Abigail

How did we choose this little gal's name?

We were sure that we wanted to do a Bible name. But what Bible name to choose? There are a lot more choices for male Bible names. Female Bible names are slim-pickin'.

We had a few names that made our short list. One was Rebecca. But Rebecca and Isaac was a major love story in the Bible. That just seemed wrong to give Isaac's sister the name of his Biblical wife. So Rebecah was out.

Another favorte was Lydia, who, ironically, was the first Turkish convert under Paul. We thought that was quite appropriate and would be quite fitting. But in the end, we just couldn't fall in love with the name Lydia.

And then there was Abigail.

So why Abigail? Well, it was one of the only girl names we actually both liked and agreed upon. Secondly, the name Abigail means: "Father's Joy." We thought that was very fitting -- especially considering the fact that JB and I never thought we'd have one child. To have three, and now, to have a girl after our two boys, is a surprisemiracle/gift beyond our wildest imagination.

Thirdly, the story of Abigail comes from the Old Testament and was quite intriguing. Abigail was married to Nabal. As King David and his men were traveling in the area, they heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep. David sent ten young men to speak to Nabal requesting some sustenance.

The young men went to Nabal and spoke the words commanded by David, but Nabal’s response was quite rude.

Shocked by Nabal's response, David began making plans to attack Nabal. It was true that he and his men had watched out for Nabal’s shepherds, keeping them safe, and not allowing anyone to steal the sheep. Normally, sharing food with your protectors would be considered the right thing to do, even if you had not asked for their help.

A servant of Nabal quickly ran and told Abigail what had happened; she knew she must act quickly or all of them would be killed by morning. She quickly took a selection of gifts to meet David. When Abigail saw David and his men, she immediately got off her donkey, and fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground and begged David to accept her offering.

Abigail was truly a wise woman. By her quick actions and her humble spirit in speaking to David, she was able to avert tragedy for her household.

Nabal had no idea what had transpired, as he was holding a feast in his house, and was very drunk. In the morning, however, Abigail told Nabal all of the things she had done. A strange thing happened next; the Bible says that when Abigail told Nabal these things, his heart died within him, and he became like stone. About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

When David heard that Nabal had died, he rejoiced in the Lord that God had turned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head. He was so impressed by the beauty and wisdom of Abigail that he proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife.

Abigail was married to a very wicked man, and yet her humility was very evident. She acted quickly to save her household from destruction, and then, when Nabal was sober, she told him everything she had done.

In the end, JB and I thought that the meaning of this name in combination with the strengh of character and woman Abigail was fit what we hope this little girl grows up to be. In addition, we really hoped we could find an Old Testament first name and New Testament last name as we had with the boys: Isaac John & Elijah Luke. Grace is not a name in the NT, but it is very present even if not technically a person. So that seemed to work well. We love the name Grace, and if we didn't have a niece who had already claimed it, we would have had it be her first name, even if it wasn't Old Testament.

While obviously a name is just a name, we think that our boys names really fit them. We know Abigail is a very popular name, but we decided that didn't matter. We wanted it to be our daughter's name. Isaac was the long promised son of Abraham and Sarah just as our Isaac was the son we waited so long for. In the Bible, Elijah symbolizes passion and there is no doub that our little Elijah embodies that name. We do hope to avoid calling her "Abby" for as long as she will allow it just as we have avoided shortening our boys' names. Obviously, some day, she may decide otherwise, but until then, we are in charge.

We can only hope that our Abigail lives up to her Biblical name.