Gabriel's Name

After writing Malia's adoption story, I realized I would like to share with my friends and family some of the feelings I wrote down during Gabe's adoption.

This was written on 11/10/2006:

Gabe is so so wonderful. More than we could have ever asked for in a baby. When I read these first few chapters of 1Nephi, it really makes me think of family. How wonderful it is that we are entrusted with God's children. I feel so honored to have Gabriel and want to do all I can to raise him in the gospel, to help build his testimony. I know the best way to do that is by example.
I was telling a friend yesterday the story about how we came up with the name Gabriel. Well she asked me if I had written it down, and I realized I hadn't. So, I will do it now.
When we found out we had been chosen to adopt a part native American baby, we were over joyed that the time had come for us to have a child enter our lives. I wanted so badly to find a name that went with his heritage, and searched online for weeks. All of the names Mike and I had previously chosen just did not feel right for him. Well, the name Gabriel came to my mind one day, and I felt strongly that that was supposed to be his name. I like the name, but really had a wonderful feeling that it was the right one for this little baby.
Gabriel's birth father is young, and Mexican/Cuban and catholic. It is known in their culture that blood runs deep. We were blessed that he signed away his rights before finding out that the baby was a boy. He lives with his single mother and siblings, who also have children and no fathers, living there. His mother was so upset that he had signed away his rights to the baby and could not understand why he would be better off somewhere else as that is the only lifestyle she knows. When Alex (Gabriel's birth father) came to visit in the hospital, we told him he was to be named Gabriel. When he returned home and told his mother, she broke down in tears. She expressed to Alex that she had always wanted a grandchild named Gabriel because (being a Catholic) she prayed to the angel Gabriel often and felt especially close to him. She said that because of that, she knew that this was all in the Lord's hands.
It is so wonderful to see how much God loves his children. That he made sure to give me that prompting, if only to help this woman get through this time with the knowledge that it truly was in God's hands. We feel so grateful to have Gabriel in our family.