Greetings from Austin St. (for real this time)

Happy and blessed Sunday! I am not sure if AT&T is working ahead of schedule or if Earthlink has been resurrected, but we are back online here at 811. YEAH!! We have had a quiet day today. Worship was so wonderful today. Bruce came home around 3:00 safe and sound. PTL! Travis is taking a shift at another store for a friend tonight and Geni has left for Denton. She will most likely be home earlier this week than usual due to Dead Week prior to finals next week.

The first of the graduations will happen this coming weekend. Our niece, Kendall, will graduate from Texas Tech this weekend. Bruce and I will be leaving here on Thursday afternoon for Howe to pick up and take Mom and Dad to Lubbock so they can be there to celebrate Kendall’s commencement. Geni and Travis will be leaving on Friday after the choir banquet and (hopefully) will get to Lubbock very early in the morning. Please pray for travel mercy for all those who will travel to Lubbock including Ken, Sheena and Kendall’s sisters.

John 10: 14 says, “Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me.”

Today, Travis and I went to Wal-Mart after worship. As we were leaving I said good-bye to the greeter and called her by name. Travis mentioned to me how much it always surprised him when someone calls his name outside of Starbucks or school, the gym and other places he frequents. He forgets to take off his name tag and people with whom he comes into contact say, “Travis” when they speak to him. He always questions “Why do they know me?” then he remembers he is still wearing his name tag.

Isn’t it wonderful that God knows our name without the aid of a name tag? However, we do wear a name tag, sort of. We carry the name of Jesus. As we are children of God and brother and sister to Christ we all carry the same name. So I guess my question is how do others know us by our name? Most people know me as Gaylene Chrystie, wife of Bruce, mother of Geni and Travis, first grade school teacher, Brite seminary student and a person who loves to sing. But how do others know me, Gaylene, child of God and sister to Christ? What associates me with that name? Is it the fish on my mailbox and the back of my car? Is it the cross I wear around my neck daily? Is it the fact that I am attending a seminary preparing for a professional ministry? I don’t think any of those things prove that I am a child of God. The only thing that proves that I am a child of God is that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, laid down His life for me. I don’t wear a nametag saying, Gaylene Chrystie, Child of God and Sister to Christ, but I carry His eternal, unchanging love and grace in my heart.

So tonight’s question is simply: What does the nametag of your heart say and can others read it without it being pinned to your shirt?

Take joy in the journey. Love you all. Stay well and wash your hands often! Love, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.