Of Hananiah

"Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding, learning and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and the language of the Chaldeans. . . . Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego." - Daniel 1:3-4, 6-7

A number of years ago, back when we were a mere family of three, I studied the book of Daniel with a precious group of women through a study written by Beth Moore. While I'm sure I had learned previously that Daniel, of the lion's den, was a close friend of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, of fiery furnace fame, I believe this to be the first time it had ever occurred to me that, for some reason, while Daniel retains the usage of his Hebrew name throughout the book, his three friends must endure their fifteen minutes with the pagan, Babylonian names bestowed on them at the time of their capture. Almost no one refers to their true identities - the names given by their parents, the ones that pointed to their God in Heaven.

Shadrach had been Hananiah, meaning "God is gracious," in his previous life. Meshach was Mishael, "Who is like God?" (another form of the name we gave our first-born, Micaiah) and Abednego had been Azariah, "God is our help."

When I learned these names, I loved them all and thought about how beautiful they would be for children of this day, even. Hananiah was my favorite and it remained a strong name contender (only as a girl name, in my mind) from that time forward.
 
Fast forward a few years and we are finally having a second girl and now we have to name her. And our indecisive nature when it came to picking baby names shone bright and clear. The names I had once held dear I rejected. I actually pulled away from the name Hananiah for quite awhile. Though I loved the story, of standing firm through the fire, of Shadrach and his companions, I felt the name was too soft for our little girl - the one I felt, even in the womb, would be giving us a run for our money with her boldness.

And then the fires came - we watched loved ones lose their loved ones, we fought for a home to call our own, we waited, endured, for her arrival - but God was faithful through it all. And I knew, if I wanted nothing else for our precious girl, I wanted her to know who her God was and to be willing to cling to him when the world turned up the fire of opposition to all she believed. I wanted a daughter who would stand firm and - through the reminder of her name of God's good grace - push us all to stand firm, as well.

I remembered the words of Hananiah and his friends, as King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw them into the flames for not bowing to his idol, "[O]ur God whom we serve is able to deliver us out of your hand, O king." (Daniel 3:17) Our God is able. In ALL circumstances, He is able.

And then what followed, "But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods" (Daniel 3:18, emphasis added)

But if not.

Our God is able to deliver us from earthly suffering, but sometimes He chooses not to - and yet He is faithful, and as these men stood firm, even with the knowledge that God may choose not to deliver them from the fire, they declared their loyalty to the God of Heaven.

This is the strength I wish for all of us - the strength to trust in the goodness of our God, knowing He is able in all circumstances, and trusting that if He should choose not to deliver us from the fire, He is sovereign and His will is good. And this is the reason we chose to name our daughter for one of the many great heroes of faith.

Of Emmett

I groaned to myself in dismay this afternoon as I read a brief article on-line.  With all the horrifying things in our world, what could have caused the sadness I felt?  Only a tiny snippet detailing celebrity-inspired baby names which are rising in popularity these days.  The name that topped the list?  Emmett.  Even worse than the fact that our son's name is becoming "all the rage" is that it's sudden rise in fame is linked to the Twilight series.

I shake my head in remorse.

To be honest, I had actually discovered the link between the name and the vampiric love story before our firstborn son ever entered the world.  I noticed it on some obscure website as I first researched this name we were considering for our baby boy.  And it was almost enough to deter me from using it altogether.  Almost.

And now, though I truly love the origin for our own son's name, I still almost feel the need to apologize for labeling him with such a moniker which is apparently plaguing the sons of his generation and for the association with a fictional blood-sucking brother.  I am deeply sorry, Son.  As you move along in this life in a sea of boys risen by vampire fangirls, I am sorry for the fact you may get lost in the crowd.

Also, I'm sad because I will constantly feel on the defensive when introducing my son to strangers.  "His name is Emmett, but I swear it had nothing to do with Twilight and I swear we chose the name before it was ever even trendy.  I swear."  So, really it's my pride that is sad.  My pride likes being original.

And now my pride feels like a brain-washed, pop-culture-leeching lemming.  Yuck.


