Month: October 2012

  • Selah Bethany Moberg!

    Selah Bethany Moberg!

    The story of our daughter’s name…

    Selah Bethany

    [sayluh] [bethuh-nee]

    *perfection*

    On February 16, when I was about 7 weeks pregnant, I wrote the following in my journal:

    “The whisper has been quiet, but in the last 24 hours it has grown louder and louder in my ear. I feel like we’re having a girl, and I feel like her name is Selah…I can’t get it out of my head.”

    I had never, ever considered that name before. I don’t know anyone with that name and honestly, we’ve had a different girl name picked out for a while. But I couldn’t shake this incredibly strong feeling in my spirit. I thought it was so beautiful, and I looked up the meaning. I was overcome by the beauty of the meaning as well. The gist of the meaning is to

    Stop and listen. Pause to reflect, meditate, and praise. Likened unto, “Amen.”

    Then I read this paragraph online (I bolded the parts that stuck out to me):

    “Selah” is also thought to be rendered from two Hebrew words: s_lah, “to praise”; ands_lal, “to lift up.” Another commentator believes it comes from salah, “to pause.” From these words comes the belief that “selah” is a musical direction to the singers and/or instrumentalists who performed the Psalms, which was the hymnbook of the Israelites. If this is true, then each time “selah” appears in a psalm, the musicians paused, either to take a breath, or to sing a cappella or let the instruments play alone. Perhaps they were pausing to praise Him about whom the song was speaking, perhaps even lifting their hands in worship. This would encompass all these meanings—praise, lift up, and pause. When we consider the three verses in Habakkuk, we also see how “selah” could mean “to pause and praise.” Even though Habakkuk was not written to be sung, Habakkuk’s prayer in chapter 3 inspires the reader to pause and praise God for His mercy, power, sustaining grace and sufficiency.

    Perhaps the best way to think of “selah” is a combination of all these meanings. The Amplified Bible adds “pause and calmly think about that” to each verse where “selah” appears. When we see the word in a psalm or in Habakkuk 3, we should pause to carefully weigh the meaning of what we have just read or heard, lifting up our hearts in praise to God for His great truths. “All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name.” Selah! (Psalm 66:4).

    I was hooked. What a beautiful, beautiful thing…that her life would be marked by pausing to praise God for who He is…

    So, we found out several months later that we were, indeed, having a girl. We spent some time praying about her character, about who she is, about what marks this perfect child of God, and it was confirmed in both of our spirits almost instantly that Selah was, indeed, our daughter’s name.

    Here is what we believe about our daughter:

    “Selah” lingers on your tongue, like an aroma. She, herself, is marked by the aroma of  Christ….she walks by, and the scent remains. And so, just as the meaning goes:  to stop, meditate, and think about that…to lift up and praise the Lord…Selah  will leave her aroma everywhere she goes, so as to cause others to stop,  remember, and praise the Lord.

    And then came time for the middle name. Just as Elliott’s middle name is Brian, we wanted our baby girl to have some part of me passed down in her name. We tried variations of my middle name and although we kind of liked one version, we both just knew it wasn’t quite right for Selah. Then Brian said, “Well I don’t want to just pass down your name, I want to pass down who you are.” So I asked Brian to think about what it was about my character that he most wanted to see passed down in our daughter. After a couple of weeks of pondering, he said, “The thing that I want to pass down to our daughter is the way you so extravagantly love people.”

    So! Off we went to find a name that means “one who loves extravagantly.” And you know what we discovered? That there isn’t one! There are a ton of names that mean “love” or “beloved”…but none (that we could find) that means “the act of extravagantly loving others.” So we were stuck.

    One day I started thinking about who it is in the bible that exhibits extravagant love. Immediately I thought of Mary of Bethany, who extravagantly showed her love to Jesus perhaps more so than any one else… She sat beside Him when her sister Martha busied herself with tasks. She unashamedly poured out an entire alabaster jar of perfume on the Lord as an offering of her love. She loved him wastefully according to the world, but so extravagantly according to Him that He said about her, “I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world,  what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Matthew 26:13

    Talk about powerful love! That wherever the gospel is preached, her extravagant love will also be shared…wow!!

    So, the name “Mary” (although I happen to love that name) didn’t flow very well, so I thought, “Well, what about Bethany?”

    As we were contemplating the middle name Bethany, someone close to us asked us if we had ever considered “Bethany” for our daughter’s name. I said, “As a matter of fact, we are thinking about that for a middle name.” We knew that she had aborted a baby many years ago, but that day she relayed to us that in her grief counseling later, she had decided to name that baby Bethany, because “that was the city where Jesus went.”

    After hearing that, Brian and I laid in bed one night just crying and crying…lost babies is a topic very, very near to our hearts for many reasons. And honestly, I’m pretty sure that night it was solidified in both our hearts that we would give her that as a middle name. Besides the original reason we were considering it, we wanted to give her this as a middle name in honor of the lost baby, for some tiny bit of redemption for the woman who gave her up and has since  wrestled with grief, and as a living declaration that we stand with and will boldly fight for the little ones “who cannot speak up for themselves” (Proverbs 31:8-9).

