Surrendered: 10/5/08

Friday, October 10, 2008

Nehemiah ~ Day Four

Isn't he precious?! Molly took him to our room for a photo session!
:-) Gotta love shutter bug big sisters!!

Something about his mouth... reminds me of.... _______. Any guesses?

Most of you have read the story of Nehemiah's first name. If you have not, you can read that story at http://tonyanddanalewis.blogspot.com/2008/09/our-new-sons-name-and-story-behind-it.html

This is the story of his middle name.

But first, a little background. All of our children are named for a Biblical person of strong character, someone who stood strong and firm and finished well. Caleb, Elizabeth, Samuel, Luke, Mary, Elijah, Isaac, Joseph and Nehemiah. They also are named for someone dear to us, either a family member or a close friend (who is like family). I want to share those stories with you now since I don't think I have before.

Caleb is named Caleb Rains. My maternal grandfather was the only son in his family and he only had one child, my mother. I loved my grandfather very much and wanted to honor him by carrying on his family name. He passed away when I was only a month pregnant with Caleb.

Molly Elizabeth is named for my dearest friend from college. Her name is Molly also. My friend Molly was named for her great aunt Mollie. Mollie was named for a dear friend who was an old maid schoolteacher. The original Mollie passed her baby ring on to her namesake Mollie. Mollie passed the ring on to her great niece Molly and Molly passed it on to our Molly.

Samuel Locke... Tony's paternal grandfather was Robert Locke. He was an only child and had two daughters. We were very fond of "Little Grandaddy", he enjoyed our children so much. We wanted to honor his family name by carrying it on. He was very pleased and we were very thankful to have many years with him before he was called to heaven.

Luke Anthony... Tony's full first name is Anthony so Luke is named for his Daddy! Isn't that special?

Mary Vance is named not only for Mary in scripture but also for my very dearest aunt, my Great Aunt Louise. Aunt Louise passed into glory the day after Nehemiah was born. She was very near and dear to all of us and loved having her very own little namesake! Honey (my mother's mother) was named Martha Vance. I loved Honey so much, she was a very strong presence in my life.

Elijah Jack is named for my Daddy. His name is Jack. We wanted to honor Daddy by naming a little one for him. It's pretty neat that Elijah is our only red-haired boy and my brother, also named Jack, has red hair too!

Isaac Jonathan... Jonathan is the name of our dear friends youngest son. The Lord saw fit, in his perfect way, to call Jonathan home after a very brief eight weeks on earth. Jonathan's life deeply affected all of us and directed us to an even deeper walk with our Father. Jonathan's mom, Jaynie, was the one the Lord used to 'catch' Isaac at his birth. (It's a very neat story, you can read the whole thing at http://www.tonyanddanalewis.com/isaacsbirth.html )

Joseph Timothy is named for my brother Joseph who passed from the womb straight to the glory of heaven and for the Old Testament Joseph who was so faithfully obedient to the Lord. His middle name, Timothy, is the name of Jonathan's father. The S family is very dear to us and we wanted to honor their family by naming our son for his "Uncle Tim".

And Nehemiah... Nehemiah is named for two very dear godly men in our church. They are brothers and each have gone 'above and beyond' to make us feel welcomed and loved since the first time we met. Ivan is our pastor and has been so kind and accepting of our family. He is an incredibly compassionate man and loves those he shepherds with a true and deep love from the Lord.

Joann and Ivan Nissley

Lonnie and Alma almost immediately "adopted" our family as their own. They are family to us. Lonnie is always ready with a hug for all and a "swing ride" for the littles. Alma is a strong steady presence and a great influence in my life personally. They are so very, very dear to us! They welcomed us with loving arms from the first time we visited church and have continued to love us and make us feel welcome and at home.