How Elijah Came To Be

No, this is not a PG-13 version of THAT story! Come on people! Seriously though, I love to hear how people have come up with names for their children and stories behind them. I thought I'd share our story of how the name Elijah Vincent Turner came to us. It's an amazing story, and it's direct from God, I promise!

Well, let's see - where do I begin? We've always pretty much had a girls name picked out. There was no disagreements over that. IF we were going to have a girl one day, her name was going to be Mia Imogene (Imogene is Vince's mom's name). When we miscarried our twins almost 2 years ago, we knew that one was a girl, and I was devastated, because I automatically associated Mia with that baby girl. But, needless to say, we were still going to use that name if this baby was a girl. We could NEVER agree on a boys name - it's so funny - we went through SO many names. I searched online, I looked in books while at Barnes & Noble, I searched message boards, everything. I would come up with one that I was SURE we would both love, and wouldn't you know it, NOPE!

So, I made a list of names one day and forwarded it to Vince while I was at work - pretty productive day, I know! Just like now actually! Ha! Anyway, there were some that we actually agreed on. The main 2 were Caleb and Levi. Elijah was on the list, but nothing was said about it - kind of overlooked actually.

When we found out that we were pregnant, we went out to dinner to celebrate - and I already started having a craving for Fettucine Alfredo!! Good excuse for both! Well, when we were talking at dinner, the topic of baby names came up. Vince told me that he didn't like the name Caleb Vincent that we picked out (it's not a bad name for those of you that have Calebs in your lives! Just not for us!!). I then looked at him, and suggested the name Elijah. He stopped eating, basically dropped his fork, and proceeded to tell me this story.

Vince is in seminary through our church right now, and they had what they call a weekend intensive a few weeks prior to us finding out we were pregnant. This intensive was on prayer I believe. At one point during the weekend they took time out to pray for/over each person in the class. There were some of the senior pastors there as well as the directors for the prayer team at church. They prayed individually for each student, so there were a lot of prayers gonig on!!! Well, on 2 separate occasions that day, 2 separate men in the class prayed for Vince. One of them was our administrative pastor and the other one was another man, not sure which one. They didn't pray for him at the same time. BOTH of them as they were praying kept getting the name Elijah. They had no clue why God was laying this name on their hearts. BOTH men got this from God. BOTH men had no idea why that name kept coming up during their praying. BOTH knew for sure that God was giving them this name. Vince didn't know why that name was coming up either! Remember, we hadn't really discussed this name for the baby if it was a boy.

Vince didn't tell me that story after class. I think he was just so overwhelmed with everything else and with the Holy Spirit that he kind of forgot the story - it could be because he didn't know what it meant, and didn't know why that name had come up twice! Well, when we were at dinner a few weeks later, he knew the reason!!

I definitely know that God can show us things and reveal things to us, but come on, a baby's name?! But when Vince told me that story at dinner that night, I knew the baby's name would be Elijah, IF it was a boy. I couldn't commit to saying that I knew this baby was going to be a boy. Vince could! He has been convinced from the beginning that this baby was going to be a boy, and that his name would be Elijah Vincent!

With dad's homegoing in February, it was kind of bittersweet. We found out we were having a boy just a few days before dad passed away. From the very beginning of our pregnancy, dad knew that we were going to have a boy! So, to be able to tell him that we were having a boy, and that his name would be Elijah Vincent (dad's name was Vincent) was a great thing. We are honoring the memory of Elijah's grandfather (paw-paw) but giving him his name as a middle name, and I couldn't think of a better man to honor!!

So, there's the story of Elijah Vincent - Elijah which means the Lord is My God or Jehovah is God, is definitely a gift from God in many ways. We are so excited about his arrival and waiting with anticipation for him to be here! I hope that this story encourages you and just shows you the amazing power of prayer and the awesome wonder of our God!!

Only 82 days to go!!!