Let's dive in right away to the world of brick building with a mystery. Can you guess what this is? Can you fire up your imagination and see something surprising?
How about from another angle? Building bricks are really good at helping us to look at things from all angles. What do you see now?
This bunch of bricks may look completely different but I promise you it's the same exact build. Still not sure what it is? Let's try one more angle.
It's my name! By looking down from above, you can clearly see that I've built the letters of my name with bricks.
Names are super cool things. Names help others to know us and they help us to know ourselves. They help to solve the incredible mystery of who a person is. My name comes from scripture. Long ago there was a prophet named Daniel. He's the guy with the lions...
I go by Dan for short but my parents named me Daniel. In the bible Daniel means "God is my judge." At first that might seem scary, like God is judging me all the time, but then I think of the story of Daniel and how God saved him from the lions. I look at the story from a different angle. God decides to be with me, and keep me safe too.
One of the best things about names is that we get to define them as much as they define us. If I think of the name "Katie," I think of my amazing sister and how great of a leader she is. If I think of the name "Luke," I think of my cat and how he is the sweetest creature in the whole world. For me, those names, and all the others I know, will forever be defined by the people (and animals) I love. Maybe I'm helping you to see the name "Dan" as describing a builder.
In my family, we've even started a new holiday. On August 15th, or 8/15, we say our names loud and proud at 8:15pm. It's called All Names Day. I hope you're proud of your name.
- How was your name chosen?
- Do you know the etymology of your name (that's a fancy word for the original meaning of your name)?
- What about the names of your family members, or even your pets?
- Do you know other people with the same name as you or a similar name? Do you wonder what their names mean?
Wherever your name comes from, you should say it loud and proud. God says, "I have called you by name, you are my own" (Isaiah 43:1b).
You can even spell your name with LEGO™ or other building bricks. Here's everything you need...
No wait, that's from a tough angle. Let's try again.
There are all the letters you need to spell your name! When viewed from the side, they're a bunch of crazy shapes, but when viewed from just the right angle, we can see exactly what they are. Now I want you to spell your name with bricks. Don't worry about making the letters the same way as me, make your own letters!