Does God Call You Goober?

When my youngest daughter was about to enter kindergarten, the school began doing pre-kindergarten screenings to see what each child knew prior to beginning school. Afterward, I was curious what the test was like and so that night at dinner I asked Hayley about it. She told me it was easy, just numbers, colors and cutting with scissors. I asked her if there was anything she didn’t know on the test. She thought awhile and then said well, she didn’t know her middle name. I thought I would give her a hint as to what her middle name was, so I reminded her that her Dad called her by her middle name all the time. This was true. When he was upset with her, he would call her by her entire name. She thought a while about this information, then she looked like a light bulb went on and she said, “Oh! Goober???” Don’t worry; we didn’t name her Hayley Goober Watts….


Names are important to us though, aren’t they? They help us know who we are and define our identity. In Isaiah 42:1, it says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” The first time I heard this verse, it made me cry. It still does. God knows each of us so well he calls us by name. That verse tells us what a personal intimate relationship, God wants with each of us. It tells us that we belong in God’s family; we have a place that we cannot lose or abandon. It tells us that when we feel alone, left out or at odds with the human race, God still cares for us and holds us close. Sometimes, God not only knows our name, but he knows who we really are better than we know ourselves. Have you even been challenged to do something that you really didn’t believe you were capable of doing, but somehow you pulled it off? Have you ever been in the midst of a difficult situation that seemed impossible to cope with, and then somehow things worked out? Read my I Prefer Life post if you want a concrete example of this. Of course God knows us so well because he made us. I suppose sometimes, He might even call us Goober…