Most expectant parents have nine months to choose a name. We had eight. But we had agreed on four names before we were even engaged, so that made the whole process much smoother. Of course, since that was two years ago, her feelings about some of the names has changed. So I don't really know if we will stick with our original agreement or compromise. Either way, we are trying to make our children's names very meaningful.

We decided to name our first daughter Ella Rose. As soon as we tell most people, they say, "that's pretty. It sounds like a family name." To which we reply, "it is!" You see, my wife and I have two wonderful grandmothers. We have very special memories of these two women who helped to shape our lives. My grandmother who passed away in July was Fern Castella. My wife's grandmother is Rosanna (with no middle name). To honor both grandmothers, we took Ella from Castella and Rose from Rosanna.

Ella has a cousin named Julianna Rose, who was born on September 15, 2003. Ella was born on September 16, 2006. We didn't know she would be born so closely to Julianna's birthday when we chose to use the same middle name, but that is something else that adds some meaning to her name.

Other names that we still have are

• Joseph William Marc (my name, my dad's name, and my father-in-law's name),
• Jace Henry (we just like Jace - and my grandpa had an uncle Jake, and Henry is my grandpa's middle name and his dad's first name), and
• Allison Lynn (my great grandma was Alice, and my wife's middle name in Lynn).

Now if we can just have two boys and another girl, we’ll be set!

The names that we give children are special to us. We call them by their names; they answer us; when they’re babies, we sit and rock them and repeat their names over and over and over and over. One day, they may be famous. Their names may be on billboards or in newspapers. They may be in books or important documents filed in government offices. They may be on TV or radio or known across the globe. Or they may only be known to a few local people and nothing more.

I have two goals for my children’s names:

1. That when someone else hears my son or daughter’s name, the only thought is about what a difference he or she has made, and
2. That one day, when time is over here on earth, they’ll all be written in the only book that matters for eternity – the Book of Life.

Nothing else matters. You see, when we get to heaven and get our time to speak to God, He’s not going to be the wicked judge that people imagine. He’s not going to point out all of our faults and tell us how we don’t deserve to be there. He’s not going to point to all the good things we did and tell us how much we deserve to be there. The only thing God is going to say related to why you should be in heaven will be “what did you do with My Son?” and “what did you do with what you were given?”

My goals for my children’s names will give them the answers for those two questions. To the question “what did you do with My Son?” I want my children to be able to answer, “I accepted Him and served Him with my life.” And to the question “what did you do with what you were given?” I want them to be able to answer, “I used it all to make a difference in the lives of others.”

Are you playing the name game? Am I playing the name game? Are we chasing fame for fame’s sake? Are we striving to achieve power and prestige just to be able to impress people or have a lot of money? Or are we striving to make the name of God known? Are we striving to make a difference in the world?

I think so many times we get the whole idea of names wrong. We think our names should be known on earth, and God’s name should be known in heaven. But that’s backward. God’s name should be known all over the earth, and your name should be known in heaven.

Two things – Honor God. Love People.