I got an e-mail from our aunt Denise (Hi Nisee) the other day regarding how Glory got her name and I wanted to write a post about it. It is just amazing to me how we can see God's finger prints all over our life. Sometimes they are harder to see than others, but this one was so clear it was truly amazing.
Ben and I met in 2002, this very timeof year in August when we started our freshman year of college (wow, 10 years ago, I feel old). We were very interested in each other right away and soon realized that we wanted to eventually get married. We decided (with some serious encouragement from both our parents) to wait until we graduated from college to get married, so that's what we did. We were married in 2006 and as any newly married couple does, we talked about our future kiddos. We talked about the when, the how many, and possible names. When ever we talked about names we could never agree on any names. Which was fine because we weren't even close to having kids yet.
But there was one name that was said that both of us instantly loved, Gloria. I remember sitting in church in December of 2006 and singing "Angles We Have Heard On High" and singing the chorus of Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory Be to God in the Highest) over and over again and knowing that this was the name of our daughter. I know now that this was God impressing on me what HE wanted her to be named, even then 6 years ago. Its hard to explain that feeling, but I remember it like it was yesterday knowing with out a shadow of any doubt that this would be the name of our daughter. Little did I know what amazing plan he had for this daughter, but I believe this is where her story began.
We also had a friend from college named Gloria whom we adore and are still friends with today. She is such a sweet, kind, and selfless person that knowing our girl would share the name Gloria with her just made us love it even more. It still makes me sad when I think about how excited I was to hand Gloria over to my friend Gloria after she was born and tell her what we had named her. We had kept her name a secret from her for a long time:)
So Gloria it was. We had no other name that we liked, nor could we agree on.
Our first baby was born in March of 2009, our first little boy, Noah Scott Saunders. We had a hard time deciding on his name, but as soon as we looked at him, I knew this was our Noah. Noah means "peaceful" and we loved this meaning, and his middle name is the name of his Pops, Ben's dad.
When Noah was 11 months old, we found out we were pregnant again. A little bit of a crazy pregnancy between graduating from seminary, and moving back to California from Kentucky with a one year old, and living with Ben's parents for 4 months.
For some reason, God changed our minds. Gloria was no longer the #1 name for a little girl in our hearts. He moved our affections to the name Eden. Eden means delight or paradise. Ben was in a seminary class with a professor that he really loved and admired and would always tell stories of his kids one of which was Eden. I always loved this name and when Ben suggested it we immediately agreed. Our little girl was born in September of 2010 and just as with her brother, when we looked at her the first time, she just looked like a Eden. Her middle name is Danielle which is also my middle name. Ben choose her middle name, because he has always loved that my dad's nickname for me was Dani.
When Eden was 11 months old and Noah was 2 1/2 we found out we were pregnant with our 3rd. This time if it was a girl, she would be Gloria. (If she was a boy she would have been Judah). We loved that her name means worshipful praise, honor, and thanksgiving. And more than anything we wanted her life to bring Glory to our father in heaven. We decided that her middle name would be Ruth after her aunt Ruth, Ben's sister. She is an amazing woman of God, and an amazing aunt to her niece and nephews. She loves them like they were her own, and they absolutely adore her. I loved that Gloria would be named after such an amazing woman and they could share a special bond sharing the same name.
When she was born, I didn't really get to look into her face like I had my other two babies. She was on my chest for a few seconds and then was whisked away to the NICU. But as they were wheeling her out of the room and I was watching her intently to trying to capture every detail of her I could before she left the room, some one asked "What is her name?" and I replied "Gloria" as she rounded the corner and out the door. And as I said it, it gave me chills. Almost like I knew this was her name from years before and it was all coming to fruition before my eyes. This little baby was going to bring Glory to God and everything about her especially her name will forever be a reminder to me that she did exactly that.
Not only did we love the name Gloria, but I was in love with the nickname we would give her, Glory. I dreamed about calling her "my Glory girl". God's plan amazes me, because she is just that "my Glory girl". My little girl that got to experience God's Glory before I did.
I love to hear this name. Gloria Ruth Saunders. It makes my heart so happy to hear her name. I think sometimes people don't want to mention her name around me in case it is too painful for us to hear it. It couldn't be more opposite. Every time I hear it, It just brings a smile to my face because this is the name that we not only gave her, but I truly feel like the Lord named her. Hearing her name just reminds me that she is with us in our hearts and also in other peoples hearts and we remember her and the way that God used her to bring himself Glory. His plan is so much bigger than I could ever comprehend, and when I hear Gloria's name I am reminded all over again that He not only planned her home going, but he knew about it from the beginning of time. And He started preparing our hearts from the time we were married to meet this special little girl.
Thank You Lord for Gloria Ruth Saunders. Thank you for guiding us in her name and ultimately Glorifying your name through her life and in the life of her mommy and daddy. We love you Glory girl and can't wait for you to show us the God you see with your eyes.
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