What's in a name?

For us naming our child was not very difficult. Jason and I bth like the same things. Something traditional but not common. No odd spellings, no odd sounds, just simple and nice. We bought a name book, but we did not really use it. We threw around ideas and agreed upon Audrey. The middle name was an easy choice. Jean is the middle name of both out mothers - there was no question we were naming our girl Audrey Jean.

I never imagined I would give my daughter the middle name Jean. (Apologies to both moms) It is not a name I was "in love" with. It is plain to me. In the past as I thought about middle names I used to want to use the name Faith because I knew if I had a child it was only of God and I had faith that he would give me a child. When we named our daughter, Faith did not enter my mind. Jean was a given...

A few weeks ago I decided to look up the meaning of the name Audrey. Audrey means "Noble Strength". I like that. I hope our daughter will have noble strength; I am sure she will. However, it never occurred to me to look up the meaning of Jean. Jean was a given, and the meaning was that she would be named after her grandmothers.

Well today I looked up Jean and the meaning is far more appropriate than I ever imagined. Jean means "God is Gracious". If I had known Jean meant "God is gracious" it would have been way HIGHER on my prority list, and without ever knowing it had the perfect meaning it was the name that was chosen.

I do feel that it was purely God's grace that gave me this child. I wanted a child for so long and I had lost most hope of ever having one. And yet He gave me a child when I least expected it, when all the odds were against my having one. God is gracious and I am proud she will carry a name that will reflect that meaning.