What's in a name?

I am humbled to be able to write this post and record the events that happened that night during the birth of Rachel Xin Yang Chew, the 5th little one to be added to our family at the Lord's request and desire.  It is amazing to me that He continues to see fit to bring more and more children into our family even though we are pushed and stretched to the utmost and are utterly dependent on His grace just to take each breath in between each moment of daily life with these very creative and spirited children! :)  I certainly have learned to to unlearn almost everything that I thought I knew about marriage and parenting in this stage of life to take upon Jesus' yoke and be humble to learn from Him because I certainly have no amount of earthly or human wisdom that is sufficient for the task and most importantly the relationships in our family.  The scripture is true that God truly does oppose the proud and gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5) because just when I'm so proud of everything that I know and have learnt and how great of a husband and parent that I am, there's always something that comes to knock me flat on my back/or rather flat on my face so that I can be humble to take on Jesus' yoke and re-learn from Him!

Anyway, to sum up the events of Thursday, The Lord has brought out of the womb after 9 months of anticipation Rachel Xin Yang Chew!  We've been dying to meet her face to face and are delighted to see her in person!  To put a spin on the meaning of her name:

According to Strong's Concordance, the meaning of the Hebrew word Rachel is:

From an unused root meaning to journey; a ewe (the females being the predominant element of a flock), (as a good traveller): - ewe, sheep.

• 信仰
  xìn yǎng
  

  to believe in (a religion) firm belief, conviction

  周 - zhōu ("week")

  week, circle, circuit, Zhou Dynasty, thoughtful"Why are some translations grayed out?" Grayed-out terms are meanings of the character which cannot be used as translations. For example, 必 (bì) has the meaning must / to have to. However, the Chinese translation for "must" is not 必 (bì) but 必须 (bìxū). to give"Why are some translations grayed ou Grayed-out terms are meanings of the character which cannot be used as translations. For example, 必 (bì) has the meaning must / to have to. However, the Chinese translation for "must" is not 必 (bì) but 必须 (bìxū).  circumference, attentive"Why are some translations grayed out?" Grayed-out terms are meanings of the character which cannot be used as translations. For example, 必 (bì) has the meaning  fjdksl;afjkdlsa;must / to have to. However, the Chinese translation for "must" is not 必 (bì) but 必须 (bìxū). to relieve"Why are some translations grayed out?" Grayed-out terms are meanings of the character which cannot be used as translations. For example, 必 (bì) has the meaning must / to have to. However, the Chinese translation for "must" is not 必 (bì) but 必须 (bìxū). complete"Why are some translations grayed out?" Grayed-out terms are meanings of the character which cannot be used as translations. For example, 必 (bì) has the meaning must / to have to. However, the Chinese translation for "must" is not 必 (bì) but 必须 (bìxū). So

  
  

  So to do a little exposition on her name is pretty interesting because the common meaning for Rachel is an ewe, but the root "to journey" was really intriguing to both Becca and I.  We picked Xin Yang for the idea of faith, and actually reexamining our family name/surname was interesting too because I had forgotten what it really meant about thoughtfulness and completeness.

  
  

  So in a layman's attempt to string it all togther, to journey/travel well with a firm conviction (Lord willing in Yeshua Hamashiach!) to completeness or in a thoughtful, conscientious manner.

  
  

  This reminds me of the following verse from Scripture:

  
  

  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5, 6 ESV)

  
  

  Lord Jesus, may this be true of Rachel and be true of all of us!

  
  

  In Jesus' Name,

  Amen