I would imagine by now that most of you faithful readers know about our recent addition to our family. One question that always seems to come up when a new addition to a family arrives is how the particular name was chosen that was given to that new addition. So today I want to take a few moments to share some of the significance of our daughter's first name, Rachel.
If you aren't familiar with the biblical story of Rachel, I encourage you to read about it starting in Genesis chapter 29. I'll try to sum up her story here.
Jacob had been chased from the land promised to Abraham because of his deception of his brother, Esau. Arriving at his grandfather's land, he watered the sheep of a young lady named Rachel, whom he instantly fell in love with. He worked for 7 years for her father for the right to marry her, only to be deceived by his to-be father-in-law, who switched her older sister for her in Jacob's bed. Jacob then agreed to work an additional seven years to marry Rachel, which the Bible says flew by quickly.
Jacob did the usual husbandly duties with his wives, but Leah (Rachel's older sister) proved to be far more fertile. After having several sons, Rachel had Jacob sleep with her servant. This produced two more sons, after which Leah did the same thing. It wasn't until the 11th son, Joseph, that Rachel was able to conceive and have a child. Joseph instantly became the favorite, likely because he was the first child of the wife that Jacob truly loved.
Rachel would bear one more child, Benjamin. Sadly, she died during his birth, since his labor was difficult. Thus, we find the story of Rachel not to be the "happily ever after" story of fairy tales, but the all too frequent human ending to stories.
Rachel's name has a great deal of meaning for us. First, her name means "ewe" or "little female lamb" in Hebrew. We are so thankful that she will be baptized and be one of the sheep that Jesus calls by name. Also, her story of the challenge of having a baby is one that we can relate to in some way. Rachel's arrival and addition to our family has been something that we have waited for, and at times, have wondered if the day would ever arrive. She was Jacob's favorite wife, and you would be hard pressed to find another person in our lives that is more favored than Rachel. And, just like it was for Jacob with his Rachel, we can truly say that our Rachel was well worth the time and the wait and the effort that we have been through in waiting for her.
I have to say that there is a bit more than this, but even this much is challenging to put into words. Truly, words cannot express how deeply thankful we are for our little lamb, and just how much we realize that she was truly worth the wait.
If you aren't familiar with the biblical story of Rachel, I encourage you to read about it starting in Genesis chapter 29. I'll try to sum up her story here.
Jacob had been chased from the land promised to Abraham because of his deception of his brother, Esau. Arriving at his grandfather's land, he watered the sheep of a young lady named Rachel, whom he instantly fell in love with. He worked for 7 years for her father for the right to marry her, only to be deceived by his to-be father-in-law, who switched her older sister for her in Jacob's bed. Jacob then agreed to work an additional seven years to marry Rachel, which the Bible says flew by quickly.
Jacob did the usual husbandly duties with his wives, but Leah (Rachel's older sister) proved to be far more fertile. After having several sons, Rachel had Jacob sleep with her servant. This produced two more sons, after which Leah did the same thing. It wasn't until the 11th son, Joseph, that Rachel was able to conceive and have a child. Joseph instantly became the favorite, likely because he was the first child of the wife that Jacob truly loved.
Rachel would bear one more child, Benjamin. Sadly, she died during his birth, since his labor was difficult. Thus, we find the story of Rachel not to be the "happily ever after" story of fairy tales, but the all too frequent human ending to stories.
Rachel's name has a great deal of meaning for us. First, her name means "ewe" or "little female lamb" in Hebrew. We are so thankful that she will be baptized and be one of the sheep that Jesus calls by name. Also, her story of the challenge of having a baby is one that we can relate to in some way. Rachel's arrival and addition to our family has been something that we have waited for, and at times, have wondered if the day would ever arrive. She was Jacob's favorite wife, and you would be hard pressed to find another person in our lives that is more favored than Rachel. And, just like it was for Jacob with his Rachel, we can truly say that our Rachel was well worth the time and the wait and the effort that we have been through in waiting for her.
I have to say that there is a bit more than this, but even this much is challenging to put into words. Truly, words cannot express how deeply thankful we are for our little lamb, and just how much we realize that she was truly worth the wait.
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