New Names

I grew up as a Rebekah in a Rebecca world. I spent the first twenty years of my life saying things like "My name is Rebekah. That's R-e-b-e-k-a-h. No...k-a-h. One b....then a k-a-h. Yeah it's from the Bible."

Not until college did I meet other Rebekahs...and now I honestly know of more who spell it the same way I do than those who spell it the traditional way.

Along the way, I got lazy with that first syllable and just became a Bekah...a decision cemented when I hired in at WBCL and chose to be known as Bekah on the air. It flowed better, I thought...and it felt like a fresh beginning after eleven years of insisting that students and parents call me Rebekah.

Being Rebekah also held with it a host of memories, both good and bad, but there were many things about that half of my life that cried out in need of redemption. A new start.

One of the greatest blessings of getting married was the opportunity to take Ryan's last name. Well, the process of taking his last name wasn't a blessing. That was an opportunity to test my Christian spirit to its core. But I loved the chance for a fresh start - to be a Shaffer. To know that when people think of me - that's the name they think of, and they associate me with the man God sent to be my redemption.

I was born into this world as Rebekah Freelan - and I'm proud of that heritage. But even as I stare at that name on this screen, it represents to me all those years of searching...and wondering...and becoming. And one day, God sent redemption and with it, a new name. I now stare at the name Bekah Shaffer. She's a new creation...a product of His redemption.

That's why, when I got this birthday present this week, I nearly cried. {Actually I did cry when it settled in over me.}

My new initials. RJS. A testimony of who I was, who I am, and who God has for me to be.

And do you see the words around it?

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

My desire - wrapped up in a Godly man and a new name.