Pure

So I have been doing a lot of thinking lately... For anyone who knows me that would not come as a surprise. :0)

The meaning of my name is Pure. I never really liked that meaning mostly, because I felt like I never measured up to it. Even when I came back to the Lord at the age of 15 and my life changed completely I always felt I had blown it for purity. I felt God had restored my life and accepted it all, but that meaning always bugged me.

I hadn't really gave it much thought until recently. I was reading the book Shepherding a Child's Heart (I HIGHLY recommend all parents & parents to be read it) and it was asking something about exaimening the things your family does whether for God or for your own reason. I decided to write a list of ways we as a family stays close to the Lord and challenges us to grow closer to him.

The question was this- Are there spoken & unspoken rules of your family life consistent with true spirituality, living for the glory of God?

A first I was just putting all the spoken things down. Then I started thinking of the things God has really called us to do and the word purity kept coming to my mind over and over for days. I kept hearing purity in our relationship with the King, purity in our marriage, purity in how we represent the King, purity in our relationship with our daughter, purity in our heart, minds & body.

Here's my original list.

1) We pray so that we are in communion with the Lord & so we can give him thanks.
2) We read our Bibles to learn more about who Christ is, to renew our minds and to continue to learn from Christ
3) We go to church because we enjoy it, to be fed by others and to be in fellowship with other believers.
4) We tithe to give back to the Lord what is his. To bless God's work & to obey him. (this was a very tough area for me to learn at first, but I'm so glad I have a faithful husband who got through to me in this area)
5) We volunteer service in many different ways.
6) We eat healthy, organic and as close to how God designed food to take care of our bodies. We are the temple.
7) We give to those in need. Just like Christ did while on earth.

After hearing all the Lord was saying I felt him say you are living pure, Kathy!! It was like God was saying I have wiped your slat clean, but I have now replaced it with purity. Something I never saw in myself. God has done it all! It wasn't in me until he placed it in me. I am fully aware I am not perfect and fall short of purity, but I felt for the first time God was calling me to follow in the name he ultimately called me to.

Hope this blesses someone!