The Power of a Name

Our eldest daughter is named Breckyn. It's a name we talked about while we were engaged to be married. Four years before we were even pregnant. It doesn't have too much of a back story to it. And it all kind of started from a funny thing a 5-year-old said to Ken and myself as we were teaching a Sunday school class one morning. She said, "Your name is Ken and your name is Brenna. If you put them together it's kind of like, 'Brenkenridge'." And well, from that point the name game began.

We love her name. It fits her so well. The version of the name we adopted for her means: "Approved by God". Other versions will tell you the root of her name, Breck, (because apparently there aren't too many Brecken, Breckin, or Breckyn's out there...) is "freckled." And although she doesn't possess any freckles of her own, freckles are pretty darn cute in my book, so it works in its own little way, too.

But back to the adopted version. Breckyn loves approval. She loves to know she is pleasing in our eyes. Sure, most little kids probably feel this way, but to me, Breckyn needs that extra boost of affirmation. And, I love to give it to her, even though God already has.

Our second born is our son, Broderick. If I could guess what his name means at this point in

his life, it would be along the lines of "zest for life, ambitious, strong willed, laughter, empowerment, feisty, and loving." Not to mention he loves to be chased and loves to see us catching him in the act of something naughty. He squeals and runs away when he's caught messing with the humidifier button or turning on the fan, or anything that is within his level of reach. But alas, Broderick's name first means "brother" and secondly means, "true friend" . I always pray that our children would have incredible friendships and love towards each other outside merely being related to each other. That eventually their friendships stand above their blood line and they are in a true brotherhood and sisterhood with each other.

With that said, we are in the midst of attempting to find a name for our third baby-to-be. This has not been an easy process for us. See, we have to find at the very least 4 names. A first and middle name for a girl, and same for a boy. And then, we have to agree on all 4 names. And then, we may even have to have back-ups for these names if he/she doesn't appear at all as the name

 we had envisioned. It's a bit overwhelming. The hardest part has been the differentiating tastes between my husband and I. Actually, I find it a bit hilarious as the previous names we've chosen for our children fall under the vein of names I really like, but any new suggestions I offer this time around are fairly often vetoed. What is a mama to do? I will say we do have one positive name in the running. But I am not even going to say if it's for a girl or a boy. No... I am going to let the suspense grow. Because I can. And because, who knows, the name could change before delivery day anyhow. 

But the power of names has already proven itself in our family. So at this point, maybe our best bet considering this is our third child in under 3.5 years, would be suitable to have the meaning be under the guise of "Bringer of peace, calming, content, quiet, sweet as sugar, easy to please, eats, wakes, sleeps, repeats..." Well, you get the picture. I won't be pulling any of this "vivacious, energetic, look at me, look at me!!!" kind of business. That... is for sure!

Stay tuned.... the baby countdown is now in the single digits. I can hardly believe it, myself.