Our boat was christened as “Selah” hours before we pulled out of Orange Beach, AL to begin our trip in May 2015. I (allison) picked the name and convinced Bo that it was a great boat name.

Previously I had convinced him of a different boat name – so this one took a little more work, but I think it is fitting. The word Selah is probably most familiar if you read through the Psalms. It is seen at the end of over seventy passages. While there does not appear to be consensus among scholars about the meaning – the most common interpretation is “rest”, “pause” “reflect on that.”

When choosing a boat name there are a few factors to be considered:

1. EVERYONE and their brother will ask you what it means – so come up with a quick explanation. I have found that I can explain Selah in either a quick fashion, or a drawn out one – depending on the scenario. For example – at the tiki bar conversing with someone with more tattoos than teeth I am probably going to go for a quick “it means take a rest.” If I have a prolonged conversation with someone that is comprehending me I am probably going to explain how this season of life is a time of rest and pausing and reflecting and we named the boat to reflect that.

2. Can you understand the name on the radio. Seems weird when living on land – but boat life requires you to say your vessel name over the VHF (marine radio) radio very often. Like 20 times a day often. So naming it something complicated just ends up complicating your life. Stick with something pronounceable and fairly easy to understand.

3. Meaningful. We could have named the boat “Tuna” but that doesn’t carry any meaning for us. We chose to name her something that meant something to us and honestly that just kind of rolled off our tongues; once I had convinced Bo of course…

The other day Bo asked me sweetly “do you love me?” Of course my answer was a big, fat YES. Then he said “do you like Selah?” I hesitated and nodded my head yes. Because I think I am supposed to love her. And I am afraid what will happen if I didn’t love her…like the ocean would swallow me up or something for thinking negative thoughts about the very thing that simultaneously protects me and scares the crap out of me….

And that got me thinking about how a lot of us have the same relationship with God. We say we love him/her because we are afraid of what might happen if we say no…or because we think we are supposed to say yes.

I am still working on my thoughts about all of this – but those were my ponderings this morning as I thought about our lovely abode.