Wikipedia: "A name is a word or term used for identification. Names can
identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either
uniquely, or within a given context."
Expectant parents spend hours pouring over baby names to find just the right one. Does the middle name "go with" the first and the last? Is there a funky nickname that is going to haunt the child if you choose this name? I know we spent a ton of effort in giving our children names that were meaningful to us, and hopefully that they could live with. The whole name thing has me reflecting today.
As we recognized that the time was indeed NOW if we were ever going to adopt a little girl from China, we began the search not looking for that "perfect name" but for the child that we felt God wanted to be part of our family. Well, God is a master at weaving our life stories. Here is a bit of family history for you.
After giving birth to four daughters, we more or less assumed that #5 would be a girl, and she would be named Abigail which means "father's joy or gives joy." Surprise! JAMES would not have appreciated the name Abigail.
Nine years later we give birth to our fifth girl, and the name Abigail had stuck with us all of those years. Those who knew us well figured, "They got their Abigail!" One complication. A close friend at the time (who we spent a lot of time with) had a service dog called Abby. I couldn't get over the fact that every time we called our daughter I would think of this little dog. With much disappointment, we searched and searched the baby name books for something else appropriate.
Fast forward yet another decade as we are praying for God to show us the little one that He has in mind. My friends who have adopted kept telling me, "Don't worry. You will know her when you see her." Because we are going "Special Focus" to adopt a child who is maybe a little harder to place, we had to actually choose the child THEN choose our agency. Special Focus children are assigned to one specific agency. What if I messed up and missed her?
So began the pouring over files with many agencies. One agency sent me 1797 names with brief descriptions. I literally cried. The need is so great. How could we possibly choose just one? However, there WAS a way to make sure that our little girl's file was looked at. There was one name in the entire world that guaranteed I would open and look HARD at that file. I confess, I passed over a Sarah and a Hannah (we have one of those) but Abigail, she had to have a good look.
Funny thing about these names on the foreign adoptive files. They aren't the child's actual name, (as they would be in the states) and no one expects you to call them by it when they get home. The agency "randomly" assigns them an English name, probably because we have trouble pronouncing the Chinese names. I later found out that the girl our agency randomly labeled as "Abigail" had an English name that they use in her school - Dawn. Why didn't the agency use that name?
I think I fell in love with her the second I opened her file. I kept trying to give others a chance, and did continue to prayerfully consider many, many other girls. Abigail just wouldn't leave our heads and hearts! Do you ever second guess yourself? I won't go into the dozen other details and confirmations that solidified "Abigail" as "the one" but yeah, my friends were right. We knew she was "ours" when we saw her.
Shared at Death by Great Wall
