What's in a name?

It's a question I've been pondering a lot lately during my morning devotions. Whether I'm in Acts for my personal quiet time or reading the advent Scriptures to the kids, I can't help but notice the importance the Bible places on names, especially the name (s) of Jesus. If I'm honest, I'd say I've almost been irritated by this obsession with names at times because I don't fully get it. How can a name have so much weight? Aren't someone's actions and heart disposition weightier than the name he or she's been given? Is it just something the Hebrews cared deeply about but not something we need to worry ourselves with these days?

Before I go any further, I want to clarify that when it comes to Jesus' name, I fully believe in its redeeming power. There are many instances when, gripped by fear, all I could do was yell the name of Jesus and there was instant comfort. He's the Lord of the universe and saying his name is praying for Divine intervention. It's acknowledging my powerlessness and His omnipotence and sovereignty in my helpless situation. From the moment I believed in His name, He has altered the course of my life forever...and so I acknowledge that there is power in His name.

To go back to my initial thought though, it  has been fascinating for me to encounter so many verses during my Bible reading lately that mention the word 'name', and to observe the context in which this word comes up.

As I read...
Exodus 3:13 The Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, " I AM WHO I AM";  and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God, futhermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abrahama, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever and this is My memorial-name to all generations."

Isaiah 7:14 Behold a virgin will be with child and bear a son ad she will call His name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor; Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

 Matthew 1:21 (The angel told Joseph) She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

All the I AM statements by Jesus in the Gospel of John referring back to I AM THAT I AM in Exodus.

John 14:13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

Acts 2:38 Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 4:18 And when they (the Council) had summoned them (Peter and John), they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

Acts 4:29-30 "And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus."

Acts 8: 12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized men and women alike.

Acts 9:15 (When Ananias was instructed to meet Paul in Tarsus) But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake.

Acts 10:43 Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.

I realize this list of verses offers only a tiny glimpse of the monument that God/Jesus' name is in Scriptures, but it was enough to spark an interest in me as I considered all the name changes that occur in Scripture from Abraham to Paul,  the many mentions of the meanings of names throughout the Bible (whether it's referring to a person or location), and finally, the idea that there is power in speaking in THAT name, the name above all names.

With these thoughts swimming in my head, it was so encouraging to make a discovery about Brielle's name the other day. One of the activities that this year's advent reading program asked us to do was to look up the meaning of our names online. I thought it was ironic that we'd be asked to do that when I'd been intrigued with names for a while. What's funny is I thought I knew what all of our names meant. For instance, I fully expected the websites to say that Brielle's name meant 'of cheese'. To my surprise, 4 out of 5 websites listed as their first definition for the name Brielle 'the Lord is my strength'. I was astounded, not only because it didn't match any of the definitions we had encountered when we initially gave her the name Brielle, but because of the weight this 'new' meaning had in Brielle's particular situation. Surely our petite Brielle who has low muscle tone and a weakened brain needed to know that the Lord is her strength.  Surely I needed to know that He's her strength and that He's mine as I try to be there for her!

The most interesting thing is, though I can't say this was a true name change like the ones we encounter in the Bible, it certainly has had the same effect in my life. I am finding much comfort in knowing that her name means the Lord is my strength....that that promise applies to her so specifically. I honestly don't know how the meaning of her name could have changed over the course of 7 years...but I will take it as a gift from my Father's hand. Maybe...just maybe...it's His way of answering my question.

So I ask again: what's in a name?

My answer: at this point, it would seem there's a lot more to a name than I've been willing to admit. I'll keep digging for answers, though, and will definitely continue to call on THAT name that is above all names.  "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe." Proverbs 18:10


Brielle: The Lord is my Strength

Isaiah: Salvation is from the Lord

Andrew: Man, Warrior

Anne-Marie:  Gracious, Full of grace (Anne), Sea of Sorrow or Lady of the Sea (Marie)

And a name that has had an impact in many lives and one that's never far from my thoughts...

Selah: Pause and Reflect; Measure the Value

Brielle's Swim Party

When Brielle asked for a swim party for her birthday, she imagined it  taking place in our own backyard ....so you can imagine how she reacted when she looked out one day and realized that the pool had been taken down. What?!!?? I assured her that we never intended on having her swim party at home...and that her guests wouldn't have wanted to swim in our pool in November (when it was hardly warm enough for most of the summer). I told her we'd find an indoor pool somewhere to rent out. And we did. We rented out the Tigard Swim Center and it was a super idea--totally worth it!

The party started out in the pool center's classroom where we had light refreshments and cake.

I made this banner and silhouette of the girl in honor of her b-day.
The ideas came from a book I received on my birthday from Ashley Carlson.

