What's in a Name?

Many of you have asked about our kids’ names, and if we plan on keeping their Ethiopian names.  We do feel it is important to keep our kids’ Ethiopian names as part of their name, but not as a first name. Honestly, our reasoning for this goes no further than reducing headache.  My full name is complicated, and it gets old correcting those who botch it.  I’d rather my kids not have the same difficulty.  

I cannot share their Ethiopian names yet (hence the dashes).  However, I can share the other names we have chosen!

Drum roll please.

Jayce Andrew N---

and

Anya N--- Rose

Jayce means “healer” and Andrew means “manly”.  We love the name Jayce, and Philip observed that “Andrew” sounds nice with it.  Andrew is also his older brother’s name, and we both appreciate and respect Andy, so we added it as a second middle name.

Anya, my sweet daughter! Her name means “beloved by God”.  How important for her to know that despite her complicated background, she is beloved by her heavenly Abba, her Father that created her and cares for her from the top of her dark curly head to bottom of her cute brown toes!    Her second middle name, Rose, means…  well….  rose.  Like the flower.  It’s a family name on my side: part of my name, my grandmother’s name, and countless others in my family history.

So now you know.  

Nothing is set-in-stone, of course, but these names have become part of our vocabulary and part of our lives.  

Jayce and Anya-- I can’t tell you how many times I have written and rewritten those names, connecting them to those precious faces that are indelibly ingrained in my mind.  Friends are even teaching their toddlers to say my kids’ names, introducing them to their future playmates.  

It is still looking like October for travel, but we won’t know specific dates until the courts reopen early October.  There is a good chance that the kids will be home by January.  What an exciting Christmas present!  

Please continue to pray with us that the process will be smooth sailing from here.  Also, please pray about being a part of our adoption puzzle fundraiser.  There are still almost 400 pieces available for sponsorship ($10/piece) and all of the donations help us pay for airfare and in-country expenses.  Check out the post on this here (written in 2011 when we were waiting for only one child. God has a sense of humor!).  By God's grace and your help, I’d love to see this puzzle completed in the next few months!  Feel free to share this opportunity with your friends!

Thanks for sharing in our joy!

Blessings,

Philip, Anna, Jayce and Anya :)