Our Little Record Setter

Well, our little Owen has set a new record for our family! With Isaac born at 29 weeks, and Abigail and Elijah both coming at 36 weeks and a few days, Owen has now become my longest pregnancy, since I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow. My check-up today went fine, with no further changes. Dr. R commented on my swelling being severe, but was also relieved that my blood pressure was still fine. I did mention the irregular heartbeat I've had off and on for a while. These last few episodes have been shorter, but are still really uncomfortable. He said that really, they are not totally unusual though I've never had it happen before and unless other symptoms occur with them, I don't need to be concerned. I assumed so, but James was relieved to hear that.

I won't go back until next Friday, so it'll be another week and a half till I see Dr. C. It looks like our little buddy may hang out for a while still, and since that is best for him, I sure can't complain. We have now almost made it through another of James' work weeks, so that's great too. Thursday night we have circus tickets that I won on the radio last month, and I'd thought I probably wouldn't get to go with the family, but now we're planning on my joining everyone, so I'm very excited about that. There is still plenty to look forward to, and do, with our family of 5 until Owen arrives, so we are going to enjoy these final days and weeks before things change. We're trusting in God's timing, and are content He knows what is best.

In church Sunday, as we are studying through the Ten Commandments and focused on the third one, it was so neat to hear our Pastor Ken talk about the significance of names, and explaining more about what it means to take the name of the Lord in vain. There was a lot to the sermon, but a part that was extra meaningful to me was how important the meaning of names are. For example, God's using the name "I Am" was one thing covered, and how that shows his eternality and constant state of existence. Anyway, James and I have always put a lot of thought into our children's names, and there was even more discussion and prayer about Owen's name because of several factors. When we mutually decided that his middle name should be Thomas, we knew that was right, but it was a long road getting there. There are several men named Thomas in our families, and while James' dad, and my Mom's stepfather/my Grandpa, are two good examples of the name, all do not necessarily have positive connotations. We struggled over whether we were putting too much weight into the meaning, or if it was really just not that big of a deal. Finally, James wisely said he felt that perhaps we should focus on the men with that name in our lives, who were good examples of fatherhood, integrity, and faithfulness, and pray that Owen Thomas would follow in their footsteps. It just made sense then, and we peacefully decided that was right.

So, Pop and Granny's 56th anniversary was Sunday, and we invited Granny and James' brother to join us for church and spend some time with us, knowing it was going to be a sad day for Granny, missing Pop this year. It was really meaningful for many reasons, and pondering how God has given us a legacy to carry on in our son, through his late grandfather's (and my grandfather's) name was really special. I'm just so grateful for how He works in the details and encourages us. I know no detail is beyond Him or His plan, but just love it when "little" things like this affirm and remind us of that fact!