Meilí: Choosing Her Name

Meilí

(May-LEE)

Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
Prov. 19:21

Isn't it funny how we tend to have a plan for everything??  Our schedule, our meals, our kids' lives...everything.  And , for us, planning the names of our children was no different!  Before our first son Gabriel was born, we had two names picked out, one for a boy and one for a girl.  We used our boy name and held on to the girl name, thinking we may need it for the next baby.  Well, the next baby came, and the next and the next, and they were all BOYS!  Each time we got pregnant, we pulled out that baby girl name just to put it away again!  For NINE years we held on to this girl name, but never got the chance to use it!  

So, when we first began the adoption process, we just assumed that our daughter was finally going to receive our girl name.  (I wonder if God just laughs at our attempts to run the show!!)  In planning our announcement to our family that we were expecting again (through adoption), we wanted to give each member of our family a painting of her name written in Chinese characters. 

It was when we started planning the details, trying to find someone to do the artwork for us, deciding exactly what we wanted everything to look like, that I began to feel hesitant about her name.  God began speaking to my heart, whispering that He had another name for her. 

Of course, names are a BIG deal to us, so when I felt God speaking to my heart, I was unsure whether I really wanted to begin the process of name-picking again.  I told Tollie what I was feeling, and he was just as unsure as I was!  It was like doing a name-change on one of our kids. 

Nevertheless, we began to pray and to search for the name He had for her.  We searched American names;  we search Chinese names (which can be difficult when you can't speak the language AT ALL!).  Finally, one day, Tollie called from work and asked me to check on the Chinese translation for two words.  The first word was rainbow, and , if you have read our blog, you know how significant rainbows are to us. When we couldn't even repeat the translation of rainbow, we decided that maybe that wasn't the one.  Then he asked me to look up the word beautiful.  The translation came back "Meilí" (May-LEE). 

We loved it -  for lots of reasons.  First of all because it sounded beautiful (and we could pronounce it!).  And, secondly, because it was MY NAME!!!  My Chinese students gave me a Chinese name when I was in China - Wang Fu Mei -- Mei being my first name.  Mei and Meilí -they are the same word in Chinese.  Talk about a WOW moment.  We realized that God was giving her my name.  This precious little girl who has been in my heart for eleven years was going to have my name.  This was His gift to me- my gift to her.  She will have part of me through my name. 

Sometimes, we plan and organize and decide how things should be, and that is okay, but most of the time, our aim is too low.  God has such good plans for us, and He is able to do so much more than we can ask or imagine.  Our plans are fine, but His word tells us this:

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21

God purposed even before time began that she would be our daughter and that her name would be my own - Mei, given to me by my Chinese students, and, Brooke, given to me by my parents.   His ways are so much higher than our ways, and I am so thankful. 

God has allowed me to give her my name -- 

And isn't it just beautiful!!

Meilí Brooke Gosnell