I am grateful for my children.
(I Love this picture taken by Andi's friend, Leslie)
At 12:01 am on November 22, 1978 I gave birth to my first child, a daughter, and named her Andrea Mae. Her first name came from a little girl I babysat when I was 13 yr old, I had never heard that name before and I loved it so much that I vowed to give it to my first daughter. Her middle name, Mae, is after her great Aunt Mae on her father's side of the family. Andi, as her friends call her, is a mother of 2 children 5 and under. She has grown to be a very godly woman. She has taken on the role of "homeschooling mom" this year with 5 yr old Audrey and 3 yr old Elliot is right there with them.
(Amanda and her Grandma Taffy - I love this)
On Monday, May 25, 1981 at 6:24am Amanda Irene took her first breath of life. Her first name is after her great great grandmother, Amanda Norma. I remember so clearly the day when I told Grandma what we were going to name this baby (those says most parents didn't get the opportunity to find out the gender before birth). She said quite firmly, "what do you want to name your baby that for?" You see, she had always gone by her middle name, Norma. I told her, "because it is a beautiful name, Grandma" to which she just shook her head. Irene is from her great grandmother. Amanda has always been an individual, something I have really grown to admire about her. She has a God-given gift of mercy, which anyone who really knows her can tell you. She acutally was given an award at church when she was around 6 yr old that recognized that gift back then. The teacher stood before the church and told of a time in class where there was another little girl who had a horrible case of scoriasis, so bad that the skin on her hands would crack which made it very difficult to use scissors to cut out a project. She said that Amanda put her project aside and helped that little girl all evening without being asked. Amanda has been blessed with 3 children 9 yr and younger.
Both of my daughters are very talented and creative women - a legacy passed down from several generations, on both sides of the family.
(Caleb hates to have his picture taken so this is his son, Christian)
Caleb Allen came into this world on Sunday, October 3, 1982 at 10:16 pm. It is funny, I never really wanted a boy....I hated changing boys diapers in the church nursery, and I had never had brothers, so....well, God changed my heart SO MUCH that a few weeks before he was born I told a friend, "I don't know what I am going to do if we have a girl - I really want a boy!!" Caleb's name was not as easily settled on as his sisters' were. His father was already a Junior, and we really wanted our son to have his own identiy. One Sunday morning, two weeks before Caleb was due, we were sitting in church listening to the pastor give a sermon about Caleb and Joshua....his father and I looked at each other and one of us said, "what about naming a son Caleb?" and it was settled right there. Caleb's middle name is a family name passed from grandpa to son to our son. Boys are a different breed, that is for sure; when Caleb was 3 yr old he would climb up the back of his sisters' bunkbed and I would freak out! Finally one day God just whispered "peace" to me. I prayed then, "Lord, you know that I cannot watch him every second of the day, please set your angels around him." Now that doesn't say that he never had an accident while growing up, but at least not while climbing on the beds. Caleb is extrememly intelligent, and has a sensitive heart - when it all really matters. I remember vividly the day he clearly displayed this, it was the day my father died, which was also Caleb's 15th birthday. We'd gone up to the hospital to visit him and it was while we were there that Dad passed away. Instead of retreating out to the hallway he wrapped his arms around his grandma, my sister, and I and let us cry. Then the diplomatic/organizing side of him showed through when he and I cleared the room of all of Dad's belongings. Caleb is a stubborn soul, something that both sides of his family display! Caleb has been blessed with one child, a son.
Thank you God for awesome children, who love Jesus, are great parents, and whom I can also call my friends.
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