Sunday, November 2, 2008

What's in a name?

Choosing a name for my blog was not an easy task. I'm up against some really good ones. In fact, I started to think I just wouldn't bother with the blog since I couldn't come up with a good name. Pathetic excuse, I know. So I decided on "Sunshine and Open Hearts" for a few reasons. I know the name doesn't exactly flow, but it's growing on me.

My parents nickname for me was always Sunshine Shannon and it's not a bad nickname. So that was the no-brainer part. Well, plain old Sunshine was already taken so I had to add something to it. I thought about my life and the Open Hearts is twofold. First, I am a child of God. I have a Savior who gave His life to save me and cleanse me from sin. I have a home in Heaven and I eagerly look forward to going there. But while on my journey here on earth I must have an open heart to my Lord and what His plans are for me here. He is my strength and I must remain open in order for Him to continue to fill me.

The second reason behind Open Hearts has to do, literally, with my heart. When I was 5 I had open-heart surgery in Birmingham, AL. The surgery was for an atrial-septal defect and repair of my mitral valve. Through all that my parents came to know the Lord. Now, 25 years later it looks like I will need another repair on my mitral valve. There is too much regurgitation and I have a chamber that is slightly enlarged. This surgery is actually fairly common these days and the risk is minimal. However, I'm still pretty nervous. It's so easy to get caught up in the "what ifs". And dwelling on the "what ifs" too long can really bring a person down. This is where I once again have to look to Jesus to give me strength for the journey. I'm sure I will blog plenty about this later, but this is how I came up with "Sunshine and Open Hearts."

So now the next hard decision in blogger-land is what do I call my kids. Davisix has Thing 1,2,3,&4. MckMama has totally cool names, and some others just use the first initials "E" or "M". I haven't decided yet. I think I can't compete and will probably just use their names or initials.

I am pretty computer savvy but this blogging is completely new to me and I feel a bit like a fish out of water. Hopefully in the next few days I get the hang of it and my blog will start looking better. I don't even know how often a person is supposed to blog. Is there some sort of unwritten rule? If you blog more than once a day are you considered pathetic? If you blog once a week do people think you're boring? I guess this is all part of the learning process.

5 comments:

Ashley said...

saw your link over at davisix and thought i would come and say hello! i am another fellow horsey person. we currently have 6 here at our place. i like to think of my blog as a journal. i have never been good at keeping a journal consistently. but this has been so much fun. i hope to get them printed out and bound in book form so that one day my kids will have them to look back on!

anyway, glad you have joined us in bloggyland. watch out though... it's addictive!

Davisix said...

This was such a great post! It is nice to know the reason behind the name. I hope you will keep us updated on your heart...so we can all pray right along with you.

Blog as much as you want. You might get harrassed for posting more than once a day but that's the fun of it! It doesn't stop me. :)

Us said...

I think the title is great! I found your blog through my girl Ang! Please keep us updated on your heart! It's great to pray for each other!

This whole bloggy thing is very addicting! I stayed away all weekend and had major withdrawals! tee hee It's a great online journal and I'm going to have it printed into a book too!

April said...

I love the title of your blog! Very creative and I love the story behind it.

As far as the whole blogging thing goes, you can blog as little or as often as you like. It truly is up to you. Of course, if you're like me, you'll soon become addicted to it and will want to blog as often as you can. It is a lot of fun!!

Have a great Monday!

Miranda said...

Thank you for sharing how you came up with your blog name. You are very creative. Keep us updated on your heart.
You will learn that blogging is more than a once a week thing for most of us. But it all depends on you and your time.