I have been chosen... SO HAVE YOU.

It's official! Tim gave me two thumbs up so I will be hosting a weekend conference for college-age girls Dec 11-13 on Pursuing Christ in all things, Dating, Sex and Waiting on God's Best. Please email me if you want to come.

I am CRAZY excited about this!!!

tsblackiston@comcast.net

It had been a while since I took the boys' pictures so we headed out to a fun spot this morning for pics. It was a gorgeous fall day. I grabbed Tim from his office in between his patients to try and get a quick family shot...

um, let's just say it didn't work. But look at my baby girl growing!!! She wakes me up all the time with her kicks-- she is kicking now as I am writing!

I started working out with a personal trainer this morning. I have been feeling so good that I decided to get as strong as possible for my body to be able to deal with whatever is coming next. I figure it can't hurt... can only help and I haven't felt this good in years. I hope I can do this training. I am 25 weeks.

Oh how I love these boys... even when Bubba (who now wants to be called Evan and none of us are able to make the switch) got tangled up in my legs and I fell and landed square on my tailbone! ughhh.. Boys. There is absolutely no control.

My neighbor made the boys these hats out of leftover material from the blankets she cut down for me for their bunks. I LOVE THEM! So sweet. This picture of Reece captures how kind he is.
Well, life continues on and just seems to be busier than ever. Homeschool takes up a lot of my day now. The part of the day that I used to blog during. Memorizing and studying Philippians has been A HUGE blessing but also takes a lot of time. I have never been pushed like these girls are pushing me. Their friendship is a gift that I am so thankful for.

It is hard for me to keep up with emails and phone messages. I am really praying about being better with my time and figuring out how God wants me to spend it. I have such a heart for college girls and would love to have a weekend just for college girls to come to our house and do a purity/waiting on your husband retreat. Opening it up for any of my sweet college blog readers to come and just spend time here at our house. How fun would that be?? If you are a single, college-age girl and would be interested in coming to our house for a weekend to focus on your relationship with Christ, please let me know. I am thinking if I did this, it would start Friday night Dec 11and ending Sunday morning, 13. We have lots of space now that we have the bunk room. :)

I also miss my conference call girls and would love to do a part 2 in discipleship with all of you and hear all that God is doing in your lives now. But, my main focus is obviously Tim and the boys and serving and loving them.
I honestly love homeschool. I cannot believe I do. We are learning so much together. They seem to be thriving and so am I just from being with them and the blessing I get from studying God's Word with them. I added a new class to homeschool today. Proverbs! Every day the boys draw 2 numbers out of a bag. One for the chapter and the other for the verse and we study that proverb. I want them to be full of wisdom so what better way to gain wisdom than from the book of Proverbs!

I am really working on helping them with concentration and staying focused.

What was I talking about again?? Oh yeah... concentration. :)

It is hard for boys... to hold still... keep hands folded during verse time... to think without zoning out, etc. It is hard for me too! But, I want them to be able to "be still" before the Lord. To be focused prayer warriors and not needing to be entertained all the time. I am learning this right along side them. It is so hard for me to just STOP and BE STILL because I am always doing 1000 things at once. I am trying to learn how to stop and just sit at the feet of Jesus without being in a hurry or distracted. Just dwelling on the goodness of Who He is. It is amazing to me what a battle it is with my flesh to memorize verses or to stop and pray. I want to be doing 1 million other things rather than just sitting and meditating on God's Word or praying when that is the most important thing I could do during my whole day! I don't like to be still. I don't like to be quiet. It is hard for me to concentrate but how blessed I am when I make myself do it.

I am falling more and more in love with Tim everyday. I can be a bit of a pregnancy monster these days and he is so gentle toward me. I wrote him a note not long ago that said, "I can't believe that I am the girl you chose". That is so true.

It reminds me of our relationship with Christ. How Jesus chose us, delights in us, is enthralled with our beauty and waits anxiously just to spend time with us...even in our sinful condition. But, just by being in His presence and encountering the unconditional love, holiness, and kindness of Jesus- we are changed by sorrow, repentance, and His Holy Spirit. How God sees me as beautiful, His beloved and pure Bride, I will never understand other than the glorious fact that I am "hidden in Christ". Col 3:3

Tim and I went on a date tonight to the Melting Pot. It was SO good. The entree was just ok but the dessert... oh my... the dessert. There is a coupon for a free dessert for 2 if there is a Melting Pot near where you live. Click HERE for the coupon. Take your husband out on a date! or go with your girlfriends and each bring a Bible Verse to talk about while you dip bananas, pound cake, strawberries, cheesecake, marshmallows, & brownies into milk chocolate with a swirl of crunchy peanut butter. (I don't think I will tell the trainer what went down tonight).

Well, I have to go to prepare to teach on Phil 3:1-7 tomorrow or I need to get some sleep because it is 90 miles an hour around here as soon as I wake up.

Remember how God loves you and has CHOSEN you to be His Bride- called you (by name) out of darkness into His marvelous light. He loves you so dearly- live for Him and declare His praises to the world.

Be Blessed~

Steph

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light."

1 Peter 2:9