    And so! There, my friends, is the story of our precious daughter’s name…Selah Bethany.

    Selah Bethany is one who carries the fragrance of Christ. Who loves others extravagantly like her mother and like Mary of Bethany, who boldly poured out her love upon Jesus through a beautiful aroma. Who carries His fragrance so strongly that she causes others to stop and lift up praise in awe of our great God.

    Selah!
  • Happy Birth Day, Selah B!!

    Happy Birth Day, Selah B!!

    We are simply OVERJOYED to introduce to you…!!!!

    *SELAH BETHANY MOBERG*

    Happy Birthday, our sweet little love!!

    Born on Monday, October 8, 2012

    8 pounds, 3 ounces

    20 1/4 inches long

    Brown hair, blue eyes

    and

    PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL…

    You’re HERE!!!!! Oh, how we LOVE being your mom and dad!!!

    Grandma & Grandpa Moberg did an incredible job of taking care of Elliott while we were bringing baby Selah into the world. We couldn’t wait for Elliott to meet his little sister! We had been preparing him for months…when we asked him where baby Selah was, he would point to my tummy. As soon as he walked into the hospital room, he got this huge smile on his face and pointed to her, saying, “Dee!!” (which is kind of his word for a lot of things…) 🙂

    “WHOA…How did you get her out of your tummy??”
    “Somebody walked all over her blanket and left these funny multi-colored footprints!!”
    The Moberg family of FOUR!!!

    Happy birth day, Selah B!!! We have been waiting for you for SO LONG…we are simply OVERJOYED that you are here…welcome to the world, our little baby love!!!

    *(To read about how we chose her name and the meaning of it, click here!)

  • The Elliott and Mookie Show

    The Elliott and Mookie Show

    What a JOY for Elliott to have 4 siblings this Summer! For a boy who is SO SOCIAL, he was in absolute Heaven. He admired Judah and Samuel so much, and would just marvel at Ariel’s beauty. How fun for him to have 3 older siblings for a few weeks!!

    But as much as he ADORED the older 3, there was something special, something unique about his love for Mookie. Mookie was his bff. They are just one month apart, and they had their own special language. I feel like I got a tiny glimpse at what it would be like to have twins and to watch their special bond…such a joy to watch these sweet friends build their friendship!!

    Cruising the Town

    On one of the days that Suz and I headed into San Diego, OJ took the big kids to play on go carts and Brian took the babies to have their own racing fun. One thing is for sure–Brian has ensured that Elliott has an appropriate love for Home Depot. This is a regular favorite Daddy-Son pass time–cruisin’ through Home Depot.

    “Does this thing have power steering?”
    Mookie: “So WHAT’S so great about this place again?”
    Elliott: “We’re in HOME DEPOT, Mooks! It’s the happiest place on earth besides Costco!!”

    The Bonding Place

    I’m not sure what it is about this bottom step, but it was THE PLACE that they loved to chat.

    Telling jokes
    Yeah, we’re cute and we know it.
    “Hey, Elliott, look at my toes.”
    “Cool! They look just like MINE!”
    “Let’s be best friends forever!”

    The Office Chair

    This was another special place to play and chat. The boys would climb up here together and then would scheme and plot to look as CUTE as possible until someone gave in and gave them rides up and down the hallway.

    E: “Who do you think will see us sitting here and get the hint?”
    E: “I think if you keep being charming like that, that will really help our cause.”
    M: “We GOT her, Elliott! Your mom said she’s putting down the camera to play with us!!! YIPPEE!!”

    The Alphabet Train

    A most popular toy with the boys. They usually did a great job of taking turns–one would ride while the other shoved alphabet blocks into the train and visa versa.

    M: “You okay back there, Elliott?”
    E: “Yup! I’ve got this! Don’t worry about me!”

    Elliott had never been a “hugger” until the McD kids moved in with us. He’ll give us kiss after kiss all day long, but he’s never been a big snuggler. But his love for his new friends brought out the hugging in him! He would OFTEN run up to the kids and give them big hugs!! He reminds me a lot of “Elf,” who loves to give hugs and snuggle and hold hands and sing Christmas Carols…and this Mama couldn’t be prouder :).

    Although Mookie didn’t exactly share Elliott’s hugging affinity, he was always a great sport about it.
    “Mookie, I just think you’re the greatest.”
    “Thanks, Elliott. I think you’re pretty great, too!”
    “I know we’re playing with the Alphabet Train, but can I give you a hug?”
    “Just…one…little…HUG!”
    “Okay, Elliott…but I’m just going to keep chewing on this alphabet cube, if that’s alright.”

    The End of the Elliott & Mookie Show…for now.

    That’s all for now, folks!!