Name Changes

When my husband and I started planning on adopting, we had always envisioned changing their names.  Then, once we knew we were adopting older children, we figured that the kids would be pretty settled with their names and be opposed to changes.  Boy, were we wrong. 

Our son was 10-years-old at the time of adoption and he was set on creating a new identity for himself.  I think at that age, I would have probably wanted to change my name as well.  It is around that age that most kids think their name is not cool enough.  For whatever reason, he wanted to change his name and we were thankful that he wanted a fresh start.

See, our son was a junior.  Well, technically he was a sixth.  Crazy, right?  But every time that he said or wrote his name, it was a reminder of his bio dad that was not a part of his life.

Thus began the deliberation over his new name.  Despite our desires for him to pick a name based on meaning, he simply wanted one that seemed cool.  So, he contemplated Jaden (after Jaden Smith, of course) and various names of wrestlers.  We vetoed a few and then finally came to a consensus with Daniel. 

Daniel is a nice name with biblical significance.  You see, Daniel was pulled away from his family and forced into a new life.  Daniel could have chosen to be bitter about this upheaval of his life, but rather chose to serve the Lord and be a mighty man of faith.  Daniel knew that God was His true judge, and He needed to live his life accordingly.  He trusted God and saw him do miraculous things in his life. 

This was our prayer for our son.  His story was far from ideal, but it could become extraordinary.  Our son was uprooted from his family, which at first seems horrible.  But, God had plans for our son.  Plans to place him in a family where he is surrounded by people of faith, who pray fervently for him and encourage him.  We fail continuously as parents, but we are thankful for the faith community that surrounds our kids, and even more so, for our gracious heavenly Father.