Margaret Kaye Hall is ONE today! It’s about time she gets her own name blog like her sister and brother before. So here, sweet Margot girl, is the story of your beautiful name.
Clementine is named after a cat, and Phinehas a three year old boy I taught in Sunday school. You are named after your great grandmother Margaret, and a dear friend’s daughter. I remember when Sydnie told me she planned on naming her first child Margot, my first thought was that I absolutely loved the name. My second thought was that I could never name my child something that “out there.” Ironically, after Clementine and Phinehas, your name is the least unusual of the bunch!
Because we’ve chosen delivery room surprises for all of our children, when I was pregnant with your brother we had to have a second girl name ready just in case. I remembered how much I loved the name Margot and made the connection to David’s grandmother, Margaret. The name has a long family history on his side, and we both loved its elegance and meaning. Pearl. The name evokes beauty and value. In John’s vision of the new Jerusalem, he describes the beauty of the city and all of the rare jewels adorning the city walls. The gates of the city are made of pearls, “each of the gates made of a single pearl” (Revelation 21:21). Jesus tells those gathered for the sermon on the mount not to “throw your pearls before pigs,” (Matthew 7:6) further emphasizing the value and worth of the costly jewel.
My favorite mention of pearls in Scripture, however, comes from later in the book of Matthew. Jesus shares two short parables prefacing each with the iconic intro, “The kingdom of heaven is like …” The first talks about a treasure found hidden in a field. The finder “goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). While we are left wondering exactly what that treasure might be, the next parable reinforces the same idea, this time specifically mentioning pearls. Jesus tells his listeners, “Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:45-46). Commentator Leon Morris explains that the parable “is teaching us much the same as did the previous parable. Again we see that it is well to take decisive action while the opportunity is there, and that no cost is too great when it is a matter of gaining the kingdom.”
The name Kaye, too, is a multi-generational family name. My parents named me Sarah Kaye after my mom’s sister, Kaye Elaine. My aunt Kaye (or “Big Kaye” as she’s known among her great nieces and nephews) was named after my grandmother’s best friend in high school. Kaye is far and away the best aunt imaginable. The second daughter of the Thompson family and eight years younger than her older sister, Kaye has a lot in common with you. I hope and pray you and Clementine can have the sweet sister relationship that your Gran and Big Kaye have, and that you too will be the generous and fun loving aunt that lets your nieces and nephews eat as much cookie dough as they want. (Which actually doesn’t end well as Big Kaye will tell you …)
The name Kaye is a diminutive of Katherine, which means “pure.” Unfortunately this word carries a lot of baggage in today’s culture. While sexuality is certainly a part of our being, and scripture again and again exhorts us toward sexual purity, the word “pure” has a much broader scope. First and foremost, Scripture teaches that no one is pure in and of themselves. Proverbs 20:9 asks, “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin’?” The answer is no one! Only Jesus lived a pure and sinless life, and apart from him, there is no purity. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is a prayer that I prayed for your dad before we even met and now pray for you and your brother and sister: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11). Love, knowledge, insight, discernment, purity, blamelessness, righteousness … all these I pray for you with the hope that they all result in God’s glory and praise.
So, Margaret Kaye, Pearl of Purity, we pray that you will know your worth as a precious child created in the image of God. We pray your name will remind you of the priceless pearl that is the Kingdom of God. A pearl worth every sacrifice. So many things will vie for your attention and affection, but our hope is that you will be captivated by the only thing worthy of your deepest love, namely the good news of Jesus Christ.
Happy birthday, our sweet giggly wiggly precious pearl! We’re so glad that you’re our girl!
The D&SH 