What's In a Name? Well, Apparently A Lot More Than You'd Think!

天成

If you've read this blog for more than three minutes (which it would usually take because of my inability to say anything quickly and succinctly), then you will have noticed that I can occasionally be a little over-analytical about things (and apparently I also sarcastically understate things for comic effect!).  One of the forms we had to fill out recently was for Didi's visa to enter the U.S.  On that form, we had to officially state what his official name would officially, legally be... officially.  So, that meant that Josh and I had to make a final decision. I am happy to say that we were able to accomplish that task, but it was no easy feat.... mostly because when it comes to baby names, my severely over-thinking, over-analytical side takes over and runs.

It's been this way with all the kids.  I wanted them to have good, honorable names... with a cool meaning... that also happened to sound good.  Not as simple as it sounds!  I drive myself crazy with this process.  Endless lists of names that I like for five minutes and then can't stand after that, names that sound cool but have useless meanings, names that have awesome meanings, but I would never subject upon my kids... ugh!  I got several very cool suggestions from people, but nothing stuck.  Honestly, it wasn't that I didn't know what I wanted his English name to be. It was the decision about the Chinese part of his name.  Do we keep it all? Do we keep part?  If so, which part?  If, when God adopts us into His family, He gives us a new name, then should we just give Didi a completely new name?  But all the parent training videos say it's important to keep the heritage, and I do like that idea anyway. It's part of who he is.  Do you feel like you're going crazy just reading this?  Well, congratulations! You now have an insight into my brain! Haha!

In the end, after lots of back and forth in my head, and presenting each option to Josh with the preface "OK, for real this time, I think I know for sure what I want his name to be," and Josh smiling at me with that look that says "I thought you had already made your mind up last time we discussed this," all the while knowing that I'd probably change it again, I had another epiphany... a lightbulb moment that settled the whole matter in my head.  So, I am pleased to announce that his name is:

Drumroll, please:

(No, seriously, this took a long time to decide on.  Give me a drumroll while you read. Don't feel silly. I will wait. Just drum on your mousepad for a minute. Thank you.)

His name is Asher James Tiancheng Green!

And of course, now I will spent the next hour telling you why.

Asher: Deuteronomy 33:24 - "Of Asher he said, more blessed than sons is Asher; may he be favored by his brothers, and may he dip his foot in oil."

I have actually always loved this name.  It was momentarily on my list of names for Benjamin, but Josh wasn't crazy about it.  So, it wasn't even on my original list for this child because I figured it'd get shot down.  Then I saw that two second video clip of him from the MBHOH February recap.  I didn't think he was even over at MBHOH at that point.  So, I didn't expect to see his little face in the video. I was just watching to see other cute faces, and was just about knocked out of my seat when I saw his.  But under his face was the name Asher.  Was this a typo? When he was at New Hope, he was named "Hutch." So, why Asher? I came to find out eventually that due to a "clerical error" (we seem to have several of those, all ending in big steps... coincidence? I think not) when he got to MBHOH his paperwork indicated that he needed an English name.  Asher was chosen for him.  In fact, Caleb Chapman (Steven Curtis Chapman's older son) and his wife Julia were the ones who suggested the name.  Years from now, when Caleb's band "Caleb" is super famous and winning a thousand Dove awards, I can tell Didi that that's the one who named him... sort of... now I'm off track again.  But the clincher for me was the meaning of the name.  Asher means "Happy, Blessed."  Perfect!  In every picture we have of him he looks like the happiest kid, and clearly, he is blessed!  I mean, just look at his life so far!  He's been in such amazing care... just held by God and safely brought thus far.  Asher.  Happy.  Blessed.  Perfect name.

Also, and maybe this is a stretch, but the Bible also says that God makes beautiful things from the ashes in our lives (Isaiah 61:3).  Asher, in his short little life, has already experienced great sadness, loss, and mourning.  Lots of ashes, but God, in His great mercy love, has also made such beautiful things come of it already.  It doesn't make his loss any less real or painful, but it's amazing to see what God has accomplished through this little one already, and it's just beginning.

James:  Before I saw that video and the name Asher was brought into consideration, I was looking at his picture and thought "He looks like a James."  So, I went to all the baby name books and websites to see what James means. James means "supplanter."  What does supplanter mean?  Well, you can look up the dictionary meaning, but it's not all that lovely.  So, we're not picking James because of the actual meaning.  Instead, I think it's appropriate to name him James because of the whole book of James.  James 1:27 is a verse used a lot in adoption circles, because it is one place where we are directly told that God wants us to care for orphans.  However, I have said multiple times that Asher is not an orphan.  He's my son.  Yes, he's technically in the custody of the Chinese orphan system right now, but he has always had a mother who loves him and longed to bring him home.  So, it's not specifically because of that verse.  I think that James as a whole summarizes how we as believers are to live.  We are to not just talk about what we believe, but live it as well.  We are to be "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger."  So many wise words from this book.  I won't list them all because this is a long post already, but hey, if you're going to read the Bible, I think James is a little book that packs a lot of punch (maybe also not unlike Asher James, who though he may be small by American growth chart standards, looks like he could pack a punch too... heehee.. I actually don't know how big he is.  It's hard to tell from pictures)!

Tiancheng:   So, his Chinese name given to him was Tian Cheng.  Two separate characters.  Tian, we were told, means "heaven" or "sky," and Cheng means "accomplished."  I went back and forth in my head about this one.  Which name to pick?  All kids from his SWI (social welfare institute [orphanage]) have the same surname, kind of to indicate that they were from there, and many of the kids who were admitted around the time he was also had the first name of Tian.  It led me to question whether this was a name or just a label for the time period he was brought in.  Chinese teacher Liz told me that Cheng was the most personal of his names, and she said that if we kept any, she'd go with that one, but she wouldn't keep any of them anyway.  But, this was his history, right? I thought that keeping both of them was ridiculously long, and thus never entertained the notion of joining them.  But then, with a little inspiration from Mary Beth's book, it did dawn on me to see what it would mean if we smushed them together.  "Heaven accomplished?"  Like, God accomplished all this?  I mean, that sounded good to me because I firmly believe that He has ordained all of this.  I checked it out with the friendly Mandarin-speaking people over at CCAI, and this is what they said Tiancheng means: "Most of the time, Chinese characters in children's names don't have terribly significant meanings. Chinese people usually choose names based on what "sounds good," but, you are one of the lucky ones. Here's the meaning directly from the dictionary:

天成 [tiānchénɡ] verb: "Be wrought as if through the invisible hands of nature." So basically, it means so grand and magnificent that only some force of nature could have brought it about. Pretty cool, right? Best name translation I've heard in a while" 

Yep! sounds good to me! It's a keeper! So, he's one happy, blessed, grand and magnificent force of nature, brought about by God, who will be favored and will hopefully grow in the knowledge of God!... I'm so glad that's out and I can start calling him by his real name! *phew!* You have no idea how hard it's been to talk about him in conversation and then have to stop myself from saying his name only to stick "Didi" in there again! His name is Asher.

So now, I can also show you the quilt piece my grandmother made:

She found the fabric with the vines embroidered on it and thought it looked like a family tree.  She put the names of everyone in our immediate family on this square.  She also made two more with names of extended family members too.  Thanks, Granny, for all the time and work you put into these squares!