My New Name
Welcome, Friends!
You’ve just landed upon the pages of my brand spankin’ new blog! And I’m so very glad you’re here. You may have noticed - actually, I’m certain you must have noticed - that I have a new name. Yes, indeed, I do. And I’m giddy about it!
But more on that in just a bit…
Like your favorite TV show, since it’s been a while, allow me to provide a brief recap before the next episode…
When I last wrote, I shared with you the story of burning my old ships and leaping upon the shores of a brave, new, unknown world. I recounted moments brimming over with God’s faithfulness, even while being doubled over in blinding pain. I told you about my divorce, my agony in dealing with grave injustice, and how I have been met with grace and provision at every turn.
I wrote to you from my ashes, having just barely climbed upon the shores of a new land.
May I say again, “Thank you, thank you, thank you for walking with me, for cheering me on, and for listening to my heart in and through this season.”
After every painful voyage and necessary ship-burning, we tend to find we’ve lugged ashore some items we would have been better off leaving behind.
It’s not our fault. We don’t even realize we’ve dragged these things with us. Like seaweed wrapped around our legs, dirt stuck between our toes, or old, musty luggage stuffed with garments gone bad, these are remnants and evidence of our dangerous but necessary escape.
Trauma. PTSD. Shame. Self-judgment. Insecurity. Panic. Anxiety. The voice of the enemy. Lies we have told ourselves for way too long.
Better off burned, the old way of thinking and reacting isn’t easily abandoned or shaken loose. We find ourselves free but still in need of deep healing.
Sometimes God heals us suddenly, but I find most of the time it is a process and a wobbly but deliberate walking out of truth. And so it has been for me.
Slowly but surely, He has been tending to my closing wounds, massaging the scars of years gone by, and seeing to it that I learn to hear His voice above the rest.
If you’ve followed my story on social media at all, you already know that one of the ways God has brought healing and redemption to me was by bringing me my precious and beloved husband Joe Adducci, whom I married in the Fall of 2018. He is an artist, an elementary school teacher, a lover of Jesus, the kindest man I have ever known, and - blessed am I - he adores me!
I wake up every morning in awe of this gift. Neither Joe nor I had ever experienced true love (the earthly, yet Heavenly kind) until the Lord knit our hearts together. So this is what it feels like to be truly cherished by another human being! This is what it looks like to heal - hand in hand with a loving soul.
I carried my former name “Wexelberg” for many years. It was the name I used for most of my songwriting and for each of my albums up until now. And it is also a name that represents a whole lot of trauma and pain for me.
Many marketing professionals would say it’s crazy to change your last name mid-career or mid-ministry. “Name recognition is everything.” “Your branding will be lost.” “It’s career suicide!”
And yet, God was and is in the business of giving people new names mid-stream, mid-life, and mid-healing.
Throughout Scripture, when God wanted to establish a new identity or new calling on someone’s life, He often renamed them. Saul was re-named Paul after a blinding conversion on the road to Damascus, subsequently writing a huge percentage of the New Testament. Sarai was renamed Sarah when the Lord chose to open her womb at the ripe old age of ninety, thus continuing the lineage of the coming Messiah through her son Isaac. Jesus re-named Simon, calling him Peter, which means rock, and informed him that the whole church would be built upon him. In Isaiah 62, God declared to Zion, “You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.”
Newsflash! It would seem God isn’t particularly concerned with branding. But He is very interested in identity. He is extremely attune to what best represents the miracle of redemption. And He tends to dole out new names when He really wants to make a point.
And so this brings me back to my story. My former name served me for many years. It was familiar to me and to those who listened to my music. But to carry it forward into this new, remarkably beautiful and redemptive season simply does not sit well with my heart at all. Jesus’ whole “pouring new wine into old wineskins” parable comes to mind:
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved .” (Matthew 9: 16-17)
I realize that’s taken a little bit out of context here, but the truth still remains: God has done and is doing something lovingly brand new in me; and I am compelled to treat it as such.
And so you will find me here: re-poured, reframed, and renamed…by Love.
Shannon Adducci.
I love my new name, especially when said with an Italian flair. (ah-DOOCH-ee)
But I most love what it represents…
REDEMPTION and TRUE LOVE.
Join the Conversation…
What new and redemptive story is God writing in your life, and what old names, lies, or limitations are you still carrying with you or have you broken free from already? I’d really love to hear from you!
