Today, Ken and I went for our second round of vaccines. We each received three vaccines, one of which was the dreaded yellow fever vaccine. You know it’s going to hurt when the nurse specifically told each of us before she even started to give it to us that we must not pull away while receiving the vaccine. Funny, she had never mentioned that with the others. But there was good reason for the instructions for the yellow fever vaccine, although the others weren’t spectacular either.

And, as usual, I feel crummy after the vaccinations. The wheezing started while I was still in the office, and now my throat is raw, my head feels like it’s going to explode, and I feel generally yucky. I’m know I’m mildly allergic to some preservatives in injections, but we’ve never isolated which ones because I’ve never had a full-blown anaphylactic reaction. An allergic reaction is definitely better than yellow fever. Or polio. Or meningitis. Or hepatitis. Or typhoid. So it’s worth the risk, as long as my epi-pen is handy.

But now the worst of the shots is over, and I just have to go back for one booster in February, to confer lifetime immunity. There’s a good chance we’ll even travel before then. We actually have been so thoroughly vaccinated now, we are good to travel just about anywhere, except rural areas of Asia during Japanese encephalitis transmission season.

But our hearts are set on Kinshasa, and every needle stick, aching arm, low-grade fever is worth it to bring our kids home!

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What in the world should we name our children? Or should we name them at all? That is the great name debate in our household.

When we received our referral information in August, we received not only pictures, but names and medical information on the children. They had both African names, and English names: Rose and Emmanuel. Of course, we’re a bit confused. Are they called by their African names (which we don’t know how to pronounce) or by their English names? Have they just begun to be called by their English names, or are the names a sort of pseudonym for us to use when we communicate about them with our agency?

So, we’ve faced a quandary. What should we call them? What will we call them?

We could keep “Rose” and “Emmanuel” as their names. They are perfectly fine names, and they may be already answering to those names even as we speak. They are easy to spell and pronounce, and will fit in with American culture.

We could keep their African names. Although we don’t know how to pronounce them — or even what language they are in, it’s something we could quickly catch on to. If I have indeed figured out how to pronounce Rose’s African name, I actually think it’s kind of cute. And with all of the change that the children are about to go through, keeping their name the same might be one less change. But still, their names will always be difficult to pronounce to Americans, and they won’t know anyone else with similar names.

We could reuse the names that we had intended to use for the twins, who indeed never existed, so the names have never been used. In fact, we were seriously considering this option before we lost the three- and six-year-olds who were originally referred to us. But in all honesty, to attempt to name a third pair of siblings “Palmer” and “Emelia” has lost its appeal, at least for now.

We could rename them entirely. After all, they will be our children, and we have that right. To be honest, I would really love to name our children ourselves. I’ve always loved choosing names, but other than naming our dogs, Buddy and Holly, I’ve not had the chance to choose many names. Oh sure, I’ve made suggestions for names, like when I suggested that my chemistry-teacher friend name her daughter Ethyl Methyl Polly Ester. Somehow, she didn’t go for it. 😉

Why all the name debate? If the children were younger, it wouldn’t be such a quandary. But three and four year olds are old enough to know their names. Orphans have so little to call their own. Quite possibly, the only thing they will come to us with is the clothes on their backs, and their names. To thoughtlessly take away what little they have doesn’t seem right.

So we have decided  . . . not to decide, at least for now. We probably won’t decide until we get to the Democratic Republic of Congo and find out a little bit more about their names and their significance. We’ll probably tuck a naming book into our luggage as we travel. For now, we’ll probably still refer to them as “Rose” and “Emmanuel,” since that seems a bit more personal than “the boy” and “the girl,” even though I really don’t necessarily want those names to “stick.”

So at least the foreseeable future, the great name debate will continue. What in the world should we name our children? Or should we name them at all? Only time will tell.

Six weeks ago, we needed a miracle. We needed $13,000 within 90 days for our referral for a sibling pair from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and we didn’t have it. We also needed approximately an additional $4000 for other fees as well. We needed money to rain from heaven, and in fact, it did.

We began to hear from many who told me that God had told them to donate a specific amount to our adoption, and they were doing so out of obedience, out of love for us, and for the plight of these precious children.

As we’ve crunched the numbers, gathered checks, calculated amounts we have received, and funds that our agency received directly, I am excited to announce that our miracle has arrived.

We are paying off our $13,000 referral fee and our $1000 post-placement deposit fee  TOMORROW.  God didn’t even need 90 days. In half that time, through the generosity of His saints, we are paying the fees to be able to rescue this 3-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy. We stepped out in faith, not knowing how the miracle would happen, but many of you stepped out in faith right along side us.

Thank you for travelling this journey with us. Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for your prayers and kind words.

And thank you sweet Lord for our miracle!

We hope to be able to pay off the final $2300 agency fee within the next couple of weeks, and the remainder of our vaccinations when we get them next week. We will then be transitioning to raising funds for travel expenses. We’re estimating at least $6000 for flights alone for all four of us, but it is difficult to predict airline fares, especially if we need to travel with little notice. We are planning on saving money by staying at a convent in Kinshasa, rather than a hotel, which will also provide us with economical meals as well. We’ve already paid over $21,000 of the expected $28,000 total, and it looks like total expenses will be closer to $30,000.

We know that we still have a way to go to raise the funds that we need by the time we travel, but it seems small in comparison to $13,000 in 90 days! The bulk of the “ransom” has been paid!