What's With The Name?

Part of the reason I hesitated to start a blog was that I was having a hard time deciding what I'd call it. Although I'm creative in many ways, coming up with "catchy" but not "dorky" names for things is not my forte and I will stress about it until the end days if left to myself. Dork, by the way, is my middle name--just so you understand where all this is coming from. And yes, I realize I just ended a sentence with a preposition. See, dorkiness, ugh. I say "ugh" a lot. (While I'm being honest, I also say "y'all" and use smiley face icons a lot...a LOT!) So you can imagine my surprise and delight when God spoke straight to me through the speakers of my made for hot mamas only minivan. Three little words took hold of me and wouldn't let go.

Before I go any further, I need to fill you in on where I've been spiritually this past month. Without getting too heavy, let me just say I've been struggling with feeling that many people in my life don't know the real me. And most of this is my own fault. I worry much about whether I've said the right words, done the right stuff or shown too much of my dorkiness to poor unsuspecting souls who might never be the same after runnin' across dorky ole me. This is what I'll call the Dorkiness Double Standard. You see, I love the dorkiness in everybody else. Just can't accept that others might actually love the dorkiness in me too. Go figure.

Now fast forward to about a week ago, when I was driving aforementioned hot mama minivan to pick up the twins at preschool. I was enthusiastically enjoying for once getting to listen to "my" music (which, let me assure you, does not include Sesame Street, The Wiggles, or any sort of Einstein) and was crankin' Wow Hits 2009.

Y'all, there are some REALLY good songs on that double cd set! But the one the Lord chose to use on me that day is called "Washed By The Water" by NeedtoBreathe. A line near the beginning of the song says "Just tryin to make the world a little better You know, shine a light." It struck me instantly and I knew the Holy Spirit was reminding me that I need to be shining my light. I'm supposed to shine it. And I'm hindering God from working through me by being too afraid to shine it! I mean, for all I know there's some Big Ole Dork who's reading this right now that needs to know the dorkiness is totally okay. (And it's okay if you're that dork.) So this song was the Lord saying to me "Shine A Light, Girl"! Shine. A. Light. Hence, the blog name.

And there you have it. Amen.