My Pandora “Sweet Vocal” station introduced me to Jessica Andrews and “Who I Am,” her biggest hit.*

I liked the song when I first heard it, and gave it a “Thumbs Up” . . . which guaranteed I would hear it again.

As I listened to it for about the third time yesterday, it struck me how wholesome it is to have the kind of self-confidence she enjoys because of the knowledge of her heritage: Read the rest of this entry »

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Our family enjoyed the birth of two grandbabies–our fourth and fifth–in the last two weeks: one, by emergency c-section, on Sunday, July 27th; the other last Friday, on 08-08-08. The first is named Natalia Mae; the second, Jonadab Asaph. Both of them inherited a family name different from our own since they were born to our daughters.

With the birth of Jonadab Asaph–brother to Jadon Hessels, Isaiah Jude, and Abraham Josiah–we were confronted once again, in a rather forceful manner, with the significance of a personal–or first–name.

I think a lot of families are fairly aware of how their family names are carried down generation to generation. And some of us even think about our family names once in a while. We don’t want to bring shame on our family name. Some of us even want to make our family name somewhat famous.

But what of our personal names? Read the rest of this entry »