What's In A Name?

The other day the kids were playing with the ABC magnets on the side of our fridge. The girls have been learning how to spell their names, and they both decided to use the magnets. It was really cute! AJ was home sick from school and with his help they managed to find enough letters to spell out everyone's name in our family - including our dog! lol! I'm not sure what it is, but there is something that makes my heart so happy to see all the names of my children listed like this. I guess I've always loved personalization. Maybe it's because my name is always hard to find on those little kiosks full of key chains and mugs and what-not. I don't know - there is something just special about seeing one's name scrolled out for the world to see. Whether monogrammed or beautifully embroidered in full script, a name is a child's first piece of identity. A gift from their parents. A treasured keepsake.

One thing that has always been endearing for me is choosing the names of our children. It is such a sweet wonderful experience to search out the perfect name for the child I'm longing to love, to thoughtfully consider the combinations, to ponder over meanings and origins, and to pray for God's leading. Making lists, writing down all the possibilities, somehow the very act of it brings me closer to the Father. How excited He must be in planning a new creation - each child so full of possibilities and promise. Knowing He knows from the very beginning the names of our blessings.  And, while God certainly sealed names in our hearts for each of our kiddos, out of all the names we've given, George Mason is the only one that God actually gave to us.


We have a special book of names that not only includes the origin and meaning of each name, but also explores the spiritual significance of each name and provides a verse to go along with the entry. I LOVE that about this book!

GEORGE

• Origin: Greek
• Inherent Meaning: Land Worker
• Spiritual Connotation: Walks With God
• Scripture: Genesis 5:24 NRSV
• Enoch walked with God; then we was no more, because God took him.

MASON

• Origin: Old French
• Inherent Meaning: Stoneworker
• Spiritual Connotation: Overcomer
• Scripture: Revelation 2:17 NIV
• Everyone who is victorious will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a NEW NAME that no one knows except THE ONE who receives it.

An OVERCOMER who WALKS WITH GOD. I can't imagine a more perfect name for our son than the one the LORD has chosen! :)  For all that little Mason has gone through and will have to go through in his life - to know that God walks with him and that He has given Mason the power to overcome is beyond comforting! But what I think I like the most about his name is that verse - Revelation 2:17.

In the Ch*nese adoption community, there is something magical about discovering what your child's Ch*nese name means. To accurately explore the meaning of a Ch*nese name - one has to know more than just the spelling. Each Ch*nese word can have layers of meaning depending on which symbol was used and what time of year it was and what season. You see, the Ch*nese do not just name their children - they weave a poetic meaning into each name by purposefully choosing a combination that gives blessings throughout their child's life. For our daughter, we rejoiced to see the beauty in her Ch*nese name! She was given a name by the orphanage director that graciously bestowed on her a life of shining beauty. It was, in the words of the Ch*nese, a good and lucky name. For that we are grateful.

However, not all orphans are as lucky. Some orphanages deem a life of "bad luck" on a child from the moment he/she enters their institution simply by giving a child a name without meaning. A name that either has a meaning that makes no sense, or a name that the combination immediately identifies them as an orphan, or creates such a weird juxtaposition that the hearer of the name immediately recognizes it as one that is not truly "Ch*nese". In other words, just by the act of naming a child, their fate is determined - literally. Orphan children who age out of the institutions at 14 years are often unable to advance in their education, finding work is difficult as many think they are "bad luck" or "cursed", many are not respected, and most discover that though they are Ch*nese in birth, because they are orphans, they remain outcasts in society despite their new independence - once again, they find themselves unwanted.

My heart ached as I read the words on our son's medical file. There is so much he has undergone in his little life - how I wish somehow I could have saved him from all of it. Pouring over every measurement and tracing the history of how he came to be - my eyes suddenly stopped over his name. His Ch*nese name. What did it mean? Who had given it to him? The sad reality hit me. He had been named not as a blessing, but he had been named as a number. Much like "John Doe" is used to track an unknown person.

The orphanage had named him for the month and zodiac year he was admitted and identified him as a boy. Nothing meaningful. Nothing poetic. My child was a number. My son was anonymous.

Perhaps they thought he wouldn't survive. The odds were certainly stacked against him. Maybe they use a system of names - and this was just the next one on the list. Certainly, my heart aches knowing what his future would have been in Chin@ living a life with that name and I fear, without meaning.

Whatever the reason, my son's name is part of his story, and a huge part of him. We will treasure his heritage and we will embrace his Ch*nese origins just as we have our daughter's. Still, I fear he will know the difference, and I pray even now that God will show Mason the miracle that he is! How much he overcame to survive and how much promise God created in him to live!

This name - this number - is what they call him now, but God, God had something NEW planned! And in that plan, that miraculous, glorious plan, God decided before the beginning of time, that our son would be named MASON and his verse, Revelation 2:17, sings so clearly the plans God has - to prosper him and give him a HOPE and a FUTURE.

And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a NEW NAME that no one knows except THE ONE who receives it.

Do you see it? Do you see the significance? A white stone - a clean slate. A new beginning to engrave a whole new set of memories in. God has not only given us a new son, but He has given our son a NEW NAME!

George Mason.

And Overcomer who Walks With God.


And for that, we are rejoicing!