What's in a name?

Often parents give names to their children that are meaningful to the family; which is how I got my name. My Dad had an Aunt Kathryn that he was quite fond of, and a Mom whose name was Elise... and I'm pretty sure he was quite fond of her too. So I've grown up thinking that this was how I received my name.

Did I mention that I also have a first cousin with the same first and middle name? It has made for funny stories, though I'm quite certain my Aunt Ginny didn't think so at first. She already had a daughter named Kathryn Elise, and was most likely not sure what to think of the fact that her little brother named me Kathryn Elise. Thankfully, we grew up with different last names, and on two different continents, and my cousin has always gone by Kate. :)

Lately though, I've been wondering if perhaps it was no mistake at all. What if this was the name God already had picked out for me? I mean, if He didn't want me to have the name Kathryn Elise, he could have made me a boy; then my name would be John Harold! I'm thankful that I am a girl; I much prefer the name Kathryn Elise.

So in the Bible, God gives names to certain people outright; for example: Jesus: Savior; Isaac: He will laugh; John the Baptist: God is gracious; Sarai --> Sarah: Princess; Abraham: father of many nations; etc....

So here is what my name means:

Kathryn: "pure"
Elise: "my god is a vow" or "consecrated to god"

Since I didn't want a long name for my url, and I wasn't entirely sure of what consecrated meant, I looked it up: to devote irrevocably to the worship of God.

Devoted stuck out to me in that definition, and so I decided upon the url for this blog: puredevoted1