ON this day in 2020, we welcomed a daughter!
For someone who has no biological sister, I was excited beyond words!
It’s not as if I did not know what to expect. Afterall, scans showed we were expecting a daughter but seeing the result of the scan in flesh and blood made me emotional.
Labour was smooth and swift, with no complications.
A week later, we gave her many names with Serena being the most preferred.
There is a story behind nearly every name we answer as individuals. As my “amazing bundle of goodness” clocks two years of age today, I’ll share a bit of why she is so named.
As a teenage sports enthusiast, I first heard the name Serena when the Williams sisters were just starting out in the late 90s. I saw both sisters take the world of Tennis by storm winning title after title: Grand Slams, ATP events, the Olympics and everything winnable.
Venus and Serena enjoyed longevity in the circuit and as the elder sister gradually faded, Serena stayed relevant. Indeed, she has remained that way until recently that age seems to be catching up with her.
With the way Serena Williams made world tennis her own. I naturally started rooting for her, and promised to name my daughter after the serial winner. If you have ever ask me “why give your daughter a foreign name?”, now you know she is named after a serial winner, a serial champion.
However you don’t know it all yet.
Prior to Serena’s birth in 2020, I was in the middle of a terrible storm that ravaged my business and left me struggling badly.
I prayed for a miracle and God came through as the year 2019 was ending. The major part of my business and financial woes got settled. Indeed, this is a long story that is not meant for this post.
With my wife, we always check for the meaning of any name we are to give our child. As we decided on the name, we decided to know the actual meaning of Serena, beyond the ‘Williams’.
We found out that it originated from the English word ‘Serene which also means calm or peace as the case may be. That fit perfectly into the present testimony of that time. Serena was the perfect name, and that further encouraged me and convinced my wife to agree with my suggested name.
Let me add that the masculine version of the name is Serenus. A name that is not so common either.
Today, my Serena, not Williams, is two and I have every reason to be glad as a dad. Indeed, myself, Bukola and King David are ecstatic to have her as one of us in the nuclear household while the larger family raves about her always.
Here’s wishing our Queen Serena a wonderful second birthday anniversary, which we pray is just one of the many years of winning that she will live with us.
Again I pray today that everyone looking to God for the kind of joy these little ones give will receive answers and also rejoice in Jesus name.
Hopefully you get go read this one day soon dear daughter…just know we love you and we enjoy being the vessel through which God has sent you to come make impact and make a name of your own.
THE LEGEND OF SERENA
Much love Coco!
OSCARPOEMS 