Saturday, January 20, 2007

And his name shall be called...

One of the most amazing & challenging parts of this journey towards parenthood is deciding the name of your child. Much like choosing your spouse, this is a decision that will affect the whole of one's life. In biblical times, names were chosen to portray a characteristic or path for that individual. Sometimes, children were named based on what their parents had learned through the pregnancy.

Both Jordan & I have been privledged with names that carry significant weight in our families. Jordan is in honor of his maternal grandparents, Marston & Virginia Jordan. His name honors both families from which he came - the Jordan family & the Leino family. My name tells the story of my parents journey towards having a child. I am the firstborn child to my parents - after 8 long years of wanting a child; after years of loss, heartache, & trial. Through the long journey to my birth, my parents learned the valuable lesson that God's timing is perfect & even when we don't understand it, we must have patience for His plan. Thus, I have the name Patience as a reminder of all God taught them through those long years.

When we found out that we were pregnant, we wanted to give him more than a cool-sounding name, but one that told a story. Little did we know at the time the journey that lay just ahead of us. Since discovering his complicated heart condition at 18 weeks, we have learned in a profound way new levels of faith & trust in our mighty God. Constantly, we've had to lay our boy on the altar & trust him in God's hands - not knowing what the outcome would be. Through the course of this pregnancy, we've been encouraged & inspired by the story of Abraham in Genesis 22. Abraham had the choice to follow God & lay his precious son, Isaac, on the altar before God. He had to choose & live out faith in God over his son who was most precious to him. And when it seemed there was no other way, God stepped in to save Isaac's life in a miraculous way.

We've gone back to this story countless times through the course of this pregnancy. Often, people hearing our story have told us that they're reminded of Abraham learning to trust God completely with his child. It is a story & lesson close to our hearts, one that parallels in many ways our journey with our son. And so we have decided on his name! Its been on our hearts for many months now, resting to be sure it was right. It is a name that tells his story. Our little boy will be called:

Isaac Jordan Leino

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. & Mrs. Leino, that, is beautiful...it brought tears to my eyes...I am one of the thousands of people that are praying the 3 of you through...

Anonymous said...

Aw, that is wonderful. Finally! Reminds me of the movie Where The Heart Is...."give that baby a name that means something."

I'm so excited for you guys, tears of joy here! I love you both very much and am so proud of God's strength in your lives.

Anonymous said...

okay, so you sooo stole the first name of what i wanted to call my child if I had a boy. But it suits your baby well! So, I wont have a harsh spirit seeing that I am not even married lol!

So baby Isaac Jordan Leino, is still in my prayers!

Anonymous said...

aww that's awesome!!

we all can't wait for him to pop out into the world and do big things for God's glory!!

Delea

Anonymous said...

Awesome name!
Awesome parents!
AWESOME GOD!

We love you all. With continuing prayers...

Anonymous said...

aww I love that name.
I know that he will be a world changer.
Gloria

Anonymous said...

I like the name and the reason behind chosing the name. You are all still in my prayers. Taneha

Anonymous said...

"What's in a name?" Sounds like a sermon series. :)
Thank you for sharing your story. Matt and I were riding down the road and I was reading by Blackberry and he looks over and sees me crying. What is wrong and I said Jordan and Patience named their little boy....
He just laughed and said girls are so emotional. :)
Seriously, it is awesome when there is a story behind the name. He can share that his whole life. And what a great man of God to be named after. Just like God used Issac for greatness in the Bible He wants to do the same thing through your Issac. We love you guys!

Anonymous said...

Amen for a beautiful name chosen by God by beautiful parents.....I can't wait to see the beautiful legacy that Isaac will leave for the kingdom of heaven...amen...love from India ><>

Anonymous said...

How perfect Pai! It has been incredible to see the Lord's hand at work in unexpected ways! I am so excited for you both and cant wait to meet sweet Isaaic Jordan Leino. You are all in my prayers!
-Val

Anonymous said...

this is amazing. the way that you dont just want your son having a cool name. but something that will tell a story. also, i love the name Issac Jordan. both me and my mom read this and we loved it.

we will pray for you
& we love you! ♥
abbey.

Unknown said...

We haven't even met yet but we want you both and your family to know that a day does not go by that we do not lift Isaac up in our prayers. You are an inspiration to all of us and your testimony of trusting God is an awesome example to strive for. God bless you and thank you for sharing little Isaac with us. He is truly a special part of all our lives!
Lynn & Ronnie Thomas