About five years ago, before we were pregnant with Anna, Brian and I chose two names for our first children. We chose a name for a girl and one for a boy.
As you know, we had a girl first and we named her Anna Elizabeth. Anna, because we love the name, because it’s her great-grandmother’s middle name, and because it means ‘grace’ or ‘favor.’ Elizabeth, because it’s the middle name of another much-loved great-grandmother, because it’s my middle name and because it’s meaning is ‘oath of God’ or ‘God’s promise.’
For a boy, we chose the name of our firstborn to be James Edward. Both those names come from people irreplaceable in our lives. James is the name of Brian’s grandfather and Edward is my dad’s middle name. Beyond it sounding like a respectable name, the name puts us in mind of two people who we admire and respect. Our little Jimmy is somebody whom we have loved in our hearts for over five years. When we saw “Seamus‘” picture, we knew he was our James. Even the name Seamus is another form of James. In two weeks, our little family will be planting a cherry tree and reading letters for our James. I do not want to let him go… but God’s plan is best… and although the pain is there and the hole is there, I do believe it. His birthday is July 8th. He would have been two.
We enjoyed picking new girl’s name when Maggie was born. She is named Margaret after my grandma Reta. (Yes, they are closely related names) And her middle name is Rae, after my mom. Besides, who can resist a little girl named Maggie?
Last week when we were overseas, we had a blank to fill in on a form. What will we name Jay/Jordan? I have blogged about what we’d name him before, but it hadn’t been set in stone until that moment when we filled in the papers. His name will be Jordan Scott. Jordan fit just perfectly with a brother named James. It is also very close to his given name. We look forward to calling him his native nicknames, ‘Dancho’ and ‘Donny/Dani.’ Scott is Brian’s dad’s middle name. I laughed at one name translation for the name Scott… it was “Painted Warrior.” (or “Tatooed Scotsman”) I wonder how close to the truth this will be for our son!?
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On another note, you may have noticed the fundraisers that have gone up on the sidebar. One is for contributions to Jordan’s orphanage. We’ll bring the funds to them when we pick Jordan up to bring him home. I believe the orphanage receives approximately $1/day for each child to care for them… for care above and beyond that, they rely on donations.
The other fundraiser on the left is for Vinnie’s adoption fund. My heart continues to ache every time his memory comes to mind. Every day I long for him to have a mother. He doesn’t belong in an orphanage. He doesn’t belong in a mental institution, which is where he is likely to move when he is too old to remain in this home. We have put in $400 so far and our goal is to raise as much as it takes for a family to be able to bring him home. We are committed to seeing at least $4000 in his adoption fund.
I set the end date for the fundraisers to be November 21st. That’s my birthday. And it’s also about the time when we’ll be close to bringing our son Jordan home. I can’t think of a better birthday present than seeing the forgotten be remembered, the unloved be loved, the abandoned be restored.
Wonderful post, Rachel. HUGS!