Our Baby's Name

Well, we have finally decided on what to name the baby. Our baby's name will be:

Melody Angelica

We were eating dinner the other night, and Trien said, "Honey, I want to name our baby Melody Angelica. I like that name."

I know my wife doesn't make flash decisions on things of importance. This is something she had to have been thinking about it for a while. So I said Ok, Melody Angelica was fine with me. After all, I was the one who came up with the name in the first place.

For some reason, Trien felt that she had to explain herself. She said:

"I like Melody, because it reminds me of a Love song. You hear it, and you remember the music, and it affects you, though you might not remember the words. It touches something inside you, though you might not know why."

"I also like Angelica, because she is our little Angel, a gift from God after two previous failed pregnancies."

So I told Trien that Melody Angelica is what we will name the baby, unless one of us has an "AHA!!!" moment. You know what I mean, where you have that flash of insight, and you know everything is perfect, and it all fits in with the flow of the universe. To be honest, even though I was the one who came up with the name, I still wasn't totally sold on it. I was still waiting to go "AHA!!!", and tell my wife what I felt God and his universe ordained, and have her go "AHA!!!" too.

Today I was sitting in the canteen, having lunch by myself. It was raining. From where I sat, I could see the tree covered hills, the clouds, listen to the sound of the rain, and smell the cleansing it brings.

Usually I bring the New Straits Times with me, and do the Sudoku. Today the deliveryman was late because of the rain, so I ate my lunch alone with my thoughts. Then the thought came to me gently, floating like a leaf on a breeze- Melody Angelica. It twisted and turned around delicately, and made it's way through the corners of my mind. Then finally it settled down in the peaceful place that said:

"What does the name mean? What does it really mean?"

That's when the insight came. Before, I was looking at the name as two separate names, when I should have been looking at it as a whole. The names weren't separate, distinctive parts, randomly stuck together. They were a reality unto themselves, not to be pried apart and separated.

Melody Angelica- The Song of the Angels. The Angelic Melody. The Song of Praise that the Angels sing before God. That is to be our daughter's name. How could we name her anything more beautiful than that?

That was my "AHA!!!" moment. It wasn't a violent "AHA!!!" that grabbed me and sunk in tightly to my soul, and wouldn't let me go. Instead, it was a sweet peaceful glow. I Knew. All was right with the world, and with my Soul.

I basked in that for a few minutes.

After that, it was time for my last period class. My class had to walk over to the engineering building to use the Cybercafe to start their Blogs. I was walking along behind some of the girls from the class, and they were talking in Malay. They didn't realize I was there at first, and when they did, they asked if I understood what they were saying. I gave my standard answer, which is:

"I've been here almost three years, what do you think?"

They said if my wife knew what they were saying, she might get mad. I laughed. After all, they are only 14 years old, and are at that age where they are curious about relationships, and things like that.

So they started asking me about my wife, how many months pregnant she is, when the baby is due, things like that.

Then they asked the question I had been asking myself before:

"What are you going to name your baby?"

"Melody Angelica. It means 'The Song of the Angels'."

I had another gentle "AHA!!!" moment as soon as I said it. Things seemed even more right than they did before. Our little girl- her Soul sung into existence by the Angels.

The girls think that the name is just soooo very beautiful.

So do I.

Our little song of Praise to God, Melody Angelica.

Life goes on, and all is well with the world.