Dear Nate Firstly let me tell you a secret. At this point, i'm still not sure if we're gonna call you Nate which is short for Nathanael. Please forgive dad and I for we are partly indecisive and also, we have heard millions of stories (ok maybe like 20 stories) of people who name their child before his/her birthday and when they finally get to see baby face-to-face, they realise that the name they chose initially just wasn't very fitting. I feel that all that emotional attachment is uneccessary.
How did we end up with Nathanael?
Well, i was inspired by how much trust and faith Nathanael had as a person in which you will read about below, taken from the New American Standered Bible (NASB) which i'm using for my bible study.
I believe that it is hard to teach someone to Trust; but it is easy to learn how to be discerning as you grow. I've always prayed that you grow to be a boy/man that trusts people, and loves people and gives people the benefit of the doubt as Jesus always did.
Nathanael : disciple of Jesus.
John 1:45
Philip found Nathanael and said to him. " We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote - Jesus of Nezereth, the son of Joseph."
Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nezereth?" Philip said to him " Come and see."
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"
Nathanael said to Him, " How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."
Nathanael answered Him "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said ot him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these."
And He said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
I also would like you to understand that I'm not naming you after a biblical character because its fashionable but i have been and always will be inspired by people who lived during these biblical times.
So.
Just a short note to you in case you ever hear of your father's friends joking about it.
Yes. Dad loves the name THEODORE - which i almost violently objected too.
Think: Alvin and the Chipmunks and another name : Connelius - of which i had the same reactions - much worse actually, coupled with non-stop laughter.
And if you find out later that we decided to name you Ah beng or Ah leng or Ah-something, please note that i strongly am/was for the name Nathanael till i saw your face.
love,
mommee.
3 comments:
I'd like to claim partial credit for Nate too :) Remember, we had this conversation in August at NYDC, where you were saying Nathanael, with Nat being the short form? And I said Nate? :) As in Nate (character in "Six Feet Under", and the series of books that my kiddos in school love, "Nate The Great") Hee...
Yes Yes of course. Aunty Lesley gets credit on that. Of course i remember! But didn't dare to be too firm on the name yet. Cause i still gotta see his face. But if he does eventually become a nate, you can do whatever you want to baptise him with it.. be it tap him on the head with a bear or something and recite some "you shall henceforth be known as Nate" kind of thing.
ah beng sounds ok wat...=P
Post a Comment