Naming Miles

It was quite fun keeping the baby's name a secret all this time. We loved hearing the guesses and were quite surprised that no one guessed his actual name. Our favorite guess was from a four year old girl at our church. We'll just call her "A".

A: What's your baby's name?

Jeana: It's a secret but I will tell you that it starts with the letter M.

A: Hmm...Emmett?

Jeana: No, but that's a good guess. Especially if we spelled it em apostrophe eye tee.

Misty: Can you imagine his entire school life? All his teachers would take attendance, "Mitt Linhart?"

Jeana: Ha! And then he would answer, "Actually it's M'it. Em It. Emmett."

Miles is a name that I've liked for a long time. We actually considered it as a name for Toby but Geary didn't love it at the time. I thought choosing a name this time around would be torturous but it turned out to be very easy.

We started with the middle name. Noah's middle name is James, after Geary's father. Tobin's middle name is Joseph, after my father. We had a theme going and wanted to name our third son after another person who had taken a fathering role in our life. Miles John is actually named for two Johns who have loved us deeply and have been amazing benefactors to our family. John Linhart, Geary's uncle stepped in to the Papa role when Geary's dad died. And John Johnson, Geary's sister's father-in-law adopted us as extended family and has blessed us richly. Both Johns are precious to our family and we wanted to honor them by giving our son their name.

From there we just had to choose a first name that flowed with John. It was also important to me that the name have a clear meaning. Geary suggested Miles right away and even though I liked how it sounded I couldn't find a definite meaning for the name. Some sources suggested that Miles might be soldier or military man. That was fine but it didn't mean anything to me. Other sources said Miles was from the Latin word for mercy. Again, a great quality and something that is dear to us but it didn't speak exactly to the story of our family.

The name sounded so beautiful on our tongues. I would repeat it to myself day after day wondering why it just fit so well. I thought about the journey our family has been on with miscarriages and births and how our trust in the Lord has grown through all of it. Right now we are in such a blessed place in our lives. We live in an amazing community with loving family and friends. Geary's job is a perfect fit, we have an adorable house, and our children are incredible. We don't deserve any of it and yet God has chosen to bring us here and pour His abundant love over us. And that is when the name clicked for me.

Miles means just what it sounds like. Miles. Distance. Journey. God has taken us on a journey, is taking us on a journey, toward Himself. And we are marvelling over the fact that He has even brought us this far. I am reminded of David's prayer after the Lord established his covenant with with the king,

Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said:
"Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?

2 Samuel 7:18

Who are we, the Linharts, that God has brought us this far? We are undeserving of the miles he has led us through, and we are undeserving of the Miles he has blessed us with. It is only because of his goodness, mercy, and grace that we can even journey with him at all. Happy Thanksgiving, indeed.