What Does Your Name Mean?

Someone once got all excited and asked me what my name means.  I refused to answer.  I’ll tell you though, because I won’t be able to hear you laugh from here. It means ‘broad grassy meadow’.  I’m a guy with a cool sounding name that means ‘place where cows eat’ and ‘a place to have a picnic’.  Technically that’s the same as meadow. It is.  So, what does your name mean? In olden times (and beyond, I’m sure) the name you were given was not because it sounded pretty, but because of it’s meaning.  Let’s got to a story from the Bible, the one about Esau and Jacob.  When the twins were born, the one that came out first was red and sort of hairy, like a garment.  That’s in the Bible, people, stop snickering.  They named him Esau, which means ‘hairy’.  Jacob came out next and he was holding onto Esau’s heel.  Weird.  They named that one, Jacob, which means ‘he grasps the heel’.  I would like to add that I’m glad this isn’t’ the norm everywhere, because some people are born in odd circumstances and who’d want a name that suggests ‘looks like a small alien’ or ‘that hurt like heck!’  I know a Beatrice who isn’t a ‘voyager’ and a Marcus who isn’t a ‘hammer’ or ‘war like’, so most of us aren’t given names because of their original meanings.  Mostly they sound good, are specific to a culture group or we are named after our parents or someone else higher up in the branches of our family trees. Broad open meadow, I ask you!!

There are other Bible characters out there that had their names changed because of a new calling or responsibility, like Abraham, Israel and Paul.  This is where I want to put some emphasis.  We go through our lives, unsure of who we are sometimes; we feel a bit lost.  Maybe you’re battling with your identity because of what you’ve experienced in your life or the negative words spoken against you.  How do you even go on when someone calls you ‘useless’ or ‘good for nothing’ or you are told ‘you’ll never amount to anything’?  You start to believe that you are unloved, useless, not as good as a sibling or you’re the ‘least likely to succeed’.  Those lies become the foundations around which we build our shaky lives, and when things go wrong we don’t even act surprised, because now the play is going perfectly according to the script.  Who should live like that?  Let’s agree that even if we are to be convinced that these negative words are lies, you can’t just change what you believe overnight.  It’s a process but you need to start it.  You need to start it now.  The launching pad is to acknowledge something really important, and that is that you have enormous inherent potential.  There is very little that you cannot achieve if you have guidance and are convinced that you can do it.  You have been created for a reason and with a unique purpose, and no one else has your area of influence and can affect it like you do.  You are truly an amazing opportunity simply waiting to happen.  It doesn’t matter if your mom named you James, Jennifer, or Julius, you can make a difference in this world.  You can change a life, a town or even a continent, but it begins with the belief in who you can be, no matter what lies have convinced you otherwise.  There’s no reason to be confused or stuck; because we want to connect with you.  Why not click on the link below, and find some direction in this area of your life because identity, essentially knowing who you are, begins with knowing whose you are.  Not knowing the truth about who you can be, and trudging through life like that, is like a broken pencil. Pointless. Are you ready? Let’s do this!