Thomas Isaac

I have started writing again.  Mostly it is due to the fact I have learned so much from my now 21 month old son.  More than I would have thought, and a lot more than I wanted to.  But most of all he has taught me a lot about how God deals with me/all of us.  But before I get to that, I think you should know a little about Thomas.

Tiffany and I were having trouble conceiving.  Lots of trouble.  We were at the point in our lives where the easy pregnancy methods, and the not so easy methods, and the first few rounds of help from doctors did not work.  It is strange, but the price for in vitro and local adoption are both around $10K.  I do not know about you, but for us that is real money... a LOT of real money.  We decided to start saving and we would decide what to try when as we went.  I know I was burned out from trying to have a baby, and the Dr visits, and the stress, and the waiting, and the stress, and the tests, and the deposits, and did I mention the stress.

Then one day in February Tiff told me that she had taken a test that day and it said she was pregnant.  She took another before dinner cuz I was in disbelief.  Then another after we got home.  Neither of us could believe it.  These little sticks were telling us we were going to have a baby.

After the first shock wore off (I needed an angel telling me, "Do not be afraid...") and other things were taken care of, we had to think of a name.  I had long wanted to name a son Charles Isaac.  My grandfathers were Charles & Claus.  And Isaac for the patriarch of the Bible and Yitzhak Rabin.  I told Tiff I could call him El Cid...  That was the end of that name.  After a long process we agreed on Thomas Isaac Decker.  Thomas the disciple and I got to keep Isaac.  It seemed even more appropriate since we felt a little like Abraham and Sarah, and Thomas never stops giving us laughter.

Occasionally I wonder if we named him backwards...  Do names have any power of the individual...  Thomas was best known for being the doubting disciple.  Do we normally put doubt before laughter.  Is it necessary to have doubt of something before you can laugh with joy in it arrival?  Abraham and Sarah laughed due to their doubt.  Is laughter part of God's plan for breaking through the doubt we have?