love, from valerie

name-osaurus.

I’ve been thinking about baby names lately (not because I’m pregnant AT ALL, but because everyone & their dog is pregnant or having babies right now, it seems).

As I read through my Bible I’m coming across some less modern names (fair understatement) like; Obed, Abimelech, Boaz - you know.

But there are some great ones that are still being used today: Noah, Samuel, Moses, Samson, Elijah, Daniel, Adam, David, Matthew, Benjamin, Jacob, Jesse, Joshua, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah…the list goes on.

We have a biblically named son. Keith chose the name Jakob just because he loves it but it’s cool that the name Jacob is in there, too. Jakob means supplanter & it’s a pretty cool thing God has blessed us and supplied for us so much since Jake arrived.

Our girl name that we had picked out when we were pregnant with Jake is Zoe. ZOE means “life” - also cool and very simple & fitting for a newborn.

We’ll still name our girl that - if we have one someday - but there are LOTS of great girl names in the Bible, too - , Grace, Ava, Naomi, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Delilah, Gabriella (congratulations Chris & Shannon!!), Abigail, Elizabeth…again, I could go on.

Even celebrities are whippin’ out the Bible names.

Here we have Moses Martin (son of Gwenyth Paltrow & Chris Martin)

So - it’s got me thinking about what Bible name I would give my boy one day (because my heart belongs to Zoe in the girl name department).

Here’s a list of biblical boy names:

http://www.biblebell.org/names.html

It’s cool to check out. I wonder which one you’d choose?!

samson & delilah

Tomorrow I’m going to read more about Samson & Delilah and I’m thrilled. I’ve always wanted to actually know all the parts to the stories I’ve always known only little bits of. (ie. King David, Solomon, Samson & Delilah).

In case you don’t know (or, for the few who may care) I’m working my way through the B-i-b-l-e (yes that’s the book for me! - anyone remember that song?). Anyways, I’m on day 73 tomorrow- which lands me in the book of Judges (sounds daunting, but it’s not!). It’s where we learn about Samson (and, eventually, Delilah).

So far, I know that Samson was born to a couple who were unable to conceive. An angel came his mother & told her she would have him. He was not to have his hair cut and was to be dedicated to the Lord as a Nazarite. Samson also had incredible strength, that was given to him by the Lord.

Now that I’m partially through his story in the Bible, I know, about him & Delilah, that she was bribed by Phillistine officials to find out where he got his strength from. Eventually he cracked & told her it was from his hair. For something like 1,000 units of money (however they measured that back then) she cut his locks of hair off, turned him in & his strength was gone. His eyes were, then, gouged out & he was put in prison.

Ouch. In prison, no eyes, the love of your life cuts your hair off and you lose your strength; the one thing you had left - I’d say he was definitely in a place of no hope.

Hope seems lost. But then I read… “but before long, his hair started to grow back”. That’s something I love about the Lord. I love that, just when things start to seem hopeless  the Lord intervenes with his amazing grace and continually delivers his people. No matter how often we turn our backs on Him, He is constantly there for us. And, He even lets us CHOOSE him. - Why we don’t, I’ll never know - but still, the choice is there.

I used to think the Old Testament was just an obligatory pre-cursor* to the “good stuff” in the New Testament, but I was wrong!   -  (*disclaimer, I may be using words here that I don’t quite know how to use properly, but, bear with me: they make sense in my head)  -  At the end of each of my daily summaries of the passage I read, I write a “What Did I Learn” section - just to sum up things in my head, (that helps a non-brainy girl like me keep things together) - and, one thing that has rung true in that section of my study is the fact that GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIS PEOPLE. He loves us UNCONDITIONALY. We follow Him when things are good & ditch Him when things are hard - and yet He still loves us. He will still catch us when we fall & He will still deliver us.

I’m only 1/2 way through Samson’s story but I have a good feeling God is about to do something amazing.

Goodnight friends - or, whoever you are, reading this.

Love from,

Valerie

feverish

Jake has one of his famous fevers right now. It’s frustrating for him because he’s so uncharacteristically whiney that I think he annoys even himself. Poor baby.

Thank goodness he’s sleeping right now. He’s so beautiful. We’re praying for a long sleep tonight & then a happy, cooler day for his forehead, tomorrow.

On a completely different note, I’m 69 days into my daily Bible reading and I have to say, I’m totally surprised at how interesting I’m finding the old testament, when lead properly through it. 

I definitely recommend taking a guided tour through those beginning chapters that usually get flipped through on our way to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

Read about Samson’s birth, yesterday…remember Samson? All that hair & muscle? Sounds dreamy. This morning I read about his riddle - intriguing!

Okay, night to all. (I say that as if anybody’s reading this). 

love from,

valerie