What's in a name?

““Our father died in the wilderness,” they said. “He was not among Korah’s followers, who rebelled against the LORD; he died because of his own sin. But he had no sons. Why should the name of our father disappear from his clan just because he had no sons? Give us property along with the rest of our relatives.””  Numbers 27:3-4 NLT. (http://bible.com/116/num.27.3-4.nlt)

My daughter is pregnant for her fourth child. It will be our first baby boy in the family. We have all been going crazy about names. It really is a little overwhelming choosing a name. When Stephanie and I got married we made the deal I got to name the girls and she got to name the boys. We never had a son. Sometimes I think about "my name" not living on. I have even teased my daughter about naming this new child Steve. To make a long story short, they can't use Steve, it has too many letters. All their kids only have four letter names and Stev just doesn't work. 

Just when I start feeling sorry that I don't have a namesake, I realize how truly unimportant it is that my name be carried on to the next generation. My name is NOT the legacy I hope to preserve. I would much rather my kids and my grandkids carry on the torch of Jesus Christ. I don't care about their label. I care that they love Jesus and will get to join me in eternity. Nothing else matters. What good is a name? It is temporary, life with Jesus is eternal. 

I am so lucky to have daughters who love the Lord. I see their own commitment growing every day. I pray the Lord reveals himself to all my daughters, their spouses, and certainly my grandkids. I pray they will grow closer to the creator of the universe everyday. I pray he will protect them, make his presence known, and to guide them throughout their lives of decision making. I want them to pass the exact faith I have, to their own kids and they to theirs. Passing the name of Jesus from one generation to the next is what life is truly about.

Do you like your name?

Luke 1:59-61 (New International Version, ©2010)

 ⁵⁹ On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, ⁶⁰ but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
 ⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”


When Stephanie and I got married. We made a deal. I got to name all of the Girls and Stephanie got to name all the boys. Our First Boy was to be Timothy Jeffery (TJ). Stephanie and I had two really good friends with those names. We never got to use them because we had three girls. So, I got to name all the kids.

McKenzie Lu is our oldest. I chose that name because of a cute little girl that Steph and I babysat for one weekend. McKenzie's middle name is the same as Stephanie's.

Our Second Daughters name is Lindsae Sue. I chose this name because it rhymed with McKenzie and Lindsay Wagner was a tv star. Her middle name is the same as Steph's sister.

Those were really the only two names I had picked out. When Stephanie was pregnant again for the third time, I was panicked. I stayed awake nights trying to figure out another name that rhymed with Lindsae and McKenzie. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't! So I gave up and settled on Kelley Marie. I just thought the those two names together sounded awesome. I'm sorry Kelley, I couldn't come up with anything better than that. I thought about family names like my mom's name, Ellen or Steph's mom's name Judy. I thought about my grandmother's names Gertrude and Thelma. I also thought about Steph's grandma's Betty and Mary Ella. None of those sounded just right. (Nothing personal!) Kelley Marie just seemed to be right! Maybe God inspired it like the name John!

When Kelley was in elementary, she came home one day and said she was tired of being Kelley. So I told her I would shorten her name to "K". Ever since then I have called her "K".  Now she is used to it, but there have been times she really got mad at me for not using her real name.

What's in a name? People really put a lot of thought into the names of their kids. As an educator I wish some of them would have put more thought into it. I have really felt sorry for the names of some kids. They really set them up for teasing.

The name of John was special for one reason. It was given by God. It wasn't a family name or the name of some important movie star. It was a gift of God. This name was the prelude to the naming of an even more important baby. God has also chosen your name. He wants you to be a part of his family tree and he would like nothing better than to right your name in the book of life!

Dear Lord, Thank you for making us unique and naming us as members of your family. We know your family is open to all who choose to follow you. We know their is no family name so precious as to be named a child of God. Thank You Lord! Amen!