Hello! My name is.....



Today Joel is jumping in with me to share the name of our sweet boy and why we chose what we did!

From Joel:
When Brandy and I were engaged, we spent a lot of time talking about the family that we wanted to raise, each of us hoping that the Lord would bless us with numerous children. Part of these conversations was deciding names for our future kids. It seemed pretty easy to come up with girls' names, but was a bit harder for boys' names  My father named me and my brothers (with the exception of my youngest brother) with Hebrew names, choosing to give each of us a biblical name; Joel means “Jehovah is God”. This was something that I too want to do with my own sons and Brandy agreed to it. 


Levi was a name that both of us settled on pretty early on. For me, it really has multiple meanings which I want to cover just briefly. The first is the meaning. Levi is a Hebrew name that means “attached” or “pledged.” Levi was the third son of the patriarch Jacob and from the time of Aaron to Christ, the Levitical line was the chosen people by God to serve as priests before Him. Now that Christ has come, we are all priests, for we all have access to God the Father through our great High Priest, Jesus, because the veil of separation has been torn and we no longer need an earthly intercessor. Throughout the Bible, we read about giving back to God our first fruits, the first and very best of all that we earn or are given. With our first child being a son, it seems fitting and right to me to name my son Levi, a pledge to God as the first fruit of my children. 


The second reason that I like the name Levi comes from the account we have in Luke 5:27-32. Verse 27 and 28 says, “After this he [Jesus] went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.” Levi, also known as Matthew the Apostle (Levi was his Hebrew name, Matthew is Greek), was a tax collector. Tax collectors worked for the Roman Empire, who at the time had subjected the nation Israel under their rule. Tax collectors were typically dishonest and took more than they should in order to pad their own purses. They were viewed by Israelites as traitors to their people and were especially hated. Levi was no different. But Jesus chose Levi to be one of his own disciples, completely transforming him from the person he was into an apostle for His glory. Levi went on to write one of the four gospels and church history tells us that he proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ to many nations, eventually being martyred. To me, the story of Levi is one of many that show the depth of the transforming power of God in one’s life, taking a man that was hated by nearly all for being a “traitor” and crooked, into a man that so powerfully proclaimed the Gospel. This is a story that we should all desire for ourselves, that we might be so changed by Jesus Christ that we would give our all for Him, even unto death. It’s certainly a story that I desire for my soon to be born son, who I earnestly pray will come to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior and dedicate his life to Him. 


The third and final reason comes from a singing group known as Calling Levi. They were a gospel singing quartet that sang up all over the country for nearly a decade until God called them to plant a church in Middletown, DE. This group came to know my future wife Brandy when she attended a Bible camp called Powerlife. When they planted Lifehouse Church, they asked her to move to Delaware to serve as an intern for the church, which she did. Shortly after, I was seeking a church to attend and was led to Lifehouse where I met Brandy and the rest is history. So in a sense, Calling Levi (itself named after the Luke account of the Apostle Matthew) brought us together and naming our son Levi ends up being a sort of tribute or head nod to them. Calling Levi consists of Mark & Tammy Lashey and Rob & Stephanie Leight, four of the dearest people to both Brandy and I, and we are so grateful for their ministries and the work that they have poured into our lives. 

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From Brandy:
When we first started discussing names before we got married, we intended to use Stephen as the middle name with Levi. Stephen is a commonly used name in Joel's family and we liked the way it paired with Levi. Our first choice girl name is after women in my family so it seemed fitting that the first boy have a family name from Joel's side. The plans changed however when we got our positive and found our due date. My due date is February 5th and at our first ultrasound this little guy measured at a February 7th due date. That is my dad's birthday. We discussed right then that if this baby was a boy we would give him the middle name Scott after my dad (Scotty Dean). My dad passed away when I was 16 and I'm sad to say that last few years he was alive we're not the heights of our relationship. Every year his birthday is a kind of sad for me because I wish I would have spent more time celebrating his years here even when times were tough. I'm excited to have this baby around that time of year and to honor my dad by giving him the middle name Scott. 


We can't wait to meet our little Levi Scott Miller! 


How did you choose names?
Did you pick out names before you ever got pregnant? 
Does your family having any naming patterns?
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CONVERSATION

1 comments:

  1. Love the name! Although we are not with child yet, we have had our first boy and girl names picked out since we first started dating. Both first and last names for each are a mixture of names from both sides of the family and what/who we are fondest of. Maybe you'll understand once you see the names...one of these days. ;)

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