Saturday, October 8, 2011

All Three Baby Bug Names

I have loved every second of picking names for my Bugs.  When I saw Amy's post about Naming Babies, it made me want to share about our name choices for Ladybug and Stinkbug last year as we waited for Doodlebug to arrive. I have redone this post to include our sweet third baby!

Olivia Grace

(Olive tree, Unmerited favor)

But I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever. (Psalm 52:8)


When I was newly pregnant, I was reading verses and passages in Scripture about the blessing of children.  I read Psalm 128, which states that children will be like "olive plants" around the table.  That verse cross referenced Psalm 52:8 in my Bible, and I fell in love with the name Olivia, since it meant "olive tree".  What a perfect verse for my daughter-- I desire that she would be content to dwell in the Lord's presence, and I pray that she will always trust in His steadfast love.

Olivia being four syllables meant (for me) that we needed a succinct middle name, so her name would just flow.  (OK, so I'm a little nuts-o about the sound of names!)  I think Grace is a beautiful name, and even more beautiful is the meaning that "grace" or "unmerited favor" holds for me and Hubby.  God has given us so much grace in our years on this earth, Olivia's middle name is a tribute to His graciousness.


Hudson Isaiah

(Bright in mind and spirit, Salvation is from the Lord)

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25-26)


When Hubby and I were in college, we spent a summer working with students in China.  In preparation for the trip we read Hudson Taylor's biography.  We were both impressed with the man Hudson Taylor was and once we were married and pregnant, decided we liked Hudson as a boy's name.  The passage above from Psalm 73 epitomized to us not only how Hudson Taylor lived his time here on earth, but how we desire our son to live-- desiring Christ above all else.  So we chose it as Hudson's life verse.  (The actual meaning of Hudson is "son of Hugh" or "son of the hooded man", and Hugh means "bright in mind and spirit", hence the meaning above.)

Isaiah is our favorite book of the Old Testament, and we liked how it sounded with Hudson as a middle name.  When you add that Isaiah means "salvation is from the Lord", how could we not choose this name for our first son?



Jackson Luke

(Gracious gift of God; Light)

But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works. (Psalm 73:28)


When we were choosing boy names, I had lists of names I liked and Hubby could not agree to any of them. Until I read "Jackson" and he said, "I like Jackson". It seemed like one of the few names we could agree on, and I liked both our boys' names ending with "son". I love that Jack means "gracious gift of God". I was pregnant and miscarried in January 2010... in March I was having health issues and before going to see the doctor took a pregnancy test just to be sure it wasn't that. Lo and behold it was positive! Jackson was God's gracious gift right after my miscarriage. I didn't even know about him until I was 10 weeks pregnant.

Luke is such a sweet boy's name, and we both love the Gospel of Luke. Jackson Luke truly is a light in our family and we are so glad to have him as part of us! His verse was chosen on his birthday as it was the only verse I could recall during his C-section. Just as the nearness of God was my good that day, I pray that Jackson would always seek to be near to the Lord.


1 comment:

Amy @ Raising Arrows said...

Sheila,
What a wonderful post! I love how you have verses to go along with their names as well. Can't wait to see what Doodlebug's name is. ;)
Thanks for sharing,
Amy