cheerful, effective witness ... peaceful

***

The names of our children. As I pray over these precious children, I often pray the meaning of their names over them. May they not only be found as a gift, mighty in spirit, a firm believer, walking with God, an effective wittness but may they stir up these gifts in each other.