Our Baby Boy has a name!!!

After a lot of prayer and discussion, we have decided on a name for our little boy.

CALEB JAMES MORRIS

How did we choose the name???

Let's start with the middle name - James. James is Blake's first name, as well as his dad's and grandfather's first name. Also, with his Pops getting older, Blake felt this was a special way to honor him since he will be the first Morris boy great grandchild.

Another reason we love James is of course, the book of James in the Bible. What an amazing book with so much application to the Christian walk! In addition to that, when Blake and I started dating back in 2000, it wasn't very long until I knew he was the one for me. I came across the verse, James 1:17 - "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." This became my verse for Blake because he was my good and perfect gift from God. How appropriate that now I can apply that same verse to my number 2 man - Caleb James - for he is a good and perfect gift from the Lord.

Caleb - this has been a very special name to me for several years now. It's kind of a long story, but I will try to make it as short as I can. Not long after Blake and I were married, I began to fear at times that we might have difficulty getting pregnant with the health issues Blake faced. When those anxious thoughts emerged, I tried to give them over to the Lord by praying and finding comfort in his Word. One morning on the way to work, I was pouring my heart out to God, and I had an overwhelming feeling that God was telling me the following - "You will have a little boy and his name will be Caleb." This was such a special moment to me that I truly cherished it in my heart... so much that after it happened, I told Blake and only one other person, my dear friend Andria. It was years later before I would even tell people that I liked the name, Caleb, and even then it was only a handful of people. It was a name I held so dear.

Since Blake chose the middle name, he wanted me to choose the first name. While trying to make sure that Caleb was to be our son's name, Andria has graciously helped me remember our conversation that we had years ago about me one day having a little boy named Caleb. We have both been looking like crazy in our old journals, trying to find where one of us wrote down what was shared that day. While I do my best to journal now, I was not as disciplined before. (It blows my mind that I didn't write down the events of that day or maybe I just haven't found the journal yet.) However, Andria feels that our talk that day took place sometime in late 2003 or early 2004. I am still hopeful that one of us will find the exact date when we had our talk.

Regardless, that day when we met, we ended up talking about Blake's health challenges and for some reason, I remember feeling so strongly that I needed to share with her my encounter with God in the car that day. So I told her what happened, with tears in my eyes, feeling so silly that I was even sharing it. Even though we don't know the date we met, Andria has found places in her old Bible with my name written beside verses on Caleb in the Old Testament. How neat!

Choosing a name for a little one comes with so much pressure, at least to me. I have been praying so much that God would show me the name of our son - just wanting to call him what God wants. I love that God burdened my heart years ago to share my experience with Andria. I truly feel that He knew I would need confirmation of what I felt that day in my car on the way to work.

So what does Caleb mean???

Caleb in Hebrew means "faithful, bold, loyal, and devoted to God". I remember years ago coming across the name Caleb during Bible Study. I was reading the verse about Caleb and how he whole-heartedly followed the Lord. I still remember thinking at that moment - "Wow, what greater prayer could you have for your child than that they would whole-heartedly follow God." So here we are now, waiting to meet our son, and one of my many prayers for him is that he will follow the example of Caleb in the Old Testament - that our Caleb will be faithful, bold, loyal, and devoted to God. I can't imagine anything bringing me more joy as a parent!

One more thing about the name Caleb - it also comes from the name "dog". Because Caleb means faithful and loyal, it makes sense that it would also mean "dog" since they are known for their loyalty. I thought this was so appropriate for Blake - being the true Georgia BullDOG fan he is! And, if he has anything to do with it, Caleb will be a DAWG fan as well! Another thing about the Lord that makes me smile - He amazes me with His attention to detail.

While being a Georgia Bulldog fan is fun, nothing compares to the relationship we pray that Caleb will have with our Lord. May Caleb love the Lord with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and may he be faithful, loyal, devoted, and bold for the AMAZING God we serve!