YGT: Between Two Flowers

We are in the middle of two intense moments.  Last Sunday, we lost Granny, my wife's grandmother who was 86 years old.  She was was a faithful woman who loved her church and her family. She had a limited education yet encouraged her children to succeed in school. She was courageous enough to move north from Alabama as a young woman. She was the eldest daughter, the matriarch of her family, and a Sunday School teacher for over 40 years.  Granny began as a budding stem and ended as a sturdy oak.


On one side of our story is the loss of our dear Granny, the rose of her family. On the other side, we are mere hours away from welcoming our daughter Jaelle into this world. A new seed will be born into our family tomorrow. As much as we received from Granny, we wish for Jaelle. She is our hope of a rose to come...


So between grieving and rejoicing, we sit in this moment.  It is the place in between mourning and dancing (Psalm 30:11 below).  Now we wait for another flower; a future seed waiting to be welcomed and blossom. Granny, please shine on her as a guardian and friend. Please help her flourish and stand courageously. We trust that she will rise beautifully because of Your great legacy.

Lord, thank You for the gift of Granny and Jaelle. We believe that in a way, you have given us a person in our family to replace another. We are grateful that there is residue from Granny's flowerbed that will be revealed in both of our daughters. We look forward to a day where we stand among all the flowers that have passed before us and before You, our great Gardener. In Christ's name, Amen.


Digging,

j.a.g.

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Psalm 30:11You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

Jaelle

"Most blessed of women be Jael..."

Judges 5:25a

Our second daughter will be born two months from today. Her name will be Jaelle (pronounced Ja-el) and it was taken from the woman Jael in the Bible (Judges 4 & 5). In Hebrew, the name is “Yael” (there's no "J" sound in Hebrew), but we’ve made the name more convenient for English spellers and speakers.

We liked Jael for many reasons. First, and honestly, we liked how the name sounded. Secondly, we liked her. Jael was a courageous and heroic woman who killed a captain to save the Israelites. Her story is filled with intrigue and deception, but that doesn’t diminish it’s strength. This woman was “blessed” for her actions according to Judges 5. I’m reminded how God used an adulterer and murderer in David, a doubter and critic in Sarah, a curser and hothead in Peter. Many of the people we hold dear are clouded with imperfection and yet God has chosen them to bring Him glory.

As we were confirming the name for our daughter, it was very important for us to know what her name meant. When we looked online, we found some interesting definitions.  According to:

• thinkbabynames.com it means “mountain goat” 
• babycenter.com it means “to ascend” 
• allnamesmeaning.com it means “prominent” 

After being confused by the web (yeah, it's not always the best source), I tried to consider the name in its original Hebrew. The word ‘Yah’ in Hebrew is a name for God. It is an abbreviation of Yahweh (or Jehovah). The word ‘El’ in Hebrew is another name for God. This is a shortening of Elohim. El is also seen in many other names (Danielle – God is my judge, Michael – who is like God?). The combination of the words Yah-el (or Yael… or Jael…  or Jaelle) can be seen two ways:


a. God God (a repetition of God’s name)
b. Great God - In Hebrew, when you want to emphasize the greatness of something, you add a ‘Yah’ to it (like Hallelu-yah – great praise).



From our prayers, it's obvious to us that Jaelle will be someone great - we can see God’s name is all over her. That comforts us and makes us so, so anxious to meet her.

Yeremy,

j.a.g.

Darling Jaelle, we cannot wait to meet you.  God has charged us with stewarding another of His children.  We're so grateful to have been chosen to be your parents.  Please know that whatever happens in life - whatever people call you or whatever you're tempted to call yourself, God calls you His own.  Don't ever live under your namesake.  You are a living testimony of God's greatness.  I long to hold you... Until that day... and beyond... journey faithfully.  

In Christ's name, Amen.