Picture taken at 2 weeks old
Poema Alizay Beard
Born October 21st, 2012
3:05 AM
8 lbs 3 oz • 18 inches
Family-assisted home-birth & full water birth (It only took four tries to see it happen… PTL!)
Britt, Iowa in the home of my parents, Wayne & Brooke Goranson.
Why Such A Funky Name?
While in Britt, I was attending a women’s Bible study, lead by my mother, through the book of Ephesians. Each week we went through a chapter and the week we read through Ephesians 2… verse 10 really stuck out to me:
“For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (NKJV)
The Greek word for workmanship is poiema, where we English speakers derive the word “poem”. We took the Spanish twist on the word and have named our daughter “Poema” (po-ay-mah)
We didn’t decide on the middle name until day of the birth! We were really struggling for inspiration, so my dad sent us a long list of cool Biblical names with meaning.
No, Alizay isn’t found in the Bible, so it wasn’t on the list, but it prompted some research to find a name with the following significance. Alizay (ah – lee – zay) is a female name with Hebrew origin that means “full of joy.”
So, with the secret parent decoder, Poema Alizay means:
God’s workmanship/poem is full of joy.
This idea really became concrete as Jon, my husband, was doing our daily family Bible devotionals the morning before Poema was born and the verses just “happened” to land in Psalm 139:13-16
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.” (NLT)
Jesus, we thank you for another wonderful birth experience and our new baby girl. Thank you for all of our friends, family and supporters who can share in this joyous occasion. Help us to walk in obedience and accomplish the good works that you have prepared for us, including raising our kids to know and marvel in your presence. Bring unity in our family and rest to our bodies. Amen!
Bendiciones todos!
Congratulations!!!
Thanks!
We truly enjoyed having you be a part of our church family while you were in Britt! Poema is precious, as are each one of your family. We pray for you all as you minister in Honduras. Oh, I love her first and middle name – so unique!
Thank you Corinne!
Hello, and blessed greetings. My name is Marlyn Poema, I am 41 years old. I came upon your page today searching for name meaning of Poema for my bible woman’s “Steadfast” study class in Miami, Florida. I am a Christ Jesus follower and the topic today is “The Lord”. Just want to support your statements about how powerful and glorious our God is. I have a 6 year old daughter too, her name is Olivia aka Liv, so I decided to reach out to send grace and to pray for continued blessings for you, your daughter Poema and your family. May he always delight in her.
Best, Marlyn Poema.
Thank you Marlyn!