Celebrating Trinity
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is this Sunday. It reminds us that God exists in perfect relationship: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Distinct, yet completely united in love. While nothing fully compares to the Trinity, I have been reflecting on how certain moments in life give us small glimpses of what connected, self-giving love can look like.
One of those moments for our family was our adoption.
When we started the adoption process, we cared about one thing: adding to our family. We didn’t care about the baby’s color, ethnicity, or medical history, or anything else. We desperately wanted Peyton to have a sibling. Once we met Gina and everything fell into place we began our relationship of getting to know her. One of the things we did was pick a name for the baby with Gina.
We spent that Friday after Thanksgiving trying to agree on a name for our third daughter. Peyton suggested playful options like Optimus Prime and Daphne. When Todd suggested “Trinity,” Gina initially rejected it because of a school rivalry connection. But as we talked through its deeper meaning of the Holy Trinity, the connection between God, Gina, and us, and the fact that she would be our third daughter—it slowly felt more and more fitting. In the end, the name Trinity felt right for all of us.
When Trinity was placed with us, it was impossible not to recognize how deeply relationships shaped her story from the very beginning. There was us, loving and preparing to receive her. There was her Gina loving her enough to make an incredibly difficult and selfless decision. And there was God present through every prayer, every fear, every unknown, gently guiding all of us through a journey none of us could have navigated alone.
What struck me most was that love was not divided between us. It expanded. And it has continued to expand over the years.
Our daughter did not arrive because one love replaced another. She was surrounded by love from every direction. In many ways, that experience challenged the tendency to see relationships as competition or ownership. Instead, it revealed something holier: love can coexist, grow, and unite people in unexpected ways.
And that is exactly why we chose the name Trinity.
Not because we fully understood every mystery of God, but because her story reflected something meaningful about relationship, connection, and love. Her life became a reminder to us that God was present in every part of her story, binding together people through grace, trust, sacrifice, and love.
The Trinity teaches us that love is never meant to be possessive or self-centered. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in perfect unity, constantly pouring love outward. That is what we experienced through adoption too: different people connected through one shared love for a child.
Even now, her name continues to remind us that God often works through relationships. Through people willing to trust Him. Through moments of surrender. Through love that asks us to think beyond ourselves.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity invites us to reflect on a God who is relational at His very core. Maybe that is why relationships matter so deeply to us as human beings. We are created in the image of a God whose love is shared, life-giving, and rooted in communion.
And every time we say our daughter’s name, we are reminded of that Truth.
P.S. Trinity actually went to Florida for part of her Spring Break to spend time with Gina and her family. It was an amazing trip for Trin in that she got quality time with her birth mom but also a dream come true for Gina to spend one on one time with our sweet girl. Below is a picture from Trinity's baptism and from Spring Break.
