Names are important.
My name is Ann, plain ole Ann without a sophisticating “e” on the end. There’s only one syllable and it’s impossible to mispronounce. It’s such a simple name but its Hebrew origins point to deep meaning. Ann means gracious, merciful, benevolent, kindly to the oppressed. It is a high calling. I don’t always live up to it.
I had a child out of wedlock in 1967. I named her Sarah, another Hebrew name. It means “princess”. Sarah was my beloved princess, the child of my
heart and I was blessed to care for her for the first twelve days of her life….then she was gone and was given another name I did not choose.
The Hebrew and Christian scriptures are replete with name change stories; Abram to Abraham, Sari to Sarah, Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter, Saul to Paul. Revelations 2:17 says that the one who conquers will be given a white stone with a new name written on it. I wonder what my new name will be? I pray that it will be one that states, “Here is one who has been gracious, one who has been merciful, one who has lessened the burden of the oppressed”. Then it will all be worth it.
My life, like everyone else’s has been a mixture of blessings and challenges. I have four children and eight grandchildren with two more angels on the way. Motherhood has always been the role I loved the best. I have been the short-term foster mother of about a dozen infants. Each one was a gift. I have gone through the trauma of divorce and the devastation of cancer treatments and multiple surgeries. My first grand child died of brain cancer at the age of 7. My eldest brother died of cancer at the age of 46. Yet, in all this, I have been more than a conqueror because I have been able to accept