Where Everyone Knows Your Name!

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My fingers were tapping like crazy tonight; jumping between the Five Minute Friday Twitter party and my Plunder Design party on Facebook. The FMF party is one of my favorite things in the world. This community of bloggers have become some of my dearest friends. You hold a piece of my heart and always will. We would love to have you join us for the five minute Friday free write. 


I am linking up for the Five Minute Friday. The FMF is hosted by Kate Motaung on her blog Heading Home. Today’s prompt is “cheer.”


When I first read Kate’s word prompt, I kept wanting to put an “s” on the end of her word making it cheers rather than just cheer. Does anyone else remember the tv show “Cheers?” I grew up watching that show. There was Norm, Sam, Cliff, Diane, Woody and others. They gathered at the bar Cheers “where everyone knows your name,”

That is what I loved about the show. It was a community where people gathered together because “everyone knew their name,” I love places where people know my name too.  The FMF community has become that for me. We have prayed with and for Andrew. We have rejoiced with  Tammy and the baptism of her girls. We have cried with each other. We have laughed with each other–even if it has just been on the interwebs.

These people and this place bring cheer into my life. I am so very thankful for the people and places that know my name and who know your name too. But ultimately it is God who knows us by name. God calls and claims us in the waters of baptism naming each of us “children of God.” “You are a baptized child of God, whatever else you are; remember that you are that for that is the basis of whatever else you are!”

I lift my glass and give thanks for all the cheer and blessings that God brings into our lives. So cheers to everyone who knows us by name. Cheers for those who have fought for our freedom. Cheers for stories that remind us of the power of the resurrection and new life. Cheers to God’s love and grace in our lives. Cheers for each and every one of YOU!

44 thoughts on “Where Everyone Knows Your Name!”

  1. While i didn't grow up in the Cheers era, I did watch much of the show on late-night tv as a kid. I loved the community there, too.

    I love our little community, and am thankful for the friends i've made in it, such as yourself! It's been so fun getting to spend time with y'all every week. Love you lots! I'm your fmf neighbor this week 🙂

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  3. NORM!!!! Sorry, I just had to do it again, lol. It's a Cheers tradition. We even saw George Wendt in a play last year and the audience did it when he came out…it had nothing to do with Cheers 🙂

    I loved watching Cheers, still do sometimes, I always longed for a place like that, and now I have brothers and sisters in Christ everywhere. My given name may not be known, but Christian is and it's a truly awesome thing.

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  4. Beautiful, Tara. I've yet to join your Twitter parties…maybe one day I can get up in the middle of the night to do so! But I do enjoy visiting many of you each week and hearing about how God is moving in your lives. Cheers to you too, Tara, for your beautiful encouragement here each week.

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  5. Love this, Tara! That's what community is about, right? Walking in and everyone knows your name – foibles and all… The Twitter party happens right in the midst of bedtime, so I always eavesdrop after 😉 One of these days I'll join in! Until then, I'm thankful for the smaller community I've found through this – including you & your encouragement!
    Annie (#34)
    annierim.wordpress.com

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  6. Where everyone knows your name… Yes, that is such a wonderful thing in community even if it is just online. I don't make all the #fmf parties, but I enjoy it when I do. I never watched "Cheers." I was probably busy raising children. We didn't have great tv reception so we just watched videos or played games. 🙂 Blessings to you, Tara!

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  9. That was one of our favorite shows too. Charles Swindoll wrote in one of his books that the church should be like that…a place where everyone knows your name and are glad you came. I'm glad #fmfparty is that place for you.

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  10. you're right tara. we were on a very similar wave length:) because i so easily forget names, i give people a pass if they forget my actual name. i just want them to remember ME! i remember all kinds of details about people. i just can't always remember their names. i work hard on trying to accept them the way Jesus does even if they are quite different from me. by not doing the editing on them until after a few visits, i have found many wonderful friends that may not always make a wonderful 1st impression. frankly, i don't always make a great 1st impression myself. blessings:)

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  11. It is important to have a place where we belong, where people know our names, and I love that we can even have that kind of connection with people so far away through online community. But definitely the most important thing is that God knows our names and we are his.

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  12. I just discovered "Cheers" on Netflix. I'm a "Frasier" fan so I wanted to go back to the beginning of his story. He and Lilith crack me up every single time.

    FMF is a special community. I love how quickly and easily new people are welcomed in. It's not clique-ish or closed off in any way. It's a special thing God is doing through the internet!

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  13. Tara,
    you sweet sweet woman! 🙂 Thanks for the mention. I feel cheered on as I finish the school year. Truly, though, this semester has held me back a lot from blogging or being able to read and comment on the blogs of others. It's brought me regret and guilt when I have a load of replies that I barely attend to and can't get back to their blogs.
    I know the love and kindness don't end when I have a couple weeks where I can't reciprocate, but I do miss the freedom of an hour to read and reply to multiple blogs!
    Thank you again for being a dear, dear friend!
    Love,
    Tammy

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  14. I am only a relatively new member to this community but your faithfulness in commenting on so many FMF posts is inspiring and so welcoming, Tara! You are a major reason why this is a great community!

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  16. Tara, my dad use to watch it late late at night. I didn't get it then, but I do now. We all want to belong somewhere, with people who know us (hopefully deeply). That show definitely presented a community of people willing to share life as is. I think the honesty in pubs or bars is something we all secretly want at church too, or at least with fellow believers somehow. FMF fills that gap for me too—wouldn't trade them for the world. So glad I know your name and you know mine. (hugs)

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  18. Great post, Tara. You got me wondering if holding church in pubs or coffee bars might be a way of making sure the community is small enough to know and be known intimately. Perhaps most church congregations are too changeable or too big to create a family-like atmosphere for all the participants. It's easy to slip through the net and not be noticed. That's where smaller groups help cement relationships.
    Incidentally, we loved it when our previous postman not only knew our first names but also those of most of the neighbourhood. As parcel recipients whenever someone wasn't at home, it soon helped us to become better acquainted with people coming to our door to collect their post.
    I appreciate the FMF community and the supportive friendships that have built up because of it. You are a large part of its success in the efforts you make to visit, befriend and comment on our blogs. So cheers to FMF and double cheers for Tara! God bless you. Xx

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  19. Oh, such a beautiful, beautiful post. I also love the FMF community: it's been such a lifeline for me during such hard times in my own life. (I also had the Cheers theme music going round my head as I wrote my own post this week!). Hoping you're well…..loved, loved, loved your words, as always. Helen xx

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  21. I have been blown away by the friendliness and uplifting people in the FMF group! It's wonderful to jump in as a newbie and have everyone welcoming me and saying they are glad to have me around. It's a true testament of how we should act as Christians, so thank you!

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