I love the idea of naming things. In college, I had a red Ford Escort wagon I called Frederica (after Frederica Von Stade, the opera singer). All of my chickens have names (after hobbits, obviously). My first piano even had a name (Brunhilde). Sometimes, it’s just for fun, and sometimes it’s to serve as a reminder of something significant. With the incredible journey we went on as we came to call this place home, I knew that I wanted to come up with a name for our new property.

The rules were simple. Any name that we considered had to meet the following requirements:

• Honor the Lord’s hand in our lives and the story of this property becoming ours
• Reflect our family’s core values
• NOT have the word “Unicorn” in it 🤣🦄🙅‍♀️ (As we were in the process of hunting for a home, it felt like we were looking for a unicorn, and I played on that quite a bit in my Facebook posts with the hashtag #UnicornHunt.)

My sister came up with a great contender: Simply Divine Farmstead. She explained that “Simply” reflected our desire to live simple lives. “Divine” reflected our love and devotion to God as well as a nod to our last name which starts with a D. And of course, “Farmstead” echoed what we wanted to do with the place – have a little hobby farm with animals and gardens where we can be a little more self-sufficient. I loved it. It seemed like a great fit.

I considered other options, too, but nothing else seemed to be as fitting as Simply Divine Farmstead. (My sister is really good at naming things.) Until, that is, an interaction with a friend reminded me of the word Waymaker. I was sharing how good God has been in our lives and she replied with something to the effect of “he is a Waymaker.” One thing led to another, and the words “WayMaker Acres” came out of my mouth.

The Inventor and The Equestrian, both within earshot, began jumping up and down, declaring how much they LOVED the name. When they shared the name with The Fireman, he wholeheartedly agreed. It seemed as if I’d been outvoted.

Still, I couldn’t just do away with Simply Divine Farmstead. It didn’t have the fun rhyme of WayMaker Acres, but it certainly had a lot of meaning behind those words. Then it hit me: the name of our little property should be WayMaker Acres – A Simply Divine Farmstead…because that’s exactly what it is.

I never want to forget the beauty of God’s waymaking in our story of moving here. He made a way when it didn’t seem like there was any other way, when I had all but given up hope of ever living this kind of life. We did nothing to deserve it or earn it, and yet, here we are. And I never want to forget the purpose of our life here – to live simply and strive toward sustainability all while bringing glory to God. In WayMaker Acres, we seem to have found our perfect moniker.

What about you? Do you have a name for the place where you live?