I made the fondant from scratch for the first time It wasn't easy but rewarding!

Girly decorations for a a girly-girl!!



Guests of honor: Josie, Laura, Lydia, Jillian, Cambria, Macy, Kaiah, Izabell, Raquelle.

It was important to eat healthy snacks a bit before the big dessert!

Lydia sat on the lucky chair and got a prize: colored bubbles!!

Time to blow out the candle and dig in!

Brielle HAS to lick the candle!

All that work is about to be destroyed..but that's the point. Cake is for eating!!

The girl got spoiled with such awesome presents!!

The party then got moved to the swimming pool. My friend Jenn and I cleaned up the classroom in less than 10 minutes and I felt like I was off the hook for the rest of the party! Although there was plenty of preparation done beforehand, it was another super easy kid party with very little clean up and very little time feeling 'on party duty'!!



As I close, I want to express my thanks to God for His amazing provision...that we would be able to do this, that it ended up being less expensive than expected due to the classroom being mildly cluttered upon our arrival and the classroom fee being waived, that my friend Diane would happen to be at the pool and would offer to help me set up before the guests arrive, that Judy Kile--one of the honored guests' grandma--was the only ONE person from the Tigard Swim Center who could book this event for me (which helped make it go as smooth as it did), and that so many guests were able to make it. I know it's just a birthday...but for Brielle, it's a really, REALLY big deal! We're talking about the girl who asked me a little before 7 a.m. on her actual birthday how come she hadn't received calls or presents from anybody yet, how come it was 'business as usual' as we drove to her break-of-the-dawn speech therapy session...basically, how come the world hadn't stopped turning on account of her birthday! Of course, she already HAD opened our present the moment she'd woken up, but she must have been half-asleep still when she did. :)  To quickly dissipate any doubt in her mind that she is special to us, she received three Godsent phone calls from Daddy, Gran, and her faraway Aunt Dee within the hour. The rest of the day and weekend felt like one big birthday celebration!

...He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist... 

 Acts 17:25b-28a

I'm so thankful that He's intimately acquainted with our ways and that He's not far from each one of us. I am amazed that He would have thoughts about us that are too vast in number to count (Psalm 139:17). And in light of those Scriptures, who am I to say that He couldn't possibly care about a little girl's 7th birthday party (-ies)? I honestly think that He's meeting her at her level and I've decided to do all that I can to have her see His hand in her life so that she would love Him....because He first loved her.

The End of Summer 2011 and the Beginning of School

On the last day of summer, we decided to copy Ramona and her dad in Ramona and Beezus and draw the longest picture in the world--for us. I say 'we', but honestly, it is I who did most of the drawing. That's why it's by no means beautiful artwork...because it looks like kids drew the pictures when in reality I did. Nevertheless, I say, it was a meaningful exercise as we reminisced about our wonderful summer together. I hope we'll do it again next year on the last day of summer. Maybe next year the kids will be more confident as artists and pitch in more? Maybe I'll be a better artist, too? We'll see.

On the first of day of school, I managed to take a few pictures of my first grader and my fourth grader in their new classrooms. Lots of emotions come into play when we're saying 'goodbye' to good times and 'hello' to new beginnings. But we all survived it and now all four of us are happy to be 'in school' these days.

 

Brielle's Kindergarten Graduation

We know God placed Brielle in our lives for many reasons, one of which is to give us an appreciation for all the little steps she takes in the right direction. We can't help but celebrate and give thanks for God's faithfulness in the life of our Little Miss Sunshine!

 

When she was asked what she liked best about kindergarten, she said, "Recess!"

Andrew was proud of his custom-made double cheeseburger.

Brielle's Kindergarten Class under the balloon arch Kara and I made.

Brielle is excited about becoming a first grade, except for the part about no longer Mrs. A as a teacher!!

Our First Week of Summer

Our summer---all 5 days of it so far, depending on how you look at it (Isaiah says summer started on Monday)----has been a hodgepodge of pretty random activities.

1. Marathons

Sew Easy...or Go Easy on the Sewing?
There's the sewing frenzy of the last couple of days in which I pounded out 2 pillow cases and three zippered bags while the sewing machine was 'out' on the kitchen table. The sewing machine has been put away now...and everyone can take a sigh of relief. *sigh*

Bill Nye
But, we're still in the middle of a Bill-Nye-the-Science-Guy marathon and need to watch at least one video each day to make it through our selections before having to return them to the library on Friday. We've all got the theme song stuck in our heads, "Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill Nye the Science Guy. Bill, Bill, Bill". Catchy, right? Actually, the videos are quite informative and pretty well-made...and Bill is quirky funny. Some of his humor reminds me of another 'science guy' I know....

