The Long- Awaited Name Announcement

As we are waiting on the approval of our immigration paperwork, I figure it is as good a time as any to finally announce the name we have chosen for our son. {We need a more lighthearted post after the last one anyway.} I have been thinking about baby names most of my married life. I don't even want to think how many hours I've spent scouring baby name sites, which mostly ended up being a waste of time. Matt and I agree on many things, but surprisingly, baby names are not one of those things. It has taken us a very long time to decide on a name that we are both happy with. Another factor that probably did not help the process any was that the image or idea of who our child is going to be kept changing throughout the years: the original plan was to have a biological child, then we thought our first child would be a Russian toddler, and now our son is a Congolese baby.

We are happy to announce that our son's name will be Roland Everett.
(As a note: this will not be his legal name until he is re-adopted in Idaho, but we have decided to start using it).

Roland is a name that has long been used in literature for brave, warrior type characters. "The Song of Roland", the oldest surviving major work in French literature, is an epic poem  about a bold warrior named Roland, who died in 778.

"Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" is a famous poem written by Robert Browning in 1855. (The word childe was a medieval term for a young knight.) Based on this poem, Stephen King wrote his "The Dark Tower" series of books, in which Roland is the last surviving gunslinger who bravely embarks on a quest to reach the Dark Tower, in the hope of saving the world from unraveling into chaos.

Roland is an old Germanic name that means "famous throughout the land". Everett is an old English name that means "brave as a wild boar'. In living up to his name, we hope that he will walk through his life bravely doing what is just and right. While he doesn't necessarily have to be famous, we hope he will be known for his good heart, portraying God's love to others around him. I know, we have high hopes for him. :)

Roland Everett will share a connection to both of our families. He will carry on the Taylor family name and will also share the same first two initials with my dad, uncle and grandpa.  

Proverbs 22:1
A good name is more desirable than great riches;
 to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.