I can still remember the moment when our daughter was named. Drew and I were not yet confirmed dating…for those of you who grew up in west Michigan, we had not yet had our DTR (Defining The Relationship) talk. Drew was making us dinner one night. Something with red sauce… He was stirring the pot while I was getting dishes together. We were chatting about things we had always felt would happen in our future. He mentioned that he knew he would have a daughter one day and he knew what her name would be. I laughed it off and came over to him to see how serious he was. I looked up at him and said, “Don’t you think your wife should have a say in that.” He responded, “She’ll be okay with it.”
Admittedly I was sure that this child of the 80’s would want to name his child “Leia” or something along those lines…
::PAUSE THIS STORY::
So, when I was in college (2004), some of you know that I was in pageants. One of the younger gals I had the pleasure of interacting with(but never competing against) was named Madelynne. I have always loved the name Madeline. I had never seen it spelled like that, but I really just loved the name. My grandmother’s name is Virginia. I’ve always loved that name as well. There is something so sweet, obviously southern, and just charming about it. As I thought of the name Madeline for my future daughter, I thought…the middle name Virginia would go quite nicely. So, there, back in 2006, I named my future daughter — Madeline Virginia.
::BACK TO THE OTHER STORY::
“She’ll be okay with it?” I replied, “What’s the name?” (Here comes “Princess Leia M…”)
He looked at me, returning my same teasing, yet flirtatious look, and said, “Madeline Virginia.”
I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor and I had to pick up the pieces of my exploding heart while trying my darnedest to not pop the question right then and there!
I somehow managed a response that went something like, “Oh, that’s nice. I’m sure she will be okay with it.”
All the girls on my side of the family in their “Find Joy” shirts. 🙂
You see, Drew had thought up that same name while he was in college (1998). Drew has always loved the name Madeline, and HIS grandmother’s name is Virginia as well. (**side note, both our mom’s names are Karen as well! Freaky!!!) Also, I should mention that he has never been a huge “Star Wars” fan boy…he’s fine with the movies, but would never dream of naming his daughter Leia.
I knew in that moment that God had a big plan in store for us and an even bigger plan for our future daughter. It’s amazing to think her story started 20 years ago!
We have felt strongly from the beginning that God has a little girl picked out for us, not because we have 2 boys who can’t wait to dote on her as her big brothers, but because He has been working on her story LONG before Drew and I even knew it was happening. We both feel the Lord has called us to parent a baby girl, and specifically to do that through adoption. We are so excited to share all of this with her someday! As we continue to wait to me matched with a birth mama, will you join us in praying for Madeline by name, as well as praying for Madeline’s birth mama…wherever/whoever she may be. We love her already and can’t believe that she will one day make the choice to share her daughter with us.
:: NURSERY SNEAK PEEK ::
