Cloudy, with a chance of............

Cloudy. That’s the name that has stuck. What a name, huh? He is my nephew. Today he is three years old.

My sister was working that day in 2005 when she called me. She thought she might be going into labor. She was going to call her doctor when she got off the phone with me. My parents called me a little later and said her water broke at work and she was on the way to the hospital. He was coming two weeks early, which is so unlike his mother, who does not know the word early.

Early caught everyone off guard. She had not planned to stop working yet, so all her appointments had to be rescheduled. I could not get to the hospital , because I had no one to keep the kids. The nursery was not done. The baby clothes had not been washed. Nothing.

He ended up coming by c-section, and I was able to make it to the hospital in time. Red hair, full lips, and blue eyes. He looked just like his mother. He still does. (With a glint of mischief in his eyes from his dad!) But, no name. They still had not picked a name.

There were more surprises to come. A major infection for my sister. Two more surgeries and home health care would follow for weeks. She had to go back into the hospital and the baby stayed with my parents. I would go and help. After that, due to her husband’s work schedule, she and the baby stayed with my parents and we took care of her. It was a long road.

Most of the major events in our lives were surprises to us. We can plan as much as we want, but in the end it is God’s plan that is followed. We will someday know why God planned things the way He did. Now, we have to trust in Him and His ways. “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for your good, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

Psalm 139 is a chapter that is thought of a lot with babies. How God plans us and knits us in our mothers womb. The last verses are what I pray for my nephew on his third birthday. “Search me, God, and know my heart…..lead me in the everlasting way.”

I took my boys to see him the next day. My oldest asked his name. I told him that he did not have one yet. He said, “His name is Cloudy, since it is cloudy outside today.” We started calling him that, and kept calling him that, even after he was given a name. It seems to fit him.

Happy Birthday, Cloudy! We love you!