Well, I am so excited! Registrations for His Power at Work Mastermind are coming in, and as I
work on the principles we'll be sharing and how they may impact us-getting beyond stuck, or
out of the rut, or in a new place in our relationship with God and in our businesses and lives, it
literally takes my breath! A Mastermind is a group who meets together (in-person or virtually)
to share accountability, peer mentoring, to sharpen skills, and in this particular Mastermind, to
focus on the Master of our business, Jesus.
His Power at Work will kick off with a free session on Goals. It's the perfect time to think about
what you'll want to achieve in the coming year, or more accurately, what God wants to achieve
through you. What does it look like to hear from God what His priorities are for our life and
business? How will He accomplish His priorities in and through us? Registration for this
session closes on December 15th, so be sure to sign up for the free session at
talkandpray.us/mastermind.
In the meantime, welcome to today's edition of Talk & Pray for Life and Business!
Never a Willie Bobbie
People who don't know me well usually call me Mary. And my last name is always a challenge.
I don't look at all Latina with my not-quite-authentic blonde hair and fair skin so what in
southeastern Kentucky is Casada would be Casada anywhere else in the world. I should be
grateful... my brother-in-law served on an aircraft carrier in the Navy some years back and his
moniker back then was Psychota. I've never been a phychota, at least I don't think so!
So Mary Cu-sah-duh is usually an indication you don't know me very well. I'm definitely a
Mary Lou (as you might recall from episode #12 called "Spiders and Snakes"). And it's Cass-
uh-duh. Like Canada with an S. At an awards ceremony a few years back, I handed my name
card to the announcer with the phonetic pronunciation written on it. She looked back at me and
said, "Cass-uh, duh? Duh? Right?" with a big grin. Emphasis on the duh, I guess. A good
reminder that whatever accolade you might earn, you're still just a duh to some people.
We struggled somewhat with names for our children, as most people do, I guess. Our firstborn,
Emily, came as a surprise to us, and so we weren't ready for the name game. We knew we
wanted an older name, and we didn't know any Emilys, and as luck would have it, I found an
Emily in an old graveyard of my Dad's people in Tennessee. We selected Emily Claire, loving
the combination of syllables and both the sturdiness and the femininity of the names. Then
when my grandmother came to the hospital and was hurt that not one single grandchild nor
great grandchild among dozens was her namesake, we had to adjust. My husband wasn't for it,
but I insisted that HE'd have to tell grandma we were opting out. So Emily Claire became
Emily Claire Vivian Casada. And wouldn't you know... that year Emily was the most popular
name in the world, and when she married, the Vivien was promptly dropped. Sorry, Grandma!
Our second child, Sam, was easier. He was planned, and the name from the Old Testament
meant "asked of God," so that was perfect. We also liked Aaron, and the two went together
beautifully! Easy-peasy!
And then along came the third child. Okay, so we went with pretty for the girl, then planned for
boy #1, how about naming this 3rd child after his grandfathers! Hooo-boy... Have you ever seen
the comedy sketch by Gary Gulman on how the states got their abbreviations? I'll link the
sketch in the show notes! It's a hilarious fictional play by play of each state getting its 2-letter
abbreviation. NOT what you'd think would be funny, but the sketch reveals drama you do not
expect in funny form. We didn't expect naming our kid after our dads to produce drama! You'd
think it'd be easy, but right away, we ran into trouble.
You see, my dad's name was Willie. Not William, not Wilhelm, not Wilbur, but Willie.
My father-in-law's name is Bobby. Not Robert, not Robbie, not Bobcat. Bobby. We are from
southeastern KY which is almost like being born in the South. There cannot be a Willie Bobby
in this family!! It's a name that belongs in a movie with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.
Talladega Nights here we come!
So, we mused, how about William Robert? Um, no. Not in Appalachia. That would be Billy
Bob. I couldn't fathom having a Billy Bob in the family, no disrespect intended to all the
William Roberts in the world. In the country, Billy Bob just has a totally different vibe and
expectation. It's not that we are too refined to have a Billy Bob; it's just that in my neck of the
woods, Willie Bobby and Billy Bob confer a certain redneck expectation. This kid's name could
never be Willie Bobby!
We landed eventually on William Jeffrey-after my dad and Jeff and we have often been asked
if he was named for a certain president (William Jefferson Clinton), but no. Interestingly, I had
an uncle on one side named George Washington Burke, and on the other side, Daniel Boone.
And my Will-William Jeffrey became Will at home-as irony would have it, gained
nicknames from relatives that included all the variations: Wilfred, Wilhelm, Wilbur, and the
classic Willinator.
At camp one year, the director asked me to check all the certificates at the end of the week, and
I had to take Will's back to him to be corrected. "Is it misspelled?" the director asked. "No," I
said, "it's just not his name." "But his sister and brother call him Willard," he said. "I've heard
them say it a hundred times." "Yeah. It's just not his name." Poor Will. Whiporwill. See...?
how easy it is to go there? If you ask Will his name, he might say Will Jeffrey. It's like the yiam
part of William just disappeared. He's a Will if ever there was one.
Naming was a big ol' deal in Bible times. Often when a person interacted with God, he or she
received a new name to indicate a change in their situation or a new understanding of who they
were. Abram, meaning father, became Abraham, meaning father of many nations. Jacob,
meaning deceiver, became Israel meaning God contends, or perseveres, revealing not only
Jacob's new identity, but what would become a national identity of God's chosen people.
When we decided it was time to add a child to the family, we got pregnant within weeks. We
named our 2nd child, Samuel, meaning "asked of God" but it can also have another meaning.
Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for "God has Heard." Listen how that plays out in the prophet
Samuel's life.
His mother, Hannah, was barren, and in anquish she asked the Lord to give her a child. She
vowed if He gave her a son she would return him to the LORD for all the days of his life. She
was so upset and overwrought about her infertility that when she prayed the prophet Eli thought
she was drunk and told her to put away her wine. She set Eli straight with kind but firm words:
"'Not so, my lord,' Hannah replied. 'I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been
drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. Do not take your servant for a
wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.'" (1 Samuel 1:15-
16) Eli blessed her, "May God grant you what you have asked of Him," and Hannah went home
to her husband. She became pregnant, gave birth to a son and named him Samuel, because, she
said, "I asked the LORD for him." In gratitude for her gift from God and in keeping with her
vow, Hannah gave Samuel back to the Lord.
Scripture says, "The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word
of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions." (1 Samuel 3:1) Then one night, Samuel
heard his name called. Every time I read this story I hear it the voice of a recorded puppet script
we used with a missions team when I was in college. Samuel's voice in the recording was
almost identical to the muppet Elmo!
"Eli! Eli! Did you call?"
Eli's voice is gruff and grumpy. "No. Go back to bed!"
Samuel hears his name called again. And again he runs to Eli's room.
"Eli! Eli! Did you call?"
Again, Eli responds. "No, kid. Go back to bed!"
And a third time, Samuel hears his name.
"Eli! Eli! Did you call my name?"
And now, Eli realizes that it is God calling the boy, so he tells him to go back to bed, and when
he hears his name again, to say, "Speak LORD, for your servant is listening."
Samuel obeys Eli, and when God speaks, Samuel says, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
And God speaks... "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of
everyone who hears about it tingle." (1 Samuel 3:11) Wow! It was a good-news/bad-news
scenario... The good news was the God was speaking in a time when visions had become rare,
and someone was listening! The bad news was judgement on Eli's family. After some
persuading, Samuel obediently tells Eli what the LORD said to him,
And here's where it gets interesting... I'd never noticed a verse near the end of the chapter. 1
Samuel 3:19 says this: "The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of
Samuel's words fall to the ground." The Message says it this way: "Samuel grew up. GOD was
with him, and Samuel's prophetic record was flawless. Everyone in Israel...recognized that
Samuel was the real thing-a true prophet of GOD."
I never noticed before this affirmation of Samuel's identity, never made the connection between
the boy whose mother's words, asking for a son, and God's word, speaking to Samuel, and then
Samuel's words that were heard by nations and kings. Asked of God. Heard by God. Answered
by God. This was who Samuel was to his core.
I believe we have an identity in Christ that is unique to us; it's who we be to our core, and what
we were designed to do in and for the Kingdom of God flows from this true identity. More than
giftedness, it's our ideal self being who God created us to be and finding satisfaction, success,
and impact as we work OUT what is IN us (Paul used this metaphor in Philippians 2:12).
Ephesians 2:10 tells us "For we are God's handiwork" -the King James word is
"workmanship", doesn't that sound artistic and unique!?- "created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." King James ends the verse this way,
"which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Walk implies as we are going
about our business. Our everyday life. We are God's work of art, released into the wild of this
world.
Names in our American culture don't carry the significance of Biblical names, so Mary Lou
doesn't give me clues to who God created me to be. But if I listen, as Samuel did, for God's
voice, I can ask Him. "Speak, Lord, and show me who You have made me to be." When I ask
Him, I'm taken back to my childhood-always the first to memorize and recite, eager to
perform, and the person that people asked "how would you say..." when they needed the right
words to communicate a message, and that carried through high school, college, and careers.
God made me a Wordsmith. And the first character in Scripture that captured my imagination as
a child was Barnabas, the encourager. All my life, friends and strangers alike would tell me
their stories, and look to me for advice and encouragement. God made me an Exhorter! When
I'm writing and teaching and encouraging, I feel the smile of God, I feel His approval. I know
who I am.
My Samuel, 2nd child, and now Home with his heavenly Father, was a Running Lover. He'd
quote Chariots of Fire's Eric Liddle and say, "God made me fast, and when I run, I feel His
pleasure." As he ran, he pointed people to Jesus. He was perfect in that identity. And people
said of Sam that he loved without filters. That's who he was to his core, and his life is a
testimony of identity in Christ.
When you think about the times you've felt God's pleasure, who were you being? What were
you doing? What are the patterns in your life that reveal who God created you to be? To quote
an old Lynard Skynard song, "What's your name, little girl? What's your name?" That's not a
very spiritual song.
How about this one: Speak, O Lord by the Gettys, which I'll link in the show notes.
Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us-
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
The Willinator (never a Willie Bobby) and Emily Claire Vivian and you, my friend, have a
unique and amazing Identity inside you that God wants to flesh out. Take time to listen to Him,
to meditate on His word and His work in you. Then do that! You will feel His pleasure, and that
is success and satisfaction that cannot be experienced any other way.
Father,
Thank you for Jesus's names that reveal Who He is... Immanuel, God with us. Yeshua, our
Deliverer, Jesus, the Lord is our Salvation! We know exactly who He is and what He came to
do. Lord, speak to us with that clarity. Help us be who you created us to be, and to make a
difference in community as we all work together in the ways You've called us. Some are
teachers, and administrators, and caregivers, and protectors, and writers, and prophets, and that
is the meaning of Your word about the body working together. I cannot be a wordsmith
exhorter without people to teach and encourage and receive my words. We become who You've
made us in community. Show us who we be, then join our hearts and hands, Lord, so that others
will come to know you. In Jesus' name, Amen.
