Just by the heading of this blog post, one might ask why we call our two boys our “treasures in Heaven.” Jesus said in Matthew 6:20: “Store your treasures in Heaven.” Although this is not the biblical application of this scripture, we thought it was becoming that we think of our two boys as not lost forever, but our treasures in Heaven that we will one day be with forever in Heaven.

So how did we come up with the name of our first treasure?

I (Rodney) had always wanted to name my firstborn son the name: Nehemiah David Noel. In fact, I honestly believe it was a name that God laid on my heart to give long before I met my wife Kristina. So when we found out we were having a boy, that’s what we named him. 

Little did we know the significance of his name until he passed away. His first name, Nehemiah, means Yahweh Comforts. It’s as though God knew we would need his comfort after losing him. His middle name is David. Although this is a very common name, the name David means, Beloved. Surely he was our beloved son because he was our firstborn. 

So how did we come up with the name of our second treasure?

During our second pregnancy, we weren’t sure what we were having though we kind of thought that it was a girl. Yes, we thought it was a girl because we listened to and believed many of the pregnancy gender theories, some of which you might have heard.

You’re having a girl if….

“You’re having facial breakouts”

“During the ultrasound, the baby’s heartbeat is 140+ beats per minute”

“You’re craving sweets”

It wasn’t until birth that we found out that we were having a baby boy. To say that we both were shocked was an understatement. We hadn’t even picked out a boy’s name. So there we were trying to figure out a name for our second treasure. 

Kristina was in love with the name Elijah although I wasn’t a fan. Eventually, I gave in. Now we needed to figure out a middle name. We didn’t like what each other suggested but we both agreed that names had to flow together. So I came up with the middle name Jonathan. Kristina wasn’t sure about that name either but because I compromised with letting her choose the first name, she was willing to compromise with me choosing the middle name. 

After researching the meanings of the first and middle names (Elijah means, God is Yahweh, and his middle name means, Yahweh has given) and saying his full name out loud, it all seemed right and flowed together… Elijah Jonathan Noel.

But Here is the most shocking thing of all! 

Our first treasures’ middle name is David and our second treasure’s middle name is Jonathan. For those that are not quite sure where I’m going with this, David is a very popular figure in the Bible. His best friend’s name was…. Jonathan. 

Hard to believe that this was not a coincidence. We did not plan this at all but it seemed like destiny! We can only imagine how close they are in Heaven now. 

Although we miss them dearly, we look forward to the day when we can all be with our treasures in Heaven.