Just wanted to say congratulations to my cousin Dan and his wife Jen - they just had their second baby yesterday, and it’s their second daughter. Her name is Talitha Joy Leman, and she weighed in at 8 lbs, 5 oz, and 20 inches long. In the picture at left you can see the whole family - Dan, Jen, Kit, and Talitha. Talitha’s the little one.

The name is interesting, no? It actually comes from a story in the gospel of Mark, chapter 5. There’s this synagogue official named Jairus who comes to Jesus, hoping that he can heal his sick daughter. After approaching Jesus, who agrees to see his daughter, Jairus finds out that his daughter has already died. Jesus tells him not to worry, goes in to see the girl lying in bed, and says to her “Talitha kum!” I believe the phrase is Aramaic, and when translated, it means “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The little girl wakes up, resurrected from death.

Pretty cool, no? I think so, anyway.