It's a boy!!!!

(Originally posted about a year ago on my old MySpace blog.)

Well, for those of you who don't know, we're having a boy. Savannah and I went to our first ultrasound appointment just after she crossed into the second trimester of pregnancy, and we got quite the shock! The technician point-blank asked us, "Are you interested in the sex of the baby?" We quickly said yes, and he told us that we're having a boy.

Wow, what a surprise! I mean, not just finding out the sex of our baby, but so soon! We didn't expect to know that for a few months still. But apparently these things are distinguishable by 12 weeks, and our son gave us a clear shot of his privates (thanks, son!). We're so excited.

We honestly didn't care which sex we'd have first. Each had its advantages. A boy is good to have first because he can be a leader in the family, the man of the house when daddy's away, and be the guy to beat up any suitors for his future sister (the law frowns upon grown men taking such a role). I always thought, though, that I wouldn't know how to raise a boy — that I'd know how to deal with a girl better. I think some of that comes from not really having my dad around when I was younger, and not really having that connection and mentorship that only comes from a dad. I've always related to girls better, and so initially, the thought of raising a boy was scary.

But I'm watching God heal the areas of my life that had been damaged for so long. I recognize that I know Him only because of His grace. There was so much in my life that could have pushed me away from a knowledge of God, and by his mercy, I was, as I tell people, raised by grace. God's reminding me that if He could do that for me, He will help me do that for my son.

I don't necessarily need to be big on the "manly, tough guy" crap that the world says defines a man. I want to teach my son strength, honor, tenderness, boldness, humility, excellence, transparency — a multitude of seemingly conflicting attributes that paint the true picture of being a man, the kind of man Jesus was. That's so much bigger than being a tough athlete who doesn't show his feelings or a brainy student who doesn't show love.

I'm glad I have some time to prepare.

Well, since the odds of having a girl are better than having a boy, Savannah and I had quite the list of girl names, and a pretty small list of boy names. So we went to work to lengthen the latter. After we finally got a core of names that we liked individually, we began the negotiations, which basically means that we dug our heels in the ground and crossed names off each other's favorites list. We finally arrived at our top three, and then I began to ask family members what they thought — not as a determining factor in our decision necessarily, but just for perspective. After that, it was obvious to both of us the name that would go to our son:

His name is London Josiah Hathcock.

Unique names are extremely important to us. Savannah and I were both the only people in our respective classes with our names. We were never confused with other people in our class, but we couldn't find our names on stationery or other personalized items, either. But you know what? We both appreciated the uniqueness of our names, even if it took some years to grow into them.

We're hearing a lot of great names these days — ones that we'd use — but the problem is, they rank really high on the Social Security Index's list of most-used baby names.

We liked London, but meaning is also important to us. I didn't want to name him that just because it sounded good. So after some research, I found out the meaning of the name: "Settlement on the Wide River."

I knew the term "river of life" existed in the Bible, but when I read Revelation 22:1-2, the prophetic nature of the name London jumped out at me.

"1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life…"

I want my son's life — the way he lives — to reflect a settlement on that wide river of life. The river that proceeds from the throne of God. I want him camped out at God's feet, near a place of constant refreshment in Him. I want God's presence to be His home, his strength, his safety, and I want it to be his nature; I want him to have faith larger than mine.

That goes into his middle name, Josiah, which means "supported of the Lord." As we read in the book of 2 Kings, Josiah brought the nation of Israel back to God after many kings and many generations turned away from Him. He broke some serious generational curses, as well as a ton of idols.

The Bible says of him, "There was no king like Josiah either before him or after him. None of them turned to the Lord as he did. He followed the Lord with all his heart and all his soul. He followed him with all his strength" (2 Kings 23:25).

That's my heart for my son. Someone that would settle into God's presence and lead others to Him — not with religiosity or pridefulness, but with a real, tangible faith, and an abandon for God like no one else has ever seen.

His name is London Josiah.