In the summer of 2016, when I was just engaged to be married and before babies were even on my mind, Blake and I heard a Bible teacher sharing from the story of Rachel and Leah in Genesis 29. Leah was unloved and unnoticed by her husband Jacob, even though she was bearing children, while Rachel the favored wife, was not. With each son Leah bore, she expressed her anguish and hope through the name she gave them. Rueban: “Maybe this time I will be loved.” Simeon: “Now the Lord has heard me”. Levi: “Maybe this time my husband will become attached to me”. But despite her hopes and many sons born to Jacob, her circumstances did not change. She was a woman with unmet expectations and in a painful relationship. With the three previous sons she expressed her desire for her life to change, but finally, when she had her son Judah, she said “this time I will praise the Lord”. She stopped trying to get her circumstances to change and instead her heart changed. She chose to praise the Lord before the anwer to her years of longing came. So she named her son Judah which sounds like the Hebrew word “to Praise”.
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