As for Me and My HouseSample

What’s in a Name?

In the weeks following our wedding, my wife took advantage of every opportunity to look at the ring on her finger. She said her new name over and over again, smiling widely as she spoke. To her, it declared her love to me and represented hope for the future. She was proud to take my name.

I would love to say that hearing her say her new name filled me with a similar sense of pride, but my emotions were more complex. 

My last name forever linked me to an adulterer and deadbeat dad. When I was younger, I often wished I could change it. But now, not only would the name live on through me, it would also live on through my wife and our future children. I wondered if the day would come where she would despise my name as much as I did. How could I be sure I wouldn’t make the same mistakes?

When Joshua issued his famous ultimatum, “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” he said it to a group of people with a past they would rather forget. They had followed after foreign gods and committed spiritual adultery. Yet despite what they had done, God offered them a fresh start. 

The apostle Paul echoed the sentiment in 2 Corinthians 5:17 when he said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” God is a god of second chances and fresh starts. Your past does not need to hold you back. A new legacy can begin today, with you.

Seeing the pride in my wife’s eyes as she looked at her wedding ring made me realize a new legacy had already begun. By the time our son was born, I was able to hear my name with pride, too. Not because of what I had done, but because of what my Heavenly Father had done to redeem it. 

We are far from perfect, but there is one thing I can say with confidence is this, as for the Santiago house, we will serve the Lord.

What about you?

For more help building a new legacy checkout these resources on FamilyLife.com.