Dominoes and Daughters

There were dominos scattered on the table and three kids quietly putting together their own creations.  While her brother built a tower, a dug out, and a hollow pit, she patiently worked on a sun surrounded by a heart.  He would build one thing, take it down and begin another while she carefully pieced her one design into place.  She called me in to see her masterpiece and proudly showed it off.  In the brief moment she walked away from the table, the littlest brother moved a piece.  She squealed and insisted he not touch it, which every sibling knows what happened next…

“He broke my heart!  He broke my heart!  I worked so hard to get it just right and he broke it!”

Oh, my sweet darling, how much I want to protect you from ever saying those words.  Even though I am unable to, I can introduce you to the One who can.  The Father who entrusted you to the care of your Daddy and myself holds your heart ever so close to His own. 

There will be times when you carefully work toward building what you vision in your heart, yet somehow time has a way of shifting and settling into something far different.  For those times I pray that you allow God to birth in you desires that match His eternal purpose, desires that stand the test of time and influence His Kingdom that cannot be shaken. 

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

There will be a day when a boy will catch glimpse of your heart and because we’re all human, you will both fall short and leave the other disappointed.  Wait for the one who cares enough to stay, who allows God to use him in loving you and who is committed to fixing the broken places that you will each have.  In this, know that no boy can break you of who God designed you to be.  Place your heart in the care of your First Love and allow Him to be the guide in all your thoughts and actions. 

“I delight greatly in the LORD: my soul rejoices in my God.  For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness… as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”  Isaiah 61:10

Of all things, may you be brave enough to allow your heart to be broken with the things that break the heart of God.  Remain humble, teachable and useable by the One who has a plan and purpose for you in an eternity that begins here on earth.  May you always know to the core of your being that you need not work to earn the love of God.  No amount of good works can earn His love or His blessings, these are not something to be earned, but instead they have been freely given to the heart that cries out to Him.  Jesus provided a way so that we could go to Him in the broken, messed up, condition that we are in and because of His grace, we don’t need to work hard to get it right on our own. 

 “…godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8

“In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”  Ephesians 1:5-6

We sat back down at the table and together we rebuilt the broken pieces.  And my heart filled with thanks for a Father who comes close to us in our brokenness and helps us piece our dreams, our desires, our very selves back together again.  I praise Him for being One who loves this pretty girl far more than I can and the One I trust to be faithful in restoring her heart one day when she cries out those words to Him. 

This pretty girl who now grinned ear to ear as she excitedly told me it was just right:  a heart with the sun in the center. 

May the Son be at the center of your heart, the One who binds all your broken pieces together into a beautiful masterpiece for His glory. 

He Knows My Name

“A as in apple.  F as in Frank. T-O-N.”

Aston.  Ashton.  Aspen.   Aft-aw-n.  

Almost always anything but what my name is.  I’ve gotten so used to it that I generally don’t correct people after the third or fourth attempt.  For those that do get my name right, rarely the first time, but occasionally the second try, the same question always follows:

“Where did your parents ever hear that name?”

They expect a great story to go with such a unique name, but my parents got my name from a television show “Dallas”.  For those that recognize the show, they proceed to tell me that they don’t remember a character with that name.  It wasn’t a main character.  They stand there, with their thoughts visible through their expression, thinking of my name, making sure they got it right, and taken back by my lack-of-story to go along with it.  This happens all the time. 

Anyone with a unique name understands, but this whole name thing doesn’t bother me as it might some.  I like my name, most everyone who finally hears it right says it’s beautiful, my parents who love me immensely chose it for me, and I tend to prefer things that aren’t typical or ordinary.  When it comes down to it, the truth that really matters is this - He knows my name.

This simple truth goes far beyond a name and deep to a heart that often needs reminded:

When I feel alone and like no one really understands me, He knows my name.

When the road ahead seems unclear and uncertain, He knows my name.

When I no sooner find my footing that I’m stumbling again, He knows my name.

When the unexpected overturns everything once known, He knows my name. 

No matter where we are or where we have been, He knows exactly where to find us.  He knows the things that trouble our hearts and keep us up at night.  When we feel unworthy, shamed and undone, He loves us just the same.  When it feels like everyone is busy and distracted while our own world is standing still, He has never left our side.  When the day ahead seems questionable and unreliable, He alone is able.   

He knows your name.

He knows where you’ve kept yourself hidden.  He wants you in all the beautiful mess that you feel you are in.  There is no distance too far or shame too much to outdo His grace that covers it all.  There is no circumstance, no diagnosis, no death-like-grave, and no hell that His love has not already overcome. 

We can rest in confident trust that the God whose spoken word brought all of creation into existence, who breathed life into dry bones, who brought His Son up out of the grave, is the same God who knows us by name.

“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.  When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.  When you go through rivers of difficulty you will not drown.  When you walk through the fire of oppression you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.  For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

Isaiah 43:1-13 NLT