what's in a name?

we took naming our children really seriously and it was especially hard when it came to our boys. we wanted their names to stand for something and mean something really special to them. caleb was always one of my favorite stories from the bible and when we had joshua, the names seemed to go together as brothers. i have wanted to write down they story for them for a long time but have been stumped in explaining things just right. so i emailed their grampa, my father, and great scriptorian. he knows the old testament better than anyone i know and taught me the stories of caleb and joshua. i asked him to write down their stories for me. the same day he emailed it back to me. i love that he wrote it in a way for these boys to understand even so young. caleb LOVES hearing his story and keeps a printed off copy by his bed. i wanted to record it on here because these posts will make up our family book for this year and i want them each to have a "published" copy.

i love you, my precious boys! i hope that you will remember who you were named for and stand steadfast even when those around your may fall! love, momma

Caleb and Joshua – the men who “wholly followed the lord.”
When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt after a short time crossing the desert, the Lord showed them the promised land. God had promised that they would go out of Egypt and they would be led to a land that “flowed with milk and honey.”
When they got to the border of the promised land Moses sent twelve spies into the land – one leader from each tribe. Two of those leaders were Joshua and Caleb. They were young men but were already leaders.
The twelve spies went into the promised land and returned after 40 days. They carried some of the fruit they found. One cluster of grapes (from the brook of Escholl) was so big that two men hung the grapes on a long stick that they carried on their shoulders.
When they got back to the camp of Israel they gave their report. The men reported that just as Moses had said, it was a beautiful land and “surely it flowed with milk and honey.” But the problem was that the cities were great and had high walls around them. They saw many mighty nations there including the Anakims who were giants. The spies told the people they were “as ants” in the sight of the people in the promised land. The spies were afraid. They said that the people in the promised land were much stronger than the Israelites. They could not conquer the land.
Then Caleb came forward and told the people of Israel not to be scared. The Lord would help them. They could beat the giants and other people in the land – and Joshua agreed. Caleb wanted to go into the promised land right then and fight for the land. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who weren’t scared. They were brave. They had faith that God could help them win any battle. They knew that God was more powerful than any men or even armies of men.
God and Moses were very angry with the people of Israel for having so little faith and being scared. The children of Israel had seen God free them from the Egyptians – the most powerful army at that time. They had seen how God helped them to cross the Red Sea by parting the waters, and then drowning the Egyptian army. But the people were still too scared to go and conquer the promised land – all except for Caleb and Joshua. So the Lord said that none of the Israelites except Caleb and Joshua would ever go into the promised land.
After 40 years of wondering in the desert all of the people who were scared had died – but Caleb and Joshua were still strong. God made Joshua the leader of the Israelites and they went into the promised land and conquered the people there.
Caleb came to Joshua and said he wanted Mount Hebron. Caleb reminded Joshua that when all the other people were scared, he had wanted to go into the promised land. Caleb said “I am 85 years old today. ” “I am as strong now as I was 40 years ago to go to battle. He reminded Joshua that the Anakims, the giants were on the mountain, but Caleb said: “Give me this Mountain” because the Lord will help me to conquer the giants. Joshua remembered Moses’ promise to Caleb and he said Caleb could have the mountain, and the scripture said that Caleb conquered Hebron and he and his children have Hebron to this day. Caleb was brave and faithful!!!
Joshua went on to take the city of Jericho with the help of the Lord and won many great battles for Israel with the help of the Lord.
Joshua and Caleb were two of the most faithful and brave men that have ever lived. They were so righteous that the Spirit of the Lord was always with them. They trusted that the Lord would always help them because they always did what the Lord wanted them to do. They were not afraid of anybody or anything. We want our Joshua and Caleb to be strong, brave and faithful like Caleb and Joshua of old.

{as told by your grandfather, royall charsley}