Worth Due His Name

It has been a whirlwind couple of months and now I am at the END of this pregnancy!  We are finishing up our 3rd Lego Camp this summer. We will have had about 85 boys come through our camp this summer. It has been SO FUN. I love teaching kids the Word and showing them how exciting it is! In the beginning, God CREATED!
These boys love Legos because they are made in the image of GOD! He is Elohim (Creator God)!

I love doing ministry with my boys. They are growing a ton in their giftings. Lake leads worship and Reece and Evan run the camp and teach devotions. The kids learn a ton of Scripture during the week.... all related to "building".
We call it "Master Builder Lego Camp" because Jesus is truly the Master Builder and we learn from HIM~

"For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise MASTER BUILDER I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.  For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

1 Cor 3

I have about 3 weeks to go until baby!! I am starting to swell and be super uncomfortable at night. EARLY this morning, I got a calf cramp that seriously had me attached to the ceiling like a cat. I was snoozing one second and the next tiny move of my big toe gave me a pregnancy cramp that felt like I was being attacked by a wild animal! I always say I think these calf cramps are God's way of preparing you for contractions. The pain is so bad and there is nothing you can do about it except breathe and pray it stops!! 
Listen how wild this is... 
Tim had a calf cramp last night too! 
Pregnancy-sympathy-symptoms for husbands must be real!! 
Or maybe his cramp was from running sprints last night with the boys at baseball. But I think that is really crazy! Marriage truly makes you ONE! 

"Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

Galatians 6:2

I love doing life with Tim.
We even conquer calf cramps together! lol

"A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Ecc 4:12

Blogging is such therapy for me. It always has been. It has also been a great way to share God's Word and all He is teaching me in hopes that it can encourage someone else. Blogging comes with its own set of (next level) spiritual attacks though. Being transparent and sharing God's Word (along with your family) can be dangerous. I have considered shutting my blog down many times in order to protect our family but God has protected us and given me more wisdom about letting strangers into our lives.  

I have been accused of being a "narcissist beyond help" because of doing our life publicly. That was a very painful jab that sent me spinning and questioning everything. 

"Narcissism" is a very worldly term and one I (personally) will never use. The times I have seen it used, it is only to deeply wound and spoken by people who don't want to be accountable for their own sin and self-centered lives. 

My pastor says, "when you wake up in the morning, remember, the biggest problem you will face all day is YOU." We all battle flesh. Like I tell my kids often (when they are attacking another), "you just worry about YOU". 

Are there difficult people out there? Yes. Are they selfish and mean? Yes. Are there ways to deal with them? YES! 

I have been doing a Bible Study at my Church with Jan Silvious called "Fool-Proofing Your Life".

She wrote a book. You can order it here. It is EXCELLENT insight into what the Bible says about dealing with difficult people. Most of you know I hardly EVER recommend books but this is good stuff.

Slander is a very serious sin. 

"And whoever spreads slander is a fool."

Proverbs 10:18

If there is friction between two people, one way I figure out who is in sin is by looking for "a smear campaign". Maybe a divorce and one party is slandering the other, I see serious red flags of guilt in the one who is slandering. The word "devil" in the Bible means... SLANDERER. When you slander someone, it is evidence of the devil's influence in your life. The devil is also a liar and a false accuser who accuses the brethren day and night.  After being on the other side of slander, I am very sensitive to it. 

Words do hurt. 

I don't know who made up  the "sticks and stones make break my bones but words will never hurt me" saying. Our words can hurt people and cut them like a sword.

"There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword,

But the tongue of the wise promotes health."

Prov 12:18

Don't slander. Don't call people names. In Lego Camp our rule is we BUILD PEOPLE UP, not tear them down. 

Don't we have enough of our own junk to deal with? Who has time to tear apart another if they are busy battling their own flesh?  The enemy loves to attack people who are simply doing their best to live for God. Slander really knocks the breath out of you.

