A New Name

Flushing HS Graduation

“I was born Robert William Kaufman Jr. in Queens, New York in January 1943 and was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in February 1943. Now right there you can see that things don’t always wind up where they start out. My name on the front cover of this book is different from the one above, and I’m not the one who changed it. The “aimless” aspect of this story starts right away; I was born with one name, grew up with another, and I had nothing to do with it.”

Excerpt From: Aimless Life, Awesome God by Robert Frohlich  https://books.apple.com/us/book/aimless-life-awesome-god/id1129891739

I don’t know if the name change was official or not, but from the time my mother re-married in 1947, I became known as Robert William Frohlich. This all worked fine until I needed a social security number for a work permit.

“When I was sixteen, I had a chance to get a summer job working in a drug store. Before I could work though, I had to get a work permit and a social security number, and for that I needed a birth certificate. When I approached the window at the County Clerk’s office, I asked for a copy of my birth certificate. The clerk asked for my name and went to look through the files. She returned and said she couldn’t find any birth records for Robert William Frohlich. Flustered, I left the building and found a phone booth and called home. “Mom,” I asked, “what was my name when I was born?” She just sighed and told me. When I returned to the clerk’s window, I asked for the birth records for Robert William Kaufman Jr. She came up with the file right away and cheerfully asked, “What name do you want on the copy?” “Frohlich,” I said. After all, that was who I was.”

Excerpt From: Aimless Life, Awesome God by Robert Frohlich  https://books.apple.com/us/book/aimless-life-awesome-god/id1129891739

So all my life, though I was born with one name, I have been known by another one. And I have one more name, one that is still unknown to me.

‘To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’ Revelation 2:17 ESV

This final name change is the most significant of all, because it marks my adoption as a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the name by which I’m known to my Creator and my Savior. This is the name that, by the grace of God, is written in the Lamb’s book of life. There will be no confusion on the day when I come face to face with my Savior and Judge. Thanks be to God!