A List of Names

When my family and I go to the movies, we like to sit through the credits... all the way to the very end. We like to find funny names, and we always play "spot the Hungarian"... or at least the Hungarian name. It's weird to think that this list of names that most people don't stay to watch, is far more than a list of names. That each name is a person with a story. With a past. With hopes, goals. With emotions, tempers, joys. Each name is a person.

As someone who loves working with kids, I often get a class roster. At first, this list is merely something of amusement of what people name their kids these days. But once I have faces with these names -- little wriggling bodies, smiles missing two front teeth, sticky hands, and hugs -- what personality the names take on! These names are more than just names. They're precious children... kids who are eager to learn, kids who are eager to love, to trust.

The other day as I was reading through the book of Nehemiah, I came across a list of names. Normally I skip these. They're a long list of names that are completely unfamiliar, and obnoxious to pronounce: Shecaniah, Ginnethon, Meshullam, Abijah, Kallai.... you get the picture. But I began musing about the idea of names and how indeed each name, regardless of how difficult to pronounce, has a person behind it. Who really lived, loved, sacrificed, cried, laughed. For some reason, I decided to go through this list, picturing what perhaps Malluch was like, or Joiarib, or Sallu. And then I came to an interesting part.... "David the man of God." I realized that this was talking about King David.... the man who fought Goliath, won hundreds of battles, and reigned long and successfully in a powerful kingdom among riches untold. But that's not how he was described. His identity -- his legacy --  revolved around his identity as a man of God... even hundreds of years after his reign ended. Despite all he did as king: all the heavy decisions he had to make; all the battles he had to fight; all the people he had to please.... he was remembered for his loyalty to God.

Of course I want to make a difference on this earth for those who come after me. Of course I want to impact lives, be an excellent educator, and make the world a better place. But at the end of my life, above all else, I want to be remembered as someone who lived every day for her Savior, for her God. A true woman of God.