By Carrie Bevell Partridge

As I was brushing my five-year-old daughter's hair the other day, I was teasing her and acting like I didn't know her name, which made her giggle. Finally I hugged her and said, "I know your name. Your name is Katie." And then it struck me. The first verse of Isaiah 43, which says:

But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob
And He who formed you, O Israel,
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine!"

As I thought about this verse in relation to what I had just voiced to my daughter, whom I love with all my heart, I felt very, very comforted. God knows my name! I am His! He is personal, and we have a relationship. He will never leave me, and He will never forget my name.

I remember how much time, thought, and effort Kevin and I put into choosing just the right names for our children. We knew it was important. After all, your name is nearly always the first thing you tell people about yourself. We determined each of our children's names for specific reasons; it was not a random selection. And we have called them by name (sometimes by their full name, depending on the circumstance) many, many times every day since the day they were born. We absolutely know their names. They are ours.

I love the metaphor Jesus gave us in John 10:

The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep . . . the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out . . . his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.

My children undoubtedly know mine and Kevin's voices. It gets their attention quickly, even in a crowd. When their name is called by one of these voices, they turn to see where it's coming from (well, usually). I want to know God's voice that well - that I can distinguish it from all the other voices in my head. (Yes, there are voices in my head.) When He calls me by name - and He does - I want to stop everything and listen to Him. And a lot of times, He might simply want to tell me how much He loves me and knows me. Just like I do with Callie Elizabeth, Caleb Aeden, and Kathryn Dorothy.

And isn't that the kind of name calling we all need?

Carrie Bevell P artridge, who is mostly a stay-at-home mom, is also a columnist for Parents & Kids magazine and has had numerous articles published in both ParentLife and Parents & Kids magazines. Her articles are also available at churchmousepublications.com. Carrie and her husband Kevin have been married for nearly 12 years and have three incredibly wonderful children and one amazing wonder dog, Uncle Rico.