It's All In The Name

On New Year's Day I was inspired by two friends to join the cyber community with my very own blog! So here I sit. . . waiting for further inspiration. I've checked their blogs - top two under "Friends" if you're interested. Wait for it. . .wait for it. . .there it is! To start, I think I'll give you a little background on the name I chose for my blog - Denitra's Den. In essence, it encompasses who I have been, who I am, and who I hope to be - like the title of this entry, it's all in the name!

Denitra is a fun nickname given to me by the girl's in my church youth group several years ago. I've worked with senior high youth for about 14 years, the past 10 of which were at our current church and part of that as Director of Senior High Youth Ministries. It's who I've been for a very long time and frankly . . . I miss it. Due to health reasons, I had to give up my dream job last year, but it will always be a part of me. In fact, I need to get to cleaning up to welcome the college gang this evening!

Denitra's "Den" because it conjured up in my mind so many other pictures of who I am and who I hope to be. The first thought was about my family - Mama Bear, Papa Bear and our not so little cubs! My days are pretty much centered around taking care of our family and our home (or at least trying to!) Each day I hope to be more like the Proverbs 31 woman - she amazes me.

The next image is of a lion. Too often I seem to resemble one, especially in the morning with my frizzed curly auburn mane and the "I'm not a morning person" growl lying just beneath the surface until I've managed to steal that forbidden cup of coffee! Also, my one lion of a cat and two adorable kitties round out the rest of my pride. (And I do mean round out when referring to my 20+ pound of a cat named Peanut - only in color, not size! I have sometimes mistaken him for a basketball out of the corner of my eye!)

The third and most significant lion imagery is The Lion of Judah - that is Jesus Christ. It is He who heads my heart and my home. As it states in Joshua 24:15, "But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." That is something that each of us in our family try to do on a daily basis - some moments succeeding and others failing miserably. Fortunately, Paul reminds us in Philippians 1:6 to be confident, "that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." So, I'm a work in progress. Kind of like a fine wine . . . getting better with age!

Dens also make me think of books - a library with a comfy chair, a roaring fire, a cat in my lap and a cup of hot cocoa! Mmm, mmm, mmm! This too, gives a picture of what I enjoy - education, a good story, chocolate and cats. One of our family's favorite stories is C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series. The Lion, Aslan, is an allegorical Christ figure and is by far our favorite character. At any given time we are reading through one of the books together (and yes, it usually does involve chocolate, cuddly kitties and sometimes even a roaring fire!) Currently, we are enjoying listening to Papa Bear read The Horse and His Boy and we hope to move on to Prince Caspian before the new movie hits the silver screen. I hope to expand my enjoyment of stories to more book reading in the future. Typically, movies and TV satisfy my addiction to a good story. I suppose that's the modern day version of a den - the home theater (oooh! let me dream about that a moment).

Like I noted above, it really is all in the name! Denitra's Den - that's a little glimpse of my life. Regarding the tag line - Short, sweet and to the point! - at 5'2' I really can't contest short! Sweet is something to strive for everyday and as far as the last quip - I've been known to be a bit blunt, frank, opinionated, well - you get the point!