Because She’s Mibs

The tune of “Because He Lives” wafts through the room as my brain tries to parody the title with “Because She’s Mibs.”  Can’t you hear it, “… she will sing tomorrow.  Because she’s Mibs–her song is long!  Because she kno-ooh-oohws,  He holds the future!”  Right?

All through the Aggie books, one thing is for certain.  Hymns will fill the pages of her heart. It’s her coping mechanism–a lesson she learned as a girl to remind her to turn to the Lord instead of follow her flesh when trouble strikes, joy fills her heart, or all the other moments in between.  Many of us have trained ourselves in various ways to do just that.  But as I wrote Ante Up!, I realized that Aggie has a second reminder built in now that I’d never noticed.

Luke calls her Mibs.  I believe it’s in book two where he finally explains why. It’s not really a story killer, so I thought I’d go over it here again. In the game of marbles, mibs are the little cheap, clay target marbles in the game.  As Luke puts it, it’s a reminder to her Who has formed her and into what kind of marble He wants her to be.  There’s also a subtle nod to the fact that we’re made from dirt–and that’s where you find clay.  The Potter, in Aggie’s case, chose to make a “Mib” instead of a pot.  🙂

This nickname is just something that I had Luke give her, and he used it as a gentle reminder, but I never really thought about how often she would hear it.  He calls her Mibs when he’s feeling especially tender toward her, especially proud of her, especially loving.  I can’t imagine him ever throwing out an exasperated, “Mibs!” with a harsh edge to it.  It doesn’t fit him.  He wouldn’t likely do that at any time, but especially not with the name he gave her as a reminder of Who the Lord is in her life.

But what a gift!  The more I think of it, the more amazed I am at the idea that just by speaking your name, someone can remind you of just Who you belong to and what He wants from you.