There is a wonderful couple that lives close to our house. They walk together regularly and have gotten to be pretty good friends with my dog Isaiah who loves to spend his time sitting outside, watching people go by. They stop and give him a treat. Isaiah loves them. He is the reason that I met them. The problem is that he thinks my name is Bob. That's what he calls me. So do I make him feel uncomfortable and correct him or do I just live with Bob? (Suggestions welcome).
That got me thinking about relationships. My dad, a wonderful man who (hard to believe) died almost 15 years ago, was a man who kept personal things personal. I don't ever remember hearing war stories from WWII or how he felt or seeing him get emotional about anything. (Although friends told me they saw him cry at my ordination.) Dad wasn't a very emotional person. At least comparatively speaking, I am pretty emotional and passionate. But I do have the tendency, like my dad, to keep personal things personal. To keep my cards close to my chest. I am thankful for my wonderful wife and a select group of friends with whom I have learned to let down my guard. They are a treasure. I wonder if my dad had such a close group of people around him? Do you? Do they know your name? My name is Bob.
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I have had the same type of situation happen. It actually happened with an NBA Head Coach. I was in a bible study with this famous guy and he pointed at me and said, "Take Mike for example.." One of my friends in the group looked at me and was waiting to see if I was going to correct the coach. I wasn't. No way. In fact, I nearly had my named legally changed to Mike.