Count of the Wooded Valley

What’s the story behind your nickname?

A count without a castle, learning to tend what matters

They asked about nicknames.

But some names are not just playful—they’re formative, false, or even holy.

Sometimes names are less about thrones and more about thresholds.

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My name is Dean Graf.

Dean means wooded valley.
Graf means count—a land steward.

So technically, I’m the Count of the Wooded Valley.

It sounds like I should have a falcon and a velvet cloak.
Instead, I’ve got sneakers, a ceramic coffee mug, and a classroom full of teenagers—
bright, unpredictable, wild as trees.

I do not own them.
I tend them.
And maybe that is what names are meant to do—
not just tell us who we are,
but remind us what we are here to tend.

“Names can wound or root.
The question is—who gave it to you?”

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God’s Funny with Names

Scripture is full of holy renaming:

• Abram becomes Abraham, father of many—before the crib’s even built.
• Jacob becomes Israel after wrestling till sunrise.
• Simon becomes Peter, the rock, even though Jesus knew he’d crumble first.
• And Jesus? His Hebrew name was Yeshua—same as Joshua, the desert-walker who led with a trumpet and a shout.

God doesn’t name people by their past.
He names them by what’s coming.

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“You’re not who they said you were.
You’re who He’s calling you to become.”

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The Names We Carry

We all carry names.
Some chosen.
Some whispered.
Some hurled.

Smart one. Liar. Fixer. Too much. Not enough.

Some were meant in love.
Others… not so much.
And some? We’ve worn them so long we forgot to ask if they’re still true.

But God names differently.

He names in promise, not pressure.
In grace, not performance.
In love, not fear.

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“God names you well.
And when He does—you begin to remember who you really are.”

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Before You Go

Sit with this:

• What name have you carried that no longer fits?
• What name might God be offering instead?
• What would it mean to walk in that name today?

Write it down.
Speak it aloud.
Whisper it to the trees if you need to.
Let it take root.

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Words to Root You

“You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.”
— Isaiah 62:2

“I have called you by name. You are mine.”
— Isaiah 43:1

“To the one who is victorious… I will give a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.”
— Revelation 2:17

Tags:

#Forming20 #NamedByGrace #SpiritualIdentity #CalledByName #MidwestMemoirs #FaithAndStory #FellowSojourners #QuietFormation #RedemptionStories #TendTheTrees