What's in a name?

The importance of a name. It was here that was going to explain how the name of the person is so important because people often grow into their name's meaning...or how Biblically God renames many people as He gives them new traits and a new life. Instead, I will let my mom do the explaining as I read her blog post this week; it so well describes the importance in choosing a name and how God uses that name to grow the person.

How did we get the name Elizabeth Holland? Michael and I mulled over names for months, and as many know, we did not decide on a first name until about two weeks before she was born. The middle name was decided at the hospital after she was born.

Elizabeth had always been on the list; we both like the fact that it is an old-fashioned Bible name that has not become "faddish" recently, unlike some of our other choices. Elizabeth means "God's promise. Oath of God." I love the fact that this reminds us of all of HIS promises and His faithfulness to them. God is Faithful!

When we decided on Elizabeth, we then mulled over middle names. I had always liked the middle name of "Holland" since that is my middle name (and a family name). Michael David is named after Michael. I like my middle name and thought that would be a nice thing to give my daughter. Michael was unsure of it since it is not the "typical" first name and rather unusual. After he did some research on Margaret Holland though (the ancestor for whom I was named), he was more willing. I think the thing that sealed the deal though was the fact that I recalled having received a namesake piece years ago. When I searched out the prayer book that I had been given, it was monogrammed with the name Isabella Holland (instead of the Margaret Holland, I had expected). Isabella had been another choice for first name, and is a variation of the name Elizabeth. What a sweet confirmation for Miss Elizabeth's middle name!

for E's reference-- other names we almost used: Abigail, Hannah, Isabelle(a), Deborah, Katherine. And the middle name was almost Grace. This still holds significance as that is an area that God had/has been growing both M and I over the past many months.