What’s Her Name!

I grew up in a family when you were called every name but your own. I have three sisters and all our first names start with T’s so it was normal for Mama or Daddy to be calling to you and call down the list of siblings until they hit on the right one. We always thought it was very funny and jokingly gave Mama and Daddy a hard time about it.

As for my daughter, Amanda, forgetting her name is another thing. My daddy had a senior moment recently when he was speaking to us. He was busy, distracted, and tired. In the middle of his sentence he grappled for Amanda’s name, waved his hand in her direction, shook his head, and then with frustration in his voice referred to her as “what’s  her name”.  Amanda was very hurt with her Grandpa. She shared with me that it would not have bothered her if he had called her by one of the other granddaughter’s names but to be just “what’s her name” …what’s with that!? Thank goodness, Amanda and her granpie have a very close relationship and now it has become a joke. Even I have  gotten in on it. I left him a note the other day and signed it “what’s her name and her mom”!

Thinking about this brings to mind this week, especially this “Friday and the Father that never has and never will grapple for our name. My Jesus, your Jesus, our Jesus, never, ever confuses us for even a second with anyone else. He was betrayed, tormented, and tortured for “what’s her name”?...NO! He knows Amanda’s name, and he suffered freely for her…for YOU…because he loves each and every one of us that much. As we go about this Holy Week think about this…for Jesus there was never any distraction from the business at hand, he was never too tired, or too busy, or had any senior moments. Jesus knows each and everyone of us intimately and this week and every week he calls us by name!