Meaning

One thing that keeps ringing in my mind is the meaning of her Chinese name. It means "kindheartedness." When we began the process last Spring, we encountered a lady that we will forever be grateful to. She provided for us, not because we asked or because she had to, but because she sincerely wanted to. I am thirty-ish :) and I can honestly say that I have never experienced that sort of kindness in my lifetime. It was unsolicited, and truly heartfelt, kindness. This was only the beginning of the showers of kindness we have felt during the last four months. Whether we have been encouraged by words, or actions, we have truly felt God's presence. He knows our needs. And everytime we get that all to familiar lump in our throat, He is there. We know we can provide for this child. And we know we will provide for her whatever she needs just as we have our other three children. This, we do not doubt. However, without the kindness of others, without the presence of God's hand, we know too that this miracle would not be occurring in our lives.

We did a yard sale this weekend. Ryan and I really do not save a lot of things we do not use, I don't do clutter well :) That being said, we really didn't have a lot to sell but we had some items and we found a few others. The largest part of this was what others offered to give us....people approached us about giving items for this sale. When it all came to be, we had an abundance of "for sale" items. Again, an act of kindness straight from the heart. People donated, Aunt Rachel offered to keep an eye on MK, GDad made signs and sorted through the selection as people delivered stuff to his house, Gran and Pop, after catering late into the night before arrived before the sun came up to help with set-up and take down, Uncle Roger and cousin Brian helped haul stuff to and fro, and GMom, feeling all too tired, held down the fort at home and made sure everyone was fed appropriately! That was the sale side. The other side was the customer side. We did not have a sign up that stated we were adopting a baby. However, the adoption inevitably came up in conversation and the smiles and words of congratulations came on big. Support and genuine kindness was how we felt when talking with these complete strangers.

I write all of this to say that our little girl's Chinese name is no mistake. I love that it means "kindheartedness" because that one word sums up how we will remember this journey always!