He's Got a Name

We didn't plan it this way, but God has led us to a name for our son.

Most of you know that Nathan and I like to wait to give our babies names until we see them in person. It was a little frustrating for me, when we were first pregnant with Madelyn, but Nathan really wanted to wait to meet her. 

Then, after we did it and both realized, out of the names we’d picked, she was indeed a Madelyn, I grew to love the idea of waiting! Her name is so fitting for her and the meaning is so powerful for who she is. She's definitely a "strong, high tower" and "full of grace."

Also, many of you probably know there's a name that's been in the running for our son—at the top of the list—for quite some time: Deacon. It means “messenger” or “servant.” 

But God recently spoke to both of us and said He has other plans for this little boy growing in my womb.

Obviously, this situation is a little different than Madelyn. It’s not that we don’t think we’ll see his face one day to give him a name. But we have been asking the Lord to give us one now so we can call it out when we pray for him. 

Also, we don’t want him to be known as “fetus” or “baby,” as the doctors like to call him right now. He’s alive and real and here. We want them to know we’ve assigned a sort of identity to him.

Let me give you background on how we got here.

The other night, Nathan and I were talking about King David’s Mighty Men in the Bible. 

Know them? There were 37 of them (see 2 Samuel 23:8-39 and 1 Chronicles 11:10-47). They were fearless, courageous, gutsy, and loyal. They were the Navy Seals of David’s army (but I'm sure Nathan would rather I say they were more like the fighter pilots of his squadron).

They did things like kill off 800 enemies in a single encounter. 

Three of them broke past Philistine lines near Bethlehem just to bring King David a drink of water because he'd requested it from their well. (Nathan says it would be like trying to sneak past your worst, deadliest enemy for a good cup of coffee. Not worth it to me, but these guys were FIERCE.) 

One guy single-handedly battled and killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. 

Another guy killed 300 enemies with his spear. 

And Uriah—remember him? Dude wouldn’t sleep with his wife before battle because he was that loyal to his king and bros. 

These guys were bad to the bone in the best way possible.

JOEL was one of those guys. 

The name really stuck out to us—mainly because it was one of the only ones in the line-up that we could pronounce, and because it might be weird to name our son after the chief, Josheb-basshebeth. 

Either way, Nathan and I want this little guy to be a mighty man of God—bold, daring, heroic, resolute, strong, tenacious. 

But wait, that’s not all.

Nathan gets up at 6:00 a.m. every morning to spend time with the Lord before the rest of us mosey in around 7:00 a.m. He's a ROCK and needs this to get his day going. (Don’t judge me. Jesus and I hang out later in the day.) 😉

This past week, during his Bible study and after our discussion about David’s Mighty Men, the Holy Spirit randomly led him to Romans 10:12-13 and then on to Acts 2:14-21 and then on to the Book of Joel. Both New Testament passages quote the prophet Joel.

Coincidence? We think not. 

The whole book of Joel is good and intense, but here’s the gist of it.

It talks about the disaster that came upon the Jews in the form of locusts and drought. The locusts destroyed everything in sight, leaving them with no hope or future, leaving them without answers. The drought caused famine and wildfires. All of it threatened their very existence. 

The Jews asked hard questions that any of us would in their situation: 

Is God truly in charge of heaven and earth? 

Is He sovereign? 

Is He really good? 

Will He be merciful to us? 

Do we even have a future?

In response, Joel offered a message of hope from the Lord. 

God promised He'd respond to those who had faith in Him. He'd reach down and heal their land. He'd replenish their fields, orchards, vineyards, and flocks. He'd restore their lives. 

Two of the verses that really impacted both us are:

The Lord says, “I will restore to you the years 

that the swarming locust has eaten… 

– Joel 2:25

And it shall come to pass that everyone 

who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

—Joel 2:32

Such a terrible disaster has fallen on our boy. It threatens his very existence. But we have faith. 

We 100% believe...

• God, in his sovereignty is going to reach down, heal Joel's body, and replenish his life. 
• God will restore to us this time that Hydrops has eaten away and tried to destroy our son.
• God hears us when we call on his name to save Joel. 

We're asking...

• God to give Joel an incredible story of redemption for when he does enter this world. 
• God to raise this little Mighty Man up so he can tell others about what the Lord has done—how he was rescued from death. 
• God to embed this message of hope in our boy so he can one day share it with the world.

Thank you for praying with us. We need our family, friends, community right now to rally with us. We trust in Him. We're putting all our weight in Him.