And Then They Wanted To Name Him...

    After we prayed trusting our new son to God's arms until he could be in ours Doug said, "Well, should we tell the kids?"

    We went in and said we had something to show them. On the laptop we pulled up bright eyed pictures that we had come to know by heart.

Through the "Ohhs" and "How cute!" Parker with eyes wide said, "Are we adopting him?"

Then he began to cry.

      "I wanted to adopt a brother my age, I wanted to adopt Carter (his best friend who has a loving family already)!"

...but what happened next is something I want to etch on my heart forever.

 He looked again at the picture and said, "Tell me his story."

 We read together the sparse story filled with grief and hope,

 baby left and then miraculously found,

 failing heart safe just in time all in the mountains deep in winter.

 Brave hearted baby boy.

        I looked at Parker.

As our eyes met, his filled with tears again and he earnestly said,

 "Mama I want to adopt him. I want him to be my brother."

       A motion caught my eye and I looked over to see Ravenna, pencil in hand, list half made saying, "Well....we need to name him then! and we need a bed and a carseat and clothes!"

   Georgia looked up, brown eyes beaming,

 "You mean I could have a baby brother? Can he sleep with me?

 Mama I want to hold his hand and sing him to sleep cause he might be a little bit scared."

  These children with hearts so beautiful, witnessing grief, embracing possibilities...

so ready to love.

How can I ever be thankful enough?

 I get to be their Mama, I get to follow the way their hearts say "yes."

 I get a front row seat to hearts unfolding with a love for God and for others in a way that is far beyond anything I could imagine.

   As Doug and I took a moment to revel in the glory of it all, the kids frantically whispered over Ravenna's list.

Then, as a group they confronted us and exclaimed,

   "We know what to name him....His name is Vomit! Vomit Allyn Miller!"