I now pronounce you...

OK... so, I'm STILL talking about this wedding ;-D

Bear with me...

One of the fun things about this wedding story, is Leah's new name. It is somewhat of an... alliteration! Leah Leach. It's like, Leah Leah, with a "c" slipped in there. One of her friends commented at the reception that her new name sounds kind of like a comic book hero! Leah would like that.

When our kids were born, we spent a lot of time and prayer 'giving' them their names. In fact, they were all "Baby Girl Edwards" for several days in the hospital nursery. And tho' we've since come up with many affectionate 'nicknames' for each of them, their given names are meaningful. Our 'surname' linked them to our family. Now two of our girls have new surnames which link them (and us) to new families!!

Author, Margaret Feinberg (The Organic God) tells of a time she took a class taught by the famed poet, Maya Angelou. Rather than delving right away into African-American literature, Ms. Angelou spent several classes having students learn each others' names. She even gave them a test in which the students were called upon to name each other. Her reason was "because your name is a sign of your dignity."

Often in scripture, we're told that people called upon "the Name of the Lord", and Jesus told us to pray in His Name. God reveals Himself to us by many names so that we can understand His character. We read in the Bible of several times that God changed someone's name to reflect how He saw them, and to challenge them to become what He intended them to be.

I know that I know that God has given our daughter a new name. I know that it is a name that is a sign of dignity, and delight. I know that she will embrace the challenge to honor her name and to become all that He has intended her to be as Brad's wife.

Here's a picture of that moment in time...

"May I now introduce...

Mr. and Mrs. Brad Leach!"

Isaiah 43:1 "...I have called you by name; you are Mine!"

There are some additional pictures and reflections posted on Kim's blog.

Check them out!! (Thanks, Kim!)