Blog Change Reveal

            When I first started this blog back in 2013, I derived the name “One Step” from a short song that one of my Bible college professors taught us.  You can see the full lyrics here.  We sang this song at the beginning of each Victorious Christian Living class.  I chose “One Step” because of the personal meaning that it held and because it I thought it summed up what I wanted to write about.  I still love the name, but I have decided to change the name of my blog for a couple of reasons:

1) My url does not match my blog name, which can make it confusing to find.  The blogspot address using “onestep” was already taken when I created my blog.      

2) “One Step” is a pretty commonly used name.  If you Google it, you will find everything from marketing companies and software to contraceptives and cleaners.

            Therefore, for the past couple of weeks, I have been brainstorming new name ideas with the help of my husband.  He jokingly came up with a few infertility-related suggestions such as “Make Womb for the King” and “Peaceful Placenta.”  He is definitely good at making me laugh!  For real though, he is super supportive and helpful about giving feedback, and he even proofreads my posts for me!  Actually, this post was all his idea.  He’s trying to persuade me to give him the title of editor in chief.  I’m not totally convinced.

Anyway, some honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the cut were “Shay the Sheep” (too cutesy), “Resting in the Rock” (already taken), and “Extraordinary Exchange” (too long and complicated sounding).  After sifting through hundreds of words and phrases and about thirty resulting name ideas, I’ve narrowed the list down to five finalists.  For the rest of this post, I’ll reveal the five names and give explanations for each of them.  Then, you can head over to my Facebook group here and cast your vote in the poll to let me know which one is your favorite!  Without any further ado, here are the five finalists (in the order that I came up with them):

Shay’s Song

       The first three finalists came as a result of experimenting with parts of my name paired with words that are related to faith and life.  For this one, I used one of my nicknames for simplicity and ease of spelling (you’re welcome).  “Song” was a natural choice not only because it incorporates my love for music, but because it is a word that is used to describe life in general.  It can also carry with it the connotation of worship.    

Phillips Freed

       Finalist number two uses my last name in conjunction with a concept that is taught throughout Scripture, but is particularly evident in the book of Galatians.  I am free in Christ!  Free from the crushing weight of legalism.  Free from the punishment and the power of sin.  Free to choose life and righteousness.  Free to learn and grow without fear.  Free to be all that God made me to be.  Free to live abundantly.  Understood properly, freedom is a great word to describe the life that Jesus has provided with His blood for each of us who believes.          

 

Hope Dawns

       Hope is another wonderful gift that we have in Jesus.  I’m not talking here just about wishful thinking, but about a steadying assurance based on truth.  I love Hebrews 6 and the way it describes our hope.  God’s promises are sure, and He cannot lie.  Jesus is alive and will forever stand before God as evidence that our debt has been paid.  He already conquered death, and He is coming back.  He is our anchor in a world that seems so hopeless.  He is the Light in the darkness.  “Dawn” can point to the hope that grows in a person who trusts in Jesus or to the hope of His return.  It also happens to be my middle name.        

We Are Seen

       This name comes from Genesis 16 and the story of Hagar.  She was a simple maid who ran away from Abraham and Sarah after being used and abused.  By the world’s standards, she had very little value.  No one would have cared about her plight.  However, God cared.  He reached out to her in her distress, and He comforted her.  She was a nobody, but He promised to give her more descendants than she could count.  After that, she called God “El-roi,” which means “the God who sees me.”  No matter what we are going through in this life and no matter what the world says, God sees us.  He really sees us.    

Ditching Duplicity

       If you read last week’s post, you might remember that I talked a little bit about how the Christian life on this earth is all about narrowing the gap of duplicity between the truth of our position in Christ and our daily outward practice.  We do this by the power of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of bringing God glory and reaching others for Him without being hindered.  Because of sin, we are all hypocrites to some extent.  We don’t all live exactly what we believe perfectly in every moment.  However, God has given us the power and the freedom to choose to ditch duplicity and to become in practice more like who we really are in Christ.       

Now, head over to my Facebook group and cast your vote!  I’ll announce my final decision next Monday along with the date of the official change.   

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