New faces mingle with familiar ones... new voices mix into conversations as they melded into part of the family.  New names like Kurt, Rachelle, Jean become part of our lives.  I mull over what brings us all here, what identifies us as kindred and makes us want to hug people we've just met.  I can only thing of one thing - two words, a single name... Jesus Christ.

The very name that sets the world's teeth on edge is the name that weaves His children together. In fact, it's more than a name - it's power, it's hope, it's the future, it's... everything! This is not just a pretty idea - this is for real. Against the tsunami of darkness that threatens to overwhelm us, His name stands.  And no force on earth or in hell can  overcome it. Ever.

I guess I'm musing on this in the middle of Sharathon because I know tha outside of this pocket of joy there's still a battle going on. That's why we do what we do here.  To hold high the only name, the only truth that sets us free. 

Thank you Lord Jesus...

I'm not talking about "Sandy Gayle" (eeeech!) I'm talking about those names like "stupid," "fat," "not-good-enough," "worthless," - the names we're given by others. Sometimes they're the names we give ourselves.  These names drag behind us like a weight - they can shape and even cripple us. Maybe that's why it's so scary to be known... we're afraid someone might learn our hidden name and make it real.

One of the things I'm learning is that in Christ ( "in Christ", please get that) - in Christ I have a new name.  All those names like "unlovable" or "damaged" were on the Cross and laid in the grave.  I'm risen with Jesus Christ and have a resurrected name that forever has "in Christ" attached to it.  And as I begin to understand how vast His name is - and what it took to call my name and make me His...

I don't even know what to say.  It's too big for this stumbling, struggling bit of God-breathed dust to understand.  I am Sandy-in-Christ, and for that He has my forever praise.

Amen and later...

I dug some more.  I heard stories from my aunt and my cousins, saw their family  photographs, and found websites that connected these names to a time and place - to a history. Suddenly those old-timey names, those distant disconnected notes came together like a dulcimer song.  These names became living, breathing people who walked this world, who knew love and sorrow, life and death.  They were more than just funny sounding words... they were real. I knew them because my aunt and cousins knew them.

For a lot of people the name "Jesus" is disconnected from anything real.  For some it's a swear word.  For some it's a guy in sandals and robe buried in a dusty old book. For me, the name of Jesus is like a symphony that fills the corners of creation.  It's a whisper... it's a roar, it's joy and laughter that echoes through stars and galaxies.  That name is life and breath and my very being.  I know His story.  I know what He has done, what He's doing. 

Just like I didn't really know who these people with the funny names were until my relatives told me, so many people have no idea who Jesus is until we begin to tell them - really tell them with all the colors, sounds, and imagination that we have.  The name of Jesus Christ is life.  Period.

I guess that's why we do what we do.

I guess that's why we have Sharathon.

And I'm so grateful that I'm part of this.

Later, y'all...

I know this may sound kind of sappy, but when Jesus calls my name - "Sandy" - it's not common anymore. When Jesus speaks my name, calls me His own, I'm not common anymore.  Yeah, sappy, I know - but that doesn't mean it's not real.  I mean, think about it - the One who is named King of all creation, the One who holds time and space - all that is and ever will be - He has written my name on the palm of His hand. My name carved into the palm of His hand, imprinted on His heart, woven into His plans. When I think of it that way, my name becomes something new, transformed.  "Sandy" means "I am loved."

Funny how a Sharathon can stir thoughts like this up.

Go ahead, call me Sandy - I don't care.  I am loved.

We all have rooms from which we peer out at life, filled of artifacts from the past, unopened dreams of the future and the clutter of the present.  All of these tint the windows we peer through, and shape the world we see.  Sometimes we avoid looking out there. We will admire the curtains, dust the shelves and rearrange the furniture rather than face the light – or dark beyond our walls.  Problem is, the dark’s still out there whether we look or not.  Good news is the Light will never be overshadowed by it. 

It’s a beautiful - and dangerous world.  I live there… you live there… and God most definitely inhabits every corner of it.  This blog will simply be me, telling you what I see as God pours light into my little room through my sometimes dirty windows. 

And I hope you’ll share what you see with me.

Blessings and more later…