Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Her name is...

As many of you know, we are pursuing adoption of a little girl from Thailand. As you also may know, the process has been excruciatingly difficult. After 6 months of research, emails, and phone meetings with adoption agencies, we still do not have an agency to work with nor have we been able to file any paperwork (even though we meet ALL the requirements to adopt from Thailand!) It has been frustrating, confusing, and heartbreaking. There have been days I wanted to just quit.

But even in my emotionally exhausted state, I know we have to keep moving forward - and keep fighting until we find an open door. We have to keep speaking TRUTH and LIFE over this process --- wise advice from our mentor Michael.  A few months ago Michael encouraged us to go ahead and name our daughter, so that we could pray for her by name. He told me that God already knows who she is - and she is already ours - so we should pray for confirmation of a name, write it on our mirror, and pray for her everyday.

This really meant something to us, because we felt like God had given us a name from the very beginning. We had planned to wait to announce it until we were matched with her (and knew her Thai name, which we hope to incorporate in some way)... but we decided we weren't waiting anymore!

Her name is...
Kate

We have known it since the very beginning... as if God wrote it on both of our hearts. It just seemed perfect - short and sweet... easy for her to say and spell (and easy for other Thais to say because it doesn't have an R in it!)

God literally dropped it into my head one day right after we had decided to adopt. Rusty immediately fell in love with it... but I was initially hesitant. I loved the name but I always thought I'd name my daughter something a little more unique. But then I thought about all the incredible women with the name Kate. Women I admire like Katie Davis (Kisses from Katie) and Princess Kate (who wouldn't want to be named after a princess?!) Beautiful, accomplished women in Hollywood like Kate Winslet and Kate Beckinsale. And of course, the LONG list of exceptional women I am blessed to call friends who are named Kate or Katie! And the more I thought, the more I loved it...

But the REAL confirmation came when I looked up the Christian meaning of the name. This is what I found online...

Kate
origin :: Greek
meaning :: pure, clean, chaste

There are not any Kates or Katherines in the Bible, however, the name has a rich Christian historical heritage and likely originated with the Greek word katharos, which was translated as pure or clean in the New Testament.

Here are some examples of it used in the scriptural context;
Matthew 5:8,  John 15:3,  Titus 1:5,  Revelation 19:8,  Revelation 22:1

James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

When I saw that this was the verse used as the example for "scriptural context", I couldn't believe my eyes! This is the verse that is my email signature. This is the verse that turned my world upside down in 2007, when I became passionate about orphan care and adoption. This is the verse that started The Sound of Hope. In many ways, this is the verse that has led us is leading us to our daughter.

And so, her name will be Kate Jackson. We would love it if you would all join us in praying for her by name. And as we pray, we will rest in the truth that this is God's plan and He will make a way for it. We eagerly wait for the day when our precious Kate is in our arms!

 
Kate's name on our bathroom mirror - along with Gia Huguley (in Korea), Esther Bice (in Ethiopia),  
Rowen Junkin (in Haiti), and Baby Stoves (in China). Now I just need to add Little Knowles (in the Bahamas) 
and Baby Barnette (in Korea)! Can't wait for the day our little girl can hang out with 
these precious friends from around the world!


19 comments:

  1. LOVE IT!!!!
    What a beautiful name! I cannot wait to meet sweet Kate, and I will definitely be praying for her by name!
    Thank you for continuing to pray for us! I almost cried when I noticed "Baby Stoves" was written on your mirror. I am overwhelmed!

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    1. Thank you so much Candice! I can't wait for our two little ones to meet each other! Any updates on you guys? Have you started getting referrals yet?

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  2. This is amazing Ericka! Obviously I am in love with her name :) but even more so with the story. Your mentor gave you such wonderful advice and I love that you have named her already. I will be praying for your Kate everday!

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    1. Oh friend - you are so precious. The thought of you praying for our little girl brings tears to my eyes! I am grateful to know so many wonderful Kates & Katies who had already made that name special to me! :)

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  3. my wife and I adopted our son 5 years ago, we named him Angelito for he's such an angel. the entire procedures for adoption in Thailand can be tedious but following all the requirements will allow the process to run as smoothly as possible http://www.thailand-lawyer.com/adoption.html ... it took us 2 years to get through the adoption process but its all worth it. good luck to you!

