A Name, A Gift

The Journey of 'Naming' Our Daughters.

When we began our adoption journey, naming our children was important to us. To us it was a way of embracing the child and showing them that they were important enough for us to bestown on them a name - like we did our other children.

Beautiful names came to us, and I believe they were inspired names. They carried great meaning and were very symbolic.

Back in July of last year, when Ray and I were watching a movie one night, I suddenly saw the name Rainn in the credits, and I said, "Rainn! I love that name!" Ray instantly agreed with me. Now, if you know our history, he doesn't usually just agree with names. We go through a TON before he agrees.

When I said "Rainn", Ray said words to the effect of "Rain in a parched land." Those words sounded profound to me.

The next day, in hindsight, I was able to look back and see where we had been led from. First, I had seen a PBS special that week about bringing immigrants from Somolia, Africa, to America. It showed the radical difference of the two life styles and documented their lives. This special was called, "Rain in a Dry Land."

Ray had not seen it! But yet he had thrown out almost the same title.

That same week I had also been reading my devotions and had gotten a word:

"Make thy petition deep." Isaiah 7:11

We must keep on praying and waiting upon the Lord until the sound of a mighty rain is heard. There is no reason we should not ask for large things; and without doubt we shall get large things if we ask in faith, and have the courage to wait with patient perseverance upon Him, meantime doing those things which lie within our power to do so.

I asked Ray about those words that he had said about Rain in a Parched Land. I told him about the special on PBS. I then told him that *I* personally *love* rain. We live in an area that doesn't have a lot of rain. We get a little in the fall and a little in the spring. So to curl up on a rainy day in a cozy house, with a wood stove roaring, is a wonderful feeling.

He said how some people might look at rain as depressing. I was very quick to point out that rain is a wonderful thing! Sure, there are people who live in drizzly areas all the time and then 'yes', rain could be depressing.

But to me? Rain signifies Hope and New Life!! Think about the land of Ethiopia and its history of drought. Think of the growth and possibilities of new life and lack of famine with reliable rain. He quickly saw my point and thought it was a "meant to be name".

A few days after this all occurred, I was looking at books in Amazon and in particular, adoption books. I fell across one book and was reading the first page. It was about a little girl adopted from China. The first page begins, "Hello. My name is Rain." Now what chance of that!!!!

A few more days went by, and I was talking to my friend, Denise, and I asked her about another song, Dream. I wanted to find this song as the words were from my heart. She took on the mission, and off she went. I had no idea how to find it, but she did it in a matter of hours! And she came racing back to me to say, "She also has a song called Rain!"

What chance of that?? I love her song of Rain. It seems to be evoking the same kind of thoughts that I have of rain, but perhaps from her childhood. You can find it on my blog at the bottom.

And now for the name Ayanna - It is Ethiopian and it means Beautiful Flower

How much more meaningful than a name that means: Hope or New Life and Beautiful Flower!

Think about it!!! Rain brings New Life and produces a Beautiful Flower. How perfect is that?

From there, the rest of the story of the name is rather short and sweet. I felt that if we were to have a second child I needed to receive a name. All our kids had been named by my husband and myself, but this was something different. With Raine Ayanna we had felt 'led' to her names. So I said in prayer one day, "If there is to be a second child, you will have to show me by giving me her name."

One day, Denise told me of a child named Song and I loved it immediately. I said, "She is a song in our hearts!" And for those that don't know me, I am *not* poetic, so I have no idea where those words came from!! *laugh*

After this, while reading There Is No Me Without You, I saw the word Savannah for an African area and I thought, "How perfect! Song Savannah. Very symbolic and beautiful."

And that is how "our" names were chosen.

I looked forward to meeting the children who would be given these names. I dreamed of calling them their names and wondered if I would call them "Song" or "Song Savannah" and "Raine" or "Raine Ayanna", since both names were so beautiful and carried such meaning.

Some weeks later, we got some information that gave us pause when it came to the girls' names. We already knew that we would keep their Ethiopian names as their middle names. We felt it was very important for them to keep their heritage.

But then I started feeling that maybe it was more than 'important'. So Ray and I talked about it, and I told him that I felt that we should begin by calling the girls by their birth names and interchange it with their new names. Kind of go back and forth, so they had a chance to become accustomed to their new names, before we phased out their old names.

My thinking was that by doing this they would be comfortable with both names, and as they grew they could choose which name to use. My sister grew up with the names Amanda and Mandy, and she knew they both meant her. I figured we could do the same thing. This way if they wanted a more 'Canadian' name they would have one at their disposal, and if on the other hand, they wanted their cultural name they would still have it.

A done deal. Or so I thought.

And then we got the girls' referral and saw their faces and read their names.

And our preconceived ideas all went out the window. Now our mind was swaying. We loved their names. They felt so 'right'.

Okay, so we would keep Mesay, and Gadise we would also keep, but we would alter it slightly and make the "G" a "K" and call her Kadise. MehSAY and KahDEECE. Those were pretty names.

Now Song Savannah and Raine Ayanna were suddenly in the back seat, as beautiful middle names and nothing more. Sad, but you can't very well call a child Mesay Raine Ayanna all the time!! It would become a bit of a mouthful! *laugh*

We thought we were finally settled, and then someone told us we were pronouncing their 'beautiful' names wrong. Huh? Okay, so we had to readjust our self-centred brains again. Their names were MeSIGH and GadeeSAY. But I still liked KadeeSAY, because I could shorten it to a cute "Kadi".

We started chewing this one over and working our mouths around these new pronunciations - totally confusing our poor 5! *smile*

And the name journey continued. I just kept struggling with even the minor letter change on Gadise. As much as I wanted to use the K, it just didn't feel right. I talked to a friend today, and she really made me see reason to keeping the G and not the K.

She put into words all that I knew in my heart. All that I knew already, which is why we had decided in the first place to keep their real names and put "our" names as middle names, and not as first names. All that I have been mulling over in my mind for the last three weeks. And I have now got a conclusion. Finally.

We will not be using our names as anything but middle names, and we will not be changing the pronunciation of their names, and the G will stay a G.

The reason? Because these were not 'abandoned' children. These were beloved children. They were raised by a mother who did the best she could for them. She named them with names that held meaning to her. She held onto her little girls as long as she was able.

The girls arrived at the orphanage with little necklaces. Besides these necklaces, their names are the only thing they have that is all theirs.

When we name our adopted children with names that hold great meaning to us, it *is* special, but is it because we want them to be "Canadian" and "fit in" with "Canadian names?"

I was guilty of that.

As I have pondered this name question for the last three weeks, I have been drawn time and time again to a thought - they are *not* Canadian. They are Ethiopian.

And as they grow, when people say to them, "That is an unusual name. What nationality is it?" They can proudly say, "I was born in Ethiopia."

Their birth names are a GIFT - a gift from their mother. Their Enat.

Note: due to the fact that in Ethiopia Amharic is a symbolic language (such as Chinese) we will be choosing an English phonetic spelling for their names. We may also find that the children have acquired nicknames, and so when we meet them, the name game will be over. We will know what to do.