What's in a Name? Blog Hop

Rachel at http://alastingfootprint.blogspot.com is doing a blog hop for her 80th post, this is my 70th post and that makes it even more fun to participate....

My living children's names are pretty straightforward and the explanation of how I came to name them follows... and for the children that I lost, I believe that God has given them their names... and He has shared them with me. I have listed all of my children in birth order.

JOSHUA MICHAEL- Joshua means: Salvation, and Michael means: Who is like God? I'm sure this relates to him right now,and I have a few theories about his life purposes. His middle name is after my husband's dad, and we chose to use it to honor him. I have always loved the name Joshua, mostly due to the verse in the Bible that is found in Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." I've always loved that verse, and the name Joshua. At the time that we became pregnant with Joshua, we were living in South Korea. Knowing that God was with us 'wherever we were going' was particularly relevant to us at the time. So deciding the name of my firstborn son was easy for me. The day he was born was an emotional rollercoaster, and fear could have easily set in. After almost losing our precious son that day, its good knowing that God has called us to be strong and courageous. That we can count on HIM to be with us always. My son is sweet in spirit and really loves others. He has always had an attractive tenderness about him that attracts people to him. I know that God has placed this in him, to be used for His glory, I can't wait to see how it unfolds!

JOHANNA and JOHN: my twins that I lost at 7 weeks pregnant. Johanna means: God is Gracious... and even though I know she's with Him in Heaven, I fully believe that He is Gracious! The name John means: God is Gracious! The loss of my twins was hard, but I know that God was gracious to me even in the loss of them. Looking back, I'm not sure I would have been able to raise twins in the midst of all the chaos life has thrown my way. So its true that God does not give us more than we can handle. We might come close to breaking and feeling like its too much, but He knows our capabilities and our boundaries.

GABRIEL- who I lost at 8wks pregnant,  his name means: God's able bodied one. I know that now in Heaven, Gabriel is able bodied, and whole. I never got the chance to meet him either, but I look forward to the day that I do. Losing Gabriel was much harder a loss for me than I would have ever imagined it would be. I felt settled, ready, and prepared. Losing him meant that my 'perfect' plan was not perfect. I knew that God had a plan and that is the only way that I got through this loss. I can imagine that this able bodied boy is running around Heaven causing his own fair share of ruckus!

CALEB JAY- Caleb means: whole-hearted and faithful. Jay means: happy, chattering like a blue bird. These words and meanings are a perfect description of Caleb. He is whole-hearted, full of emotion, happy and quite the chatterer! Jay is my father's name and we wanted to honor him as well. I love having named my sons with some heritage, they will never forget who they were named after. When we found out that we were having another boy, my biggest fear at the time, I knew that Joshua's name was special. I felt that God put the name Caleb on my heart and reminded me of the scripture in Numbers 32:11-12 "Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were twenty years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob- not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they followed the LORD wholeheartedly.

It was my desire that, my sons would have a story to refer to, anytime when things got tough, or difficult. I wanted them to have namesakes that reminded them of the positive outcome of our obedience to God. In Joshua 14:13,14 "Joshua blessed him. He gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite still today, because he gave himself totally to God, the God of Israel." Whenever the Bible reiterates a point it tells you how important it is, because it is spoken of again in Deuteronomy 1:35,36 "Not a single person of this evil generation is going to get so much as a look at the good land that I promised to give your parents, Not one except for Caleb son of Jephunneh. He'll see it. I'll give him and his descendants the land he walked on because he was all for following God, heart and soul." My children's names are all Biblical, because I want leave an inheritance through their names. Our names often represent how others view us, and what we believe about ourselves throughout our lives. I hope that by naming my children, in the way that God led us; that we are leaving a legacy of faith in God and a trust in his goodness. So what's in a name? A WHOLE lot!