What is important about a name?

    The name Sallade.... the restaurant hostess can't pronounce it, the doctor's office can't spell it,  salespeople skip it, and there are very few in the phone book... but there is now one Sallade that lives in Haiti.
   Back in July, I was so excited to receive an email that had an Adoption Decree attached.  Yes, our daughter, according to Haitian government, has received a new last name!  I pray that you forgive me that I did not immediately sit down to write, announce, and praise God for this huge step that had happened.  It felt big to our family, but Satan convinced me that it wasn't "The Big News" so others wouldn't be interested.  So my procrastination has left me convicted.  God has waited patiently for me to honor and acknowledge His work because I wear His name.
    So is your name important?  Often times I forget who I belong to and where my family resides.  This journey has definitely given me a new glimpse of our Father's heart and His desires for His children.  I dare not think of our daughter as "less than a Sallade" just because she is far away from home.  Jesus doesn't think of us as "less than his children" just because we may have wandered and  are far from Him.  Paul writes in Ephesians 2:13, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ."  I also feel the excitement to share everything that I have with the newest Sallade.  And yet, I know God owns everything and gives His people everything we need.  "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" Ephesians 3:20  Our family will surely celebrate when she finally comes home.  But oh, think of the celebration in heaven when His children accept His name and secure their eternal home.  "there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10
   So is having a new last name a big deal?  Of course!  I am trusting in the process.  First we declare our new identity in Christ then we begin a lifetime journey of developing our relationship with Christ.  So for now, I understand that it has been declared that N is officially a Sallade.   Now I must trust that we will develop our relationship for a lifetime.  But while one journey toward a new name is coming to a close, a second journey is just beginning.  It is our prayer that her second new name and eternal identity will be a "Christ-follower." God has so much in store for her. 
    And what does it mean to be a Sallade?  Or what does it mean to be a Christian?  It simply means you are loved and you belong.