Naming Our Wee Babes

Many have been asking when am I due. 

Baby # 9, 

is due December 10, 

three weeks away....3 days and a few hours.  :-)

The baby will be named for the things God has been teaching me this year,

namely, becoming more peaceful with a gentle and quiet spirit. 

I know that the Lord has moved my heart much this year, 

and my prayer is that this work is becoming evident in my everyday life.

We have always named our children after what God is doing in our lives

while I am carrying the next wee one. 

John, our oldest, was a miracle baby...born dead and resuscitated. 

His name means "God's gracious gift." 

While carrying Anna, God intervened in our lives in many abnormal ways, 

healing Brian's hurt arm,

 providing for us when it was an elk and potatoes life. 

We also made some really stupid choices at that time on our lives, 

and God loved us anyway. 

Her name is Grace.

Rose was named after her great grandmother and grandmother,

both godly women whose lives shaped our own in significant ways.

Although I never knew the one,

her reputation and testimony inspired me to strive to become a godly woman.

  The other grandmother,

mother of my dear sweet husband,

  I have thanked God for her training of him ten thousand times. 

She was very thorough, teaching him all about household things

as well as Kingdom things,

and both have been a source of continual blessing.

When Joe was born we were studying the life of Joseph, son of Jacob. 

Joseph had remarkable character for a youth,

persevering in righteousness in the midst of great trial.

This we wanted of our son.

During my pregnancy with Jim, 

we were challenged by our study of the book of James, 

where our faith is shown by our works

and as a result Brian was called into the ministry.

Benjamin, means son of my right hand,

and came after losing a baby boy to a late miscarriage. 

Ben's middle name is Creed,

because we were defining our beliefs when he was yet being formed within.

Bethany, is the name of a house of refuge in the Bible. 

  During the pregnancy,

we were becoming aware of the importance of having a sweet atmosphere in our home,
the value of the home being a haven, and a place of peacefulness.

Gabriel was born just a few days after Christmas,

and is also named after a man in our church whose generosity

gave us the land where Providence Lodge is built. 

He went home to be with the Lord before Gabe was born.

We presently are looking at names for peace, 

since that has been the great movement in our lives this year.

  We will wait until we see the little one before deciding. 

Time is near, I am old and wearying. 

It is a challenge to wait peacefully. 

It is a stretch to be gentle and not anxious when there is stress at hand,

or discomfort present.

This week, my husband will be preaching a Thanksgiving sermon

based on Psalm 103, which states in verse 2,

"Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits."  

By naming our children by what God has been doing in us,

each child is a constant reminder

of what God has done in the past,

just by their namesake.

I do not recall how we happened upon this way of naming, 

it must have been a God-thing.  

I just know that I am very aware and thankful 

for the journey God has brought us through, 

and for our children, who are a continual blessing. 

I cannot imagine life without each one,

or the benefits God bestowed upon us as he blessed us with them.

"Behold, children are an heritage from the lord; and the fruit of the womb is His reward.  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them."  Psalm 127:3,5a