Time for a "new" name!

               At the ripe old age of 66, why would I change being called by my middle name, Kay, to my first name, Rayma.  Why, indeed.

Opportunity:  I have moved to a new town—and a new state—after a lifetime in St. Louis being known as Kay Laughlin.  My younger brother, wanting relief from the middle name hassle and an abundance of Michaels, went to Glen, his first name, when my parents moved to a new area in St. Louis.  My daughter also made a change in her name when she moved.

New familiarity:  I have seen a lot of doctors in the last few years, and I grew tired of telling them to call me by my middle name.  Hearing and responding to “Rayma” has become more familiar.

Meaning:  Although spelled differently, my name is pronounced the same as the Greek word “rhema,” meaning utterance.  Rhema appears in the scriptures as the spoken word of God.  In Mathew 4:4, Jesus tells the devil that “. . . Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes forth out of the mouth of God.”  Rhema is the word God speaks to our spirits and minds in a personal and powerful way, often a piece of scripture.   Another Greek term used for the word of God is logos, the inspired word of God found in the Bible, including Jesus, “the word made flesh” (John 1:1).  Logos is the written word of God, “living and active” which “judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:4,5).

History:  According to Owens family lore, my father painted “Rayma” on the back of the chest to be used for the baby my parents were expecting.  However, that was a boy who became William Howard Owens, Jr.  When I came along in second place, I was given the wonderful name Rayma Kay, but my parents, who loved the name, called me “Kay.”  My mother’s sister was named Rayma, blending my grandmother’s maiden name, “Ray”, with “Ma,” a name for another family member.  My aunt would be the only person I knew who had the name until I went to college.

In grade school when kids would find out my first name, I was teased.  “Sheena of the Jungle” was a popular television program, so some called me Raymar of the Jungle.  That gave me no love for the name—who wants to be teased?  Every year I would have to explain that I use my middle name, and that was a hassle.  By the time I got married, I only had “Kay” written on the formal invitation, a decision a more mature Kay came to regret.

Seizing the day:  In Romans 10:10, the word declares “that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”  I have been storing up the written and spoken words of God for some years now, many handwritten on my heart, such as Jeremiah 29:11 about God’s plans being for good and not for evil.  A name that sounds like a Greek word for the spoken word of God—I’ll take that, for it is in those words of God that my hopes for much good rest.  As the old hymn says, “Standing on the promises of God, my Savior.”