HE KNOWS HIS NAME - ANNAIS

Pregnant with our second child we anxiously awaited the sonogram when we would learn the sex of our unborn baby. We were sue it was a girl. “What do you think it is?, asked the technician. “A boy!?,” I said hesitantly (I had a sneak peak during my echocardiogram; although my husband was still convinced it was a girl). Yes it is a boy! My first thought was “we have no names for a boy.” As we did with our daughter, we had been praying for God to reveal the name He had already chosen for this child. Now that we knew the sex of the baby we could start compiling some boy names and pray over those. The list grew rapidly to seven names; there was Micah, Samuel and Dominic just to name a few. Micah means, “who is like God”, Samuel means, “asked of God” and Dominic means, “follower of the Lord.” All great names with great meanings, but we still could not narrow it down. My husband had his two favorites and I had mine. I was sure we would know when we saw him. We believe as it says in Psalm 139:15-16, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body, and knit them together in my mother’s womb. You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe.” That meant God already had a name for this baby that was symbolic of the call He had already placed on his life. We just had to hear God when He revealed to us what that name was. About a week or two before my scheduled c-section I was beginning to get apprehensive about the baby not having a name, although we waited until the day after our daughter was born to name her. I felt strongly that this baby needed a name BEFORE he was born. I prayed, “Lord, I know I can hear your voice, but I have not heard anything about this baby’s name.” Then I heard it, clear as day, “Anias”. I asked, “Annanias, Lord?” “No, Anias,” I heard again. Barely able to contain my excitement I ran downstairs to check my baby names searchers. I typed in A-N-I-A-S and hit enter. I could not wait to find out what the name meant. “Name not found” appeared on my screen. Disheartened I asked, “Lord, did I hear you correctly? I know you have blessed us with this baby, but what will he be to our family?” “A gift,” I clearly heard in response (Psalm 127:3 Behold children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.) Knowing I could search a name by meaning I typed in “gift from God” and hit enter. The third name on the list was “Annais!” I had the name right, but the spelling wrong. I immediately picked up the phone and called my husband and asked, “What do you think of the name Annais?” “I like it,” he said. That’s it! We have got a name for our baby. Without any further hesitation our baby boy was Annais (Ah-nigh-us), a gift from God named by God. After reading and re-reading the meaning and characteristics of his name I began to pray that he would be all the things that his name implied. Of all the characteristics, the one that stood out to me was “always gracious.” Graciousness is the very nature of God, our Father and is synonymous with His son Jesus. Psalm 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Psalm 103:8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. Psalm 111:4 He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. The spiritual characteristic of Annais is “full of hope (Christ)”. 1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus by appointment and command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus (the Messiah), our Hope. What more could any parent want than for their child to be full of Hope (Jesus)?

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:7