Evian's name

Each day we're doing a little bit to get ready...travel visa applications, wiring money to Evian's orphanage, getting baby clothes out of storage. This last phase of our "wait" feels both short (especially relative to the 4 1/5 years that have gone by) yet long. We're currently waiting to find out our travel dates. We will definitely let you know exactly when we'll be traveling.

In the mean time, we'll share bits of our adoption story with you. Today I'll explain the significance of Evian's name. First, you probably knew that an "E" name was coming. We named Elianna after Anna, the worshiping widow in Luke 2 who gave thanks to God when baby Jesus was presented at the temple. Elianna means God has answered us. Ember's name means fire. Since her middle name is Faith, our prayer for her is that she would have faith in God that is on fire.

Evian's Chinese name is Song Zi Lan. We chose to keep her given surname, Song, as her middle name. The English word song is such a picture of joy, gladness, beauty, and worship. Evian (or Evie for short) means water or life. Over these past few years, this adoption journey has at times felt like a wandering in the wilderness. Like the title of a favorite devotional, in times like that, the Lord provided "Streams in the Desert".

His Word has given me so much refreshment during this long adoption journey. It seemed like God developed this theme by giving me verse after verse on this very topic. I started a list in the front of my Bible. Later I titled the list "Evian". The list of verses continues to grow and Evian's name has become reality...me being refreshed by the Lord, and Evian Song Zimmerman, the baby girl in China waiting for her family to bring her home.

Isaiah 32:1-2 "A King will reign in righteousness...like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land."

Enjoying Jesus' shelter, streams of water, and shade,

Di