carry your name

Listening to: I'm Over You ~Chris Young
Why I laugh when people make comments about me being a grown-up or when they ask if I have children: "Knock Knock." "Who's there?" "Cheese." "Yuuum!" "No Kimberly, you're supposed to say 'Cheese who'" "Oh, my bad. Let's try again." "Knock Knock." "CHEESE!" "KIMBERLY! You're supposed to say 'Who's there?'" "I DID! You said Cheese was there!" "No! That's not...You know what? You are a knock-knock joke RUINER." "I'm sorry...I promise I can do it this time!" "I don't tell jokes to RUINERS." "You know you want to tell me Cheese's last name...You knooooow you do." I love my best friend :)

"How merciful the cross

How powerful the blood

How beautiful Your arms

Open for us

By Your wounds we are healed
And You have conquered the grave
And in Your rising, we will rise
To carry Your name
Above every name"

     Love doodles make me happy. They always have. I'm fairly certain that every girl has played the "Writing her first name with the last name of her crush instead of paying attention in class" game. It's fun. And there's something overly fantastic about the thought of changing your last name to the the name of the man you love. No matter how much of a pessimistic, non-romantic you claim to be. I can totally relate to Francesca Battistelli in her song Someday Soon, "I wanna be the one who gets to change her last name someday

to something that sounds something more like yours." It's cute, folks.

     Friday night I went to a ballet performance and one of the dances was accompanied by Christy Nockels' "Carry Your Name." Beautiful dance. Beautiful song. And I just got swept up into the whole thing. God's redemptive work was done for the whole world (For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him, and through him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:19-20) but in that moment I felt like it was all just for me.

     During the rest of the performance, all I could think about was His Name. And how as Christians, we have the responsibility, the honor, of carrying His name in all that we do. It's how we're known...We're dead to ourselves and alive in Christ. The Church is His bride and we were given His name to carry with us until He comes back and takes us to be with Him forever.

    Jesus. I don't think any name is more awe-inspiring.

    Back to love doodles. This sharing of names doesn't stop with the two love-birds. They pass it to their children who pass it to their children and so on and so forth, spreading the family name. So as Christians, when we carry His name as something that precious and are as excited to take on His name as a love-struck bride is to take on her husband's, the fruit of our lives will spread His name to the ends of the earth. What a beautiful opportunity.

    I find this utterly romantic. And instead of lamenting about my lack of love life, I'm going to be totally satisfied with the love relationship I have with my Jesus. :)

    Can I tell you something? I'm smiling like an idiot again.

    That's been happening a lot lately. And it makes these emoticons 100% necessary.

    Anyway, I hope that you are as hopelessly in love with Jesus as I am finding myself this week! "For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth." Isaiah 54:5

                                                                                 ~Kimberly