Heart Thoughts from Helen

January Birthday Thoughts

My mother loves to tell the story of each of our births, mine and my two siblings. Each year she reminisces of the days leading up to and following. Our births are special to her and she makes them special to us.

Luke Speir Lynn, David Gary Lynn, Briana Faith Lynn. What do these names have in common other than their last name? Their birthdays all come in January. Their lineage is important. Remembering their birth and retelling the story may seem redundant to some but it’s good for me and it seems to strike a chord for them. God deems our heritage as important.
David Gary, our first born son, breathed his first breath at Allen Bennett Hospital in Greer, forty-one years ago. My eyes weren’t big enough to behold that precious little boy of seven pounds, nine ounces. Cotton top, squished in face, perfect! David loves adventure, was an avid football player, now just as ardent a fan. David loves a challenge and is goal oriented. He’s also a very good writer. As a newborn, he would lie on his daddy’s chest on the couch while his daddy sang to him…………………the Greer High Alma Mater and HOME ON THE RANGE.

Luke Speir, third son of David, born in Lancaster, SC, nine years ago the day before his daddy’s birthday. As soon as we got “the call”, we traveled in the darkness of early morning from McCormick to the hospital there. As we stood with baited breath outside the door, I finally heard the doctor say, “Ah, this one’s going to be a linebacker”. Cotton top, broad shouldered, stocky baby boy. He loves sports and taught me all about who the nominees for the Heisman Trophy were this year as we watched the WHOLE program on television. Right now he plays church basketball and is an enthusiastic hustler on the court, still built like a line backer and so much like his Poppy, it’s scary. He bonded on his daddy’s chest also as a baby. I didn’t hear his daddy sing to him.

Briana Faith, fourth (third daughter) of our youngest son, born in Juneau, Alaska, seven years ago. I arrived the day before her home birth. It was an experience I’ll never forget. Midwives, parents, grandparents gathered in that small Alaskan apartment in the middle of the night for the birth of this brown haired, olive skinned baby girl. “Baby Fafe” is what her small siblings dubbed her. Now she’s known as Briana. I still like Baby Fafe, myself. Her brown eyes light up when I tell her story. She loves to read and write and play dress-up. Briana is the natural nurturer and loves baby dolls. Her daddy bonded with her on his chest and still sings to her, but it’s not the Greer High Alma Mater.

Why is all this important? It is to me and as I read Scripture, the Lord God Almighty recorded the genealogy of so many Biblical characters, it must be important to him. We rush through the reading of them in the Bible, but our own heritage has become a huge business. History…, do we learn from our ancestors? Oh yes, we learn-the good, the bad and the ugly. Will we benefit from it? When I look at David and Luke and Briana, my smile broadens and I thank God for their earthly heritage but I thank God especially for their godly heritage and that they have been and are being raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Our youngest son, Todd, asked me last week what I had prayed for them as they were growing up. “I prayed a hedge around you, Son. I prayed that you would marry a godly woman” Today, I pray they all will be protected from the world, the flesh and the devil.

Happy Birthday David Gary, Luke Speir and Briana Faith. Jesus loves you, this I know; for the Bible tells me so.