What's In A Name

Choosing a name for each of our children is always such a fun and important part of parenting and I think for me has continued to become more special the more children that we have and the more we learn how much each of their names represent who they are.  I really felt God was speaking to us when we chose the name for our baby who we lost by miscarriage earlier this year.  The scripture verse from 1 Samuel the day that we found out about the possible prognosis spoke to me so clearly and I just "knew" he was our little Samuel.  Pregnancy after a miscarriage was difficult for me, and had a lot of ups and downs, but I always knew that this little baby was keeping me, and our family strong. 

We had our anatomy ultrasound scan performed for our newest son on June 29th, in which we learned that he was a boy!  This day also happens to be our Wedding Anniversary AND my husband's birthday, so we had a lot of reasons to go out and celebrate that evening!  We were sitting at dinner and discussing names and going through a lot of good ones.  We decided to look up the Saint feast days for November since we knew that would be around our son's birthday, but we did not find a name that we really liked that seemed to fit.  We decided to just start looking at  general Catholic male saints and after reading through many of them got to PETER, meaning rock. 

Matthew 16:18-19:  "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on hearth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

 

We liked the name Peter and I loved the meaning of rock, because I truly felt like God had blessed our family with this baby during such a difficult time to be a rock and extra stability for our family.  So we decided to look up when St. Peter's feast day was and I was blown away to realize it was that very same day, June 29th.  Again, I immediately felt like God was speaking to us and telling us, here is your son Peter, who I am giving to you to care for here on earth and return to me. 

 

Peter's middle name is Michael, and it came to us almost as clearly as his first name.  Michael means "A Gift From God", and truly that is what he is to us.  We know that God has a purpose for each and every one of us, and God's purpose was for Peter to be in our lives and a part of our family here on Earth.  He is a true gift from God!  What also solidified the name Michael for us is it is also the middle name of my brother - in - law, who is also Peter's Godfather! 

 

Thank you God for our dear Peter Michael.  He is a true rock for our family and overwhelming gift from God.