What's In A Name?

First of all if you haven't read my previous post please do so first!  I actually posted twice today, but don't get used to it!  ;)  Apparently Sterling is really sleepy today.

I have always been one who loves name meanings.  I love that in the Bible your name was who you are.  So many times I have read about someone and their name was truly a foreshadowing of who they would become.  I have always thought that would be so cool to see your child become his name.  But how do you do that?  I mean what if I name my child one thing and the turn out the opposite.  However, when you look more closely you see that many of those times in the Bible God either gives the name or He changes the names, and then I am sure there are those more everyday instances where the parents just really prayed that God would show them what to call their child and then used that to pray for them.  It's really all a testament to God's Sovereignty.

With Sterling his name has become my prayer for him.  He was named after his father of course and so that stirs up many things for me to pray for him.  I do pray that he would be like his father, and there are definitely names that I would use that have a "bad" meaning, because they were after someone.  We talked about using William and James if this baby was a boy after my dad and several of our grandparents.  One means strong-willed and the other usurper.  I would have had to do some praying to find what God wanted me to pray for but I'm sure He would have had his reasons for those names too.

Anyway, Sterling's name is Alexander - defender of mankind and Sterling - pure.  It is so cool because I already see him becoming a defender of others.  Like I said in my last post.  I can see that he is already becoming protective of me and maybe even his little sister. 

But I want more than that, put the two together and they mean defender of purity.  I want Sterling to be a defender of purity, what a high calling!  I want my son to stand up and defend what is right and holy.  I want him to be a champion of truth and God's holiness.  I want him to be a defender of the Word of God.  In a world that lives so contrary to what the Bible teaches, I want my son to defend what is right.  I want him to see the wisdom in obeying the Word of God, and for him to live that out so others can see it's beauty as well.  It has been so cool to see how my prayer for Sterling has grown since he was named.  I think the more he has grown the more I see in his name that I want to reflect.  I can't forsee who he will become, but God knows who he made him to be and I really think that he made him to be an Alexander Sterling.  While Alex's mom put the name together from Alex's family tree, God knew who He was making both of them to become, and He put the name in her heart and ours.

Now with that being said, there is another child to be named.  Ann Elizabeth will be our baby girl.  That is Ann first name and Elizabeth middle she will go by both.  We actually had this name picked out if Sterling was to be a girl.  But again God knew who the child in my womb was then and he knows this one too. 

She is named for both of my grandmothers' middle names.  I first heard the name from a teacher who worked across the hall from me.  She was such a dear lady and she had a granddaughter who she always talked about named Ann Elizabeth.  She had such a sweet southern draw - think old south, Gone with the Wind, Julia Sugarbaker kind of accent - and it sounded so pretty when she said her granddaughter's name.  I just really liked it and didn't know why.  I love double names but never thought I would name one of my children a double name.  Then one day she was telling a tale of her high-spirited granddaughter, Ann Elizabeth, and I thought, "Wait, those are my grandmothers' middle names!  I really should hold on to that one." 

At the time we were just married and were not ready yet to have children, but of course most women think about their future children's names, it's just what we do.  So I kept it, thinking Alex probably wouldn't go for it, I mean it is a mouthful.  When we did find out I was pregnant, I mentioned it to Alex and he liked it, I was shocked, and the more he heard it I think the more he really liked it. 

I have always loved the name Elizabeth.  My mother said she almost gave me that middle name.  I love my own Lynne after her, but I always thought Elizabeth was so elegant and beautiful.  Whenever we had "play names" growing up, that was mine.  Ann has never been my favorite.  To be honest, I don't really like it.  Ann just seems so plain.  Anne is pretty and Annie is fun.  But I would never name my child, First Name Ann (sorry if that steps on any toes).  I have to agree with Anne Shirley on this one.  However, I fell in love with Ann paired with Elizabeth.

Looking at the meanings Ann means grace or gracious, and Elizabeth is God is my oath.  Of course, like Sterling, Ann Elizabeth's name sakes have so many qualities that I am praying for her to exhibit. Some of them are qualities that are a part of her name and some are beyond. 

But the specific prayer that I am beginning to pray for Ann Elizabeth is coming from her name. Obviously graciousness, to show grace to others.  I do think that is something that women particularly struggle with and yet have a special calling to, being gracious in all situations.  I pray that this little girl is defined to others by her graciousness.  I am praying that when others see her they see her forgiving spirit, her willingness to be friends to the friendless, to be a champion for others.  I pray that she would have a giving spirit and be willing to make personal sacrifices to meet the needs of others.  I pray that she would see others as more important than herself. 

When you put her two names together I think like Sterling's her name get's richer still.  "A Gracious God is My Oath."  Wow, her name is really the gospel.  I Googled God is my oath just to see what came up.  Most of the things that I saw were defined like we would say, "With God as my witness"  or like when you swear to "tell the whole truth so help me God."  While that could be part of it and definitely made me add to my list to pray that my daughter would be an honest woman, I don't think that this what it really means. 

God is my oath, like I said before to me is the gospel.  When God made the covenant with Abraham, the covenant that is at the root of our salvation, Abraham set up as tradition and as instructed by God, animals to "cut a covenant" with God.  God told him to do it of course it wasn't Abraham's idea, but even more than that when the time actually came for the covenant to be made, God caused Abraham to fall asleep.  God knew that Abraham would not and could not uphold his end of the bargain.  And the reason people "cut a covenant" back then or basically cut animals in half and walked through their carcasses was to say may this be done to me if I fail.  Abraham would have been in deep trouble if he had walked through those animals, we would have too, and God knew it.  So Abraham's gracious God made the oath for Abraham.  He said this is what I am going to do for you and through your offspring will come salvation for the world. 

God became Abraham's covenant.  God was Abraham's promise.  God even gave Abraham the faith to believe the promise.  He knew Abraham could not keep the oath and so He became the oath for Abraham.

This is my prayer for this sweet little girl moving around inside of me right now.  I pray that the Gracious God is her Oath.  Of course, I earnestly pray for this for Sterling too, just as I want Ann Elizabeth to be a Defender of Purity as well.  But God has given us this name and as I did with Sterling this is my special prayer for her.  I'm sure as Sterling's has, this prayer will continue to develop as God adds to it, but at the heart of it I am praying for her to have a gracious heart who knows that a Gracious God is My Oath.