A few years ago my son, Gabe, informed me he wanted to change his name.  I was totally surprised by his request and honestly heartbroken.  My husband and I spent a long time choosing the perfect name for our sweet angel boy which was delivered three days short of Christmas day.  We purposely chose the name Gabriel which means 'Good News'.  Our precious son was such good news to our lives then and still today.  Gabe's birth made for the most memorable Christmas Chad and I have ever had. 

You can imagine my horror when Gabe let me know he did not share the love that Chad and I have for his name.  What's a mom to do?  I set out to gently help Gabe realize how special his name is.  I spent time trying to convince my little man that his name was in the Bible and it was hand picked by me and his dad.  All this convincing got me nowhere.  Gabe's mind was made up- he wanted a new name.

Thinking through this ugly reality I began to figure that Gabe probably wanted to be named after his favorite sports player, movie star or cartoon character.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  The name he had picked for himself (you might want to sit down for this news) was MAX.  Surely Max was a name of someone he admired greatly.  Wrong again!  It was the short spelling that attracted my little guy to the name Max.  Max had only 3 letters as compared to 7 (or 4 if you count his nick-name, Gabe). 

So what gives?  Can you believe it?  Changing his sweet, precious, hand picked, prayed over name for one that is shorter!  I let Gabe know right away that Max will be harder to write in cursive because of the 'x'.  And after a little digging on my part, Max is short for 'maximum'.  Gabe explained to me how he wanted to reach his maximum potential on his 3rd grade spelling test.  You see, when his teacher gave a spelling test each Friday he said he didn't have time to spell out his name on the paper before she called out the first word on the test which causes him to get behind and rush to take the test. 

Gabe argued for a long time we should change his name in order for him to write faster.  I argued back with which is worst-a broken hearted mother or a 'B' on a spelling test?  We all know the saying, "If mama ain't happy- ain't nobody happy!"

Short cuts, we all look for them from time to time.  Whether it is shorting our name or cutting corners in our work place.  Some short cuts in life can cause serious damage.  Consider building a home.  Would you want a contractor to work with excellence or take as many short cuts as possible to finish the job quicker? 

Short cuts in our walk with God can cost down the road too.  Not only do short cuts short change us in the here and now, they can short change us for all eternity.  Most of the time, we take short cuts in our spiritual lives because our daily lives are out of control with busyness.  We truly don't have the time or we don't make the time to do the things that will glorify our Lord and grow us closer in relationship to him.  We've allowed other things to take priority (and sometimes very good things).  In the midst of taking a short cut and only doing what is absolutely necessary to get by- we short change us!  We miss out.

This time of year is especially busy.  Shopping, decorating, cooking, cleaning, wrapping, and attending events can take precedence over our spiritual walk.  This is the time of year in which we as Christians should focus on Christ most.  After all, isn't Christmas a celebration of Christ coming into the world? 

Allow me to encourage you to reprioritize your December now- its not too late!  Schedule daily time alone praying, reading scripture and worshipping Christ.  Make it first priority instead of no priority.  Do not let yourself miss out on the real reason for Christmas this year because of a to-do-list that doesn't include Jesus.  Jesus did not take short cuts when it came to you and me.  Let's not short change him or ourselves the privilege of savoring our Savior this Christmas!

Loving the One,
Lori