I love names! When our kids were born, we spent hours pouring through name books, checking all the meanings before deciding on each name. My name, “Kelly,” is an Irish name meaning “war, warrior maiden, bold,”… and from the time I could walk and talk, I have embraced that meaning! While that has served me well in many areas of my life when you are a “bold” 8-year-old (or even a “bold” 48-year-old), your intentions are not always clear, and you are not always received well by the world. Because of that, I have also been called many other names that have deeply wounded the tender, sensitive heart beneath my “warrior” exterior. Throughout my life, I have struggled (and continue to) with what people think of me and, therefore, what I think of myself.

BUT GOD… some of the best words in the Bible… the names He gives me provide solid ground in my shaky world. He calls me “child” (1 John 3:1), a “delight” (Zephaniah 3:17), “forgiven” (1 Peter 2:24), “free” (Galatians 5:1), a “co-heir with Christ” (Romans 8:17), “set apart” (1 Peter 2:9), a “masterpiece” (Ephesians 2:10), “wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), “secure” in our future (Jeremiah 29:11), and “whole in Christ” (Colossians 2:10) and that doesn’t begin to scratch the surface. WHAT GOOD NEWS! Rooting my identity in the names God calls me has been life-changing for me… and that is our prayer for EVERY boy and man who comes through Northern Frontier!

While we focus on character, skill, and service, what eclipses all of that is IDENTITY in Christ, rooted in a personal relationship with Jesus and knowing the truth that He offers us in His word. Would you pray with me that “our” boys–counselors, campers, and volunteers–will be strengthened to confidently and boldly engage in the world around them as a result of a solid and steady view of who GOD is and who they are because of His deep love for them? Would you pray with me that we would help them this summer to grasp in a new way God’s words from Isaiah 34:1, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”