He Knows My Name

 


I don't need my name in lights
I'm famous in my Father's eyes
Make no mistake
He knows my name

Francesca Battistelli

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast

and have no compassion on the child she

has borne?

Though she may forget,

I will not forget you!

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands

Isaiah 49:15-16a

Courage is an odd thing. I live in a Navy town, so we often think of courage in military terms. Over the last couple of years I've come to see it more and more often in children, precious, tiny children fighting huge, disgusting demons, otherwise known as various forms of cancer.

Because we see these awful, debilitating, life altering circumstances as an horrific affront most of feel pulled to do whatever we can to ease the suffering or make the good days brighter. There are many organizations that reach out to children with life threatening conditions and God bless every one of them! One such organization reached out to a friend of my daughter, Laura. Her friend has a little girl, Amy who has a kind of cancer that has already cost her a limb. She is only seven years old and has faced more battles than most adults that I know. To say that Amy and her wonderful parents have faced these battles with grace is a vast understatement.

Recently a charitable organization set up a special day for Amy. The culmination of which was that Amy would see her name in lights on a giant marquee. Of all the events of the day that one seemed to escape her notice. When the day was over Amy's mom asked her how it felt to be a celebrity for the day, mentioning specifically that now everyone knew her name. Amy's response was of the “ho hum, big deal” variety. When mom pushed the question a little Amy's response was to begin to sing the song I quoted above, “He Knows My Name” by Francesca Battistelli.

I know Amy's name, our Bible study group knows Amy's name and now our city at large is at least aware of Amy's name. Amy couldn't care less. Why? The God of the Universe already knew her name. He holds her in the palm of His hand and she is well aware of that.

Amy does not have a pulpit. She does not preach. What she does is walk the walk. While her physical walk has suffered a huge blow, her spiritual walk is strong and thriving. Amy walks by faith.

Jesus called us to have faith like a child (Matthew 18:3) because that is the purest form of faith. I am not a huge organization, capable of making Amy, or Drew or Brayden or any other little one on my prayer list, queen or king for the day. What I am is humbled by the trust and faith and courage that each one of them demonstrates. They are all in my prayers and I hope after reading this, they are in yours.

(I changed the name of the little girl as I did not acquire permission to share her story. God knows her real name, just as He knows that Drew and Brayden are real little boys in horribly real battles. Please pray for these precious angels.)