What's in a name?

In just about 2.5 months Taylor and I get to meet our daughter! We are awaiting her arrival with great anticipation and excitement, but have many questions too. What will she look like? Sound like? Be like? Hair color? Eye color? Length and weight? These are questions that we will know the answer to soon after she is born. However, more than all of these superficial inquiries, I wonder who she will be. What will she be passionate about? What will she find joy in? What will be her talents, dreams, hopes & fears? I've found myself pondering her identity. I pray that she will find her complete purpose and fulfillment in a relationship with Jesus, and that this will be the core of her identity. There are other things that play into who she is and who she will become, too. One of those things is her name! After some debate we have chosen a name for our sweet daughter-to-be:

Lucy Rose

It feels good to say it and to be one step closer to getting to know this little human being! If you ask Taylor, I may have made the process a bit more of an ordeal than necessary, but we made it through to the other side in mutual agreement. There is something about the concept of naming a person for their entire life that caused me to feel slightly overwhelmed and entirely motivated to take the responsibility seriously! Among other criteria, we wanted to pick a name that has special meaning and could serve as a life theme of sorts. Lucy means "light." Rose is my sister's middle name and my paternal great-grandmother's first name. To me, these two names create a picture of a promise. Our prayer for our daughter is that she will come to know the One who is the Light and as a reflection of Him, be a beautiful light in this dark world. Our blessing over her is that she will be strengthened and inspired by the meaning of her name and live this out as a sort of calling. May she be a sweet glimpse of God's light and love to everyone she meets!