Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Oh boy! We have a name!

I got the call as I sat in carpool line on April 15th. The birth mom said "I choose Jenny, Aidan and Ella Mae to raise my baby". Shock. Tears. Joy.

The kids hopped in the car before the reality had even set in. Ella Mae opened the door and I screamed at her "She chose us! The birth mom chose US! We are getting a baby!!!!" She immediately started to happy cry. I love that she does that. Aidan was in shock and squealing with happiness.

Before we even got home, Ella Mae was staring out the window and said "we should name him Josiah". "Where did that name come from?" was my response. It was random. She said "I don't know....I think there is a kid at my school named Josiah".

The first thing I do with baby names is think of what sort of crazy nicknames kids could come up with at school to terrorize my child. I don't know why I do that...........

Josiah
Joe
Siah
Si
Jojo

Jojo.....the memories came back like a flood......and then God made it clear why this would be his name. 


This is a picture of my sweet friend Deb {the one I went to Africa with} holding Jojo. Jojo had Down syndrome and he was being cared for by our friends at Ekisa {the orphanage for children with special needs that Deb and I visited in December}. Unfortunately for us here on earth, Jesus took Jojo home to be with Him last year. {you can read a little tribute to Jojo here}.

I remember hearing about him. I remember wishing for a family for him. But, sometimes things just don't work out how we think they should on this earth.....and we must TRUST that God's plan is better than ours! 


So, in honor of Jojo, 
and so many like him 
who never had the chance 
to be in a family here on this earth, 
we will be naming our baby 
Josiah Harrison Clark....
and we will call him Jojo!


Josiah had already been agreed upon by the kids and I when I found out that the literal translation from the Hebrew is "Yahweh supports" or "Yahweh heals". Wow. I needed that affirmation! 

Harrison was my grandfathers middle name. I never had the opportunity to meet him because Jesus took him home when my mom was young. BUT, he and my grandmother CHOSE my mom. They adopted her. So we will honor them in this way.....amazing how things come full circle!

We have been so blessed already on this journey! There are a few random items that we still need but more than anything we need:

1. Prayers
2. Funds

As I have said before, I have NO DOUBT that GOD will provide every single dime we need to bring this little guy home. We would be honored if you would become part of our little family in this way! We have already raised almost 1/4 of the money we need and every little bit helps!!

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to our adoption fund, we would be honored. Click here to go directly to paypal {if for some reason the link doesn't work, go to projecthopeful.org and click "matched families" under the "adopt" dropdown menu}. You can also make a check out to Project HOPEFUL and mail it to me at 6166 Eagle Point Circle Birmingham, AL  35242.

Blessings!

jennymo, Aidan and Ella Mae...and soon to be Jojo : - )


2 comments:

  1. What a wonderful blessing. I remember reading the story of Josiah in the Bible and thinking how cool that name would be for a boy... I had no kids and was past (or so I thought) that time. At age 50, God gave me the calling to adopt... a boy.... from Africa.... his name would be Josiah. I have been mom to Naomi & Josiah for 5 wonderful years - they are now 14 and 15 years old. May your life be enormously blessed by YOUR Josiah! <3

    ReplyDelete
  2. I feel like most blog comments start with "you dont' know me but i found your blog..." which i love. so you don't know me. but i found your blog. and although i'm 31 and single, i have a huge heart for both adoption and downs. i'm praying for you and am so excited to be able to follow your journey! (and i'm also really excited about my new noonday necklace that will remind me to pray for you and your sweet fam when i wear it!)

    anna
    anna.cordes@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete