Samuel Vern

It has been a whirlwind of days, weeks and months
leading up to what I am going to share with you today.

It is the story, from the very beginning, of our son Samuel Vern.
Those of you who have followed our family over the past year,
already know the story our sweet Amelia Grace
who went home to heaven July 28, 2010.

On our journey with and without Amelia
we have been blessed to gain new friendships
forged by a common bond
each of us wishes desperately that we did not share;
that bond is the loss of a child.
All of these women/men mean so much to me!
There is one women and child/ren in particular
who have a special place beside us on our journey.

For whatever reasons God had in mind,
He chose for us to find each other.
Jennifer and her husband/family lost their little Eli in 2010.
They too received a terminal diagnosis and chose to carry their son.
Jennifer blogs in honor of her son, which is how we first connected.

From the beginning I felt a strong connection to Jennifer and her son Eli.
Every time I saw or wrote Amelia's name (or my own) I would think of them
as the name Eli is inside the names amELIa and mELIssa.
Silly little connections like these kept popping up,
drawing me closer to this very special mother and son.
Definitely Godwinks my friends!

This past November Jennifer shared with me
the joyous news that they were expecting again.
She emailed me with a very special request.
She wanted to know if we would mind
if they named their daughter Amelia.
We of course had no problem with that,
and were flattered that she would extend such
an extreme courtesy in asking our blessing!
Jennifer's Amelia and Eli will (in part) share a name.
The two also share a due date just one year apart. sigh
(sound familiar anyone?!?!)

Wondering what all of this has to do with our little Samuel?
(oh and yes btw, IT'S A BOY!)
Allow me to explain...

It all started on the week of my birthday (Nov 9). I was in the shower and I started thinking/praying about Jennifer, Eli, our Amelia's. Out of left field it occurs to me - If I were to be pregnant right now (we have a habit of conceiving around my birthday..) that baby would have aprox. the same due date as Amelia Grace (1 year later) just like Jennifer's Amelia and Eli share a due date! Hmmm, I think, maybe we should name our baby Eli- wouldn't that be nice...and then all of a sudden (I swear I am not a crazy women-please believe me!) a firm voice in my head says, "no, his name is Samuel Vern." Ok, I think...that was random! I go about my day (no big deal right?!?!)

Then the following week I am devoting some thought to prayer and I am brought to a verse in 1 Samuel
As I begin to read the text I immediately notice the name Eli and then Samuel. Maybe you are familiar with the story of Hannah? ("For this child, I prayed.") Hannah wanted to have a baby really bad - so badly in fact, that while praying (to conceive a child) in the temple she was mistakenly thought to be drunk by the priest Eli...

 ¹⁷ Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”

 ¹⁸ She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.

 ¹⁹ Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. ²⁰ So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him.”

1 Samuel 1:17-20

As it turns out I was indeed pregnant
with a son.
A son conceived in the days surrounding my birthday
and the previously mentioned 'shower incident.'
A son due on August 4, 2011, precisely one year,
from the day we buried our sweet Amelia Grace.
Amelia's due date was August 2, 2010.
Call me insane, call me what you will,
but if you cannot see God's hand in all of this craziness
I just don't know what to say to you but
GODWINK!!

Still not sold on these Godwinks just yet?
No worries, there is more to tell!!!!
In January, in the midst of all these winks
about the name/gender of our little baby,
I received an email from The Baby Center.

The email detailed the top 100 baby names in 2010.
Of course I quickly scanned the list
to find out where Noah and Amelia's name's ranked.
I found Noah's name first. (#6)

Then I got to Amelia's.(#44)
I just happened to glance over to the
corresponding popular boys name and well...see for yourself.
G-O-D-W-I-N-K.

(click on image to enlarge)

All of this being said,
we feel it would be ridiculous
to attempt to name our son anything other than
the name that was given to him at the time he was conceived,
Samuel Vern.

It is a very special name to us for several reasons (see above) :)
Samuel means "asked of God."
It could not be more perfect.
I cannot tell you how I prayed
for this pregnancy, this child,
before and each day since
we saw a plus sign on Thanksgiving Day.

His middle name, Vern,
is my Grandpa Raabe's first name,
and my father's middle name.
Noah's middle name is Rodney, Tim's father's name,
so it is fitting that our precious Samuel,
carry the name of my father & grandfather.

May God continue to bless and protect this very special gift,
our son,
Samuel Vern Lorang.

So without further adieu,
I am pleased to share with you
a picture of our dear son Sam.