The Name "Malachi"

WHY DID WE DECIDE ON THE NAME MALACHI?

There is a sweet little story that goes with why we chose the name Malachi. I have decided to share it with you guys. However, I do want to put the disclaimer out there that through the naming of our son I am in no way trying to be prophetic. I just think it's a sweet little story and one of MANY confirmations from the Lord about our son.

Hmmm... where should I begin?
After Lee and I committed to adopt we would often talk about our adopted son and what our hopes and dreams for him were. Of course we want him to know Jesus, but we both also said that in our hearts we hoped he would have a love for Ethiopia and the people there. We discussed what it might look like if he one day decided to "go" or "move" to Ethiopia to share the love of Jesus. As mommy and daddy it is less than ideal to have your son "going to" or "living on" a different continent! However, something in our Spirits say "yes" to that type of love for spreading the gospel. Why wouldn't we want that for our son?
So, much of this discussion took place while I was pregnant with Miller. As many of you know... we did not reveal Miller's name until after he was born. After we finally revealed Miller's name, so many people said "I figured you would have picked a Biblical name." Honestly, a Biblical name never really crossed my mind. So I remember thinking to myself, "what Biblical names do I even like?" The name "Malachi" came to my mind. I doubted that we would ever use the name, but there was something in that moment that made me freeze. I couldn't put my finger on it at the time. I never mentioned to ANYONE that I liked that name!
At the end of December 2011, Lee and I decided that we were about to officially begin the adoption process. I came home from work one day a little giddy about the idea of tossing around some baby names and getting online to look at different names. You see, with Miller we had the name picked for years, so there was no "baby name searching" that ever took place with him. That's why I was so excited to discuss baby names. I remember it like it was yesterday. Lee was sitting in the recliner and I was standing on the other side of the living room. I said, "well, I guess we should start talking about potential names since this adoption is about to be official." Lee rocked back and forth in the recliner about 4 times with the "I'm thinking" look on his face. I was expecting him to throw out some names he had mentioned in the past. But instead, he rocked back and forth and almost matter of factly said "I like the name Malachi." Time stood still in that moment. Out of the GAZILLION baby names... Lee chose the ONE name that had popped into my mind... the ONE name that we had never mentioned out loud before! It was the FIRST name that came to his mind. I just looked at Lee... smiled... and said, "well... Malachi is his name then!" Of course I let him in on the short story about me thinking the name Malachi months before. We both agreed that his middle name will be his birth name.
 A few days later, I googled the name Malachi. Well... The name Malachi is of Hebrew origin and it means "God's messenger."  :):):) I don't think we could have hand picked a better name for him! Just the sweetness in all of that makes me smile. The very thing that Lee and I had discussed months prior to this regarding Malachi's life and him hopefully having a love for spreading the gospel, is the very thing his name means!  God cares about the details of our lives! Like I said, I am not trying to be prophetic about Malachi's life. What I am doing is PRAISING God for His constant affirmation about our son and our journey. Even in the small things, HE is present! The Truth is... Malachi himself does not have to do one single thing to help spread the gospel. His story is already spreading the gospel!

Sweet little story huh? Love my Jesus!!

One other thing... you may see me refer to Malachi as "CHI" on here. NO that is not meant to be pronounced "Chee" :) I know it looks like the most famous hair products! However, I have played around with the spelling a million times and am tired of fighting the battle. Not gonna spell it KYE, KAI, CHAI... not because I don't love those, but because they just confuse me :) So we are keeping it simple.... for today. Next week... who knows! It may be KYE!