What's in a name?

Well, I say...a lot!!



Long before Andrew and I started talking about trying to have a baby, we discussed the importance of names. We like strong names that can be both cute and dignified...something you can call an infant, but something respectable enough to be an appropriate job interview introduction. Both of our parents did a great job naming all of us, and those names are significant in some way. To Andrew and I, it is most important that names honor our families and their legacies in order to instill in our kids a sense of identity. We discussed naming baby boy Christmas Eve, and we found it a lot easier than we feared. We tried making lists and swapping them, but our lists were fairly short, and we found it harder to talk about a first name without talking about it with a middle name. We even considered having two middle names to accomodate our wishes. Towards the end of the listing (and discussing), I had us both write our top three full names down. Our first and second were the exact same, so we feel like it's pretty "meant to be."



That being said, we've decided to name our first boy: Jackson Ford Purvis.



Jackson: This summer, Andrew and I had an extra trip together returning home from MO. Long story short, Andrew's brothers Grant and Justin missed their flight home from our (now) annual family Tybee Island trip. We got stuck in terrible traffic. When you drive with just two of you on not much sleep, conversation is a must for safety...somehow, we started talking about names. We didn't even discuss girl names in any serious form...mostly talking about girl names we hated (the list was long). We talked about the naming process and how important it was to us and names we liked for various reasons. Jackson was the top of the list then, and this baby has been Jackson to me really since we knew we were pregnant. I didn't know for sure that he was a boy until earlier this month, but for some reason, he felt like a Jackson to me. When we discussed other first names, it felt awkward to me... Jackson is also a family name. Andrew's great great great Uncle was named Andrew Jackson Purvis. He was an Oregon Trail wagon master, known for his courage and daring ways amidst especially harsh conditions.



Ford: Andrew's maternal grandfather (Merle Ford Prewett, called Ford) was in the army during WW2. A mail carrier intitially and a mechanic by trade (he had to drive a car without lights at night and fix his own vehicle to avoid being killed while distributing highly sensitive documents all over Europe), he was thrust into an infantry role at the Battle of the Bulge. Part of the reason Andrew joined the army (and, therefore, moved to GA) had a lot to do with the inspiration from his grandfather's military career.



Because our baby boy won't be born in an easy time, and he may have to fight for his rights of freedom in some capacity, we wanted to instill in our son that mentalty...from his father, his grandfather, and his distant uncle. To honor that legacy, we decided to name him Jackson Ford Purvis.

Our prayer for him is that he has the strength and wisdom necessary to fulfill God's calling in his life, whatever that may mean.