The Meaning of Names

Before our oldest child, Micah, was born, Jason and I discussed (sometimes rather heatedly) what we might name him. Jason liked names such as Mordecai (not to sound like an anti-Semite, but it was a little to Jewish for my tastes) and Ezekiel (but this was already our dog's name. Too bad.) I preferred classier sounding (or as Jason called them, preppy) names like Preston and Reid. But naming a child is hard because not only is the child pretty much stuck with the name his/her entire life whether (s)he likes it or not, but also the name lends itself to some preconceived notions regarding the child's personality. It's not an easy decision to make. You know the kid is going to be around awhile and you want the name to suit him/her just right. You throw out all the names of people you once/currently hate, you throw out names used by family members or close friends, you throw out names that will get your child beat up on the playground, you throw out names that no one can spell or pronounce and you throw out names from the aformentioned scenarios that made your spouse's list. Honestly, once you get through that, you're not left with much, especially if you have the creative genius of a peanut. Once you decide on a name and the baby is born, it can even take some time before the name truly "fits" the child. When our second son, Cade, was born, it took forever for me to get accustomed to calling him that. I didn't have any better suggestions, but 'Cade' just didn't seem right at first.

Naming my blog was a similar experience, except I basically got to do it on my own. As I mentioned previously, I agonized over it. I didn't want it to be too corny or too dull or too complicated. And it needed to be meaningful. For whatever reason, I kept coming back to one of my favorite quotes from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird: Thus began our longest journey together. I was leaning towards the long journey part, when I realized this life isn't my longest journey and I hope it isn't my longest journey with those dearest to me (who may or may not be reading). My longest journey will be spent in eternity worshipping at the feet of my Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ. This life is only my first journey- a chance to worship and glorify him here on earth for as many days as He chooses to bestow on me. So, at Jason's suggestion, I just took the first part of the quote as my URL- maybe it will cause people to wonder at the deeper meaning or maybe they'll just blow it off b/c it doesn't really make sense- and changed around the journey part to make a good title.

Like Cade's name, I'm not sure it fits right now. I'm not sure I'm thrilled with it yet. Maybe my blog will grow into it, or maybe I've just butchered an immensely famous work by a brilliant writer. We'll see.