What is in a name? You may have wondered why we chose the name Silas Jacob. The name Jacob comes from his birth name, Jacobo. We have kept it to honor his given name. We were drawn to the name Silas, not only because we liked the way it sounded, but also because of the Biblical Silas we read about in Scripture.
Silas is named after an incredible individual who lived during New Testament times; a man who helped spread the gospel following Jesus’ resurrection. You can read about the Biblical Silas, also referred to as Silvanus (we didn’t dig the name Sylvester!), in the New Testament, mainly in Acts. Our favorite story of him is in Acts 16:16-40. You will discover he is a man of God. A man who put his life on the line for the sake of the gospel. We learn through Scripture that Silas was a prophet and evangelist who had attributes such as prayer, worship, obedience, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and the ability to teach. From these stories, we will encourage our Silas through the life of the man from whom he got his name.
These qualities of the Biblical Silas led us to other Scriptures which we used to compose a blessing statement to pray over Silas nightly as we lay him down to sleep. We feel strongly that God has called us to daily bless our children (no we are not perfect at this, but we do our best!) And we want to share Silas’ blessing with you, our family and friends, so you will know the prayer we ask the Lord to bless. His blessing is derived from Acts 16, Ps 113, Prov 3, and Ps 25. May the Lord bring to fruition our prayer for our son!
“Silas, you are a servant of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord everywhere, from east to west, for the Lord is high above the nations. Put your hope in Him, Silas. Seek God’s will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. Obey His word and He will lead you with unfailing love and faithfulness.”
To help capture the essence of this blessing, we are giving him the word picture of a “compass”. Throughout the years, we will buy little compasses at pivotal points in his life to remind him of his blessing and to bring its meaning to life.
If you are interested, this is what Lucia's name means. Providence is given as a middle name to draw attention to our providential God who brought us together as a forever family and who knows every day before it happens. Diana is to honor her birth name. We chose Lucia because we liked it and also because of its meaning: "light." We wrote the following blessing for Lucia when we adopted her four years ago, and we pray it over her nightly. It comes from Matthew 5:14-16. It is so sweet as she is learning more about what her blessing means. Her word picture is “light” (candles, flashlights, glow in the dark stars, etc). And as we look at our sweet daughter, we truly find that the Lord is bringing her blessing to life, for in so many ways Lucia shines!
“Lucia, you are a light to the world. Like a city on mountain shining its light for all to see. Don’t hide your light under a basket, but put it on a stand and let it shine for all. In the same way, Lucia, let your kind actions shine out so that all may see and praise your heavenly Father.”
2 comments:
These blessings brought tears to my eyes! :) Looking forward to seeing you guys!
I am crying. Thank you for sharing these with me. Wish I could be there for your homecoming.
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