31 Days | Day 11 : Matthew 1:23

{A little note if you are new here...I am joining up with The Nester  for a 31 Day blogging series.  

To start back at the beginning or find previous days, click here}

"Ellis..."

"Ellis..."

"Ellis!!"

"Ellis Hay!"

Sometimes I wonder if we teach kids that they really don't have to listen until we use their full name, after spouting their first name 3 times.  

I've resorted to just going straight to the "Ellis Hay" when I really need him to listen.  

Like when he's dancing on the coffee table.  Laughing at me as if to say, "I know this is wrong, but danger? I laugh in the face of danger..."  

Maybe I shouldn't have shown him Lion King already...

I digress...

But it's in these times that I am repeating his name over and over again that I stop and think back to where his name came from...

I was about 8 months pregnant and our firstborn still had no name.  We knew he was a boy, but we just had not settled on the name.  I, In all of my nesting, pregnant glory, was not okay with this.  There were so many unknowns about to hit us, that I was not going to be the lady at the hospital that couldn't leave because her kid had no name.  So, I called a family Starbucks meaning and declared that we weren't leaving without a name.  We knew we were looking for a certain style.  Something old and strong, yet still hip sounding.  Yep, I said hip.  We downloaded a book called "A is for Atticus" and we sat there with our coffees as Bryan literally started reading every name from the beginning.  

We got to the E's...and there it was.  The name I loved, but Bryan had turned down months ago.  I said nothing as he read it.  "Ellis...Quiet yet strong, classy but still cool."  He looked up at me with a smile.  

"Well, what do you think??"  

Every part of me wanted to scream, "are you kidding me?! Do you not remember this name and how silly you thought it was a few months ago...?!"

But I didn't.

I simply said, "I love it!"  

We googled the name to make sure there were no red flags associated with the name that we didn't know about.  And to our surprise, we found further definition of the name...

"The Lord is my God"  

Done deal.  and he was named.

To this day, Bryan will admit to maybe remembering that I brought the name up prior to that night, however, what he didn't have the first time hearing the name was a meaning.  The meaning gave the name life.  

The names that we speak into our children all carry a meaning.  Words have power and we need to be careful with which ones we choose to use.  

We call Ellis silly things from time to time.  "Dooders", "monkey man", and "boogers"; while they may embarrass him, will not harm him.  But a name like "weirdo" carries a little more weight and so we've decided it's not a good one to use around our house.  And we can all think of much worse names.  

But the name we really want to speak into our son is "The Lord is my God".  We want him to hear his name and know who is ultimately in control of his life.  We want the power of that name to really resonate in him.  

Just as Jesus himself was given a very powerful name.