“In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name, for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. – 1 Kings 8:41-42

I have to lead today’s post with an enthusiastic shout-out to “Maul’s Bike Shop” in Halifax Massachusetts. Our son, Andrew, found the business on line and sent me contact information.

Since then we have exchanged several emails and the proprietor, John Maul, kindly sent me a “Maul’s Bike Shop” t-shirt.

It turns out that there is a serious worldwide shortage of Mauls, so it is gratifying to run into one willing to communicate. Plus the fact that I am just now beginning to explore the world of biking makes the timing a real serendipity.

Family names:

A family name is an interesting phenomenon. It may not be something we can choose – which can leave you feeling helpless, but it is absolutely something we can help to define – which in turn is empowering.

My mother never liked the name “Maul.” She was quite vocal about this and I think it hurt my dad’s feelings. Plus my brother, Geoff, was two years ahead of me at school so I would be greeted by teachers with, “Oh no, not another Maul…”

Then I discovered some interesting family scandal which helped the name (well, for me) by adding some notoriety. Apparently my great-grandfather’s mother, Eliza, happened to be in-between a series of husbands and others at the time he was born in the mid 1800’s. And so she gave him her maiden name, Maul.

Maul is a great family name mostly because my father, David Maul, and my grandfather, F.W. Maul, lived with such deep integrity and depth of character and unrelenting witness to the grace and the goodness of God.

So my opportunity has been to build on such a positive heritage, and I pray that the name – my name – carries an association with grace, peace, light, love, mercy, justice, healing, encouragement, promise, hope and possibility. Not just because people have read my books and articles but because they know me and experience the truth and the power of the good news.

The legacy associated with our name is the cumulative witness that our life bears to the story we live.

The name “Derek Maul” is my part in – my contribution to – The Greatest Story Ever Told – DEREK