the name eunice

She is a unique woman. 
I was looking up names for my car and it came down to 2 names. Adah and Eunice. 
And yes, while Adah is much sweeter to say, Eunice just instantly had a connection to my heart.
I was looking up women in the Bible and the names and meanings and their stories. Both had pretty interesting stories, but Eunice's was something special.


She's mentioned in Acts, and then in 2 Timothy 1 saying, " when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also."


Her name means happily conquering. 
What makes her unique, set apart, is her genuine faith. A faith so true, so pure.
She is Timothy's mother. The woman who raised Timothy to be such a man of Jesus.
She accomplished the task set before her, under difficult circumstances.


Eunice was raised in a Jewish home. Both of Eunice's parents were Jewish, as well as Eunice. But Eunice is a Greek name. In this time the adoption of Gentile names by the Jews was not as uncommon, for the lived amongst each other.  It was also common, the children of religious parents living in an irreligious culture tend to drift from faith and values of the parents.


Sound familiar? Us running away from the values we were taught, and rebelling, is not a new thing. 


Eunice when she was younger, hit some of those same rough patches. In her teenage life she walked away from all the faith she had. Pursuing a life pleasing to her. She married a Greek man. Her violation was not so much her marriage to someone outside of Judaism but that he was an unbeliever.


But then she had a child. She had a wake up call. They had to raise a child. But now, based on what? Because clearly their morals and beliefs were different.


She committed herself to teach Timothy the word and example the truth and wisdom of
the Bible, even if she would not be allowed to do it in a culturally Jewish way.
Along with that, she committed to be faithful to her husband. She made the decision that even in the circumstances she ended up in, she wanted to respect her husband and walk in the situation given as she was taught. 


In that time, when the young daughters began having children of their own, it was their opportunity to step away from the control of their own mothers and begin to do things their way. To say the least, the mothers and daughters were in a lot of battle over control.


Once again, not a new thing.


That's what makes Eunice so cool. She knew she couldn't raise Timothy on her own so she called on her mom, knowing that together her mother Lois and her could work together for the good of Timothy. Her mother laid aside all the ways that Eunice had continually run away and agreed.


1 Timothy 3: 14-17
 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.


Then she handed over the main role of her teaching Timothy, to the guidance of mentors and men of the church, like Paul. 


So Lois, Eunice, and Timothy were there to hear Paul's gospel message the first time he came to
their town as a missionary.  They were so firmly grounded in the Word of God that when they finally did trust Jesus as their Messiah and received a complete life change through the Holy Spirit, they each had a wisdom and maturity which enabled them to teach and counsel others.


Gotta love this woman.


It's just a story of Jesus once again using real life situations to show His glory. A situation that was so caught up in this world, that He so beautifully allured to Himself.


Isn't He beautiful?


If you can't tell, I love stories. Jesus speaks to me so much in stories. I think it's because I can read them and re-read them over and over and connect something different, learn something new.
That's how I feel about this story. Hence why I named my car Eunice. There are so many more stories to be told and re-told.


This woman has faith that shook her circumstances, a faith that was so bold and so rooted that she raised a son that followed Jesus so beautifully.