If you missed the previous posts, be sure to go back and read (and listen to our 911 call if you’re up for that!) Here’s the Introduction, My Pregnancy, and Part 1 and Part 2 of Emmeline’s Birth Day.
Choosing a baby’s name is such an enormous responsibility and this time around it was just as difficult as with our first. We kept a running list during my pregnancy of both boy and girl names in a shared Note on our phones. Every few weeks we would revisit it and see if we could come up with any new ones or could eliminate any from our list.
A friend also recommended the app called Baby Name which is like the name version of Tinder and, while we didn’t find any of our names with it, it was still fun to see which names we had in common and it helped us narrow in on what style of names we tend to both like.
A few weeks before our due date we had finally landed on both a boy and a girl name.
Emmeline means hardworking and Alma (Tim’s grandmother’s name) means kind and loving, and it is also the Spanish word for soul.
Our hope and prayer is that she would become a woman who works hard to show love and compassion to others, that she cares for others at a soul level, and that she seeks to serve the Lord in whatever she does.
These are the two verses we had in mind when choosing her name and the meaning behind it.
Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
Hebrews 10:23-25 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Thank you for coming along on this ride with me this week! For any of you who have read her story, our story, thank you thank you thank you. It means the world to me. I’ve been working on writing the story of Emmeline’s arrival on and off since the day she was born and it has been such a process of remembering and writing and piecing everything together – the story, the photos, the call.
Both my babies’ births have had a profound impact on who I am and it has been amazing to write and read and reread their stories. Writing it down helps me to process it more fully. It just reminds me how important it is to reflect on and to share our stories. If you have a story you’re holding on to today – share it with someone. It’s important. You’re important. You need to be heard too.