Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Walking With You - The Power in a Name



Today, in Walking With You, Kelly has suggested we share how and why we picked the names of our babies. I feel like in order to share the real story, I need to give some background.

Sean was going to be Sean for as long as I can remember. The middle name was tweaked over time but wound up being Monte, Leland's middle name and the name of Leland's father. Sean means "God's gracious gift" and having had a miscarriage and some minor fertility issues, I DID appreciate the gift that Sean was.

Cary was named Cary Donald in honor of my maternal uncle and grandfather who both passed away between our having Sean & Cary, as sort of mentioned here. Cary means "from the marsh" which is a little random but with Cary it was more important to honor our extended family than worry about what his name meant.

Kayleigh was our first (only) "gender-surprise" baby. If she had been a boy, she would have been Kyle Steven. (Kyle means handsome, near the chapel). Kayleigh is the girl name I'd had picked out forever and her middle name is Ruth, my mother's middle name and after my maternal grandmother. Kayleigh means pure.

Originally we were not going to find out Seth's gender. And for some reason, I had it in my head he was a girl. My first choice for name was Ruby Grace. But with Seth, there were so many unknowns, we did decide to find out gender. A BOY? I don't have a boy name! I did not want to use Kyle because at this point we have Sean, beginning with a sh sound, and Cary - /k/ and Kayleigh - /k/. I did NOT want another /k/ name. I know that sounds a little silly but it was a factor. I said it didn't HAVE to be an "S" name but definitely NOT a /k/.

Sean made it his mission to find us an S name. He first suggested Sam, not a favorite and then Seth. Hmmmmmm, I like Seth. Seth means "Appointed one" and it's biblical. So we chose Seth for his first name and Douglas for a middle, as Leland and I both have Uncle Dougs in our families.

I feel like, especially since this post is about SETH's name, that I want to emphasize how important the biblical meaning of Seth's name was to us. We clung to the fact that being "appointed by God" must mean SOMETHING. Regardless of what Seth's life looked like to us, he was appointed for a purpose. We were blessed in being able to get Seth dedicated at our church between his surgeries. Our pastor shared a verse at Seth's dedication, from 1 Timothy 1:12, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service." (Previously shared here)

We were and are so grateful for the opportunity to have Seth enter our lives! I still am trying to figure out a way to help his name "live on". To that end,I don't have much to offer in the way of resources today. Please visit Kelly's post at The Beauty of Sufficient Grace to share the joy of other baby names.

I leave you with a picture of the print that my brother and his wife gave us after Seth's service.


25 comments:

Kelly @ Sufficient Grace Ministries said...

Beautiful, Kathryn...thank you so much for sharing the names of your babies. I love the meaning behind Seth's name. I don't think that the names chosen for our children are ever an accident. God has a purpose for every detail. I'm sorry the MckLinky wasn't up. I linked your post for you. It's up now. Thanks so much for joining us.

Love and Prayers,
Kelly

Holly said...

I can understand not wanting another K name. Seth is such a nice name. I really like it and its meaning.

Joyeful said...

Seth's name is tremendous! The Appointed. I have chills just reading that verse in Timothy that you referenced. All the days of his life were ordained for him before one of them came to be. He was appointed to show God's grace--to be a testimony of His faithfulness.

Thank you for sharing this with us, Kathryn.

Love,
Joye

Jennifer Ross said...

Seth is such a nice name. He is a precious little boy. The picture of his name is also lovely.

Carla said...

Came over from Lynettes blog. Enjoy your featured blogger day :)
Seth certainly was annointed by God. Thanks for sharing the story behind his name.

Kristen said...

Visiting from Lynnette's blog, and I'm so glad I did. Beautiful names for the beautiful babies that God has blessed you with! Thanks for sharing!

Ms. Sarah said...

hi from lynnettes blog. Love the meanings of your childrens names and that you added family into the names. both my boys carry a family members middle name or first name.

Anonymous said...

I'm visiting from Lynette's blog. I hope you enjoy your day as the featured blogger! I love the names you picked for your children, they are lovely, and I love your reasons behind each one.

Kelly @ Sufficient Grace Ministries said...

Congrats on being featured on Lynnette's Getting to Know You...enjoy!

Tonya said...

Hi Kathryn,
I've "met" you before, but I'm hopping over again from Lynnette's to say hi! Congrats on being featured today for GTKY! You have a beautiful family and a beautiful blog.
Love,
Tonya

Amy said...

Thank you for sharing the meanings or your names. I am stopping by from Lynette's Blog. We always wanted a little boy named Seth. It was our favorite name. God however, blessed us with three beautiful girls.

Michelle said...

I visited your blog the other day and enjoyed it. Today I'm visiting from Lynette's blog. I love choosing names and wish I had a dozen more children to name (we finished with 4). A lot of people in the bible acted like the meaning of their name so I tried to choose names that would reflect a good character. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Seth's name with us!
Michelle in WA

Lorie said...

I'm visiting from Lynette's blog. I enjoyed reading your blog, thank you for sharing.

Becky said...

I am visiting from Lynnette's blog. I love meanings of names as well and you have picked many beautiful names with great meanings. Thanks for sharing.

Karen said...

Hi Kathryn,

Congratualtions on being featured on Lynnette's "Getting To Know You!" I have actually been following you for a while. I lost my daughter Faith who had HLHS. She was Stillborn in October 2008.
I am also doing Walking With You.

Blessings to you,
Karen

Lauren said...

This is such a beautiful post ... I am so overwhelming glad that God gave you such a special name for your precious son. God has blessed us with incredible names for our 2 sons in heaven and they are so precious to me.

You're being featured at Lynette's blog today ... congrats!!! :)

Shannon said...

Thank you for sharing your children's names, and the story behind Seth's name. It's such a beautiful story. It is bittersweet, I know, but beautiful nonetheless.

Lilyofthevalley - Tanya said...

Congrats for being featured today on Lynnette's blog. :)

Seth is a lovely name with a great meaning.

Kristin said...

I'm just visiting you from Lynnette's today :) Congrats on being featured! I have a little girl named Kaylee too.

I think Seth's name is beautiful. I just wanted you to know that even though I have only visited your blog on the Memory Walk days before, I was driving around the other day and you just popped into my mind and I felt like I needed to pray for you, so I did. I just know that God will help you find a perfect way to help his name live on.

Angela said...

Hi! I'm visiting from Lynnette's Getting to Know You. Congrats on being featured today! :-) My husband and I also take meanings into consideration when naming our children. It's such an important task! Enjoy your day!

In Christ,
Angela

the Spocks said...

I came over from Lynette's blog although I have seen you on MckMama's blog and on blogfrog.

Thank you for sharing for you, your story.

Unknown said...

Hopping over from Lynnette's blog! Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed reading your post!

Stephanie said...

Visiting from Lynette's blog - Thank you so much for sharing! It is amazing how names can carry on such meaning.

Janelle said...

Hi, I too arrived via Lynette's blog and I love the history behind each of your children's names. I love names that have real meaning and are not just trendy! Many blessings to your and your family!!

Anonymous said...

Hello,

I am stopping by from Lynnettes blog..and wanted to say hi...I to have lost a son, it has been alot of years, but we never stop longing...sigh...Blessing shi~