What's in a name?

We were just thinking about how we chose Emma's name. Her full name will be Emma Hope Bo-ram Stucky. We actually had picked "Emma Hope" for a girl before our fourth child, Parker David, was born in November 2004. We didn't know if he was a boy or girl, so we had to be ready for either! (And we have been so blessed by him!!) Our two biological daughters are named Alyssa Grace and Hannah Faith. So we wanted a name that would flow with theirs. We are thankful we got to save this name for this precious daughter because her middle name, "Hope", describes what God has given us and her by joining us together through adoption. We pray that someday she will come to know Him as her greatest Hope.

Her first name, "Emma", we just like! No, it is actually amazing now that we see the meanings of Emma (which some consider a short form of Emily) and her Korean name Bo-ram. In Korean, Bo-ram means fruitful and industrious. Guess what, Emily means hard-working and industrious! Wow! But if you just go by the name Emma, that means "whole, complete or universal". And oh, the places we could go with that! Does that mean she completes our family? Makes our family whole? Or does it apply to the Lord taking what could have been a broken life and bringing her wholeness in Him? Or could we see the "universal" part as her being from Korea? So many ways to take it!

However her name is dissected, our over-riding prayer for our daughter Emma is that she will choose to be fruitful for the Kingdom of God and always be a blessing to others. Really that is what we hope for all our kiddos!