Wednesday, March 5, 2014

"Seven Years of JOY"

Lake turns 7 on Saturday. 
I wanted to write about him while I had an extra 5 minutes!
I am so excited to celebrate his life. (You have no idea!!)
He is having some friends over and wants me to make him a Sundrop Cake.

You may think when you read my blog that I have a favorite child. The truth is... I do!! Each one is my favorite andI tell them that. 
It reminds me of how God makes us feel His only.. and His favorite.
The apple of His eye.  
"Keep me as the apple of Your eye"
Ps 17:8
Lake is definitely the apple of my eye.
It is sometimes hard to go back and remember when God brought Lake into our lives. Lake and Hope both came during a long hard season. 
I was sick. Really sick. 
I had 2 little boys at the time.
We were desperate for God to intervene.
One night at a Church service, the pastor taught on the lady with the health issue in Luke 8. She had been sick for years. She had spent all her money on doctors. No one could help her. Her suffering went on. 
"A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.”
 But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.”  When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed.“Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has made you well. 
Go in peace.”

I hung on the edge of my seat that night. I was too weak to even stand up to sing. It felt like I was the only one in the sanctuary. I knew the Lord was speaking that night to me.
If only I could reach Him. If only I could touch the hem of His robe. I knew He could heal me. I KNEW He could.
So, as soon the pastor asked for anyone who needed healing to come forward... I did. I begged God to heal me that night.
He spoke to my heart, 
"I will heal you. 
It will take time but I will give you JOY in the mean time."

Now, some of you may not understand how God can speak but He does. I can't explain it. He does it through the Holy Spirit living inside us. He spoke to my heart that night.
It wasn't what I wanted to hear because I wanted to be healed right then.
I thought "Joy, Lord? I don't have any joy".
 ******
Soon, after that, I was scheduled to get a picc line put in. I had to have it done at the hospital and they had to do an x-ray to make sure it was in the right place before they could start the medicine.
The lady said, "Is there any way you are pregnant?". I said, "No."
Then I thought, "well, I don't think so".
Because I wanted to be 100% sure before all these procedures, I took a test and there was a BEAUTIFUL second line. A shock to us to say the least.
I was pregnant.
And it wasn't just one baby...
The ultrasound showed 2 sacks but only one baby.
The doctor said it was "vanishing twin". 
But, I didn't want that twin to "vanish". I wanted both of the babies even though it couldn't have been at a harder time in our lives. 
I had to take IV medicine while I was pregnant. It was very scary.
We prayed for this life every day. That God would keep the baby safe in the middle of the storm. That my womb would be a safe place.
It was a few months into my pregnancy that the promise God gave me that night all started making sense.
The JOY God promised me was...
THIS CHILD.
He hadn't healed me but He had given me a gift of greater value than healing.
I truly believe God gives us amazing gifts when we least expect them. I also believe He gives us gifts when we PERSEVERE.
Remember, there are riches and treasures stored in secret places.
My pregnancy was scary. I hate taking medicine... especially when I am pregnant.
But, Lake Christian Blackiston was born on March 8, 2007.




I was still sick. Tim had to take care of Lake when he was a baby. I worried that I wouldn't have the same bond with him that I had with the others. I joke with Lake that he was raised with the wolves because Tim got up at night with him and rocked him with his hairy chest. 


I was flying back and forth to doctors.
It was hard. But, by God's grace, we did it.
And, by God's grace... He did heal me.
"Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone."
Luke 6:19

 When Lake was a little over a year, we learned that he had allergies. Then, we learned that he had asthma. Was it because I was on antibiotics when I was pregnant and unable to nurse? I will never really know but my pediatrician says it is not... that it is genetic. Lake has had very severe asthma attacks. 2 that threatened to take his life. I have prayed my heart out over this precious child. I have fought BATTLES for him and with him. My prayer has been that God would fill His lungs with PNEUMA life.





God would breathe His life into him just like He did with Adam... and all of us. God is the one who gives us all our breath. Some people just recognize it a little more. I have carried Lake lifeless into the ER more than I ever want to remember. Yet, God was with me. I can't go back there in my mind. I just can't. God got us through those rivers. He was with us. He answered the desperate cry of a mother.
Lake sings through it all. God placed a song in his heart. I learn from Lake. He doesn't complain. He sings. He doesn't ask why, he worships. I will never forget him playing the piano in the Children's hospital while he had an IV in his arm. He has fond memories of the hospital and ambulance rides. He loves to talk about them and would love to go back to the hospital. He has rocked my faith. He makes me feel near to Jesus. 
He fills our home with laughter. When he is gone, there is a quiet that I do NOT like. He isn't perfect but he is really close. He is doing 2nd grade now. His little body is getting stronger every year! God healed him of his egg allergy over a year ago so he can actually eat CAKE and DOUGHNUTS and all the yummy stuff he couldn't have for so many years.
We pray that he is outgrowing his allergies and asthma. I watch him like a hawk. I have spent countless nights listening to him breathe and praying over him. Lake and I are the 2 in the family that get beat up by health trials. He is a much better sufferer than I am.
He plays soccer and baseball. He loves legos and all things electronic. He confesses things that no one in the world would consider to confess. Yet, his heart is so pure that the smallest things weigh him down and he has to tell someone. 
He accepted Christ when I drew the truths from Romans out on the chalkboard.

He is leading worship for me on Monday when I teach a Bible study. He can sing a song if he hears it once.
The verse that comes to mind when I think of Lake is...
Hebrews 11:38
"the world was not worthy of them."

I am not worthy to be this child's mother. I have no idea how he-came-from-me.
God has blessed our family with him.
He spreads JOY.
Inexpressible and glorious JOY. :)



I told him not to smile. That lasted about 1 second. 
He can't not-smile.





"God, thank you for this amazing child that you knit together in my womb. Thank you for how you have saved his life multiple times. I praise you for letting me keep him. I have loved every second you have allowed him to be in my life. Please continue to breathe your pneuma breath into him. Fill him with worship. Fill him with your inexpressible and glorious joy. May his joy be FULL. May you continue to protect his life and watch over him. Heal him, God. Not my will, but Yours be done in His life."

Happy Birthday, Lake.
I love you so so much.








3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Many tears flowing as I read this. Your blog is such a blessing to me. Have a beautiful day Saturday celebrating! Many blessings to your family.
Linda Marsh
Ocala, Fl.

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, sweet boy!!! Such a beautiful testimony of life. May you be blessed and grow to be a mighty man of God. Erin Lynn

Kim said...

This is so sweet! He is such a handsome young man! Happy Birthday to Lake!