Asked of God; heard by God
"What are you going to name him?" the birth mom asked us Saturday...literally hours after meeting her.
Ryan and I looked at each other. We had a few names in the back of our minds but we weren't sure. Twice we had dreamed of baby names and now we actually had the opportunity to name a baby - our baby!
I went to the nurses station and they gave me a couple baby books, one of which was titled "Baby Naming for Dummies" and one titled "100,000 baby names." Are you kidding me? 100,000 baby names? I was so overhwlemed by this task....not to mention I could hardly comprehend the events of the day were actually occurring.
Ryan and I made a list of names. I crossed lots of them out. We talked. Sounded them out. Wondered how they would work with our last name - May. We wanted a name with meaning.
When we got home from the hospital Saturday night I looked up 1 Samuel in my bible. You can read the first chapter here.
The story of Hannah has been incredibly impactful in my life the past two years. Friends have prayed that the Lord would 'remember me.' For months I 'poured out my soul to the Lord in great anguish and grief.'
I wrote a series of postings from this summer dealing with the bitterness in my heart from my infertility and miscarriages. Verse 10 challenged me to take my bitterness to the Lord: In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord.
I had prayed this very prayer from Hannah's mouth:
And she made a vow, saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a SON, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life..."
Saturday night the verse that jumped out to me was 1 Samuel 1:20: So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the Lord for him."
There was no question what his name should be. I felt very strongly and so did Ryan that his name should be Samuel Lee (Lee is his birth mom's middle name).
In Hebrew the meaning of the name Samuel is: asked of God; heard by God.
We prayed. We wept. We hurt. We questioned. We doubted.
Verse 27 says: "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him."
We asked. God heard.
4 comments:
Reading your post today brought tears to my eyes as I thought back on this summer and the bitterness we talked of and how you worked through those feelings and emotions. It seems years ago now that we discussed that. Thank God He heard those prayers and made a miracle in your heart.
I should have read your post before I answered your email...my question has been answered. :-) Absolutely perfect name for your little boy. That passage of scripture was very meaningful for myself while I walked the path of infertility. I'm sure it is for many Believing women with the same experience so we can all find the beauty in that name. I'm just in awe of our Glorious Father and what He has done!
Congratulations! Enjoy that little bundle of sweet joy!
Beth from BabyStruggles
It is happy to see your posting. Yes really informative article. I will tell this information again to my friend, oh yes I suggest you to check my blog on www.101babysolution.blogspot.com , I hope the article on my blog will be usefull for you... and we can share each other. thank you... ;-)
Stacy, these recent events are amazing. I'm so happy for you and for your husband. We serve an awesome, incredible God. May you experience many wonderful moments, days, and years with your new and abundant blessing Samuel!
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