Hello! Welcome to our weekly Five Minute Friday writing prompt link-up.Â
We gather each week to free write for five minutes flat on a single word prompt.Â
Before we get started, are you on the Five Minute Friday mailing list?
SIGN UP HERE to get some freebies in your inbox, as well as an email every time a new post or article goes live.Â
This week’s FMF writing prompt is: NAME
Ready? GO:Â
This past week we celebrated our youngest child’s 12th birthday. Obviously, that means it’s been twelve whole years since I had a baby. Where did the years go? Soon we’ll have three teenagers in the house, and before I know it, they’ll all be gone.Â
This past year was especially significant for our newly minted 12-year-old because he made the decision to make a public profession of faith and get baptized.Â
During the entire service, I could not help but think, “My job here is done. My ultimate desire is to see my children walking in the truth, and God has given me that undeserved gift.”Â
My mom holding Caleb in Cape Town three months after he was born
When he was born, we named him Caleb Aobakwe. We chose the name Caleb after the Caleb of the Bible, who “served the Lord wholeheartedly,” and we prayed that God would cause our Caleb to do the same. Aobakwe is a Setswana name from my husband’s South African culture. It means, “the Lord be praised.” We praise God alone for the work He has done and continues to do in our son’s life.Â
During his baptism service, our pastor preached such a special sermon about many of the positive, godly qualities possessed by Caleb in the Old Testament. We can already see so many of those qualities in our Caleb by God’s grace, and we can only pray and trust that the Lord would continue to mold him as one who serves the Lord with his whole heart all of his days.Â
STOP.Â
Read more about Caleb’s birth and our family story in
A Place to Land: A Story of Longing and Belonging. 
Join the link-up with your own five-minute free write below, then visit your link-up neighbor to read their post and leave an encouraging comment! Thanks for being here!Â
The name I have is not my own;
the real one’s something else,
but it’s better that the papers show
what most people can spell.
My DNA runs far from here,
where the glory-times began
and perhaps you’ll feel some fear,
that my grandpa’s Genghis Khan.
I feel the call to the hard saddle,
and the urge to loot and pillage,
in politics to actively meddle
and perhaps burn down a village.
They say that now I’m civilized,
but watch this space, and be surprised!
I have a Caleb too who will turn 12 in September 😊 Not only was the OT Caleb a strong man of faith but the name means brave. We were probably pondering these same thoughts at the same time!
Aww! You’re right, Heather! Blessings to you as you continue to raise up your children in the fear of the Lord.
Kate, I love the story of Caleb in the Old Testament. Caleb had a “spirit of hope.” One that I possess also. I pray your Caleb has it too!
My son will be 12 on June 28th, and he also made the decision to be baptized this year! Such a wonderful feeling.
Oh wow! Praise the Lord!
My name Tara transferred use was a Irish place name belong to a hill in central Ireland which was an ancient seat of a Kingship. Tara hill was use my Margarent Mitchell for the name of the plantation in Gone With The Wind,resulting in the use of it as a female name. The name Tara is an Irish name the meaning of name is Where the King meet the ruins of the halls are on the hill of Tara meaning Crag or tower. Tara meaning Queen, Star,Goddess of the sea, Diamond. Tara given name with multiple meaning in different cultures. In Irish tradition, Tara was a name of a hill where the ancient I wish king where said to have reigned
Meaning of Tara is rocking hill. Origin Tara.Irish meaning Queen,Star, Goddess of the sea a diamond.
Thanks for sharing that beautiful story of your Caleb. There is power in a name. We speak into our children with the label we put on their shirt. Praise God that your special boy is now my brother in Christ. I look forward to meeting you all when we get to heaven.