What’s in a name
With each pregnancy after Joshua, we always picked out boy names and girl names leading up to the big ultrasound. Josh is very picky and never liked any of my girl name choices. He was always stuck on one particular name:
Zoe
In my mind, Zoe was Elmo’s friend on Sesame Street; not the name of my little girl. I never really liked it. As we started discussing names for our daughter, I went down a long list of names with wonderful meanings. Josh didn’t really like any of them. He gently said,
“I still really like Zoe.”
All of our children’s names (first and middle) have significant meaning.
Joshua Nicholas: God is salvation, defender of the people
Jesse Clayton: God beholds (Clayton was my grandfather’s name)
Owen Christopher: desire born (we’d prayed for a third child and tried for over a year), Christ-bearer
I was sharing with the boys about the precious gift of adoption. I explained abortion to them and how they will have a little sister because her birth mother chose life for her baby; our baby. I had been looking up Hispanic girl names, hoping to add some of her heritage to her name. One name stood out to me and when I put it together with Zoe, I knew it was the one.
Zoe Amaris – Life promised by God
I am already aching with love for my daughter. I can already feel her warm cheek against mine, rocking her in the still of the night; praising God that her birth mother chose life. Speaking purpose and blessing over her even now. What a good, good God.
I’m overwhelmed.
~audrey