Namesake

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to meet with an older woman from church. I admire this woman for who she is, as well as how God is using her in the church. She sat and talked with me and my friends about how she raised her children, and what a blessing her faith had been in her life as a mom.
As she talked she mentioned about how she really thought about the meaning of her children's names. Many of my friends have put a lot of time and energy into searching out names according to the meanings so that their children have something wonderful to live up to. I thought, as I have before, about the fact that my children don't have names that really mean anything to anyone. We didn't choose them for their spiritual significance, or meaning. We just liked the names and bingo, that was that.
I thought about it a bit more, and had an epiphany in the shower the other day. Yes, the shower... Here is what I came up with.

Brynn: hill, mount
Brynn was an unexpected surprise. I wasn't planning on starting a family for 5 more years, and when I found out that I was pregnant, I had a really rough time with it. (Rich was ecstatic though!) The journey of my pregnancy was a hard for me (not physically, but emotionally). I was climbing a mountain that I didn't know how to climb. I was in a situation that I had a really hard time accepting. I was terrified that I didn't love her after she was born. I had been told over and over that after your baby is born, you just fall in love with them. When that didn't happen the first time that I saw her, I was devastated. It wasn't until about 2 days later that all that "mom" love overtook me. I realized that I desperately loved my little baby girl. She was an amazing baby, and such a great gift from God.

Cannon: mid-evil weapon, clergy, a standard or criterion, the books of the bible recognized by Christians to be genuine or inspired
Cannon is my man of many words. He is a talker, and a charmer with his vocabulary. He is also a force in our household. He is stubborn, and cannot be bent in any way that he doesn't want to go. Rich and I have prayed for him since we saw this nature emerge that he would be stubborn and stand firm for the things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8) Maybe he will grow up to use his words, and his perseverance to lead people to God. Who knows?

Maeve: joyful, intoxicating
What a joy she is! I don't know if the others were as eager to get a smile out of Rich and I as she is. She laughs without reason, and enjoys a good "joke". She jumps right in with the other two, and seems to enjoy it immensely. She has turned into such a cheerful baby! Having her has even made me ponder the idea of having more...

So, my kids aren't named after anything in particular. They might grow into their names, they might not. God only knows. All I know is that sometimes I do my best thinking in the shower.