Suffering is a strange invitation to explore.
Suffering has lately compelled me to explore my name.
I think I have been mostly desensitized to my name for most of my life. I have encountered it in some form every day since I was born. It is as normal as breathing.
Who is Amy?
Well, that’s just me.
But Suffering has invited me to get to know my name a little bit better.
Words are extremely powerful. God spoke the world into motion. The book of Proverbs spends a notable amount of time admonishing the reader regarding the potency of words, comparing the words of the wise with the words of fools. Jesus is called the Word and the Word in flesh. Language is a powerful medium of communication. Words contain the power both to heal and to hurt, to love and to hate, to give life and to deliver death blows. Words can be prophetic.
Honestly, I could conjure up an entire post about words.
But the word “Amy” — my name — has captured my special interest.
Amy is an English name that means “beloved”.
Amee is a French spelling, derived from the Latin amatus.
Amatus means “loved” or “beloved”.
I’ve known what my name means for years. And it has often made me smile to think of what it means. I confess, it has even procured a sense of pride at times. Funny, that I could feel pride over something that I can in no way take credit for.
Lately the meaning of my name has been able to bring tears to my eyes. It has overwhelmed me to realize that belovedness has been spoken over me every day since I was born. For the last twenty-one years, eight months, and ten days I have been called “Beloved”.
Pondering this has caused me to think of all the people in my life who love me. And it is astounding. It is deeply humbling. It inspires gratitude.
And the craziest part of it is that this is who God says I am.
Before my parents chose the name “Amy”, God knew it. Before my conception, He foresaw every single moment of the life of this girl. And before I had a name, He named me Beloved.
Every day, the Gospel is spoken over me. I am beloved because God has called me His beloved child. Jesus has imparted His belovedness to me. How utterly desolating. How supernaturally life-giving. How personal, how kind, how gracious of my Creator to call me His beloved daughter.
I love my name. Every day I am reminded that I am loved. Every day I am reminded that the belovedness of Jesus has been given to me through the Cross.
And I can take no credit for it, thank God.
Amy. Amatus. Beloved.
songs of stippled stardust 