The Power of a Name...

Names are curious things. Jamie and I had the name of our firstborn (Kaylea Grace) picked out long before she was a "twinkle in her mother's eye," as my mom would say. When the time came, we quickly agreed on a first name for our secondborn (Sophie Lin), but took months deciding on her middle name.

I was going to be named Sarah Elizabeth, I think. I'm glad it's Ethan Douglas. Ethan is a name of Hebrew origin that means "Strength." There's even a songwriter in the Bible, Ethan the Ezrahite. You can check out his musings in Psalm 89. Douglas is my dad's middle name, too. I like being connected to my dad, sharing his name in my life. My last name often gets exchanged with my first, is misspelled with letters added, and confuses the host or hostess asking for names at a restaurant.

For the last 2 months, I haven't been signing my name on the automated signature/credit card swiper machine at the grocery store. I've been everyone from Santa Claus to Priest Holmes. This caught up with me the other night when I signed "Tom Cruise." The cashier thought it was hilarious. The checker said I'd been in his line before, "Didn't you have a little girl? You signed 'Dora the Explorer!'" They laughed hard. I am now known by other's names.

It took me 10 minutes to think of a name for this blog. "Out on the Edges" is a song I wrote that describes an adventurous, carefree spirit seeking to live a life full of passion, mystery, and risky faith. I hope this blog will reflect that spirit.

By the way, Kaylea was going to be Hogan Douglas.