What's in a Name

Recently, we welcomed a new baby granddaughter into our family.  I was invited to stay at my son's home, and help for the first few days after she was brought home from the hospital.  It is the only time in my life when I look forward to going without sleep, so that I can hold a new infant.  Not only am I enjoying this tiny child, I also enjoy observing the transformation and transition of her parents, as they become absorbed by the well being of their tiny infant.

After a couple of days of consideration, they shared with us the name they have chosen for her.  My son wrote the following:

For many reasons, we have decided to name our daughter  _______. A visit we made to (my wife's) great-grandmother, _______, just a few days before she passed away last summer is one reason. I was struck by a man there, who was himself quite old - one of the missionaries who had served as a missionary under her and her husband. For much of the time we were there, he sat in front of her in silence while the people around him interacted. The love he had for her was evident - as was the legacy of goodness this woman was leaving behind - in the fact that here, near the end of their lives, they maintained an association that began in their youths. 

It was profound to me that one room represented five generations of women, from (my wife's) great-grandmother to the baby (my wife) carried - that (my wife), herself was a product of this woman's body and life and that our daughter was one more link in that chain preparing to enter the world as this old woman was preparing to leave.

I felt strongly as we drove home that _______ is the name we should give our daughter, and that impression has returned many times. (My wife) has expressed that she loves the name because of many associations she has with it - both through (her) family and from her friend (by the same name), who has been a remarkable friend to (her) and to us as a newly married couple. 

Through the name we give her, we want to teach our daughter strength - how to experience hardship, even tragedy, and respond with faith and power. We want to convey to her that the women from whom she has descended leave a legacy of goodness. We want to teach her that what we want most for her is emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and social independence like _______(a Biblical name) of old.

Thank you all for the support you offer (my wife) and me. We are very happy to welcome this daughter and begin teaching her the principles we have been so blessed to know.