All about the names.

So I feel the need to explain my thinking behind the names. First, I have a weird compulsion to stick with A names and J names. I have no idea why except that I started with my bio kids and felt that I had to continue the trend. My first son was named Joseph after his dad and his middle name is Edward after my father. I stuck with Joseph because, one it is a Bible name and I happen to love Bible names and, two,because it was after his dad and my dad. Name problem solved and we call him Joey. Five years later, I was remarried and we were having a girl. I was beyond excited and one day during a Bible study the Lord whispered to me that her name would be Anna Joy and she would be a Joy to all who meet her. The name Anna was special to my husband because that was his grandmothers name. That is where the A and J trend began. andA and J just had to stick. So, four years later we are expecting another baby and I was beyond excited again. I really thought I was having a boy that time and his name would be Andrew Timothy. I was shocked when we had the sono and we found out she was a girl. I had no idea what to name her and we just thought of Amanda Hope at the doctors office and knew that was her name. Just this year we had someone email us our family ancestor's traced back to 1600 from Scotland, and I saw that one of the women from 1800's was named Amanda. I thought that was kinda interesting. Four years later we are expecting again and this time we are having a boy. We chose the name JonMarc Timothy after John Mark from the Bible.  Ok, so that is why we have A names and J names.
       When it came time to choose names for our girls from China, I really struggled with what to name them. I wanted to keep their Chinese names as well as give them an American name. Mainly because Jordyn's Chinese name was You He and difficult to pronounce. Her nickname was HeHua after the lotus flower and it has a beautiful meaning that her life would blossom into beauty although she had a tough beginning. I loved that and felt it was important. I tried really hard to find an A name for her but we could not all agree on the name. At that time we were big fans of American Idol and Jordin Sparks was one of the contestants. We all liked her and liked her name. I was also reading a book about crossing the Jordan as a Christian and into the promise land that God has for us. So we prayed and felt that her name was Jordyn Faith and that we were taking a leap of faith to bring her home. This was our first adoption and there were tons of obstacles for us. God met us where we were and provided miracle after miracle to bring her home. Back to the names, we added her Chinese name as well so her full name is Jordyn Zohe Faith Hehua Kerr. There you have it. Zohe means life and I felt that it was special to add that to her name and kind of incorporate the her Chinese name into. Two years later we are adopting again, from Jordyn's same orphanage, her little friend. Jordyn is ecstatic and cannot wait for her to come home. Her Chinese name is You Yu and again we decide to continue the trend and give her an A name or J name. The J name Jailynn is chosen for her because Jordyn really liked it. We heard of her name from an adoption journey video we had from our agency and felt that it fit. We chose the middle name Charity from the Bible to continue the Bible name trend and because we had a already felt a deep love in our hearts for her. So we named her Jailynn Charity Yu. Now here we are again adopting the third little girl from their same orphanage and what do we do about the name?? I really wanted to name her with an A name this time and I had my picks: Allison, Addison, and Avery were my favorites. However, the a names were voted a no by the majority of our clan and the J name won: Jaidyn Grace Anfeng. I did not fight against the name because I absolutely love the meaning behind Jaidyn: which meant in Hebrew "Jehovah has heard". That meant so much to me and confirmed He had heard our prayers over her. Besides I won the A name battle when we adopted Noah. I changed his name to Andrew Noah. I know that it does not really go together but I was not sure if we will go down the adoption road again and I still had the name Andrew in my heart for a boy. All the names can be quite the tongue twisters and I have to confess that I usually call them all by the wrong name. Try saying Jordyn, Jailynn, Jaidyn, Anna and Amanda really fast! I usually get them mixed up and get the eyes rolled at me and the look of aggravation. I love all their names and more importantly, I love the individuals behind the names!They are all blessings and I could never imagine my life with out them! That's my story and I am sticking to it!!