Why Vera

June 18, 2010

I have been meaning to write this to you well before today. Honestly, it took me a while to believe that you were really you, until you actually arrived and I met you face to face. You were, and are still, and will continue to be beautiful and treasured to me.

I want you to know why we chose your name. It won’t take you long to realize that your name is not the most common name in school, and I apologize to you now for all the times you will have to re-pronounce it so others know what to call you. I have liked your name for a long time. In fact, my friend Kathleen, from whom I borrowed a book 3 years prior to your birth, sent in the mail a bookmark I had left in that book. On it, your father and I had brainstormed baby names. We were not even expecting your brother at the time, just making good use of our time in an airplane.

Vera was on that list and has stayed on my mental list since then. It means TRUTH. In Slavic languages it means FAITH. After you were born I was having an appointment and the worker helping me was from India. In her language, she said “Vera” means BRAVE. I am of the opinion that it is very difficult for a woman, a girl, to grow up in our culture and believe the truth about who GOD thinks she is – you will be bombarded with so many “requirements” for beauty, for success, for intelligence . . . but only God’s standard, His view of you, is the real TRUTH. And FAITH . . . you will need lots of this too. The enemy is still alive and active and will give you lots of illusions that will cause you to doubt your God, yourself, and the cost of living right and following Him.

Your dad wasn’t sure about naming you Vera, but when I told him these things, he said, “Okay, you sold me.” It is our hope and prayer that you would be marked by these qualities and that the weight of your name would set you apart from this culture and help you find purpose in choosing a better way.

We love you already and enjoy having you in our family.