The Story Behind the Name

My name is Quinnet White, I am the Founder of Gifted5Qts.  Though we are a family of seven, Tavin, Quinnet, Giovanni, Maliyah, Nicca, Onna, and Carrieonna, our small family business is currently employed by myself and my husband doing the IT work.  Hopefully, one day when I have a little more patience, our children will be able to assist.  I’m not there yet 😊. 

It all started 4 years ago, in 2017. My husband and I were headed over to my Mother-in-laws, when all sudden we spotted a little girl walking down the street.   We chatted with her and told her since it was getting late, she needs to return home.  We followed her home to ensure she made it safely, but she was a clever little 6-year-old.  She told us one house but ran into another.

 

We told my Mother-in-law about her, and she informed she sees her all the time around the neighborhood. From that date in September on to her TT affectionately calling her the little girl in the pink boots, we couldn’t get this little girl out of our minds.   In fact, every time my Mother-in-law would see her, she would call us and say, “Y’all little girl is walking up or down the street.”

She stayed on our minds so much that we began to pray how could we be involved in her life.  How can we approach her home and ask can we be her Godparents without looking totally absurd?  Well, we continued to pray until one day we saw her outside playing in the snow. 

 

Time has now passed and now it is late January.  We are coming from church, headed to my Mother-in-law’s house and we have our two nieces with us.  As we are getting out of the car, we see a little girl outside by herself playing in the snow.  We take a closer look and, yes, it’s the little girl in the pink boots.  My husband and I look at each other and think this is perfect, we can invite her over and she can play with the girls. And that is exactly what we did.  We never knew how our lives where about to change.

 

Of course, not without clearing a play date with her mother, we invited her over.  We learned that the little girl in the pink boots was named Maliyah. She was very energetic and comfortable with us.  She didn’t mind asking for what she wanted.  Even asking if her brother could come over.  She was a brave little thing.  A bit too brave for me.  Anywho, her brother, Giovanni, joined us.  They stayed a while.  They sat, talked, laughed, watched TV, played, jumped on furniture, and ate pizza. 

 

By this time, it was going into the evening so we asked her mother if we could meet to have a little chat. We talked about the kids, them being new to the area, and us becoming Maliyah’s Godparents.  The conversation went well, better than I could’ve imagined. I mean…that is what God does when His hands are all over something. We invited them to church for the next Sunday and offered to pick them up. 

 

The week goes by, and we are back on Sunday again.  We have called to pick them up, but we are not getting an answer.  We call a few more times, and then assume they are not going. So now we are moving into the middle of the week.  It is Wednesday and my husband informs that I need to reach out to them because he had a dream, and something was not right.  So, I text the mother, Carrie, and a few minutes later, she calls me crying. 

All I could hear over the phone is her sobbing and saying they just took my kids. “Who, who just took your kids?, I ask.  Do I need to call the police?”  She replies, “No, the state just took them. They pulled my baby out of my arms.” I am now at a lost for words.  I have no idea on what to do, but I feel complete sorry for her. My reply, “What can I do to help you.”  She replies, “Will you get my kids?”

 

We chatted for a few minutes, she informed that she has five children.  Giovanni, the 8yr old oldest and only boy.  Maliyah, the 6yr oldest girl.  Nicca and Onna, the 3yr old twin girls and Carrieonna the 2 yr old baby girl.  She gave me contact information on who to call to start the process of getting the kids and we hung up.   

 

Pause…we had only meet her once.

 

I called my husband at work and told him that he was correct, I just spoke with Carrie, and something was certainly wrong.  I preceded with telling him that the kids were just taken away and that she wants to see if we can take them in. He says okay, “I guess this is what all this was for.”  We hang up and I start to call Carrie again to inform we would do what we could, but then I realized I never told my husband about the other three children.  I call him back and tell him there are a total of five children. Though I cannot see him, I know his mouth is wide open.  He was just as shocked as I was. “Five! Right, Five! Yes, Five.  What are the ages?” I tell him and he asks, “are you okay with that?”  I reply, “I don’t know, but I guess.”  And then the process began.

 

 

To skip a little of this long story…we went through the Kinship Care process. We had visitations to get acquainted with the children and in May of 2018 we were gifted 5 children into our home.  In January of 2019 we became Legal Guardians.  Our process has been challenging yet rewarding. We have experienced love in a way that goes beyond us.  There have been days where we’ve wanted to quit.  We have prayed, cried, vented, screamed, yelled, laughed, shuck our heads, and worked through every challenge so far.  But I wouldn’t be typing this if it was not for Jesus Himself leading and guiding us through it all. It hasn’t been as easy as we thought it would be, but we can’t begin to imagine how difficult it has been for the kids.  Nevertheless, it has been worth every second of growth through love.  We wouldn’t trade the little headaches if we wanted to.

 

We have been blessed with these five cuties we call gifts, but this whole business was created because of homeschooling via virtue learning through the 2020 pandemic. This became Mommy’s physical release for mental sanity.  I pray you have enjoyed reading the story behind the name and we look forward to providing you with your purchased gift of choice. Remember…each day is a gift. We don’t call it the present for nothing. And though you never know what your gift will have inside, It’s planned for you. Unwrap it and hope for the best.  If it’s not what you thought, find the joy within it!