So, why such a long name?

Elijah Thomas Jeremiah....how did he get that long name?

Elijah

Matt and I had never agreed on boy names - not even when we were waiting for a child from China. We know that our chances of getting a boy from China were slim, but we wanted to be prepared. We never ended up with a name. But, in early February, I had been reading through I and II Kings. Also during this time, a couple that had adopted a baby boy through our new agency had some bad news. Their little boy, Eli (short for Elijah), was in need of a liver transplant. He was a brave little guy and his parents were so strong in faith. On February 17th, we were to meet with our agency director, but the meeting was canceled while en route. Later that day, we found out that Baby Eli went in for the transplant surgery early in the morning, but did not survive. My Bible reading that day had me in Ii Kinds 2 when Elijah was taken up to heaven. I wrote in my journal all the things that Elijah, the prophet, had done and witnessed in his life.

Elijah = "The Lord is My God", prophet, spoke to Kinds, followed the Lord unswervingly, fed by ravens, performed a miracle at the widow's house of never ending cake & oil during a drought, prayed for the widow's son to live and he did (after he had already died), had a reputation among prophets and kings as one who spoke the words of the Lord, challenged Baal's prophets to sacrifice without fire and God brought the fire for Elijah, had the prophets of Baal killed to help rid the kingdom of idol worship, fled from Jezebel and was weary from his work, spoken to by God in a whisper, experienced the compassion of God as he heard "get up and eat for the journey is too much for you", ran faster than a chariot, fire came down from heaven and consumed the army sent to capture him, had such a nurturing relationship with his apprentice Elisha that he refused to leave his side, used his cloak to part the waters of the Jordan and walked across dry land, knew the the Lord was going to take him, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind, he did not experience death, appeared with Moses to minister to Jesus at the transfiguration, was a man just like us.

I asked Matt later that night, "what do you think of the name Elijah for a boy?" He said, "Hmmm..." with an expression of - that's not that bad. Ah-ha! We had a winner!! Four days later, we got the phone call the a baby boy was born and were we interested in adopting him.

Thomas

There is a man of God in our church who has had a big impact on Matt. And his wife, Fran, jsut happens to meet with me every week for Bible study and prayer. The are parents of 3 boys, and grandparents of soon-to-be 6 grandchildren. They are grandparent figures to our kids and like extended family to us. Matt wanted to honor Mr. Tom for the godly example he has been in his life.

Jeremiah

Our son's biological mother - who carried him for nine months, loved him, still loves him, and desires to be a part of his life - named him Jeremiah. As with Marnina, we chose to keep part of her past as part of her present when we named her Marnina Yongwen. Jeremiah is one more thing that our son's first mom gave to him. It was an honor for us to keep it as part of his full name.

We talked with Miss L. about naming her son Elijah Thomas Jeremiah and her response was "that's a great name...a strong name" and gave it her blessing.

So, here is our son......Elijah Thomas Jeremiah