We love names over here.
I think it’s one of the funnest things of life! Even as a young girl I had my very
own baby name book that I had bought myself. It was kind of a hobby…I reasoned that if I was
going to have a sweet pile of treasures one day I’d better get a jump start on naming them!!
Of course I did not tell Dw when we began dating that I already had a Baby Name book
in my possession and had almost memorized it cover to cover. That might have sent him
running!
Over the years we have had a list of names that we would use, if given the opportunity.
Some of the names on the list have been used, some have changed and some are still
waiting for use. {Uh-huh. Maybe you’ve heard how I strongly dislike odd numbers!}
We usually study the meanings, pray, play with writing the possibilities, pray some more
…and finally decide.
We think it’s pretty amazing all the times God mentions names in the Bible and the
strong emphasis He puts on naming people. In some cases He has even changed
names when there was a significant life change!!
Every time we call our children, we are speaking their name. We like our names to
speak life…or hope…or promise…or prophetically calling them to something….
Nehemiah’s name was chosen because it means, “Comforted by God.” There is no
doubt that Nehemiah was in need of comfort when he came home to us…
and he loves his name. As we talked about names for our newest addition, Nehemiah
is the first to ask: “What does it mean?” He loves what his name means!
As we have talked and prayed this time around it just was much more difficult than
we could have imagined. We actually “settled” on a name, began using it and then found
that it wasn’t quite right.
So back to the drawing board we went.
We prayed for the perfect name!!
Dw, having senior pastored for twenty years, really wanted to name him after a pastor
who had been used mightily by God. One day he mentioned that he had been reading
about John Wesley and what a mighty man of God he was. He wondered about his name.
Well I began to play with that name and one morning I ran to Dw, “Hey how about this?”
And the rest is history.
His name will be:
JonWesley Vernon
And yes, we will call him JonWesley….
Believing that God is going to use him in a powerful way!
If you missed the post about him coming home, it’s here. There’s even a beautiful
video, put together by a friend, at the end.
Little JonWesley Vernon is really cute. What a sweet little boy. I love his smile and love his little hands. How precious!!! God is so good!
Thank you Wendy!! It just seems to suit him!
Lovely! But where does the Vernon come from??
I totally forgot to say! Vernon was Dw's beloved Dad's name. He was a dad to me…he now lives with Jesus.
I love it! JonWesley is a great name!
Thank you Jenni!! It's perfect, isn't it??
Such a beautiful name ❤️
Thank you MJ…
Love the name, this little guy and your heart for Jesus! Wish we could sit and talk for hours!
As an adoptive mom I was wondering do you always change the name of the previous little ones as they enter your forever family? Thought this was precious!
So meaningful! All the way here, on the other side of the world, we have a very sound Christian School, called John Wesley School
I love that take on names! We feel the same way in our family.
And, I forgot to add that I also loved reading baby name books as a little girl (and still do, for that matter!).
Very good choice in the name department! He looks so happy! Praying for his safe home coming!
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Love it! I haven’t been over to your blog for a visit is a long time. I guess I have a lot of catching up to do!! New son (did you get PA from Ch*na??), new book, and it looks like A LOT of miracle stories about sweet Ruby!! I’m off to do some more reading. 🙂
Where ya’ been sweet friend?? I’ve missed you!! Yes, we have PA!! And the book!! You must read it!! You will be shocked by her story…even if you followed, there is so much I didn’t include because of the sacredness of sharing it. And oh the miracles – so many!! So glad you have stopped by again!! xo
James had another surgery at the end of May and then summer hit. I guess I just got out of the habit of checking in. You came to my mind last week so I thought I would just stop by your blog to see what was new. Boy, I missed a lot!!! I did follow your journey to sweet Ruby so I’m excited to read your new book. 🙂 I will also be praying for you as you prepare for your newest son. I’m so excited for you!
The book includes many things that I never shared before. It is a powerful testimony to just how lavish God’s love for the orphan is. So glad you stopped back. xo
Yes, we got PA a few months back. We are waiting for our home study…AZ has an extra step in that we have to have our home study approved by the courts before it can be submitted to Immigration. So we thought it would be ready by the time we got back from our trip, but it’s not here yet. Our son’s 14th birthday is coming…so we are praying for God to move the mountains.