1,000 Gifts (inspired by the list here): 

238. Irises, overflowing the small bed in our front lawn, just showing signs they will be opening soon.

239. The tree in the center of the irises, grown to adolescence, seems to be so grown-up from when we first met it as a young newlywed couple so in love with each other and this, our first house.

240. Our Little Man, heading to the church nursery for the first time.

My Life: My Transportation

It may look like a beast in the garage (or, really anywhere), especially in contrast to our tiny Cavalier, and may not boast the best gas mileage, but this vehicle fits three carseats with room to grow, so we're happy with it.

My Space
This is pretty much my view most days, sitting on the couch, staring at my laptop.  Although, I've been doing better about getting active with my kids, this spot in the middle of the sofa is still "Mommy's seat."

Of "Joseph Peter"

Anyone who knows us well could testify we do not name our children arbitrarily.  The decision is a difficult one for us and only ever comes about after much deliberation, discussion, research and prayer.  Thus, selecting a name for a gender-less child, as you might imagine, was extremely difficult for us.  This would be why I was sitting in our bed with my brand new son in my arms, an hour or so after he entered the world, looking at my husband and asking, "So?  What do you think?"

Of course we did not walk into his birth-date blindly, with no options even considered.  Joseph, in fact, was a name we had tossed around for a number of months (along with its counterpart, "Josephine," in the event of a girl - though Daddy had mostly vetoed that option, feeling it too formal for his tastes).  It was a name which had come to me during Sunday School, for no particular reason I can think of.  But when I considered the Old Testament character of Joseph, one who faced many hardships in his life and yet always trusted God's plan in his life, I knew it was a name to be considered.

This is how we come to our naming decisions - by asking ourselves the question, "What is God teaching us right now?"  For Emmett it was the idea that we were more than capable of raising a son, one whose success as a man would be found not in the power and strength promoted in our culture, but in the kindness and truth treasured by God.  For Micaiah, it was the reminder that there is no one more capable of directing our lives than God - our God who always provides and watches out for us in ways no one else can.  Our lesson throughout my entire pregnancy this time around was a full trust in God - even when it seems His plan is very different than what we would have chosen for ourselves - the same lesson lived through the life of the Biblical Joseph.

These are the things considered when the name first came to us.  However, as I sat to do a character study of this Old Testament Joseph, I searched my concordance for references to him and only then did I remember another Biblical Joseph - the husband of Mary.  And, so, my attentions were re-directed.

Having heard the Christmas story annually for my entire life, this was the first year I had ever truly considered the role of Joseph - or, rather, the faith of Joseph - throughout the process of our Redeemer being sent to earth.  Here was a man who, upon hearing of his betrothed's pregnancy, had planned to dismiss her quietly but, instead, was approached by an angel who informed him of the situation and encouraged him to stick around.  I had never before contemplated what great faith it required for Joseph to stand by a woman who was most likely still considered by those around him as unfaithful.  Yes, he had seen an angel, but the rest of those in his town had not - and they were probably still talking - about Mary, her condition, how she got in that condition and what it said of Joseph's character that the woman he was about to marry had been found pregnant.  To stay by her side in the face of such social opposition required true faith and trust in a plan that he would not have made for himself.

His faith was also evident shortly after the baby's birth when he again listened to an angel, this time through a dream, and fled to Egypt - not the next morning, after he'd time to think it through or hash out a plan with Mary, but immediately, in the middle of the night, taking his bride and brand new baby boy out into the desert to a new land, simply because he had dreamed it.  Talk about trust.

So, this is our son, Joseph - named for two Biblical pillars of faith - a reminder to us that we can always trust in the plan God has for us, even when it differs vastly from what we might have come up with on our own.

His middle name, Peter, which means "rock," comes from the life verse we chose for our son, based on the concepts above: "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock" [Psalm 26:3-4, emphasis added].

So, there you have it - Joseph Peter; these are the thoughts which brought us to settle on this name.  Though, truth be told, we considered many others along the way, but we always made our way back to Joseph, which, I believe, is exactly where God wanted us.