Isaac Lee... behind the name.

Naming this child was way harder than naming Jude.  I found Jude's name early on, before I even knew he was going to be a boy, and it was just the perfect name.  I loved the sound.  I loved the meaning {praise}.  And I loved the timeless, yet rare, style.

 

It was hard to find a name I loved near as much.  We had a long list that was ever-changing throughout my pregnancy.  The name we chose for this child would somewhat determine the "style" of our kids names.  Were we going biblical?  Were we going unique?  What was the right fit with our last name?  And did it sound good with Jude? {because I am bound to be saying the two names together for years and years to come}.  All of these were things that I considered.  Jordan has always been more concerned with the meaning of a name.  I didn't care as much about the meaning, but I grew to appreciate this concern.  We kind of see it as a way to speak blessing into our child's life.  I like that both our boys now have names with a meaning and history they can be proud of.

I was sold on another name for a very long time, but it never felt right.  I constantly second-guessed the name, which, to me, was a sign that the search wasn't over.

One day, I was doing my devotional time and read the story of Abraham and Sarah when they were told they were pregnant with their son after years of barrenness.  Sarah laughed, as she was in her 90's and thought she would never have children.  Clearly, I am not 90.  Also, I have a child already, so I know I am not barren.  But Isaac means laughter.  He was a surprise blessing to Abraham and Sarah, and it made Sarah laugh when she learned of her pregnancy.  It is Isaac who carries on the lineage of Christ, as the promise the Lord made to Abraham.

It is a stretch, but I felt somewhat of a kindred spirit to this story.  It took us over a year to get pregnant with Jude.  That is why we weren't so careful to prevent pregnancy after having Jude - we assumed that it would be another long journey when the time came.  But, surprise surprise!  It truly does only take one time.  God surprised us with the blessing of another son.  My first instinct wasn't to laugh {more like oh crap!}, but my fear has turned to laughter and optimism as I embark on this journey.
  

The name Isaac stuck with me after reading this story.  But, to me, it was too common.  I didn't want a top 100, much less a top 50 name for my child.  I searched and searched for other names.  Then I found myself dismissing names based on the sheer fact that I didn't think they went well with the name Isaac, and I just might want to use that name someday.  Ridiculous.  I know.  I realized I was doing this and my heart began to warm up to this classic, timeless name.  And I fell in love with it.

Isaac.  laughter.  May you bring joy and laughter to all you meet, sweet boy.

I love how it sounds.  I love how it sounds with Jude.  I love the meaning.  I love the story.  And, I love the boy.

We haven't experienced any laughter from Isaac yet... but plenty of tears. ;-)  I'm hoping he will compensate one day once the laughter starts.

And now, Lee.

All along Isaac's middle name was going to be Luke.  Jordan's middle name is Luke and we have a tradition in my family of passing along family names.  There wasn't really a family name in Jordan's family that he felt like passing on.  His dad has an initial for a middle name and we felt weird giving Jude a middle name and Isaac an initial. Plus the boys will bear the last name "Griffis" for their entire lives.  And this is my family's tradition.  Not Jordan's.  So, last minute, like a week before Isaac was born, we decided to go with Lee.  Mostly in honor of my sister, whose middle name is Lee.  {and, funny enough, so is her husband's}  My sister got the middle name from our paternal Grandfather and our maternal Grandmother who both share it.  It is gaining momentum as a strong family name, and it just felt right to continue it.

 

So, there you have it.  My sweet Isaac Lee. 

The meaning of Jude.

Jordan and I put a lot of thought into our son's name.  But truth be told, I knew our baby's name was going to be Jude all along. :-)  I fell in love with the name even before we knew we were having a boy.  I just had a strong feeling that our baby was "Jude".

We went through a lot (though not near as much as some) to have this baby.  We tried for awhile, and then had a miscarriage.  When I found out we were pregnant again I was overwhelmed with just joy and praise and thanks.

And that is the meaning of the name Jude in hebrew.

Jude: Praise; Thanks

Obviously it is a biblical name (there is a book in the bible called Jude) and that was very important to us as well.  And then my family has a tradition of passing along middle names.  My dad's middle name is Michael and I wanted to keep with this tradition.  Michael means: who is like God?

So that is where the name came from.  I fell in love with it long ago. :-)  It took awhile to get Jordan on board, mainly because he was afraid everyone would think we got it from the Beatle's song "Hey Jude".  Which, really, it's a great song.  I have no problem with my son's name being in that song. :-)  And I'm sure it will be sung to him a time or two in his life.