Eléonore Tristen Merriman

Although in this blog I have not made mention of it until now, it's no secret that our sweet baby girl has arrived - and she is a month old already!  What a month it has been!  We are overjoyed and completely in love.  Our hearts are full of gratitude to our merciful and compassionate God.

I've always loved the name Eléonore (pronounced Eleanor in English).  The spelling is French, reflecting my mother tongue, and, hopefully hers too someday!  I realize she will be correcting people on the spelling her whole life, but at least she'll be able to explain why her parents chose it that way - it wasn't because they wanted to make it look unique.  Jake and I both have grandmothers who have passed away who were named Elaine and Eileen respectively.  These names are both derivatives of Eléonore. 

The name Eléonore has various origins. The Hebrew/Arabic meaning is "God is my Light" or "God is Light".  My prayer for her during my pregnancy was that she would be a bright light for God in this world.  She has certainly lit up our home this past month.

I often prayed these verses over her when she was in the womb:  "Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life".(Phil 2:14-15).

During labor (which lasted 4hrs and 20 minutes and was without an epidural), I claimed the following (claimed is perhaps an understatement.  I clung to it for dear life!).  I also pray that these words would be true for Eléonore as she grows and matures:  "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Ps.27:1-3).

I love this promise in Isaiah 60:20b "for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended".  Her name is also derived from the Latin verb elire, which means "to heal". Indeed, she has been, and continues to be a healing balm for us, since the loss of her older brother Joshua.

Finally, the Greek origin is eleos, meaning compassion.  The Lord had compassion on us when He gave her to us.  We do not deserve His good gifts, but we are so thankful for them. 

Her middle name, Tristen, was chosen to honor the life of Jake's first wife.  Tristen, whom I never had the priviledge of meeting but often feel as though I knew her, lived and died to God's glory.  She left an amazing legacy, one which we wanted to bless our daughter with.  We look forward some day to telling Eléonore about this beautiful God-fearing woman who is her namesake. 

I look forward to sharing anecdotes of how Eléonore lights up our life in the coming days, months, and years.

"I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LOLRD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love" (Isaihah 63:7).