Thursday, February 12, 2009

Happy birthday...

Today is our son’s birthday. When my obstetrician visited me in the hospital (he was playing golf when the baby was born and another doctor I did not know delivered our son), he teased me about naming our boy Abraham. And not just because it was Abraham Lincoln's birthday. My OB was Jewish and his name was Abraham, and he sent me into the giggles when he used the Yiddish word “tuchus” to refer to well, what was going on “down there” when he took a look the next day.

We did not name him Abraham. We had already settled on Nathaniel, which means gift from God.

He truly was a gift – a gift we were not expecting. Sometimes over the years since his birth, I have wondered what God had in mind when He landed this gift in our laps.

I have learned... and learned... and learned... that God’s grace is sufficient. And as long as our son continues to draw a breath, I will go on learning....

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

-Reinhold Niebuhr

3 comments:

Donna. W said...

When I gave birth to my son, my doctor was at some sort of dinner; he thought he had plenty of time because first babies usually take longer to arrive. So my son, too, was delivered by a stranger.

2Diva said...

of all the times to find your blog and get in touch with you, it would be on Nathaniel's birthday.

Aloha cousin Leilani, 'tis I, Michele, Teri's eldest daughter. Mom and I were discussing a book I had just bought "That Book Woman" and it popped into her mind to suggest how much I would love your blog.

I am bookmarking this site and look forward to getting to know you better!

aloha, M

Leilani Schuck Weatherington said...

Michele! I am so pleased to meet you again. The first time I saw you, you were maybe a year old and I have this great picture of you when you were living in Kauai, playing outside in water pouring from the faucet. It's a slide and I no longer have the scanner with the converter to make it into a .jpg. I tried to leave a comment at your blog but the comments feature doesn't seem to be working. Robert Heinlein was one of very favorite authors as kid...