What's in a name?

I haven't really said what we are naming our baby boy for a reason. I wanted to tell the story behind his name, and I wanted Jarod to be a part of telling it. So far our kids have part of their names from Jarod's side of the family: Ethan Dean which is passed down from Jarod's Dad (Roger Dean) to Jarod (Dean); Sean Thomas is from Jarod's Grandpa; Kaitlyn Mae is after Jarod's Grandma. So I knew that I wanted to honor my side of the family and use my Grandpa's middle name for our baby's middle name: Phillip.

For the first name, we are naming him after Jarod's friend, Nathanial. Nathanial is an incredible man who has been through so much in his 31 years of life. He has fought numerous health issues which have left him without a nose, fingertips, parts of his legs, and all of his toes on one foot. He also had been on dialysis for two years and is currently waiting to receive his Dad's kidney. We thought we were going to lose him about 4 years ago, and we rejoice that he is still here- using the life that God has given him for His glory.

This is what Jarod wrote to Nathanial when telling him we are naming our son after him:

"I want you to know how much I have appreciated you for years. In high school you were the friend (along with Tino, I guess) who encouraged me to live for Christ. In your life I saw a deep desire to live for God, and it was a constant encouragement to me.

Little did I know that so many things would happen between then and now and that along the way you would continue to be an encouragement even though I don't get to see you very often. I continue to read the things you write, like the story of me, which I love. I love your focus on the next life. If we would all live with a passion for heaven, the stuff of this life wouldn't choke us and pull us down like it tends to. I still have a copy of the myspace note you wrote before your infection. I can honestly say that I long for heaven, and God has used you to get me there.

How's that for sappy? huh? Well, it just gets worse. Laura and I have been moved and changed by God in amazing ways over the last couple of years. He's moving us to a place of absolute dependence on Him. He's moving us to compassion for people who have so much less than we do. He's moving us in ways we never expected, including the desire and decision to have another kid. And God's will for us is that we would have another boy, another son of the Most High, and He's tasked us with raising up another man of God (a task we don't take lightly). I'm rambling.

We decided long before we knew whether we would have a boy or girl that if it was a boy we would name him Nathaniel. I know the spelling's different, but he is named after you. We have nicknames for each of our kids - Buddy, Seaners, Katie Mae, and number 4's nickname is already chosen for him: Nat."

We are so honored to name our boy after such a godly man! So our baby boy's name is Nathaniel Phillip. We can't wait to meet you Nathaniel, and I can't wait for you to meet Nathanial and see the godly man we named you after!