2. Encounters with Nature

Robin's Egg
Our neighbor found an occupied robin's egg in her lawn and, after a couple of days of warming it with a towel on top of the dryer...and really worrying over it, has passed her little burden onto us. Isaiah couldn't have been more willing to take on the challenge! He quickly got on the phone with Mrs. Chupp, asking if he could borrow her incubator. We have no clue if this will work...and we're actually pretty certain it will fail if it depends on us, but we're giving it a try.  If anything, we now know for sure that Isaiah would be in 7th heaven if we decided to hatch chicken eggs. We just need Papa's roost to peck each other to death and then we can raise him a whole new batch (j/k, lol, csg...better get your book out for that last one, Lou).

Baby Spiders
We also came across a bunch of teenie tiny spiders that kept the kids fascinated for quite a while. I eventually had to 'take care' of them because my neighbor absolutely detests spiders and these were on their property line. Poor Brielle! She's on the other side of the spectrum where I'd say she actually loves spiders...and more so lately because we've been reading Charlotte's Web to her at night.

Mr. Frog
Isaiah caught a pretty good-sized frog with his new net today...

Chickadee
And our cat brought in a live chickadee, who survived the ordeal and eventually managed to get out of the house before I got a snapshot of it. I'm just glad it got out alive! Laura Chupp and I were concerned the cat had more than toyed with it. She and I first stumbled on a mess of feathers on the family room carpet and didn't think the bird in question had lived to 'tell the tale'. I did finally hear the chickadee struggling in our skylight an hour later. I couldn't really miss it because it was dropping feathers all over the kitchen floor as it struggled to break through the glass. I think by mistake it swooped down and landed on the counter with a thud. I managed to throw a towel over it (thanks for the tip, Kara) and whisked it away before Kiwi had a chance to pounce on it. Surprisingly, it flew off the deck with no trouble. I now know that birds can spare quite a few feathers if they must...if they happen to get cornered by our prowling, villainous cat.


3. House Projects

 Door Handle
After several weeks of having a hole in our front door where the handle once was, we decided we really needed to replace the handle. Although the package the new handle came in says it's brushed nickel, it's not really..or at least doesn't quite match...but I honestly don't care. Andrew saved us a good chunk of money by going with that one..so I'm okay with it.
Now here's the really funny thing. Andrew and I both thought that not having a door handle meant we couldn't get in the house if we locked it from the inside (using what we thought was the dead bolt). We both avoided the front door and used the garage door opener to get in the house so we wouldn't run into this 'problem'. I even thought I had locked myself out over the weekend because I had locked up the house, completely forgetting that Andrew had left with our garage opener. When I realized I had supposedly locked myself out, I went over to the Chupps and borrowed Laura for a half-hour so she could try to fit her hand through the hole to open the lock from the inside. She couldn't squeeze her hand through so we had to resort to me propping her up through our garage window so she could let me in, All along, I could have simply let myself in my slipping my key in the keyhole that was on a separate piece above where the handle normally is. I could have unlocked the door with the key and simply pushed it open! Wow...now that's dense! We were all so blinded by our misconceptions that we couldn't see the keyhole before our very own eyes! We thought we were locked out and we simply couldn't see it any other way.
Well, it's still a good thing to have put in a new door handle cuz it's much better than having a hole in our door...and now our minds can no longer trick us to think that we are locked out. ;)

Wall Shelves
Thanks to this great find at a garage sale, and thanks to Andrew's patience with my home decor changes, there's no longer a blank wall over our leather couch in the living room...

4. Learning New skills

Throwing Skills with Mr. Jeff
Mr. Jeff, our neighbor, took it upon himself to teach our daughter how to throw a ball. He worked with her for a good 40 minutes. Here's a video clip of their efforts:

Ironing and sewing with Mom...
Isaiah asked if I could teach him how to sew at bedtime one night and I gladly agreed. It was fun to get him all excited about it!

I know all this randomness could make some heads reel...but I've learned to embrace it. I even find it invigorating! I naturally want to be organized and purposeful and usually dislike being 'last minute' on things, but I've learned that I need to be super flexible in the summers with Andrew off. And so, these last five days capture rather well how summers roll around here: spontaneous activities, work done in spurts, and teachable moments taking precedence over anything else on my so-called agenda.
Not to say that we do not have plans to have any kind of routine...because we do, Andrew as much as myself. BIG plans. Just how much we'll stick to them is an entirely different matter. And we're okay with that...because whether or not the sun will shine, it's SUMMERTIME!!!