Saturday, October 4, 2008

What is in a name?

I just had a friend(yes you know who you are) who just had a baby. With the excitement of the birth comes the duty of naming the baby. This is no easy task. My husband and I struggled for sometime with this with our little ones. With my daughter we were told by the nurse that we needed to choose a name "now", really no pressure to decide something that will be with them forever. Though you have many months to decide you still want the perfect name, a name that fits the babies looks, personality, and sometimes family history and heritage. This is no small feat. Some people choose trendy names, some biblical, some just because the met someone with the same name and loved it. All this fuss makes me think. What really is in a name? When I think of the name Molly, I think of a little girl with red hair and freckles and sweet like pie. When I think of the name Tanner, I think of a little boy who is athletic and funny. We always had long lists of names ready to take with us to the hospital ready for that day. When we found out the news about our son, and that he had died, we didn't really look at the list this time...we chose Elijah. Many people showed their distaste for our choosing this name, and we were OK with that. We know why we chose the name...the long version(2 Kings 2) the short version is this. In the bible God took Elijah to heaven to be with him. He went up in a whirlwind. God allowed him to enter heaven without experiencing death. Cool don't you think.
So what is the meaning of God's name...I am not the best at decoding things but, I looked up a few things...Hebrew version could be Adonai meaning LORD, or my favorite is Yahweh...which is just sweetly..."I AM" not anything more. What...that's it..I am...what does that mean...ok...maybe it just means, I am. I am your father, your creator, your comforter...I am everything...I am all...I am (insert here). Maybe his name fits him perfectly, and simply. OK maybe I am thinking about this way too much...but maybe it is the perfect definition of his name (who am I to second guess GOD???)
I am...he was, he is, and he will always be. Sounds like the most powerful, sweet and comforting name to me. Maybe there is something to, "what is in a name?"
Exodus 6:2-3
Exodus 3:15

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