Coincidences? - A New Grandchild

I traveled to Florida a week ago to be with my son and daughter-in-law while they welcome a newborn son into their family.  I tried to keep up with their energetic three-year-old when they were at the hospital and helped prepare a few freezer meals to leave with them when I am gone.

My son described the tears that filled his eyes the first time he held his infant child and felt a tender bond.  Born a month early by C-section, this child was amazingly healthy and perfectly formed.  The time our son has with his family is limited to a few short weeks.  Soon he will be leaving for military deployment overseas.  His wife's tender feelings are tempered with the resilience of a military wife, who has to prepare to say goodbye, again, to her husband and care for their home and children while he is away.  And his heart and mind is filled with concern for their welfare.

A question has been on my mind all week, "Is it merely coincidence that their son was born in the same hospital my sister-in-law was born at 65 years ago?"  My husband's parents both served in the Navy.  They were both from a small town in Idaho.  After graduating from high school, his mother enlisted in the Navy and became a member of the WAVES.  She taught aerial gunnery during WWII.  Her training was in Pensacola, Florida, after which she was assigned to a base in Jacksonville.  There, her high school friend found her and they were married.  And a year later they had a daughter, born at the Jacksonville Naval Station Hospital.

My son received his basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center north of Chicago.  After graduation from boot camp he received training in Pensacola and then was assigned to Jacksonville Naval Air Station.  His specialty is different than his grandmother's, yet he is following her footsteps.  It is as though there is a very specific path prepared for him to follow.  It is reassuring to me to know that someone is watching out for him and his family.  Their paths will vary where life's changes take them, but in this moment these "coincidences" are more than meaningful.

Could it also be true for all of us?  Is there a plan for each that has been carefully prepared for our protection and learning?  I feel certain of it.

What's in a Name

Recently, we welcomed a new baby granddaughter into our family.  I was invited to stay at my son's home, and help for the first few days after she was brought home from the hospital.  It is the only time in my life when I look forward to going without sleep, so that I can hold a new infant.  Not only am I enjoying this tiny child, I also enjoy observing the transformation and transition of her parents, as they become absorbed by the well being of their tiny infant.

After a couple of days of consideration, they shared with us the name they have chosen for her.  My son wrote the following:

For many reasons, we have decided to name our daughter  _______. A visit we made to (my wife's) great-grandmother, _______, just a few days before she passed away last summer is one reason. I was struck by a man there, who was himself quite old - one of the missionaries who had served as a missionary under her and her husband. For much of the time we were there, he sat in front of her in silence while the people around him interacted. The love he had for her was evident - as was the legacy of goodness this woman was leaving behind - in the fact that here, near the end of their lives, they maintained an association that began in their youths. 

It was profound to me that one room represented five generations of women, from (my wife's) great-grandmother to the baby (my wife) carried - that (my wife), herself was a product of this woman's body and life and that our daughter was one more link in that chain preparing to enter the world as this old woman was preparing to leave.

I felt strongly as we drove home that _______ is the name we should give our daughter, and that impression has returned many times. (My wife) has expressed that she loves the name because of many associations she has with it - both through (her) family and from her friend (by the same name), who has been a remarkable friend to (her) and to us as a newly married couple. 

Through the name we give her, we want to teach our daughter strength - how to experience hardship, even tragedy, and respond with faith and power. We want to convey to her that the women from whom she has descended leave a legacy of goodness. We want to teach her that what we want most for her is emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and social independence like _______(a Biblical name) of old.

Thank you all for the support you offer (my wife) and me. We are very happy to welcome this daughter and begin teaching her the principles we have been so blessed to know.

Life - Poem

Life

One son kneels to bless broken bread and tiny cups of water
Walking toward me, another son, the sacred food he offers
I gratefully drink and slowly partake of the emblems and remember

The Savior’s life, given, that I might live and thirst again, never

Delivering life's saving ordinance into my waiting hands
The Lord entrusts imperfect youth, who do not fully understand
The meaning of these symbols and the power that they hold

In saving my rebellious, stubborn spirit, and ever repentant soul

Life of my Spirit enabled, through Christ’s priesthood ordinance

Performed by my own sons, become young men at my next glance

Each of us giving life for life, as the Lord’s called and humble stewards

Through me they came from Heaven’s throne, and through them we travel homeward

Janice Harten

January 20, 2002
Copyright © 2012 Janice Harten.  All rights reserved.

Monticello Utah Temple - Growth

Leaving Denver, we traveled seven hours through some of the world's most awesome creations, and finally arrived at the Monticello Temple.  Monticello is located just an hour south of Moab Utah, one of the most visited sites of outdoor enthusiasts.   The red mountains reminded me of a question one of our sons asked, many years ago, while driving to a dinosaur bone quarry near Vernal, "Is that dinosaur blood?"

The Monticello Temple was the first of all the small temples built.  However, within a very short time they realized it was too small to accomodate all those who wanted to attend, and it was expanded.  I have heard many times, that the greatest challenge the church faces is accommodating for it's growth.  That's a good problem to have.

The warmth inside the temple was a welcome reprieve from the desert cold.  At the end of our visit, we lingered in the Celestial Room with our son, and quietly discussed questions and impressions.  I realize that even after these many years, I have everything to learn.  I feel like an infant, struggling to take my first steps.

As we prepared to leave, one of the temple presidency took a moment to visit with our son.  He soon discovered that our son knew his grandson, and they had sung in a high school choir together, a few years ago and many miles away.  As I often say, "You just have to be nice to everyone!  You never know if you might be related, or acquainted somehow."