Eternity- The Story Behind Her Name

The name Eternity was inspired by this story that was told to me for the first time during YWAM. I had heard the story used since in other sermons and found it so incredibly inspiring and encouraging.

Beginning in the 1930s Arthur Stace spent his early morning hours writing the word "Eternity" in a distinctive cursive style in every doorway, on every street, and major entrance to a public area that he could find in Sydney.

For years, the citizens of the city wondered who was writing the "one word sermon" and why.

Every once in a while, someone would claim responsibility for the graffiti and the newspapers would print the stories.

In 1956, Stace was a member of the Burton Street Baptist Church, where he also served as the janitor and a prayer leader.

One day, the pastor of the church, Rev. Lisle M. Thompson, stumbled across Stace while he was writing his chalk message on a sidewalk and the mystery of the "Eternity" messages all over Sydney was solved.

Stace said that after his conversion to Christianity, he heard a sermon in which the evangelist said  "Eternity! Eternity! Oh, that this word could be emblazoned across the streets of Sydney!"

In his simple way, Stace decided to do that.

 

There is a huge illuminated sign on the Sydney Harbour Bridge that says "Eternity" in Stace's distinctive handwriting, a sign that was clearly seen by hundreds of millions of people during the fireworks display at the end of the opening ceremonies at the Olympics in Sidney in 2000.

Those who know Patrick and I well know that we can't just name our children because we think that a name sounds good. We are the kind of people that put a lot of thought into the meaning and believe that the meaning is incredibly important. Anyway, the quote, "Live for Eternity" has been inspirational to us over the years and decided that we wanted our child to hold this strong message. So, the search was on to find a name that meant, "Live for Eternity," or something close to it. And to our surprise we found the name Eternity on a baby name website. It was an instant winner for our daughter's name.  We explored other names, but nothing else ever seemed 'right' for this child.

Patrick and I had decided long ago that we would honor significant people in our lives with our children's middle names. Again the meanings of the names are taken into consideration. Angela (Ang) is one of my best friends who has been there for me, has been a huge encouragement spiritually, and is a great example of a woman who lives for the Lord. Joy is the middle name of the woman who was my mentor for years. Her and her husband have played a significant role in Patrick and I's lives, encouraging us spiritually, praying for us, and always being there.

We put the name together and our daughter's name means, "Eternal messenger of Joy." I think that is so powerful, and I pray that she will always feel valuable as a woman, and that she will know that she is an eternal Joy.