I am a harvester of grace, that is the meaning of my name. It has taken me over 20 years to discover a deep appreciation for the name I have been given. When I was little, my parents had hung a picture in my room of Ruth in the Bible, gleaning after the wheat harvesters, and something about that picture still clings to my soul. It spoke of seasons; seasons of planting and seasons of reaping, seasons of joy and of pain. It spoke of an appreciation for land and its produce; it spoke of a much bigger spiritual truth and the Lord of that harvest.
GRACE, what an amazing word! The dictionary has a multitude of definitions, here are a few; "the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God; moral strength; elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action." The fact that one of the definitions has the word "strength" in it dissipates my previous feelings toward this part of my name. To me, the word grace did not summate all of who I felt I was. I feel a passion and fire within me, which is too great to deemed "grace." But I understand that this word holds within it much more than the weakness I had thought. It is easy to be a passionate person who unleashes its manifestation wherever and whenever it seems necessary. But put that passion under control, under teaching, under selflessness, and you have grace! It does not mean that grace is void of passion, but it is passion under control. It is passion under the hand of God, who in the same way brings fragrance from a crushed flower, also brings grace from a broken and contrite heart!
I believe a person's name holds within it the key to their nature and destiny. God has changed the name of so many characters in the Bible, that it makes you stand back and ask the question, "Why?" Or at least it did for me. One example is of Jacob, his name means "Deceiver"; God changed his name to Israel, "Prince of God, one who wrestles with God." With that name came a destiny, for Israel had 12 sons from whom God formed a nation. I love the discovery of destiny for my life. God has called me Grace Harvester and I am in pursuit of the Harvest!
2 comments:
Good job Harvester! I'm glad you started a blog... even if Caleb doesn't let you write in it as much as you might want at this point. :) It's funny... I have decided to give up all "sweets" except for honey for Lent this year partially b/c I want to figure out the significance of my name. If you have any insight on the spiritual significance of a honeybee, let me know, cuz that's what my name means. I'm looking forward to what surprises God has for me. :)
Blessings & Peace to you!
That was beautiful. It brings tears to my eyes to watch the way that God has directed our paths...from wide-eyed high schoolers who loved to sing to women searching for God's truth. HE IS GOOD!
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