It all started over 3 years ago after a trip to China with AIM students ... we came home from that trip and had one of those momentous family discussions at the house at Lakeview Camp.  We decided to rescue a little girl from China.  After this, we had to find another “CH” name to go along with Chelsea and Chandler.  There aren’t very many of those, but we prayed and landed on Chloe.  In fact, at that time we actually had all 5 of our names etched in a brick outside of Trinity Church.  It was a big step of faith -- honestly, there were a few moments when we had some doubts.  That all happened in 2006.

Fast forward to November 2009, when we chose Han Yingya to be our daughter.  A few weeks after that, Kim and I decided to actually decide what the name “Chloe” meant.  It seems a bit backwards, I know, but that’s just the way it happened -- we didn’t think much about the sentimental side, honestly.  We learned that Chloe means, “a new bud on a plant, or a new beginning, a new shoot of a flower”.  To us, it made perfect sense --- this would be a new beginning for her ... God is good and ordered these little decisions.

Go backward to June 18 of 2003.  It was that day that a little baby girl was found on the steps of Zhenjiang Social Welfare Institute in Jiangsu Province of China.  She was abandoned with a note from her birth parents to her future adoptive parents.  She was given the name Han Yingya.

Now -- zoom ahead to April 7, 2010 in Guangzhou.  It was about 2 minutes after leaving the US Consulate’s office and taking an oath from the US Government to provide for Chloe Ying Catron that Kim and I were on the escalator with other families and our Chinese guide, Rebecca.  Out of the blue, Kim asks Rebecca, “Rebecca, what does Chloe’s Chinese name, Yingya, mean.”  She said that the “ying” portion meant “welcome”, and the way the “ya” was written in her name, meant ....  “a new bud or sprout on a flower”!!!

We about fell down the escalator!  The “random” name that was given to her by the Chinese govt. almost 7 years ago (before we even took that trip to China in 2006) had the same meaning as the name that Kim and I would randomly choose just because it began with “CH”.  Can you say divine?  It was yet another miracle in this journey --- Kim’s statement summed it all up, “It’s just another thing that shows that she is THE ONE!”

Tomorrow is packing up day ... not sure if we will blog again from China, but we will keep you posted once we get this “new little bud” home.