Family Names Represent So Much

When my son, Booth, was born, my husband insisted that he be called by his first name and not his middle name.  In other words, we had tossed around all kinds of family names like William Booth, or John Booth and then just calling him Booth.  This is my maiden name so whether we had a boy or a girl, the name was going to be Booth.  My husband has always been called by his middle name, "Battle" which is also a family name.  Thus, at every doctor's appointment, on every first day of school, when applying for his driver's license,  my husband was always getting called by his legal name "Searcy."  Well, that was his Dad's name, so as a kid, he never liked to be called that.  Afterall, his name was "Battle."    For this reason, he insisted that our children be called by their first name. 

This is a letter my grandfather sent to my granny from WWII.
He refers to himself as "Booth" in the last paragraph.  

About two months ago an interesting thing happened.  Battle's brother shared a newspaper article that detailed some of the "Page" family history.  The article went back several generations, before the Civil War, to describe the members of the family,  who had married who, and the children that they had.  I watched as my husband read this article and then watched as his face and voice changed.  As he was reading who married and who had children and who died, etc.... etc.... there it was...... the story of "William Searcy Battle."    He was the oldest son of Colonel Joel Battle and Sarah Searcy Battle.  Colonel Battle was known for being "noble, generous, and brave to a fault."   His son, William Searcy, was killed at the Battle of Shiloh. 

www.murfreesboropost.com/the-battle-family-gave-its-all-for-the-csa-cms-15895


I don't know how many times I have been asked where the name "Battle" came from.  I can't imagine how many times my husband has been asked that question over the course of his lifetime, but instead of the usual "it's a family name" answer, now it became, "let me tell you about how I got my name."  There was an unbelievable amount of pride and emotion when he finally knew exactly where his name came from and the legacy of the people behind the names.  What a gift this was.  He had always worn the name proudly because he was named after his Dad, but now it became even more special going back several generations.  After all these years, he knew where he came from and what "his people" stood for.

Now this might seem like a "stretch" but I have waited for awhile to do this blog because I really couldn't figure out the way to tie my thoughts together.  I'm going to give it a try because it keeps nagging at me.  Everywhere I turn someone is talking about "what's in a name."  Or our preacher is talking about "the name above all names."  Or we are singing a song at church called "Your Name."  The wheels started turning while we were at the beach for Spring Break.  I was taught at a young age that we are not to "take the Lord's name in vain."  OMG has never been part of my vocabulary, but honestly,  after hearing it a million times a day, you get a little immune to it.  I am not proud of this at all.  So we're at the beach and I start noticing people taking the name of Jesus in vain.  Spring Break is typically taken the week before Easter, so it is during this week that Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter are remembered.  The miniseries, "The Bible" was on and the part showing during Spring Break was the last week of Jesus' life, leading up to the crucifixion.  How awful it was to watch what Jesus did for us all and then to hear his name used for anything other than love and honor.  To hear people say, with disgust, as a filler word, "Jesus Christ" or "Christ" or "Oh my Goddddd."  My Spirit was cringing.   I remember driving down the road with the window down and hearing it loud, from a restaurant parking lot, "Jesus Christ, the wait is 2 hours."  Well, anyway, you get the point.

I take it personally when anyone says to me, with a snicker, "Booth?  where did that name come from?"  or when someone says on the other end of the phone, "His name is Battle?  Okkkkk????"  But I have gotten used to it and usually proudly reply to both, "It's a Southern thing.  We love family names." It occurs to me that my Heavenly Father loves His Son, Jesus. He placed the Name of Jesus above every Name.    While I am so offended when someone spits the name of the One who saved me I must remember that we all need Jesus and He is strong enough to see the heart and not just the tongue.
.....And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.  Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the NAME that is above every NAME, that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow in heaven and on Earth and under the Earth, and every tongue confess that JESUS CHRIST is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Phillipians 2:8-11