It was in the early morning hours of April 2 this year, while it was still dark outside and a global pandemic was in its early stages, that Brittany and I welcomed our daughter into this world. After a long night of labor, she was finally delivered at 4:13 in the morning. Of course, the first thing you want to know, as a parent, is that everyone is healthy and doing well. I was so relieved to hear the doctors and nurses say she had all her fingers and toes, she was breathing well, her color looked good, and all signs were pointing to her being perfectly healthy!
The next thought that came to my mind was, “What is her name?” We had known for a while that we were going to be having a girl, but decided we didn’t want to settle on a final name until she was born and we had a chance to see her and hold her. We had read through all the baby name books and everything we could find online. We kept a running list of all the names we liked and by the time we got to the hospital, I think we had finally narrowed it all the way down to about 15 names!
Once we were settled in at the hospital, and before the hard labor started, we got the list of names down to about six finalists and then decided we would wait to see her. After she was born there was a lot of work still to be done running tests on the baby, making sure Brittany was okay, and taking all the measurements. It was a couple hours before we were finally alone together with our baby girl, as just a family of three, in that hospital room. I finally asked the question, “So what do you think her name is?” Brittany smiled and asked me the same question. We both looked at her and looked at each other and said, “I think her name is Lucy.”
I had always wanted a name that had a meaning behind it. The name Lucy comes from the Latin word “lux,” which means light. There in the darkness of the early hours of the day, this little light made her entrance into the world and she has been a light in our lives for the last eight months. My prayer for her every day is that she will grow to be someone who shines God’s Light into the world, and I pray that she is a reminder to me to do the same.
We know the True Light entered the world almost 2,000 years ago and Christ has been the Light shining in the darkness ever since. This Advent, we are reminded that our world has been through dark times before. We may be going through dark times now in our society or in our personal lives. But just as the darkness has never overcome the Light before, we know that Light will continue to shine in the darkness today. We are called to be those who take the Light of Christ out into the world to illuminate the darkness wherever we see it.
Rev. Josh Attaway Edmond Campus Pastor
