Nicknames

Do you remember the pet rock craze?  That time when you got a smooth rock painted with a silly face and kept it on your desk or dresser as though it could contribute love and friendship to your life.  And if you participated fully in the trend, you probably called the rock by a name and talked to it as you passed by now and again.  It was a frivolous, stroke of brilliance for some human to take a free, inanimate object and assign value and worth to it by giving it a name and a face.

One of my very favorite things to do is to walk the beach and pick up beautiful, perfectly smooth white rocks.  I have gathered those stones from beaches all over the world and carried them home to my jewelry box on my dresser.  When I bend down and grab one of the stones,  I love their warmth from laying in the sun.  I love their almost human quality of soft smoothness--how comforting to hold the large flawless pebbles in my hand.  I love their pure white color with even whiter veins that run through them giving each rock it's uniqueness.  I love that
the pretty stones reminds me of one of my favorite verses in scripture--Revelation 2 :17.  "Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it."  If I overcome the challenges of life, God has a nickname for me!  A name that's just between us;  a sign of our intimacy and love.

Since that verse was pointed out to me, I have often wondered what the Lord will call me-- my complicated one, my short one, my curious one....  What does God find endearing about me?  When I get my white stone what will it say?

The other day Jim and I were talking about the silly names we call each other.  We were discussing which ones we liked and where they came from and how they evolved from one name to another.  We also talked about the unspoken rule of nicknames--they do not get said in the presence of others--they are private and winsome and a sign of belonging to one another.

How lovely is it to think that God recognizes my efforts to triumph over hardships and challenges by giving me a nickname, a name that signals I am dear to Him and I belong to Him?