Achsah

I was thinking about what might inspire me this week for my art show when I came across dear old Aunt Achsah Lydia Warren. Pronounced Axa. Yes, it is a real name. It means -  adorned, anklet, bursting the veil.

Achsah was a daughter of Caleb ben Yefune, a prince of Judah, she was his only daughter.  She was given as a bride to Othniel and her dowry was desert lands in the south. Othniel asked Prince Caleb for more lands, better lands but was refused.  Upon hearing he was denied Achsah leaps off a donkey she was riding and asks her father to give her springs for water so she may grow crops and her and her family prosper.  She did not ask for better land, farm land, or pasture land. She simply asked dad for some water. Prince Caleb gives his daughter more land in the North that contained a spring and another piece of land that contained a spring.

                                               

There are several takes on this story and most paint Achsah to be pushy, ungrateful, and demanding.

I think she was grateful for what she had, she only asked for water. She was supportive of her husband by letting him ask.  She was concerned for her family and the people who also served on her land by asking for water to help support them all.  She was a daughter and asked her father. She was brave to accept the desert, ask for water and use it to cultivate and change the land she was given.

It was women like Achsah who helped to settle America and who led the push into the west. Brave, willing to ask and do the hard work, supportive and yes, maybe a little pushy.

The week enjoy Achsah.