Sunday, December 13, 2009

About the name... :)

Canaan (pronounced Cane-N), in the Torah / Old Testament scriptures, is actually both a name and a place (though we chose it because of the meaning behind the place, not the name). It was the name of the Promised Land that God gave his people after their long captivity in Egypt. More recently, African-American slaves sometimes sang of Canaan in their spiritual hymns to symbolize freedom from their bondage. For some, the word Canaan is imagery for heaven (because of the comparison between the earthly Promised Land and heaven). For us, it represents the fulfillment of God’s promises. Though He never promises that this life will be perfect or without suffering, He does promise that He will be there with us and that He has a loving hand in our lives. God has revealed to us His faithfulness in so many ways. He is so good and now He has blessed us with our beautiful son!

Check out the lyrics of “A Song for Canaan” by one of our favorite artists, Matthew Perryman Jones. They make me cry every time…

Inside the night, across the holy river
When you arrived, a promise was delivered
I waited for you, dreaming away
All the while, how I adore you my lovely little child.

For you, I’ll fight; I’d face a thousand armies
I’ll hold the light, and nothing can disarm me
I waited for you, dreaming away
All the while, how I adore you my lovely little child.

I waited for you, dreaming away
All the while, how I adore you my lovely little child.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Cool, thank you for sharing.

shannon said...

okay two things (well maybe more since i operate in tangents)

1. ummm crying so hard i think i may be choaking or suffocating or something.

2. what a beautiful name. lovelovelove it. and jack, is just my favorite name ever.

bottom line. your really cool. :)
what a precious baby you have.

The Popes said...

Beautiful. I love it. We can't wait to meet him!!

Khara Brooks said...

Love love love the name, Jessie. I've thought about using it myself. :) Congrats again on your beautiful little guy!

Andrea said...

Ok, I'm crying too! I am so happy for you and BJ..what a special name and song!

Anonymous said...

I can hardly find the words to say. :) When I think of your personal road to Canaan, and the fact that God has brought you and BJ such an immense blessing after all the ups and downs, I just get tears streaming down my face listening to that song. I am so very proud of you, and I love you so very very much!