FYI Friday--faith

Today, while we were having lunch, little Charlie asked, "Mommy, what does Rudolph (as in the red-nosed reindeer) mean?" I didn't know.  He then asked me what the Grinch means. Then Frosty. And he was about to ask me another meaning, before I jumped in and explained that names usually do have meanings, and that parents think long and hard about naming their children and giving them special names. Charlie then asked me, "What does Miles mean?" I told Charlie (and I know we've told Luke and Charlie this before) that Miles means Heart of Compassion and went on to explain why we named him that. He seemed appeased, something else came up and we moved on.
And later I was reading and was reminded of Isaiah 9:6 and how the prophet tells us of the names that Jesus will be and is called and all of the names that have been given to our Lord. What a wonderful way to teach our boys more about the Lord! For a while now, we've been having family devotions at dinner (when we are all home). The boys love it! We all love it! Chad has been leading us as we've been following through the Bible, along the path that Chad is studying at Downline. Every night the boys ask for devotion time, which also includes praying, praising and hymn singing. However, now that Advent has begun, we've put our current path through the Bible on hold and are doing some Advent devotionals and talking about the birth of baby Jesus. I'm jumping in on some of those and think that one of our devotionals is going to be about names. Our boys names. Maybe even why Chad and I were named. And ultimately, the amazing names Isaiah spoke of before Jesus was even born!  I may be wrong, but I think every parent spends time picking out special names for their children. It's with you for life. And Jesus' many names were with Him for life and continue to spread across our world!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. . .and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  --Isaiah 9:6