By Pastor Shirley Flores
I grew up not liking my name, especially my middle name, because it sounded funny. Kids in school were not kind with my middle name. No one could ever pronounce my last name. When I went to college I used my middle initial in my signature. Everyone wanted to know what the “A” stood for and I said it was just A, nothing else. Yes, I lied. I was ashamed of my name because it was uncommon and hard to pronounce. Unless you are Samoan, you would not know how to pronounce my middle and former last name. Ok, here goes, my full name was Shirley Alafou Sene.
Shirley means bright meadow. Alafou (ah-le-foe) means new way or new path in Samoan. Sene (ce-ne/se-ne short e sound) roughly translated, means cent. When I got married, of course, my last name was changed to Flores, which is Spanish for flowers.
Once I learned the meaning of my full name, I did not have to be ashamed of my name. I was amazed at how it all went together. Even my new last name fits together perfectly with my other names.
This is the sentence I put together with the meaning of my former name: A new path in a bright meadow that costs a penny. A little silly, but it worked. My new sentence is: A bright meadow with a new path of flowers.
Have you ever stopped to think about your name? -SAF-
Purpose! Ministries
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