All In a Name

Is it just me, or do all girls spend years thinking of names for their future children? Even when Brandon and I were engaged, I was doodling future little Brandon and LeAnna names. 

Quade is actually Brandon's Grandmothers middle name (got that?). Her full name was Ula Quade, but she went by Quade. With a name like Ula, I supposed I would have too. Quade seemed like such a masculine name to me, that when I first heard it, I knew it would make a great boys name. Brandon and I agreed that if we were to ever have a boy, his name should be Quade.

My only issue with this was that I've always been fond of names with a great meaning. I like for names to mean something special. So, I did a little bit of research and found two meanings. One was of Irish origin and meant "Son of Uad" and then the Latin meaning was "Fourth" - well, Son of Uad isn't very cool, if you ask me. So, I decided Latin is about as original as one can get. I still wasn't sold on it, though.

We were trying to decide a middle name, and Matthew was my first choice because it is Brandon's middle name. I looked up the meaning and found that it was Hebrew and meant "Gift of God". 

So, Quade Matthew meant "Fourth Gift of God". That's all good and well, but how can you put a number on the gifts from God? I was in the bathroom sweeping the floor, when the Lord showed me just clear as a bell how Quade would indeed be our fourth gift from the Himself. 

He told me that His first gift to us was life. The air we breathe each morning. The fact that He saw fit we be born into this world. 

His second gift to us was His son Jesus, because we believe in His redeeming love and have eternal life.

The third gift was the love Brandon and I have for each other, orchestrated by the Lord himself (I'll share that story sometime).

Fourthly, He said I'm blessing you with a son, my fourth gift to you. 

I mean, he just spoke it to my heart, I can't really explain it. Simple, yes, but what struck me by it all was the fact that these weren't superficial gifts. He didn't say, "I've blessed you with a house, a car, a good husband and a son.", He showed me the most eternal gifts of life, eternal life, love, and heritage.

When the Lord speaks to your heart, how can you not be convinced? I have a feeling that any future children will have just as special of a meaning as Quade's, because I know the Lord cares about such things. 

My Mom had a similar story about naming my brother. She wanted a boy so bad (after miscarrying a boy between my sister and I) and prayed for one. The Lord told her he would be a boy, and gave her the name Zachary, which is a form of Zechariah and means "The Lord your God remembers" how cool is that? He cares!!