A few years ago, as Vero & I were praying for a child - either through pregnancy or adoption placement - I realized that I was having a difficult time praying genericly for “a baby” or “a child.” I asked Vero if we could get a little more specific and talk about potential names, if for no other reason than to help me to pray.As we talked about a name or names (for a boy & for a girl), we had two specific parameters that we valued. The first was trying to find a name that started with “S.” This came from our desire to honor my late grandfather, Steven Whitney Miller. He and I share the same initials - SWM - and the same middle name - “Whitney” - which is not a girl’s name primarily, but was a family name that has been passed down since the Whitney’s came over to America on the Elizabeth in the 1660’s. Because of Veronica’s close relationship to my grandfather and our shared name, we wanted to be able to pass on the initials, which includes passing on a watch that my grandfather gave me from his father that has the “SWM” initials engraved on it.

Our second parameter or criteria was a name that could be spoken fluidly in both Spanish & English without changing the spelling [no Alexander/Alejandro] or that was foreign to one language or the other [like Winston or Quetzal].

This proved a lot easier to find with girls names than for boys names. We were able to generate a list of 4-5 names for each a boy & a girl, all of which supplied catagory #2, but only 1-2 that worked for catagory #1. However, since we weren’t pregnant and hadn’t yet started the adoption process, it was enough to settle on our 2 names to pray for. For a girl, we chose Marta Susanna or Sandra Susanna (I know, 2 “S” names, but it works for us with Whitney). And for the boy… well that has a story that has stuck.

A few months after this name selection exercise, Veronica & I were in Urbana, Illinois, serving on the translation team for InterVarsity’s triannual student missions convention. It was the first night that we were there - to serve. I wasn’t there expecting anything, not child nor words from God about a child.

But as the emcee was giving some announcements (yes, announcements) and an introduction to the conference, God began to speak to me. No, not in audible fashion, but through a clear ‘conversation’ that began to develop in my spirit. The emcee was talking about dedication of missionaries, many of whom are so committed to the spread of the gospel around the world, that they have not only raised their children in a distant land, but often ended up burying their children there due to some disease or hardship.

As he was speaking, my heart began to be pricked about giving over our desire for children to God, as part of our dedication to God’s mission. But the Lord spoke back to me reminders of how he desired children for Veronica. So then I asked , “Then how can we dedicate our yet-to-be-born children to the Lord. That sounds biblical.” As this was happening, I remembered the story of Hannah in the Old Testament. “She dedicated her yet-born child to you, Jesus. And what was his name.

“Samuel.”

As soon as the name came to my mind, I began to weep. For that had been the name on the top of our list months earlier, before we even knew why. In that moment, in my tears of awe, the Lord spoke to me a promise about having a child, a boy, who we would call Samuel. It is probably one of the most powerful interactions with God that I’ve had, maybe other than my conversion and a Lordship commitment that I made to God in college.

Know, I’m not absolutely sure that the child we’ll have will be a boy. But I’m convinced that God was speaking to me about his faithfulness to provide a home to the fatherless. And for that we continue to pray for Samuel or for Susanna. May their first day in our arms come soon.

UPDATE: Her name will be Isabel Susanna Torres McLane