Malachi Samuel Baker was born April 12, 2020 (Easter morning!) at 3:20 am. He weighed 8 lb 4 oz and was 20.5 inches long. We had a wonderful experience at a local birth center and are grateful that we didn’t intend to give birth in the hospital amidst the Covid-19 restrictions. Still, it’s been disappointing to not be able to see friends, relatives, and our church family during this exciting time.
We chose to give our son two biblical names. Malachi is the name of both a prophet and the book he wrote. The name comes from the Hebrew word malak which means “messenger” and is translated angel in English. Like the Malachi of the Bible, we pray that our little Malachi will learn to represent God well.
Samuel is a Baker family name going back seven generations, starting with Samuel Harrison Baker (1842-1914). He was a circuit riding preacher in Wisconsin. Just as Josiah’s great-great-great grandfather shared his faith and passed it on to his children, we also hope to continue sharing this heritage with our children.
I, Becca, was interested in the name Samuel for a different reason. The biblical Samuel was born after his mother Hannah struggled for years to conceive. She finally gave this name to her firstborn son, “saying, ‘Because I asked the Lord for him'” (1 Sam. 1:20). I sympathize with her story: like Hannah, we struggled to conceive and went through three miscarriages. When we found out we were pregnant with Malachi, it was more scary than exciting. However, as he continued to grow our fear turned into overwhelming joy. Thank you God for our healthy baby boy!
Malachi on Mother’s Day at 4 weeks old!