What's in a name?

I was born at a military hospital in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky in the late 1970s. I love hearing the stories from my mom of how they made her walk down the hall to get her own tray of food and push her own wheelchair. Far from the pampering you get at any maternity ward in the US these days. My dad always likes to say they forgot the baby and brought home one of the many roaches that occupied that hospital.

I was born Sonya Joy Foster. A few years earlier my mother had given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Dawn. She was born with a fatal heart condition and only lived three days. Long enough to be held and loved by her mommy and daddy and they grief they experienced left their own hearts torn and aching. In her sorrow, the LORD met my mother and gave her a promise.
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the broken-hearted, to announce liberty to captives and to pen the eyes of the blind. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God's favor to them has come, and the day of his wrath to their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel he will give:
Beauty for ashes;
Joy instead of mourning;
Praise instead of heaviness.
For God has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory" (Isaiah 61:1-3). This is where my middle name came from and I heard this story my entire life, knowing that I was a fulfillment of a promise that God had given to my mother. And I never doubted that God was able to turn mourning into joy.

There is something about having a name that has meaning beyond "i just liked it." Both of our boys are named after family. K. is named after his father and T. after his grandfather. After each of them were born I asked God to give me a life verse for them, something for them to hold onto the rest of their life...their promise from God. K's is Prov 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." T's verse is from Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." They both know "their verses" by heart and it has provided many opportunities to talk about how God speaks to us through His Word.

As we started this adoption journey we decided that we would wait until we had a referral to decide on a name. Then the wait became much longer than intended and I asked God if He would give us a name for her. I was tired of waiting, tired of not knowing who she was, tired of being pushed into the next stage of life without her....and God spoke through Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." And I knew her name was Faith. Her middle name was given to her by her birth mother and means "aroma". Her birth mother loved and desired her to be there and so she gave her the name meaning aroma so that this little girl would always know how much her mother loved her. We have prayed everyday that our baby would be surrounded in love from the moment she was conceived. Her middle name is an answer to that prayer.

My brother in law is into researching what names mean in ancient Hebrew/Greek. He discovered that our last name means those in the family line who praise the one true God. When he researched her middle name it led him to a passage in the book of Revelation. "When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." (5:8) I loved his conclusion on what her names means... the prayers given in faith by those who worship the One true God. God's story for our little girl is one of redemption and beauty.

Comments

  1. I was wondering where you both came up with the names for you two sons :-) I've asked Scott a dozen or so times, and feel its really important that a name should have a deep meaning :-)

    I love this post
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. And, if I am ever blessed with a little girl, her middle name will be Joy, after one of my true heros on this earth! :) I love you!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

the dilemma of the special needs mama: to expect more or to redefine the expectation

lessons of christmas: joseph and mary

preparing for surgery: a surprise vacation