Today has had all kinds of weather and all kinds of temperatures and the humidity fogged up my bedroom windows and muddled my glasses up when I went outside to perch in the porch swing. It has been a soupy Saturday. The sunflowers are hanging their heavy heads down in the flower garden but the zinnias are standing strong and firm, blooms facing the sky, in thanks for the rain. When the hot sunshine returns the sunflowers will face her and straighten up. We needed these rains and now we’ll be needing our lawn mowers.

The sunset pageant began on stage tonight behind cloud curtains of melted vanilla with blueberry sauce on high. The sun beamed her brightness as she perched on the horizon. She and Father Sky, dressed in purple and mauve roller blades, rolled down the sky dragging the day’s light behind them. They found a crack in the cloud curtains and with Mother Nature’s watercolors, lit a wildfire of peaches that blazed up to the high sky of purple and aqua. The flames silhouetted the old oaks and magnolias, making them black statues in the light of dusk. As the fire blazed out, Mother Nature took her watercolors and stroked pink through the layers of high clouds. So beautiful to the eyes and so quickly gone.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night and my first thought was did Jesus have a nickname? Sometimes I think I am a looney bird! I had gone to bed thinking about my college friends calling me Fred. My maiden name is McMurray and they would laugh and ask if I was kin to the movie star, Fred McMurray. Well, the nickname stuck and I was known as Fred in my circle of friends at Wesleyan. Years ago, right after Chief and I married, one of my college friends called and asked to speak to Fred and Chief told them they had the wrong number. She called back again and Chief told me someone keeps calling asking for Fred. I hadn’t ever mentioned my nickname to him but I finally figured it out, answered the phone, and we had a good laugh.

Nicknames are usually given to things we love, an expression of affection, a special way to feel a connection. We had nicknames for our children. I called my oldest Lumpy, telling him as a baby he was my little lump of sugar. My cousin who piloted the space shuttle Endeavor is known in our family as Joe Boy. A grown man, graduate of the United States Naval Academy, forever to be called Joe Boy. Always wondered if they ever called his daddy, Joe Man? My little dog has a thousand nicknames and responds to every one of them. I know she thinks I’m stupid and that I forget her name. Actually, I have forgotten her name. Called her Hazel one time and Stew started packing me up for Shady Oaks! Lord!

I did a little research and Jesus has a long list of nicknames — Christ, Lord, Master, Son of God, Son of Man, Lamb of God, Immanuel, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, The Good Shepherd…and the list just keeps going and going. I actually never thought of these names for Jesus as nicknames but they are terms of endearment and give us a deeper connection to the Holy Spirit. I’ve always loved Jesus as The Good Shepherd and the analogies to us being God’s sheep. Chief always called Rosie, Baby Lamb. She has a baby lamb on her cemetery monument.

In John 10:11 Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus saves us from the wolves in our lives. He lovingly watches over us and listens to our prayers. Shepherds watch for enemies to attack their sheep. They tend to the sick and wounded sheep and search for the lost ones.

Jesus serves in all those roles for those who have God’s love in their hearts. The Good Shepherd will find us when we’re lost in the world of our lives, protect us in the storms, and tend to us when we’re wounded by life’s thorns. Through our prayers and thanksgiving he will take the burdens off our shoulders and give us peace and calm. Even when we stray and are lost in the world, God will come with his light of hope and lead us back to the flock. We can depend on his faithfulness, always. We are the Lord’s sheep and God will guide us, bless us, and protect us. He is our Shepherd and we are the beloved sheep of his flock.

“Trust the Lord. He is the good shepherd. He knows His sheep. And His sheep know His voice.” — M. Russell Ballard