I don't blog because of "narcissism" (that word is like nails on a chalkboard to me). I blog because I like to write. God wired me to write and to share His Word as I walk through life. I have shared the good, the bad, and the ugly for the last 10 years. And, believe me, have we been through it all!!
Like every other Christian family!!
 Life isn't easy. If you walk by faith, the road is so unpredictable. 
When I blog, it helps me insert God's Word into my current season of life. 
Applying Scripture to my life helps me find my footing to keep running my race.

We have to find our identity in Christ and what HE says about us. During the same season I was accused of being a narcissist, I was also given a PRECIOUS award called "Woman of Grace" award at a beautiful fundraiser. I didn't want to accept it. Honestly. Because I am so far from award-worthy but I did accept because I truly am a woman of God's grace... MUCH GRACE!

"But He gives us more grace"

James 4:6

 I have been given SO MUCH GRACE. God used that award to bless me. We can fall into a ditch on either side when we listen too much to people. Whether good or bad. Don't let either go to your head. 

"If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."

2 Cor 11:30

If someone attacks you, evaluate what they say and see if it is true/Biblical. You can tell the difference between the voice of the enemy and the voice of God. God's voice is convicting. The enemy's voice is CONDEMNING.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"

Rom 8:1

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I am excited about meeting this precious new life that God has given us. This whole pregnancy has felt like a dream. For those of you who know our story, we were DONE having children after 6. For those of you who don't. you can listen to it here. God miraculously moved in Tim's heart and He answered my prayers.   

The road to this baby required so much faith, so much spiritual battle, so much prayer. 

God has used this child to take us to places of faith and worship. After we were shocked to find out God has given us another boy, we started the search for his name. This is boy names 11 &12 for us. But, I truly feel like God has led us to each child's name. I feel some freedom in naming babies because God has already given them His name (which we won't know until heaven) and I think He lets us be creative with their name until then. 
"To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it."
Revelation 2:17
(I am SO curious what my heavenly name is!! We have so much to look forward to in heaven!!)

 I think we will recognize our new name IMMEDIATELY. 

Although, Tim and I don't take picking our babies' earthly names lightly! 
It is hard for us to agree. We have come to agreement with most of them but he has let me have the final say on a few and I have let him name a few. He named "Rhett" so he has given me a little more breathing room to name this sweet one. I believe that God has confirmed that we have picked the perfect name. :)

The journey to his name started with learning this:

 “Worship” is derived from the Old English word “worthship.” So, when we worship God, we are proclaiming (or giving Him back) his "worth".

"Great is the Lord! 

He is most worthy of praise!

No one can measure His greatness."

Ps 145:3

I can't even describe the battles it took to get to this child... 

between Tim's choice to have a vasectomy reversal and my difficult pregnancy. 

Yet--- this child is "WORTH" it all. 

(sidenote- each couple's decision in the area of family planning is between them and the Lord. I think there is wisdom and God's guidance available for each couple. Walking in step with the Spirit is the goal- not a number.)

Some may not see worth in a 7th child. But God sees great worth in each child. Whether number 1 or number 14! 

"Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are WORTH more than many sparrows."

Luke 12:7

We want him to know his worth in God's eyes and ours. 

We pray our son is a worthshiper... I mean worshiper! 

We want him to know that knowing Christ and following hard after Him is WORTH the cost. 

So, we would like to introduce you to Worth Blackiston. :)

He will be arriving in the next few weeks.

He has already blessed our family in ways we could have never dreamed.

Hope has taken in every part of this pregnancy. She is going to miss my giant moving tummy. I asked her the other night when she was going to bed what her favorite thing to do with me was. I thought she would say shopping or swimming or going out to eat. She immediately said, 

"Feeling the baby move in your tummy". 

She was too young to remember the others. 

She will never forget this experience.

My older boys have been able to see the power of God through pregnancy and they are going to be the best big brothers.

(*not sure how Rhett is going to feel about being de-throned)

This baby has already restored so much innocence that has been taken (by trials and suffering) during the last 2 years. 

We do not deserve this new life (or any of the others). 

BUT GOD. 

That is His character. He doesn't treat us as we deserve.

"He does not punish us for all our sins;

He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

 For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him

is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth."

Ps 103:10,11