For those who don't know, my kids names are Jenna, Marah, and Alexander. I love each of my children's names, of course, but one of my kids does not have a name that means something lovely or strong or, really, anything good at all.
Marah. It means bitter. It comes from a story in the Bible where Naomi asks to be called Mara because the Lord has "dealt bitterly" with her. We did not choose the name for its meaning, but because we thought it was a really pretty name.
So last night, we were sitting around the Christmas tree, singing Christmas songs and I had sung The First Noel and told Marah how Noel means Christmas and that Noelle is also Jenna's middle name (named for my best friend in high school). So then we started a coversation about our names and what they mean and it went something like this:
Me: So, Noelle means Christmas and you know your middle name is Sue and Sue means Lily. Lily is a beautiful white flower.
Marah: And what does Marah mean?
Me: Well, Marah means bitter.
Marah: What's bitter?
Me: It's like something that tastes bad.
Marah: Oh! And what does Jenna mean?
Me: Jenna means "little bird"
Jenna: Oh! Little bird! I'm like a little bird!
Marah: And I'm yucky!
And that is when I cracked up and could not stop laughing! Honestly, I thought Marah would be mad when I told her that her name didn't mean something pretty. I was surprised when she didn't seem upset by it. However, I was really surprised when she announced, with great joy, that she way yucky!
The girl never ceases to amaze and amuse me :)
p.s. of course I know that bitter can also be interpreted as being in a bad mood, being upset about something, etc. Bitter is a feeling as well as a type of taste, but it was the first thing that came to my mind, and really I don't think I need to give Marah any excuse to act bitter... she does that enough on her own already :P
Hahahahaha - I've always been curious why you guys picked Marah's name, and if it was indeed for the biblical reference. What a great anecdote!
ReplyDeleteYou can totally put a positive spin on that. Bitter is a strong taste. Some people like bitter!
ReplyDeleteI agree. You put the perfect spin on it!
ReplyDeletehehe thanks Shannon, I will have to remember that! She was seriously not only unphased but seemed quite excited that her name meant "yucky" even though that's not exactly how I worded it! LOL
ReplyDeleteBritt, I actually have loved the name Marah since I was fairly young and would watch Guiding Light with my mom sometimes. There was a little girl on there named Marah who was so cute and my mom and I just loved the name. I was so happy when Eric agreed to the name :) It was like a little childhood dream come true :P
dark chocolate is bitter and all kinds of awesome, especially on equally awesome gingerbread.
ReplyDeletealthough when i was marah's age, it was her definition to a T. yucky. and how.