What's in a name?

Just a few minutes ago I checked my myspace email and found that I had received a message from an acquaintance of my mine. For those who don't know, I grew up in Texas and lived there for the first 15 years of my life. During the last 7 years of this time, my family was best friends with another family. They had two daughters and two sons. One daughter was my age and we were best friends. The mom was my mom's age and her best friend. And the dad really stepped in and gave me a lot of love and support when my parents divorced. Growing up, I had a crush on one of the older brothers and seriously thought that if I had stayed in Texas, he'd be the one that I would've married. (No regrets, of course.) They had a family friend of their own who lived in another town, and I spent time with her multiple times throughout those years. She was several years older than me, though, and I only saw her every now and then. She ended up marrying the oldest brother years after I moved away. And I only recently got in touch with her now, nearly 9 years after I moved to Oregon. Anyways, to my point... I received this email from her this afternoon and it brought me to tears. I knew the specific meanings of the names for my son, but I had never thought about it in the context that she presented it, as in prophesying over him each time I say his name.


I think names are VERY important. In the Bible, when God did something major in someone's life, He changed their name. He made Abram (high father) to Abraham (father of nations) when he took a man who was infertile and gave him a son who would bring forth generations of God's people. He made Jacob (deceiver) to Israel (God contended) after he wrestled with God. He changed Saul (prayed for) to Paul (small one) when He humbled this man and made him a servant of His word. In my own life, I have seen how God has revealed to me the meaning behind my own name. For much of my life, I felt insignificant. I felt that I wasn't good enough, wasn't smart enough, wasn't pretty enough, skinny enough, tall enough, short enough, artistic enough, funny enough, or popular enough to be loved. I wondered if I'd ever get married- who could possibly WANT to be with me?! There was a lot that God showed me during the recent years, but one part of it is that the meaning of my name is "Worthy of Love". I am His child and to think that I don't deserve love is to believe that He did something wrong when He created me this way.


So, I hope that those of you who read this find the meanings in your own situation. If you are pregnant now, and have already chosen your baby's name, what meanings behind that name are things that you can pray and speak over your precious child? These can be literal meanings in the origin of the name or implications of that name. If you are not pregnant but have thought of future names, what implications could these names have? I know that even while going through infertility, I already chose the names I wanted for my future baby and chose to call my future babies by those names (even making emblems for them as a profession of faith that they would one day exist). I even know someone else on these blogs who is praying over her future children by names even though she is not pregnant now.


Please share with me any of your thoughts or, if you are so inspired, write your own blog about it so I can join you in professing those things over your children (future or current). So, here's the letter:

I love the name you have picked for your son. There is some debate over the meaning of Josiah, but my favorite can be found athttp://www.babynamespedia.com/meaning/Josiah when I saw the name you picked, it had come up in my previous baby name searches when we were pregnant, because it means, The Lord healed me. And I thought, how appropriate with your story, that your baby's name rings true of God's beautiful grace and how he miraculously gave you your son.

I am so thrilled for the life you are bringing into the world, and I am thrilled at how God's hand is so blatantly obvious on this child's life.

Through other meanings of Josiah, you find "The Fire of God" and David meaning, beloved of Friend of God, or God's favored one. I love that. Every time you call your son, you are speaking life over him, you are speaking into him that he will be a passionate leader for Christ, that he is God's chosen and anointed child of God, that he is blessed and highly favored, and that he will grow in wisdom, in stature and favor with God and man just as Jesus did. I believe that your son, through your and your husbands prayers for him, and dedication to raise him up in the ways of God, will be a force to be reconed with for the Kingdom of God. I believe he will be a great and mighty leader, and he will be your proclamation every time you call out his name, that the Lord healed you, opened your womb and gave you a son.