The Power of a Name

One of privileges and responsibilities of being a parent is naming your child.  In some cultures names are chosen based on something happening during the child's birth.  One recent example is the father in Egypt who named his first-born daughter "Facebook" because of the impact the social media site had in organizing the demonstrations in Cairo last month.

Names are a significant part of a person's life.  Hungarians traditionally have a list of names they are to choose from, so even though I only personally know thirty or so Hungarians, I know a number of "Gabor's" and a couple of "Tibi's."  Hungarians celebrate not only their birthday, but their nameday with all the others who share their name.  I think it is a cool tradition that highlights their Hungarian heritage.  Happy early name day Gabor.  (Just in case I forget to mention it on the 24th!)

Name changes are also important. Usually they mark significant events.  When Cydil chose to change her last name to Waggoner when we were married, it was an extreme honor, and it signified that she was willing to be forever associated with me and my family!  The day our adoption was certified by the Albanian courts, our children received the name "Waggoner" as well.  Their name change signified that they were now a part of a family!  Forever they will be a part of the Waggoner family tree!  They belong here.  They are one of us.  We share a name!

 On top of our last name, we also chose first and middle names for our children.  From the beginning, we loved our daughter's given name Elisona, which means 'my parents have Jehovah as their God.'  We added the middle name 'Joy' to our daughter because we couldn't think of a better word to describe what we felt as she was grafted into our family!  Before our second adoption we decided that we would name a son 'David' if we were referred a boy.  We decided on David because it is part of both of our father's names.  Cydil's dad is David and my dad's middle name is David.  As Reni's picture and details were presented before us last April, we prayed for wisdom and guidance in our pursuit.  Was Reni the child God had in mind for our family?  While pouring through the second round of information from our agency, Cydil stopped reading and through tears pointed at the computer screen.  "...He was baptized at 2 months of age with the baptismal name of ‘David’."  Yes! Reni was the child God was preparing us for!  He had already changed his name for us!!  Since that time, we have heard three other adoption stories where pre-determined names were already being used before the forever families were involved.  In each of those cases, God used names to confirm commitments and ease fears related to the pending adoptions.  Isn't God good?

Something I have begun to realize recently though is that a father's name changes in the process of growing a family too.  There are circles of people who only know me as 'Ellie's Dad' or 'Cydil's husband.' Everyday I visited Reni in the orphanage, I wouldn't even get through the gate before hearing a chorus of 'Bobbi Reni, bobbi Reni, bobbi Reni' (Reni's Dad, Reni's Dad, Reni's Dad)!  None of the kids know me as Nathan Edward Waggoner.  Instead they know me by my relationship to my son!  I love that!  I also love hearing, "Oh, you're Ellie's dad!" as I walk through her school.  My name has changed!

Kids and Caregivers say 'Goodbye' to Reni.

Our heavenly Father has changed our names as well!  He has given us a new name (Isaiah 62:1-3) We are known as His children.  We fit.  We belong.  We share His name!  But maybe even more amazing to me, God changes His name for us.  He is proud to be known as our Father!  In fact, He is often only known to the world through His relationship with us!  Being known through association with me is a risk. Being known as 'Nathan's Father' has its good days and bad days, but God is known by some people only in that way.  What an honor!  What a responsibility!