When we first started the adoption I loved the name Blair. I always told Brian I wanted to name our future daughter Blair. He always said we will wait and see if the name fits her when we see her. When we were finally matched I thought she looked like a Blair. So, we went with Blair. Of course we wanted to keep part of her Chinese name, Hu Wu Lei, so we chose Lei. In her Referral it stated that they named her Hu because she was born in the year of the tiger. Wu means courage. Lei means flower bud. We really wanted to include a name from our family however the choices were not...shall we say... suitable. So then we decided that a Christian name would mean even more to us. Since this whole journey was about relying on our faith, we decided the name Faith would be perfect. Blair Lei Faith Sewell. Once we began referring to her as Blair I felt that we had not chosen the right name. So I prayed about it and talked to Brian. Tuesday night I had decided that I wanted to name her Faith Lei. He said that was good with him and that he liked the name. Well, the next morning I was a little unsure because I starting thinking about how it may confuse the boys. So I hastily prayed, "God you probably don't care about her name but just let me have peace with Blair or let me know that we need to change her name to Faith. Amen." Brian is a deacon at our church and as part of his duty he is on a rotation for monthly hospital visitations for church members. So after he did his usual visitation on Wednesday he called me on his way back to work. "You will never guess the name of the lady I visited today...her name is Faith." Well, ok, there is our sign! Who can argue with that? Not me!
When we first started the adoption we began receiving donations. We decided to give each person a cross made by my close friend, Dedra Adams, as a thank you and as a way to 'give back'. Dedra had been making and selling hand-made clay custom cross ornaments last year during Christmas. Her proceeds are given to The Bana Project, which helps to buy food and clothes for over 2,000 orphans in Africa. With the help of other close friends, we designed the below cross for our adoption. The Chinese symbol is Faith! On the back John 14:18, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." I forgot that we had put Faith on the crosses until after using the name for her middle name.

It is amazing how through out this journey He has walked us every step of the way, even through what we think of as small details. This week I have been REAL anxious to get our Letter of Approval. My mind has wandered and started doubting that we would ever meet Hu Wu Lei and bring her home as our daughter. At this time in the wait I needed to be reassured that this adoption will happen. I am so thankful for this reminder. This verse has brought me comfort through out this week. "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you." Deuteronomy 31:8