Selah Evette

God has given us a name for our new daughter. It will be Selah Evette. Selah is a Hebrew word that is said to be very hard to translate, but many define it as something like this : "Its precise meaning is mysterious, but it is interpreted as a pause to breathe and reflect on the important words just uttered." It's basically an instruction placed at the end of writings that tells the reader to stop and think about what they've just read. Reflect. Measure this against what you know. We thought this to be very appropriate, as we hope that bringing this precious little one from Ethiopa into our family will inspire others to do just that. To think about what they see when they see our family. To measure it against what they've always thought a family should look like. To reflect on their own families and how God may be calling them to follow Him. Selah.

Her middle name Evette is equally as full of meaning for us. In January of 2008, our very dear friend, Evette, didn't wake up one Saturday morning. She passed away in her sleep, leaving behind her husband Jason and 3 young children. The cause of death was never determined. She was 33 years old. She was beautiful, quirky, loyal, giving, and too many other wonderful things to list. She LOVED babies. Everything about them. She had to be there, at the hospital, when my babies were born. She missed Sophia's birth only because she was on a mission trip :). She would be SO excited about our adoption. She would ask me 1000 questions about it. She would plan a baby shower. She would love her with everything she had. That's how she loved everyone. She was always looking out for the overlooked. There was no question that we wanted to honor and remember her by naming our baby girl after her. I hope that she will grow up to be like her in so many ways.