The Highest Honor

Genesis 6
7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. 9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

We knew when we named our Noah that we wanted him to have a Biblical name and a family name. That was the tradition of the Beall side of the family and we wanted to continue it.

We chose the name Noah after the Bible character we all learned about from an early age. He was righteous, blameless among men. And Noah's middle name was after my grandfather who was born in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland in 1898. We absolutely couldn't think of two more incredible and God fearing men than Noah (Bible) and my Papa Eddie.

When Noah was born - after 41.5 weeks of pregnancy and 36 hours of painful, induced labor that resulted in an emergency C-section (I had a high fever and Noah's heart rate had dropped significantly - a very scary situation) - we knew our baby was special.

I learned at 20 weeks that Noah had a clubbed foot, thus we had to go into Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii for monthly ultrasounds of his foot. We SAW that his foot was deformed. Then at 34 weeks, we SAW that Noah had not one, but two clubbed feet. We met with the pediatric orthapedic specialist and had a follow up set up with him once Noah was born. Through the advances of modern medicine, we SAW our boy's deformity. Because of the visual, we were afforded the opportunity to pray for our boy. We prayed day after day, moment after moment that Noah's feet be "righted."

We had an ultrasound at 36 weeks to confirm the deformity and we actually saw Noah's hair floating in the ultrasound. Our tech (who we loved very much; she helped us through some difficult times) said: "That boy looks like he's on fire!" Low and behold, when he entered this world finally, his head was emblazoned with the most incredible red hair.

Thus, we knew from Noah's entrance into this world - and given the strongest of names - we had a "winner" on our hands.

Fast forward three plus years. Noah is in school in Bossier City, Louisiana 2011 and has been since we moved here in 2009. He loves his class, and we do too. As his mom, I can't imagine a better place to have my kid going day after day. One of Noah's precious little class mates is named Bella Paquette. Her mom and dad are Air Force like us. Noah loved Bella very much - he talked about her daily. Bella went to be with Jesus at the end of September (see my previous posts). She was too sick to remain here on earth with us. Bella's mommy is 5 months plus pregnant with her little boy. Bella was able to know that she would have a little brother before she passed away.

I have been in touch with Janelle, her mommy since Bella went to heaven. While we were visiting Aunt Annie and Uncle Todd in Ohio, Noah ran out to their yard to let his balloon go so Bella could play with it in heaven. He talks to her daily, as well as prays for her and her mommy and daddy.

I got an email from her mommy just 2 days ago letting me know some astounding news: per Bella's request, they are naming her little brother (to be born in March 2012) Noah. Her mommy wanted me to know that Bella loved her friend Noah enough that she wanted her little brother to be named after him. I wept when I read that email. It is one thing to live your whole life and then have a building or a baby named after you. It is an entirely different thing altogether to be only THREE and have a child named after you.

To say that I am a proud mama is an understatement.