Baby Boy Has a Name!

When Rose and I found out that she was pregnant with our first child, we resolved that we would share the baby's gender with our friends and family, but we agreed that we would keep the name a secret until the baby was born. We had been married for more than 4 years when Rose found out that she was pregnant, and we had broached the subject of baby names many times in the preceding years. Luckily, Rose and I had largely been in agreement on several prospective names for babies, so when the time came to name our sweet little girl in 2009, we weren't at loggerheads over the name; rather, it was satisfying in some special way when we agreed that she would be Annabelle Frances. We both loved it, and, aside from thinking the individual names pleasing to the ear or just "sweet sounding," they were family names -- I had a great aunt named Annabelle, and Rose's grandmother and aunt both had Frances in their names. When Annabelle actually arrived, it was gratifying to share her name with others after having kept it under wraps for so long.

When we found out that Rose was pregnant again, we anticipated that we would proceed in the same way: share the gender, then announce the name when the baby's born. But then, on the same day that we found out we have a little boy, we got our sobering news about his condition. As yet, we don't know the severity of his CDH, and, from what little we've learned so far, it sounds like we won't actually know how bad things are or his real prospects for survival until he's born. Depending on how things go after birth, there could be weeks or months before he's able to come home from the hospital. And, as much as we hate to think about it, there's the possibility that he won't come home at all.

In light of our little boy's condition and what that means for our family, we covet your prayers. And when praying for him, you can call him by name: Jude Lachlan Morrison.

"Jude," as many of you probably know, is a biblical name: Jude was the brother of Jesus, and it means "praise," "thanks," or "the praised one."

"Lachlan" (pronounced like "lock lun"), without a doubt, is the more unusual and foreign-sounding name between the two. My family and surname are of Scottish origin, and Lachlan is a Scottish name, which means "from the land of lochs/lakes."

Rose and I are extremely thankful for all the encouragement, support, and prayers that have been offered for us. God has blessed us richly with amazing friends and family who demonstrate Christ's love to us in so many ways, and He is truly ministering to us through you all. Thinking about such love, I'm reminded of lines from a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem:

For Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men's faces.

In the next day or two, if you would, please pray for us regarding the results of Rose's amniocentesis, which will tell us if Jude has any genetic disorders. We're hoping that the results are negative, as the genetic disorders that could be present might prove fatal; however, we are praying for peace to accept whatever God has planned for us and for Jude. We'll keep you posted!