What's in a Name?

If I was asked to share one specific example in which my Mom has had an ongoing impact on my life, I would say it has to do with my name.  I can still remember the day it happened.  I was elementary school age and we were driving some place.  It was during that drive that my mom said, “Do you know what your name means?”  I didn’t so she told me.  “Chad,” she said, “your name means defender or warrior.”  Well, at that age that would have been enough for me as knowing that is what my name meant was pretty cool.  But my Mom did not want me to interpret the meaning of my name without her adding her thoughts.  She went on to say, “Chad, God wants you to defend his truth and to stand up for what is right even if you stand alone.  You won’t always be popular if you live this way, but you will live for something worth more than popularity.  It won’t always be easy if you speak up when everyone else would prefer you to be silent, but it will be worth it, because you will make God happy.” 

That day she did more than interpret the meaning of my name.  She shaped me that day in a way that still influences me through today.  On days when I am tempted to back down, even though I know God is saying stand firm or when I would prefer to remain silent, even though I know God is saying say something or when I would rather give into apathy even though God is saying do something, I not only have the Holy Spirit’s thumb in my back, but my mom’s voice ringing in my head: “Chad, your name means defender.  You are a defender of the faith.”  Sometimes it really ticks me off…I want to scream, “Just be quiet and both of you leave me alone!”  But I am so thankful that neither voice pays a bit of attention to my protests because left to myself I would surely live for less.

Of course, what made her words all the more powerful in my life was that she and Dad lived out what she was trying to get me to hear.  Time and time again, I have watched my parents choose the way less traveled for the sake of God’s grace and truth.  They have embraced people who others rejected.  They have rebuked those that others feared.  They have done something while others were only willing to talk about it.  They have made sacrifices for the cause of Christ while others made excuses.  They were by no means perfect, but while others would have justified their shortcomings, they simply confessed it and even told their sons they were sorry.  Most of all, they showed me that a name is more than something people call you, but a calling to live for something more.   

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!  Thank you both, Mom and Dad, for showing me what it means to live up to the name you gave me.  I love you!