Naming our little newborn was more difficult than it has ever been. Benjamin was difficult but Parker was off the charts. We had a long list of names we loved, but Craig and I both didn't like any of those names in their shortened 'nickname" forms. It took us such a long time to name him. Even my Young Women who came by to give us a "heart attack" gently nudged us on several of the hearts to get it together and name this baby!
After much deliberation we finally decided his name will be Parker Thomas.
Parker after no one, we just really, really liked the name. Although Jordan will tell you he was named after his awesome EFY counsellor Parker Geren from the summer. (We didn't.)
Thomas was a whole other story. It meant so much.
For me . . .
I have an Uncle Tom who I've spent my whole life admiring. He wrote and published a family news letter, (before the age of the Internet) for over a decade. He mailed it out to dozens and dozens of family members all over the country, every week. He sings and plays his guitar to the senior citizens every Sunday at his local senior's home, even when he was busy being a stake president. He reads the Book of Mormon every month. Yep, every month. He writes beautiful poetry about verses in the Book of Mormon, scuba dives, river rafts, dives for golf balls, loves the outdoors, and even knows how to knit. In fact, that is what he gave Craig and I for a wedding gift, a colourful heavy knit blanket.
To this day, it is known as the warmest blanket in the whole house and is asked for by name by our kids "can I have the Uncle Tom blanket?" He takes gentle care of my grandma whom I adore and stands tall as a spiritual giant but lives small as a humble servant of the Lord.
For Craig . . .
Tom, or President Walker is the man who Craig first worked with as Elder Quorum's President when Pres. Walker was Branch President of the YSA branch. He loved President Walker and truly looked up to him in every way. He then worked closely with Tom when Craig was called as Bishop, and finally he spent six very special years serving with Tom Walker in the Vancouver Stake Presidency. I can't count how many times Craig would come home from a Thursday night meeting with Tom and Brent (the other counsellor) and say, "I am so fortunate and so blessed to spend every week working with such incredible men." We cherish the countless experiences we have had with Tom and his wonderful wife Linda.
Naming him Thomas was a no-brainer.
A Little Lesson
Can you really go wrong naming your children? Perhaps not, however over the years I've polled my friends and family only to discover so many people don't love their name. They don't hate it, they're just not really in love with it. I wonder if that has less to do with the name and more to do with how we spend so much of our lives hearing our names attached to something negative. When mom or dad is happy we get called hun or sweetie pie, but we get both of our names when we're about to get in trouble. Even as married couples we are more inclined to use terms of endearment when everything is positive and happy. Mmmmm something to think about.
