Naming Baby

Just like everything else in this pregnancy naming this little boy has been a process for us. I personally like names that are traditional but not too common, preferably Biblical, and possibly also with some kind of family connection. With this baby I was also insistent that his name have a meaning that reflects what we have been learning about God/grace/the gospel through this pregnancy. So, we had a lot of options. We actually had a very long list of names that we both liked but nothing that really "spoke" to us. So we just kinda sat on the decision.

Let me tell you first about the origins of Jeremiah's name.

We had many of the same problems when it came to naming Jeremiah, except it seemed worse. Aaron had one list of names he liked, I had another that was totally different. We were vetoing each others choices all the time. I joked with friends that God was going to have to name this baby because Aaron and I couldn't! In October I had to go up to Gatlinburg to do a training session for MCC. I was driving by myself and praying. As I was driving I just all of the sudden thought, "The name Jeremiah would be a good name." But, I decided not to mention it to Aaron and just pray about it. When I got home from my training Aaron was away for some reason that I now forget but he had written me a really sweet letter while I was gone. On the bottom of the letter he wrote, "I kind of like the name Jeremiah." Wow! But we still weren't sure. That next Sunday our pastor preached a sermon about the prophet Jeremiah and his ministry. It was awesome and we liked the way the name sounded coming out of someone else's mouth. Then, a few weeks later we were making some future plans. We pulled out the calendar for 2005 and turned it to February, Jeremiah's due date. On that page was the verse from Jeremiah, "I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with loving-kindness." We looked at each other - God had just named our baby! Jeremiah's middle name is Dewonne which is Aaron's and his dad's middle name.

So this time around we have been waiting to see what happens name wise and have not been in a hurry. But there were times when it seemed like we were just not going to agree. I think I am starting to learn my lesson about prayer and so I started praying again. In a similar way I began to pray about a name that I really liked but that Aaron was not too crazy about. We let the idea percolate and I decided not to push the issue but to once again just see if God would name this baby for us. One night after many weeks (months probably) of not really talking about it except in passing Aaron said out of the blue, "I think I like the name ......" I was happy, but not yet willing to commit unless he was 100% sure. We decided to use the name around the house and see if we liked the sound of it out loud. Then the other day Aaron said, "We might as well just start calling him ......" Again, I believe God had named our baby.

Ok, you've made it this far so enough suspense already, our baby's name is

Nathaniel Alan Rapier

Nathaniel means "given by God" - which is how I feel about this baby, he is a true gift to us by God with no planning or deserving on our part. The meaning also reminds me of the lessons I have been learning about God's gifts and provision in our lives. It was also the name of an Old Testament prophet and one of Jesus' disciples. Alan is my father's middle name.

So, both of our sons have pretty long names. I told a friend today that they won't be able to spell their own names until they are in the 8th grade! :-) But I love the fact that they have strong biblical names that they will hopefully grow into and understand the meanings of as they become men of God. Our prayer is that as they grow and we tell them the stories of the origins of their names they will see God's grace and work in their lives before they were even born or old enough to know about Him.

Thanks for hanging in there this long. Hope it was worth it!