A woman I never knew gave me my name.
At least that’s what my sisters tell me. I was only child #4, but I guess 3 kids were enough to deplete the girl names my mom and dad could agree on. So my mother got my name from a French friend and called me Renee, with an accent I don’t use anymore.
As a child, I always wanted a cool, all-American, popular-girl name like Kim or Julie or Amy. I didn’t appreciate having to spell out my name for adults and then trying to explain where the accent went.
It’s interesting how names go in and out of style. The names that were popular in the 1840s or 1940s—or 1960s when I was born—are not necessarily popular today. And even the popular names vary according to each country’s traditions.
When preparing to welcome a child into the family, moms and dads often agonize over choosing a name. They pick names they love or names they hope their kids will live up to or names that carry a legacy of family or faith.
I don’t think my mom intended to give me a name with a legacy.
Most Sundays, dad stayed home to read the paper, and mom went to church to sing in the choir. They did send us to Sunday school when we were little—since we could walk there. But we never prayed or read the Bible at home. My parents never talked about God or told us we should seek a relationship with Him.
As far as I know, my mom didn’t know what my name meant when she chose it.
So years later, after I became a Christian and looked up the meaning, I found it ironic to discover that Renee is French for Rebirth.
And it tickles my fancy that God watched from heaven as my mother gave me a name that only He truly understood the significance of.
God loves names—
Listing them in His Book of Life,
Calling them out to challenge & change us,
Whispering them in the dark to let us know we’re not alone.
“The sheep hear His voice. He calls His own sheep by Name & leads them out.” ~John 10:13~
And He loves changing names.
Remember how He called timid Gideon, hiding in the wine press Valiant Warrior? And Simon Peter who sank in the water & denied Christ became Peter, the rock?
God gave them those names because He saw something in them that they hadn’t seen themselves—and maybe didn’t even believe was there.
And someday he will give us each a NEW NAME, too.
“I’ll give the sacred manna to every conqueror. I’ll also give a clear, smooth stone inscribed with Your New Name, your secret new name.” ~Revelation 2:14~
I’m confident we’ll love those NEW NAMES, specifically chosen for us long, long ago by the One who knows us better then we know ourselves!
Before I shaped you in the womb,
I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
I had holy plans for you.
~Jeremiah 1:5~I’m looking forward to that day, aren’t you?
Thanks for the blog visit! Blessings, friends!
***Photo Backstory: I snapped these iPhone pics at a recent baptism in the creek that borders our church property & tweaked them with PicMonkey. Feel free to Pin, Tweet, download & share. (Follow this link for more Free Graphics.)
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