My son- Josiah James- What's in a name?

"Let Hope Rise...and darkness tremble in Your holy light...."

My son is scheduled to be born in about five weeks! We are so excited about our growing family, and we can't believe that we are about to be parents for the first time! I'm so thankful to have Josh as my husband, partner, and best friend through all of this. I am seriously blessed beyond measure.

In January of this year, we started to really work through grieving the baby we lost, by sharing that information with others. In February, we learned that I was pregnant again! In March, we announced it to the world. In April, we had our first ultrasound. In May, we found out that it was a boy. In June, we settled on a name for him, and felt his kicks for the first time. Yep, it's been an eventful year already.

Shall we continue then...In July, we attended the NACC in Orlando and CIY: MOVE in Tennessee. In August, we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. And, here we are now, September...counting down the days to our due date...35, by the way.

Back in August, we had our third ultrasound...and saw that he is healthy and growing fast! Then, we attended our first baby classes at the hospital. Starting this week, I am officially going seasonal at Disney. And, yesterday we had our first baby shower! So, the reality is setting in...I'm going to be a mommy soon!

Of course, I can't speak from personal experience and say that I will love being a mommy. I also can't say if I will enjoy being a stay at home mom most of the time. But, I can say, that I am more excited to meet my son than I have been about anything else in my life (besides accepting Christ, and my wedding day of course)!

Our little Josiah is moving and kicking and flipping like crazy, and I can't wait to see what he's like outside the womb. He has already brought so much joy to our lives. I wonder if he will ever know how much hope he has given us. Could he understand how much healing and restoration his mere existence has given?

In the Bible, there are many stories of babies bringing hope. Abraham was 100 years old when his wife Sarah gave birth to his son Isaac, just at the time God had promised him. Moses was rescued from a great genocide of baby boys, and his life was used by God to save his people from slavery.

Naomi and Ruth came from a life of great tragedy, losing both husbands and sons. When Ruth re-married, she gave birth to the grandfather of the great King David. Zechariah and Elizabeth were unable to conceive. In their old age, they conceived a son who we know as John the Baptist.

Of course, the greatest hope brought by a baby doesn't need much explanation. Since it isn't Christmas time, I'll skip the full story of the birth of Christ and how He changed everything for the good of all. How Mary conceived as a virgin, and her baby was born to save the world from their sin.

But, why did we choose the name Josiah James? Well, the name James came easily. Josh's grandfathers on both sides of the family have James in their name, and we were able to choose it pretty quickly.

The Josiah of the Bible became king when he was 8 years old, and reigned for over 30 years. He did what was right in God's eyes, and purified the kingdom after the ruling of many evil kings. He brought restoration and healing to God's people.

The name Josiah is a Hebrew name. When translated, it means: "Jehovah helps," "The Lord saves," or the Biblical meaning is "God has healed." Besides the great story of Josiah in the Bible, (and the fact that it's a "J" name) we felt that the meaning of the name goes along with our story.

Josiah has brought healing and restoration to our family, even before his birth. And, although we're still broken and scarred, "God is healing". Sharing the meaning of his name with people has even given me the opportunity to talk to my coworkers about the Bible! It's amazing what God can do!

"Josiah was eight years old when he became king...He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord...not turning aside to the right or to the left...The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book...Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors." (2 Chronicles 34:1, 2, 31, 33 NIV)