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    1. Alex that is wonderful to hear! I would love to talk to you guys more about your process - do you have a blog or email address I could contact you on? You can email me directly at erickabennett@gmail.com. I'm VERY interested in information about the link you shared!

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  4. WOW. I love this. I am so behind on your blog....I need to do some major catching up to read up on the whole story. I can't wait till the day when we get to see a picture of Kate!
    -Katie

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  5. Ericka, I'm praying for you, Rusty and (now, by name, Kate Jackson) so often. You are all listed on my hand-written list and on my heart. I even thought of taking a picture and sending it to you, but I know you believe me!

    -Erin

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    1. Oh friend... that means the world to me! I can see your list in my head now ;) I can't wait until the day our precious Kate can meet my fabulous friend Erin!

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  6. I found your blog today via google... Try Holt International. Their Thailand program just reopened to new applicants. We are using this agency. I wouldn't use any other for a Thai adoption. Hope this helps :)

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion. We would give ANYTHING to be able to work with Holt - they were at the top of our list from Day 1. Unfortunately they will only allow families WITH a boy to specify gender. Those of us who do not have any children are not allowed to pursue a girl. We feel God has led us to adopt a little girl from Thailand, so Holt is unfortunately not an option for us.

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  7. I was just checking in... I have a friend who was using Adoption Advocates International (AAI) and after waiting for a referral for 2.5 yrs they just changed to a China Adoption. I just wanted to let you know in case they are on your list.

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    1. Thanks for the information. We actually do have them on our list but we keep waiting to call because we're pretty sure they are not an option for us (we've heard this sort of info about them before.) I appreciate you sharing this with us though - every little bit of info will help when we have to make a final decision.

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  8. This brought tears to my eyes! Husband and I are adopting from Thailand, too, and God gave us a name right away also. It is a name neither of us would have ever thought to choose, and we both came to the conclusion at the same time. SO cool! God is so much bigger and loving and detail oriented than we can ever imagine! I'm sorry your progress has been slowed, but comforted by your reliance on Him during the process. He is doing something crazy huge and sometimes it is so tiresome being unsure of what to do next(though it is still an amazing blessing to be tapped to be an adoptive mom!). I will be praying for your family and your Kate when I pray for ours and our James. I'll pray for strength and peace and wisdom for you as you wait on the Lord. Hooray for blogs and the internet for making the world just a bit smaller! Have you considered WACAP as an option? We have been pleased so far (we are a couple without confirmed fertility problems also) with their work and they work with both TRC and DSDW. Anywho *hug*

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    1. WACAP requires documented infertility (which this couple does NOT have). WACAP accepts 2 families a year and does NOT relax this requirement -- Thank God for those who do suffer from legitiment, debilitating infertility.

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    2. Actually Anonymous, WACAP works with BOTH the TRC and the DSDW (as the above poster explained). Only the TRC requires documented infertility (which is not a WACAP rule, but a TRC rule) and the DSDW does not. But the DSDW typically matches older children and is a new, unproven route to go (at least from what we understand through our meetings with WACAP).

      And my heart goes out to those suffering from infertility (we have a lot of friends who have dealt with this issue.) But infertility is not the only reason to adopt. For those of us who feel specifically called to adopt, the ache to add an adopted child to our family is still there, and the roadblocks and redtape that slow it down (or make it impossible) are just as heartbreaking.

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    3. Thanks so much for this encouraging comment @TheThaiThatBinds! Would love to chat with you more... can't wait to check out your blog! James is actually a really special name in our family too (both grandfather's are James and it will be the name of our first son!) Thrilled to be in touch with another family adopting from Thailand!

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  9. This brought tears to my eyes! Husband and I are adopting from Thailand, too, and God gave us a name right away also. It is a name neither of us would have ever thought to choose, and we both came to the conclusion at the same time. SO cool! God is so much bigger and loving and detail oriented than we can ever imagine! I'm sorry your progress has been slowed, but comforted by your reliance on Him during the process. He is doing something crazy huge and sometimes it is so tiresome being unsure of what to do next(though it is still an amazing blessing to be tapped to be an adoptive mom!). I will be praying for your family and your Kate when I pray for ours and our James. I'll pray for strength and peace and wisdom for you as you wait on the Lord. Hooray for blogs and the internet for making the world just a bit smaller! Have you considered WACAP as an option? We have been pleased so far (we are a couple without confirmed fertility problems also) with their work and they work with both TRC and DSDW. Anywho *hug*

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