And just what is my son's name?

It's bad enough as a parent to do "the-thing-that-I-swore-I'd-never-do-to-my-kids". If you were ever a child with siblings, or are a parent now, you certainly know what I mean.

"Hey, Alis--Clair--Dicken---argh, I mean Iain, could you please ...?"

Argh. I DESPISE that that I do this to my children. And to be completely truthful, generally the dog's name is not a part of the spiel (although it has happened, in particular if the child I'm calling has been naughty!). But far too frequently, I end up list-calling and it drives me nuts.

As of this week, it may get even more complicated. My son is experimenting with going by his middle name rather than his first name. All his life he's had to spell his name, which is not really a problem. There are many Ian/Iain's in this area, all pronounced "eee-an", so it gets mispronounced occasionally. Again, no biggie. But for some reason many people in this region can not pronounce his name, even after being told what it really is. Even after hearing it said in conversation many, many times. It comes out a stilted "eye-on", with equal emphasis on both syllables. And this has been a tad frustrating. I wonder whether it's a regional thing, like the whole "choir"-practor for "chiro"-practor thing that you hear in the Ottawa Valley or the greater Peterborough area. But whatever the reason, this has been frustrating to Iain (and myself).

Probably not many of you know that Iain was actually called Geoffrey for his first couple of days in the hospital. We wavered back and forth, and decided on Iain, although have always been willing that our children might go by their other name.

Since our son is heading to school in the fall, and since there are both an Ian and and Iain (both "eee-an") at this school (one in his class), and since one of the staff has already shown a propensity to the "eye-on" version, and since there are very few people who know him already, he's thinking that it might be a good time to switch to Geoff. Of course, he did point out that people may call him "gee-off", but at least once they have heard it it's easy to say.

So this week, Iain is trying on a new name. A bit like trying on shoes :). Will it be instantly comfortable? Will it break in gradually? Will it never work? The girls don't even know this yet since they've been at New Life Girl's Home Camp for the week. I've only messed up once. He's forgotten once. Kev's not sure about the whole thing and may resort to calling him "Bubba" forever.

At least this week, my son has not received "the list" when I've called him 'cause I'm too busy trying to remember what his name is!

"The watchman opens the gate for him, and ths sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out." John 10:3

Imagine, a God who knows each one of us individually, by name, and never has to resort to "list-calling". Next time I feel like telling God what to do in my life; how He should direct my steps, I must remember that I do not qualify for His job on many levels, starting with this one.