The meaning of Gracelyn Elida.

When you chose your child’s name, did it have a meaning or did you pick it just because you liked it?

            When David and I were talking about names, we were lost! Neither of us knew where to start nor had any picked out before. I always liked the name Christopher. It’s my dad’s name, my brother’s name, my nephew’s middle name and it’s also David’s middle name. It’s a family name and I knew I would pass this name to my child, had it been a boy. We also loved the name Daniel. It’s a strong name for a baby boy, young guy, and an older man. Can you picture a sweet baby named Bill or Ted? Maybe you can, but I sure can’t! Daniel is also a strong biblical character. He was a man of faith! He endured being in the lion’s den and was not harmed because he was brave and faithful.  The name Christopher has the word CHRIST in it. I believe the name Christopher comes from the word Christian, so after all of this the name Daniel Christopher seemed absolutely perfect. We also liked the name Isaac, but it just didn’t make as much sense to us.

For a girl, we had NO clue. I liked the name Julie because I like how it has the “jewel” sound in it. Every girl is a gem so I liked that. David immediately shot it down because his aunt is named Julie and he didn’t want his daughter with the same name. I had no other girl names in mind and neither did David. We were stumped. We had an awesome name that we loved for a son but none for a daughter! We figured it was God saying, “No worries, your name is already picked.” For sure, it must be a boy! Well, we all know God has a sense of humor because a few short months later, we found out it was a girl! As happy (and very surprised) as we were, we knew we had to choose a name for a girl and let our beautiful Daniel Christopher go.

We thought and thought but nothing came to mind! David put the name Chloe on the table, but it didn’t ring any bells. All the girl names I liked were too common so it was pretty difficult to agree. We tried to narrow it down to names that ended with the “ah” sound like Sarah because they sounded the most feminine. One day we finally came up with Alyssa. Yes it is common, but still rather feminine. The more we said it, the more we could picture it! Now we just had to choose a middle name.

When my nephew, Elijah, was still inside Sophia’s tummy he was actually Natalee Grace. Yup, the doctor got the gender wrong! So when we discovered she was a he, the name changed to the boy name they had picked which was Elijah Christopher. 

Even though we love Elijah like words cannot describe, the name “Grace” was already floating around in the invisible bowl of names we all liked.  Almost immediately after finding out I was pregnant, my dad referred to the baby as “Baby Grace” even before knowing the gender! Once David and I decided on Alyssa, I told my dad not to call the baby Grace because that wasn’t her name. He didn’t listen (silly dad) and before we knew it the name Grace started to stick. Alyssa Grace was her name for a good 80% of the pregnancy!

The beginning of the pregnancy was just a little bit difficult. Not only was the pregnancy unplanned but we also weren’t married. We were very afraid of what people were going to say, how the church would react, etc. Much to our surprise after we let the news out, we were surrounded with love and support. Our church family offered us grace and forgiveness through it all. Our immediate families came to us with open arms and graceful hearts. We were reminded throughout the pregnancy that the meaning of “Grace” is to forgive those who don’t deserve it.  We definitely didn’t deserve it, but received it anyways. The central message of Grace and the way Jesus offers it to us through others is something that can be hard to grasp. We feel unworthy of his love yet He never stops giving it. It reminds me of a quote I saw on pinterest that said, “There is nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it is sent away.” Kind of like God’s redeeming love for us, huh? We are always sending Him away, hurting Him or ignoring. Yet, He is always there and willing to receive us again. No matter how many times or how long we may wander, He is always, always, ALWAYS there to help us get back on track. We may completely ruin the plans He has for us but that won’t stop Him from making new ones or simply renovating the original ones. I had to constantly remind myself that I AM LOVED. God chooses ME again and again no matter what I do. Period. Therefore, it didn’t matter what other people said. There were a few mean and hurtful words that were said but they didn’t matter to me because they didn’t matter to God. His Grace is never ending. He was my source of comfort through this time.

Nearing the third trimester of the pregnancy, Alyssa was soon forgotten. We knew she would be Grace which was funny because it didn’t match our criteria of ending in the “ah” sound. Again, God has a sense of humor. It was important to me for Grace to have a godmother. I feel it’s very special to have that womanly mentor to look up to for both Grace and I. I had a mentor through high school and it is amazing to have that friendship- someone to turn to who isn’t your mom. It feels like having a girlfriend or best friend who will listen and offer advice. I love my mom but sometimes it’s nice to have someone else too. Usually a godmother is someone a lot older and possibly with parental wisdom but God chose Lindsey for Grace. She is 19 years old, no children and my best friend and I wouldn’t trust anyone more. Nothing makes me happier than to know that Lindsey loves her almost as much as I do. That is where “lyn” came from when we decided on her final name: Gracelyn. We were going to spell it the way Lindsey has it with the “lin” but Gracelin didn’t look good so we slightly altered it with the “y”.

The middle name was easy! Elida (pronounced el-ee-tha) is my grandma’s name- my dad’s mother. She is the most wise and kind-hearted woman on the planet. At almost 90 years old, she still has fond memories of her own 11 kids when they were small. She is a woman of God. She is a woman of service. She lives alone but has around the clock care from her many children, grand-children and great-grandchildren. I visit with her every Friday so Gracelyn and I are with her on a weekly basis. When I was pregnant I would stay the night every Monday so she got to see my tummy get bigger and bigger every week. Before I said anything about being pregnant, she knew. She knew I would have a girl and she knew she would be “peach fuzz” bald. I can still remember the tearful conversation we had at her kitchen table. My grandma is such a special woman. My dad is her youngest child and I’m my dad’s youngest daughter which makes me the youngest granddaughter my gram has. My grandma has great-great grandchildren but she has more love to offer in that heart of hers than anyone else I know. It takes a big heart to love over 100 grandchildren and boy, does she have it! It made so much sense to me that I pass on her name. Someday when my grandma goes home to Jesus, I will have so many memories to share with Gracelyn about how her great-grandma loved her so much. Every Friday my grandma glows with love and joy when she sees Gracelyn. My grandma saw her roll over, smile, babble, and eat watermelon for the first time. I know there will be tons more memories to be made while my precious grandma is here. One day she will leave us but her legacy never will.

When I look at Gracelyn Elida today, my heart is overflowing. She is the happiest most loved little girl I have ever known. She has so much history and strength in her name. The root of her entire name is Jesus. Our goal as parents is to instill the hope, love, peace, and TRUTH of Jesus in her tiny life so that one day she will openly proclaim that Christ is Lord. Her life is not ours or hers, it is the Lord’s and someday she will make the decision to rid herself of it and receive in return an everlasting gift that only our heavenly father can offer. 

Oh! Just for fun, here are some other suggestions a few people had.

David’s Mom and Lindsey liked Emma.

Lindsey also liked my original girl name Julie and suggested Jo as the middle name. Julie Jo! :)

Sophia liked Madison.

A friend from work called her Stevie. ;)