Asa --> Eissa

Alright, it is now official. Yes, we did it. We changed the spelling of Asa’s name to Eissa.

It’s actually been official for a while now (as far as her birth certificate), but we’ve just been kind of dragging our feet switching over. It’s been kind of hard actually. One of those things that you have to grieve in a way. Here’s why...

A name is the first present you give to your baby (other than life itself...and of course, that’s really God’s doing). When we chose “Asa” we chose it not just because we liked it, but because we felt like it was totally from God. We didn’t have a name for our sweet little girl when she was born...we had a boy name, but much to our surprise we didn’t have a boy...a little girl came out. So, we spent over 24 hours calling her “baby.” We had a couple of names in mind, but after she was born they just didn’t seem right. So, we sat down the day after she was born and really just had a major prayer session...the kid needed a name.

Joel had been really getting a lot out of the story of King Asa around that same time (2 Chronicles 14-16...you can also read more about why we chose that name here). He suggested it and I immediately loved it. It was one of those things that just clicked right away and we knew it was the name for her...Asa Rose. In fact, it had been on my name list before (Joel hadn’t liked it)...and for a girl. The name Asa in general always seemed more for a girl to me than for a boy. And, I love boy names for girls anyway.

So, “Asa” it was. Well...it’s just a bit confusing to people here in Brasil. Pronunciation-wise, it’s no big deal (yes, even with the spelling change, the pronunciation is staying the same). It’s a different name still (different than your standard Brazilian name), but not hard sounds for the Brazilians or anything. The spelling was the challenge though, since there is already a word “asa” here in the Portuguese language (means “wing”). So, when seen spelled out (although rarely done so far), it would be pronounced like that word...”ah-zuh.”

Well, after much prayer we went ahead and changed the spelling. It was hard to do for us...another sacrifice in the bucket of sacrifices. We loved that simple spelling, the letters used to spell it...everything about the name “Asa,” esp. when coupled with her middle name “Rose.” Not complaining, just wanting to convey that it wasn’t just a formality for us...not something we did on a whim...not something that was easy.

But, moving on...she is now “Eissa.” She did get that new name that I blogged about a while back. Some good things to focus on about it all...
1) It’s pretty. Even though we loved the spelling of the original name, we like this one too. It’s not as simple, but it’s pretty...feminine, classy, interesting, different.
2) It’s biblical. None of the others of us got the new names when we moved here like some people did in the Bible after monumental things happened to them, but Asa did...that is, Eissa did. :-) Kind of cool...kind of a special thing.

So, here’s the announcement...from here on out when wanting to address our 3rd child, our 2nd daughter...”Eissa” is the way to do it. Congratulations, Eissa Rose, on your new name!