Becoming Analise: The Meaning Behind the Name
To begin, I have wanted to start writing a blog for quite some time, but, being the Type A/Perfectionist that I am, I could not begin anything until I came up with what I deemed to be the perfect and most profound name for the blog. As it turns out, I am not sure whether this name is perfect or profound, but it definitely depicts what my heart is for my writing endeavors. The long-awaited name is “Becoming Analise”.
Analise
means “devoted to God”. Obviously, it is
a woman’s name, so I take it mean “a woman devoted to God”. According to the trusty Dictionary.com, to
devote means to “give all or a large part of one’s time or resources to”, and
devotion means “love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or
cause.” Personally, I think these
definitions are a little weak when describing the type of intense passion and unyielding
loyalty we are to have to the Lord Jesus Christ!
As
women who have been chosen by God, it is our honor and highest calling to be
completely devoted to our Lord in any and all roles He has placed us in: wife,
mother, daughter, friend, niece, granddaughter, aunt, teacher, church member, employee,
etc. I’m sure that you may find yourself
owning many of these roles, and even some that I haven’t mentioned. All that to say, we have a lot of tasks that
can take up our time and energy. We are
pulled in many different directions, needed by a number of different people at
different places and times. Managing our
time and being successful at each of these roles can be exhausting. The feeling of defeat can be overwhelming at
times, but I don’t believe that the Lord wants us to feel defeated.
How
do we, as women of God and servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, stay devoted to
Him amidst a whirlwind of responsibilities and challenges? I DO NOT claim to even come close to having
all of the answers (I have been a wife for almost 10 months now, and I’ll be a
mother any day, as we are expecting our first daughter next week!). I do,
however, know where to seek the answers from: God’s Holy Word, His precious
gift to us. My aim in publishing any
posts to this blog is to hopefully encourage and challenge you to become the
woman that God has created you to be – a woman who is completely devoted to Him in all
areas of her life and a woman who is confident in the Lord. There will be general posts about living a
life devoted to the Lord, as well as more specific posts about marriage and
motherhood and whatever else the Lord places on my heart. I hope that the Lord will use what He’s
teaching me to spur you on towards a life of devotion to Him – the only One is truly
worthy of it!
Here
are a few verses to consider when pondering what a devoted life looks
like. (The first verses were the 2 that
God initially placed on my heart when desiring to pursue a life of
devotion. The heart of all of the verses
is about living a sacrificial life unto the Lord and actively pursuing how to
please and be acceptable to Him. Notice
how the writers “appeal” and “urge” the brothers to live in a manner worthy of
the Lord! These appeals aren’t to be
taken lightly!)
-
Romans 12:1-2 – “I appeal to you,
therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual worship. Do not
be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing, you may discern what is
the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
-
1 Thessalonians 4:1 – “Finally, then,
brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us
how you ought to walk and to please God,
just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.”
-
Psalm 19:14 – “Let the words of my
mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable
in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and redeemer.”
-
Ephesians 5:8,10 – “For at one time you
were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light…and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”
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