Princess Ellie
Where did “Ellie” come from? Well, as most babies do, she grew in funny proportions. Her belly accounted for all her weight gain for the first few months. Here was this tiny thing with a lovely rotund middle and skinny sticks for arms and legs. Her father thought it appropriate to dub her “Is-a-Belly”. Being one who was called “needle-butt” from infancy through high school, I refused to nickname our child after a body part. We compromised with “Ellie”. It stuck and thus began the family debate.
A few weeks ago, Isabel made her preferences known. Out of nowhere I heard a strong voice proclaim: “My NAME is ISABEL!” After a little discussion another compromise was made. We are now permitted to call her “Ellie”, but only if it is preceded by the necessary title of “Princess”. Otherwise, we are supposed to call her “Isabel”.
I’m actually glad she put her foot down – not necessarily about the princess part, but the rest has forced me to remember why we chose her name in the first place. ‘Isabel’ means ‘consecrated to God’. It was important to me that our children have significant names; names that mean something and will remind me of something. Now that I must call Ellie “Isabel”, I am daily reminded (several times a day!) that she is not mine. She is set apart to God; created to serve Him – and it is my job to prepare her for that purpose!
And Zachary … oh, Zachary! His name means ‘remember the Lord’. His middle name, Luke, means ‘bringer of light’. As I struggle with this strong-willed son of mine, I have no choice but to remember the Lord! My Lord, the Bringer of light … my prayer is one day Zach will be a mighty man of God, bringing the Light to everyone he meets.
Why am I sharing all this with you? Because God has a reason for names. All through Scripture peoples’ names are symbolic, relevant and sometimes ironic. They mean something. God has given us names, too. Here are just a few of the things he calls us:
Saints (Ephesians 2:19) – God’s consecrated people
Friends (John 15:14-15) – close confidants
Children (Galatians 3:25; 1 John 4:7, 5:1) – belonging to and imitating the Father
Heirs (Romans 8:17) – rightful stewards of the King’s riches
Forgiven (Psalm 85:2; Acts 13:38; Ephesians 1:7) – washed clean, blameless
Holy (Ephesians 1:4; Hebrews 12:14) – set apart for a specific purpose
Branches (John 15:5) – growing forth from the Vine (which is Christ)
Body (1 Corinthians 12) – working together, all part of One
We hear these words tossed around all the time, but have we thought about their meaning? Do we live like saints? Are we set apart and holy like we are called to be? Do others view us as forgiven heirs of the King? Hey, maybe Isabel isn’t so far off with her title of princess.
May we, as believers, remember the names God has given us. May we hold tight to their meaning and live to fulfill the expectations set by them.
Posted on March 16, 2007, in child, details, Father, imitator, purpose. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
It is sweet “ellie” wants to be called her chosen name…I just think she is so adorable. My kids all had nicknames, Jayne was called “Tom Turkey” Christopher “The Bully Can” and Tanya ” The red fox”..Funny nicknames and there is a story attached to each one, but they didn’t stick for too long..When Christopher was about 2 ish, my MIL called him her “little chicken” he became most upset and told her she was silly he was boy not a chicken, Well it caused quite an hysterical moment..from this day on she called him her little boy!!!! and today most times I call Christopher by his full name however with the girls I call them “sweetie”…
I really enjoy your posts Tanya, thankyou….
Carol: I really enjoy your comments!!
You always encourage me. I’m thankful you stop by so often.
I have to say, your Tanya got a pretty good deal. “The red fox” is MUCH better than “needle-butt”!
God gave me my first two children’s names hands down. He knew I would need the confirmation of their meaning with the challenge of the rare syndrome they were born with. It has meant so much to me. Although our first child went home to be with the Lord over twenty-one years ago, her name, Kindle, still gives me goosebumps; kindle means to start or to excite. I had found it in Isaiah before I was even married or thought about the day I would have a child; the word was illuminated as I read it, and I knew it would be my first daughter’s name.
Our son’s name is from the old and new testaments, and means “God is exalted.” He lives with the rare syndrome, so wow, the meaning of his name says it all! It is an unusual Hebrew/Greek name–but he loves it. When he was younger he said he felt like a Star Wars character. ; ) We called him something shorter and easier when he was little, but like Isabel, he made it known in 1st grade that he would be called by his full, given name.
I’ve written this long post maybe selfishly, but I hope not…your thoughts set off so much in me to share–sorry! But I wanted to say that although God didn’t “give” us our last child’s name in the same way, it, too, is special because we agreed on it as a family. I think this can be just as inspired.
As you said, “May we hold tight to their meaning and live to fulfill the expectations set by them.”
I love that you chose your children’s names with their meaning in mind. We too did the same, and it’s amazing how appropriate their names have turned out to be!
I love names! And I love hearing how people choose those names. Something with meaning is much more significant than “I like the way it sounds.”
Thanks, ladies for sharing your stories!