A Bundle of Joy!

Today is Veterans Day and I would personally like to thank all of those who have unselfishly given of themselves in the service of our country.  May the Lord continue to richly bless you and yours in the years ahead!

Today is also very important to me, as it is our oldest daughter’s birthday.  I can clearly remember that late afternoon walk that my very pregnant wife and I took only a few days before the calculated due date of our second child.  Although we had carefully investigated and decided upon both a male and female name for the child, as we did not know what the final outcome would be, we were both tending to feel like we were going to have another boy… until that fateful day!  As we walked past our elderly next door neighbor’s house late on that chilly November afternoon, I suddenly sensed a change inside of me.  I paused for a moment, took my wife’s hands in mine, looked into her sweet brown eyes and softly said, “What if we have a girl?”  She simply returned my heart-felt gaze and said, “That would be great!”

The name that we had originally chosen for this child, if it was to be a girl, was Rebekah Kaye.  We had a friend at the time who had the cutest little girl whose name was Rebekah, and my wife’s middle name is Kaye.  It just had a neat ring to it!  But as soon as our eyes met on the sidewalk during that walk, we both knew that that wasn’t to be her name.  We quickly were led to the name of Jamie Joy as I had grown up in my family with the nickname of Jamie and both my wife and I really liked the name.  It was also an usual name for a girl at that time.  The second name was easy because after our experience on that walk, we knew that this child would bring great joy to all that she came in contact with.

So on November 11, 1982 our little bundle of joy, Jamie Joy, came into this world.  Jamie was all girl from the very beginning.  There was never any tom-boy stuff in her (unlike her mother).  She loved her dresses, playing the heroine in their make-believe world on the frontier with her older brother, and loved to dance in ballet.  It was kind of funny to see the subtle differences between Jamie and our youngest daughter in their approaches to ballet.  While Jamie may not have had the driving passion and striving for the exacting technique that JoAnna has (at 22, she currently takes private lessons with the desire to teach), she definitely had the “Stage Presence!”  I think it was all part of that “joy” that we knew she would (and still does) carry with her. 

I can vividly recall the ballet performance of Peter Pan that Jamie participated in when she was in high school.  While she did not get the lead role of Peter, she did play Captain Hook.  And to say the least, she stole the show with her depiction of the Disney cartoon movie’s bumbling character.  Her slinking on and off the stage, purposeful rendition of tripping over people and things (all while dancing) and her humorous hand and body motions had the entire audience in stitches!

Jamie has since married and now lives with her wonderful husband David in North Carolina.  She had been my rock to lean one when everything came to light concerning my wife’s health.  She and David where residing in Stockton, California at the time and were only a few hours away if I needed her.  When my wife had her initial seizure, Jamie was the first family member that I called.  She immediately took charge of calling everyone else and then headed to Santa Rosa.  When she announced David’s terrific new engineering position with Cisco and their impending move east, I was both excited (because of ALL the hard work they had put in to get to this place in life) and shocked at the same time as my rock would be moving about 3000 miles away!

Well, thanks to the modern technology of cell phones, texting, email and Skype, it is almost like they never left!  She is still my rock and is available for me to talk with at anytime.  In fact, I use Jamie as my sounding board for all my outrageous Children’ Church ideas.  She was one of my best Lead Teachers before she married and moved away, and as I said, has always had a flare and love for drama.

Happy 29^th Birthday, Honey!  And may your spreading of the “joy of the Lord” (Nehemiah 8:10, King James Version) not only be your strength, but continue to be the blessing of God to all that you come in contact with!  WE LOVE YOU!

Say everyone, have a GREAT weekend, and if there is someone special in your life, give them a call, or send them a text or email and let them know how special they are to you!  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself…  “What (or WHO) am I expecting (to bless) today?”