Knowing the Name...

It was probably three years ago that Julia Stetler came to our church with a Hobe Sound PR group. Common occurrence, right? After all, Julia has been traveling with HSBC for about 15 years now. :) But there was something a little extraordinary about her, at least in the eyes of 4-year-old Kaitlynn. Julia had a winning smile, beautiful red hair, and voice that was to die for. And she wore heels. How cool is that! Julia paid special attention to Kaitlynn, and that is something Kait would never forget. Anytime a group would come, the first question would be, "Is Julia with them?" At camp we would have to race over to hear Julia. And last year at IHC, when Julia sang a solo, well, you would have thought it was a famous, award-winning artist behind that mic. Julia did just as well as any famous, award-winning artist, I might add. We don't encourage our kids to idolize people, and I was laughing to someone about how ironic it was that Kaitlynn had such an affinity for Julia. That friend said, "Hey, better her than Hannah Montana." Wow, she was right. Thank God for positive role models!

This year, we decided that Julia would stay at our house when the choir came to town. For a couple of weeks, it was all about Julia, Julia, Julia.
One day, Allison came to me and said, "I LUUUUUUV Julia!" I laughed and said, "Silly girl, you don't even KNOW Julia!" With a sparkle in her eye and conviction in her voice, Allison replied, "Yeah, but I KNOW HER NAME!"
It was a cute moment, but I was instantly overwhelmed by a greater message that emerged in my soul. One about the power of influence. Allison adores Kaitlynn. If Kaitlynn thinks Julia is really all that, then that's enough for Allison. She only needs to know the name.

The spiritual application for that little scenario is pretty clear. How often do I mention the Name of Jesus? Do I praise His attributes aloud with my lips? Do those around me respect the Name, simply because I speak it? Can a troubled friend speak His Name, whether or not they have a relationship with Him, but because I know Him and I have represented Him well?

Something to think about as we head into a rainy weekend in April. Hope yours is blessed!

As a special treat at the completion of our phonics program,
I took my kindergarten class to a McDonald's with a huge
indoor play center.  They had so much fun, and I am officially
dubbed "The Coolest Teacher Ever"!  Had I known that is all
it would take, we would have gone to McD's on August 25th! 

Sweet faces...oh, the potential!