to be named

we're deep into the genesis story in our God Story sessions. this idea of naming a thing keeps coming up. in scripture there are no random names, no names chosen merely because they sound cool rolling off the tongue or possess some lyrical desirability, but names are chosen because they mean something. names in the old testament are telling a story about a people finding their faith. which is why it seems to matter to God that people are named in alignment with what he's called them out to be in his plot line. like abram/abraham whose name got expanded, both phonetically and conceptually, from an Important Dad to a Father of Multitudes.

it's funny that this topic came up in our conversation today because it was only yesterday that we were all laughing our way through a game that involves allowing yourself to be renamed by your friends. we were creative, sometimes way out there, in choosing these names for one another. and we ourselves had no say in the naming. we don't get to make names for ourselves.

my name was determined to be Brita Mose Stone, with Mose being short for Mosaic. and perhaps it was chosen mostly because it sounded cool and, on some gut level, seemed to "fit" me, but as tim (now linus lincoln grahm) pointed out, it implies a few things:
1) brita is a water filtration system, so there's the idea of purity and purification
2) mosaic is a multi-faceted art, celebrating my eclecticism
3) stone is something sturdy and still
he thinks all of this fits quite nicely, is a name that one could carry with some pride.

about a year ago i was given another name by two friends. it came out of game in which we decided to create native american names for one another. and they settled on Rising Tigress for me. that's a powerful name and i was uncomfortable with it for it didn't seem to fit. i think this is a name i'm growing into. but i love the strength, sleekness, and femininity of a tigress coupled with the possibility and promise of arising. and i would be okay with having that become an apt description for who i am.

my given, legal name Brooke is of English origin and refers to a body of water (steam). just today when i looked it up on another source, it says that it literally means "one who lives by the stream." Nicole is a feminine form of nicholas, which means "victory of the people." and so just now it is hitting me that my name is actually really significant in meaning!
- he lead beside quiet waters (psalm 23:2)
- victory rests with the Lord (proverbs 21:31)
- in repentance and rest is salvation (isaiah 30:15)
perhaps the meaning in my name that my parents didn't even consider is this: "one who by resting beside the stream participates in the victory of God's people." this link between rest and victory (which we might call surrender and trust) is exactly what the Lord has been teaching me to be defined by.

thank you for naming me, God. my name(s), some known and some yet to be made known, are engraved on the palms of your hands. you do not forget me.