Waiting: Day 20

Friday December 19, 2025

And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”

Luke 1:59b-61, English Standard Version

I remember when our son, Cole, and his wife, Alecia, said they were considering the name Hazel for their daughter. In my late 50s at the time, I hadn’t known many Hazels in my lifetime. All of them were born before me. Long before me. Hazel seemed like a really old name.

But there was more to it. Hazel, you see, was a red-haired maid on TV who pretty much ran the family she lived with and worked for. I instantly imagined that my granddaughter’s first words would be, “Mr. Baxter, Mr. Baxter!” (Go watch some old clips if you don’t understand that).

Fortunately, I kept my big mouth shut. And when they handed me this little beauty and said, “This is Hazel,” my first thought was . . . of course, she is! I can't imagine any other name for her.

Now, the people in the hill country where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived were a bit more forthcoming with their ideas than was I. Since Zechariah couldn’t speak for himself-and maybe since no one thought the mother’s opinion was worthy of consideration-they just assumed they’d name the kid after his old man. But Mom had other ideas. “John,” she proclaimed.

Hill country folks must have been an argumentative lot. “We’ve known you and Zechariah’s family for years,” they proclaimed. “Ain’t no men ever been named John.”

Imagine a bunch of townsfolk arguing with a woman about what she wants to name her baby. I know it was a different day and time, but folks in the South would say, “The nerve of them!” Or, “It’s none of their business, anyway!”

Here’s the instructive part-the world is likely not sitting around waiting to hear my opinion on any and every subject. Meaning, sometimes it’s best just to keep our thoughts to ourselves. And, as my Mama would say, “Some things aren’t worth arguing over.”

These are high and holy thoughts for this season. And they might help keep the peace around the dinner table or the Christmas tree. Will it really matter if they change the order of opening presents? Or switch up the menu for Christmas dinner? Or put something new on top of the tree?

By the way, not only is Hazel the perfect name for that little girl, it is also now the 19th most popular girl's name in America. Guess my kids are smarter than me!