"See, I have written your name on the palms of my hand." Isaiah 49:16
Shortly after we found out we were having a boy, I attached to the name Hezekiah. Jason was not so sure that was his name - although he couldn't say there was a name he liked more. For months, I continued to pray for him by that name and would speak to him calling him, "Heze." I kept telling Jason that once he saw the baby, he would feel the same way.
When our son was born, we still didn't have a good name for him. I thought Hezekiah still, but Jason still wasn't sure and we felt that Dakota was a safer choice. However, after arriving home from the hospital, it didn't take me long before I wondered if we had made the right choice in naming our son Dakota. While I loved the name and love that he had my initials, I just couldn't help but feel that the Hezekiah I had prayed for and spoken to all those months in the womb was missing. It was very bizarre experience, but it is safe to say that I was lacking peace over it.
After a couple of weeks, I confessed to Jason that I was really struggling with it and we began to talk about the possibility of changing his name. Jason liked the name Dakota, but noticed how upset it made me and said that if changing his name would "bring mama back" that he was happy to change it. To me, that was a lot of pressure and so for two weeks, I prayed to the Lord, begging Him to reveal our baby's name to us. I said, "Lord, You have his name written on the palm of your Hand... please share it with us." Over time, we continued to believe that it was Hezekiah was the better choice.
I remember one day in the shower thinking about which name I would regret not choosing five years up the road. As I came out of the shower, I told Jason I was leaning towards Dakota... he said, "really? Cause I'm leaning more towards hezekiah." At that, I was more than happy to stick with the name Hezekiah which proved to me that it was the name I had truly wanted. We continued to seek His face until we had complete peace... Jason finally said, "I feel that Hezekiah would be OUR name for the baby rather than just a "name that ends in 'ah'" -- and he is... calling him by his name now brings me joy rather than regret.
So, long overdue, but I am so thrilled to introduce to you our fifth child:
Hezekiah Jason Dugger
It took us a couple of days to nail down the middle name. We had originally (before the baby was born) thought about Hezekiah James, but after further thought we thought giving him his daddy's name would be a great choice. I will confess, it doesn't "ring" as well as Hezekiah James, but I love that he was named after a great king and a great daddy.
