A Substack By Any Other Name
A Godly Origin Story Connection
Hello, I’m Brooke and I’m delighted you are here. Subscribers can enjoy weekly encouraging posts around the topics of Jesus, family, memoir, travel, books, homeschooling, nature and some surprises thrown in along the way! Members get access to all archived, paid posts and chats.
An inquiring dear subscriber messaged me and asked,
“Why is your Substack called The Pondering Scottie”,
so here is my reply and I thought I would share it with everyone.
Let’s begin…
It all started with earrings.
And… I’m pretty sure you didn’t see that coming, so let me explain.
As a little girl I wanted to get my ears pierced. My parents talked it over and then discussed their hesitations with me. I wasn’t too thrilled to hear that they wanted me to wait.
Do you remember how hard it is to wait when you’re a kid?
But wait I did. I mean, what else is a 7-year-old to do?
After my waiting period was over, I still wanted to get my ears pierced, so my parents consented.
Mom took me to the salon to get my ears pierced. And good grief, that earring gun hurt!
After my initiation was over with the stud earrings provided, my dad presented me with a little box. Excited yet opening it up carefully, it revealed my first pair of earrings! They were tiny, adorable, gold Scottie dog post earrings.
Ever since then, I have been fascinated with Scottie dogs, both in design and decor.
Scottie dogs became even more important to me after my dad passed away when he was just 56 years old from cancer and I was only thirty. He was my hero and biggest cheerleader, and so Scottie dogs became a symbol of remembrance of him, so to speak, because of the earrings.
Years later I found out from an ancestry test that I am 28% (give or take, the app keeps updating) Scottish in my DNA.
These findings were validating down to my soul!
The rumored family history, come to find out, had some truth to it and also explains my love of Scottie dogs and plaid, if you ask me. ;)
So that’s how “The Pondering Scottie” came to be. And it’s why I’m glad you are here with me now. We really do need each other. We were not meant to go it alone in this world.
And now, let’s continue talking about names because they can reveal quite a bit about a thing or a person.
From the book, The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, she writes on page 3, “Ethnobotanists know that the more names a plant has, the greater its cultural importance.”
I found this thought new and interesting, especially since we’re talking about names here today.
And did you know that God has many names?
That’s right, from the Hebrew:
He’s called “Yahweh”, it’s a very personal name for him, meaning “The Lord”.
“Elohim” refers to “God our Creator”, powerful, mighty, with authority.
A respectful term for our Lord is “Adonai” and El Shaddai refers to “God Almighty” or God Sufficient One, our powerful provider.
He is all these names, isn’t He?
If plant names can have cultural importance, then God’s names can certainly have spiritual importance.
For example, let’s look at these names of God:
Jehovah-Jireh, have you heard God referred to this name meaning “the Lord will provide.”
Jehovah-Rapha, “the Lord who heals”, spiritually and physically.
What about Jehovah-Nissi? “The Lord our banner” with God giving us protection and guidance.
And, Jehovah-Shalom, the “Lord of peace.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m thankful for all these important names of God. We can call on him, praying and using these different names according to our needs.
Because names are personal and they matter!
I can personally tell you he has been my provider, healer, protector and loving peacemaker all throughout my life.
Want a few more names to call upon God, here are three:
Maybe you’ve heard him called, “Abba”, meaning Daddy, a term of endearment, a child and his father, his Heavenly Father. You can call him this too.
He is the “Alpha and Omega”, God being both our beginning and the end of all things. Thank you, Lord, you have the final say!
You’ll even see God referred to as “The Ancient of Days” in scripture, telling us about God’s eternal nature and timeless existence.
I’m so thankful for all these names and qualities of our faithful God!
Now, let’s connect:
Do you have a favorite name of God, do you use these names, which names “speak” to you?
OR
If you have named your Substack, feel free to share how the name originated in the comments. I’d love to hear your story behind the name!
Until next time, sweet friends,
Brooke
The Pondering Scottie: Inspirational stories, anecdotes and thoughts on a faith-filled life.
If you like:
-books & nature
-travel, yet like being a homebody
-finding joy in the simple things
-gardens & grandbabies
-heartfelt, humor and homeschool
-discovering new things about the Bible and Jesus
then I think you’d love it here at The Pondering Scottie!
I enjoyed reading how the name of your Substack came to be, and the connection to your father. A sweet story! I also have some Scottish blood in me, but am not sure how much. I can't help but think of the Angus picture books by Marjorie Flack, because Angus is a little Scottish Terrier and these stories are so charming! Are you familiar with them? My Substack name comes from a portion of a poem by Emily Dickinson: "To fight aloud is very brave/but gallanter I know/who charge within the bosom/the cavalry of woe." I have a strong inner critic (I've named him Javert, after the police inspector in Les Miserables) who seems bent on my destruction, and I have to fight the lies, hence, "charge within the bosom the cavalry of woe". God bless you.
Oh wow, that’s such a lovely story behind your Substack name — it really suits it! Mine’s called Come Fly With Me, obviously after Frank Sinatra’s famous song, and also one of my favorite British comedy shows with the same title. It’s absolutely hilarious and such a perfect fit for my aviation-themed writing.
But my son's name is much more special. His name is Daniel. I always loved that name and knew that if I ever had a boy, that would be it. What’s funny is that on the day of his baptism, I found out Daniel was actually his church name too — in Russian tradition, each person has a saint’s or church name based on their birth date. So I unknowingly gave him the exact name that was already meant for him. I love that little coincidence, and the meaning behind the name too: “Only God can judge me.” I didn’t choose it for that reason at all, but it feels like it was meant to be.