What Shall We Call Them?

There isn't much on this journey that I haven't let go of.

From day one, we have changed lanes many times...plans changed and hope has been found in unexpected places.

The pieces of dreams shattered have been resurrected into something new and far different, far better, than anything we ever could have imagined.

But today there is one thing that after all we have been through, I am having a hard time letting go of....what will we call them?  

From day one there was no doubt in my mind that we would rename our adopted children.  They would be given names of my choosing, names that would make them a part of our family.  Names that were significant to us and their conception in our hearts.   Names that would signify a new beginning.

As a matter of fact,  choosing their names was one of the very first things we did.

I slept with a scrap of paper under my pillow for weeks and every night I prayed that God would move me to choose the names that would best befit my new sons for He knew them, He created them.  He knew their innermost being.

Morning after morning, I would awake and cross options off the list until just two names remained...two very handsome, chosen names.

A name has power.  In it there is hope and an expectation.

A man's name precedes him.  It becomes his reputation.

"A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold."
Proverbs 22:1

Adoption is the means by which we have chosen to grow our family.

No matter how Thunder and Lightning eventually arrive or where they come from, they were chosen before the foundation of the earth by a Holy God to be here in our home as part of our family.  Whatever the circumstances that will bring them to us, in the end they are destined to be our sons, to call me, Mommy, and Knight in Shining Armor, Daddy, forever.

It is so important to me that these children, though grown in my heart not in my womb, know that in every way I believe they are mine.  I have longed for them and waited for them to come home just as I longed and waited through the months of each pregnancy.  

I have chosen a name for them just as I chose names for Fair Maiden, Kind Hearted Warrior, and True Princess.

The day that I hold each of them in my arms will be a homecoming, a celebration.  It will be a beginning and an end all at the same time because on that day they will begin to live the life they were destined to live as a part of our family and their search for a love that will last forever will come to an end.

Our children's names will commemorate that they belong first to Christ, then to us.

Thunder and Lightning have a future here.  Each will have a name that carries him into that future with a hope and an assurance of love, protection, and provision.  Each will know that his identity is found first in Christ then as a member of our family then as one with a Colombian heritage.

As one who cares deeply about details I want to name my children.