NAME CHANGE!

WOW!  What a great weekend we had.  Our middle son was married this past weekend to his beautiful fiance Carissa.  We are so blessed beyond imagination!  Carissa Adamson became the new Mrs. Graham Todd Allen.  One nice benefit to her name change was that she kept her same initials! How many of us get to do that?!

I remember changing my name on my SS card after I was married.  I went from an "R" to an "A". That sounded great to me!  But what was really good, was that I was now identified with a precious family that loved me and took me in as a daughter.  We hope Carissa knows how much we love her and consider her now the next daughter in our family.  Alix now has a sister in crime!

We will have another wedding in February with our youngest, Anthony. Then, Nikki will become the third daughter in the Allen clan.  Our love for each one of these girls is beyond our dreams.  They add a powerful addition to this all male household -  a strength and and assurance of a complete family.

You know, a name change identifies you not as someone new, but as someone claimed.  It's like a seal placed on you as a claim of identifying you to another.

We too, believers in Christ, are given a new name.  A name that identifies our love and faith in the One who has paid the ransom and claims us as His.  We are sealed with this new identity by His Holy Spirit for a lifetime.  My  new name....Christian.  I am claimed by my groom, who chose me to be His bride.  I'm thrilled with my new name.

My prayer is for these two newlyweds to claim their new names.  After all.....adding a "C" to their initials is a blessing and a privilege.

I am so grateful for the blessing of this weekend.  For the beautiful woman my Lord game my sweet son.  Name changes are AWESOME!  Have you added a new initial?