What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?
I don’t usually answer the daily prompts, but this one made me smile.
My middle name is Anne.
Yes, include that E.
My dad chose it for me – Mom chose my first name.
And I grew up to be quite like the iconic Anne with an E, as anyone who knows me will testify to.
So in my teens, when my personality began to exhibit with vibrant intensity a dramatic way of expressing myself, (how’s that for a string of words, Lucy Maud,) mom would laughingly say to Dad,
“She’s YOUR daughter. You named her Anne!”
It’s also interesting to note that the genes which are to blame for these characteristics come from Mom’s side of the family tree… but Dad called me Anne.
So when I get dramatic, or into ridiculous situations, the family joke decrees that I’m Dad’s daughter.
Thankfully, he’s level headed enough to take it all in stride…
And even more importantly, with God’s help my wild imagination and descriptive tongue thankfully don’t get me into trouble as often as they once did.
I remember despairingly begging God to make me quiet, calm, and shy. In other words, a nice, normal person who would never embarrass herself.
Well, it’s evident in my life that’s one of those prayers that God answered with “no.”
I prayed that until I was about 16, when I finally clued in that God did make me this way for a purpose.
Since then I’ve prayed that God will work through the personality He’s given me to speak the words He gives to me, and have the courage to do what He tells me to do.
I’m so glad that He has actively continued to answer this prayer in my life, and I know He will continue to shape me in His likeness as I ask Him to with a willing heart.
Just like my earthly parents, I know my Heavenly Father loves me for who I am, exactly the way I am.
That’s because I am God’s daughter, too…
And He’s given me another name besides Anne.
Redeemed.
Notes from My Heartsong 