Ever wonder what football, poop and free will might have in common? Or want to hear a few thoughts about parenthood and living life out of control? Well this is your lucky day!
Click on over to Signpost Ministries where I’ve tied all those subjects together, in 1,000 words or less!
Look, here’s a slightly related photo of me five years ago, with a friend who’s coming to visit soon. YAY!
Happy Thursday!
xCC
Foreword side note: I failed to send you guys off to my friend Amanda’s for a Love Song Extravaganza a few days ago! But since I’d just come home from the hospital with a newborn, you forgive me, right?
Amanda’s Musings at Seriously are as delightful as her sweet and refreshingly matter-of-fact personality. Super delightful. Her “Lerve Songs Extravaganza” started with this explanation here, and Hero Hubs and yours truly kicked off the next day with our Top Ten List right here. You can still enjoy good internet content if it’s a few days past the born-on date, right?
So. I am sure many of you would like to hear a detailed explanation of why our baby boy’s name is not Kiwano, or Nathaniel, or any of the other lovely names that were suggested when we asked for help. {I will here interrupt to admit apologetically to dear Laura Anne that Kiwano was never actually up for consideration. Forgive us. 🙂 }
Several of the names you guys suggested were at the top of the list for us — I especially liked Caleb and Ethan. The hubs wasn’t a huge fan of Caleb, and when he #1 discovered that Ethan was one of the most popular names last year and #2 thought about his feelings toward the only Ethan he knows of (actor Ethan Hawke) that name quickly lost favour. I liked Owen a lot too, but the Hubs thinks Owen Wilson is goofy. Bryson or Bryce was on the list for a while, too, I think.
It seemed that we each liked several suggestions, but we never both loved the same suggestion at the same time. There was just some X factor that we were struggling to find. For a while we fancied Lachlan, but since the meaning is “from the land of lochs” and this little one, unlike the Bear, would not be born in Scotland, it just didn’t seem right. Luke was very high on the list for quite some time, and was pretty close to being the one at a few points.
Then one day (very close to d-day) the Hubs said, “What do you think of the name Blake?” I paused to ponder the name, said it aloud and coupled it with our surname, pondered it some more and decided I loved it. Then it dawned on me: the beautiful thing that the Hubs didn’t realise was that Blake was my maternal grandfather’s name. My grandfather, my Mom’s eldest brother, his son, and his son are all Blakes. When I called my Mom to tell her it was on the list and ask her opinion, she was in tears, so we thought it was probably a keeper.
The name has two opposite meanings: fair/pale/bright or dark. As I’ve taken time to consider the multiple meanings, I’ve thought about the instructions of Jesus to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. I pray that in the years to come this little one will have the wisdom to appropriately navigate whatever might come his way. And may he live as a bright and shining light for Jesus!
His middle name, for those of you who might not know, is my maiden name, and this choice was also Hero Hubs’ suggestion. The Bear carries his grandfather’s name and of course the paternal surname, so HH liked the idea of connecting this little one to the maternal side of the family. The most common meaning I’ve found for Darrow has been wielder of the spear. We pray that this little one would indeed fight the good fight of faith for the kingdom of God.
But more than just focusing on the specific meaning of the name, as I have felt a tendency to do in these forty-plus weeks, I’ve also been stirred to consider the bigger picture, the greater story. A grandfather I never had the privilege of meeting, another I knew very little of — they are both a part of the story of this child. His Dad who looked up on a sunny afternoon with a name in his heart, my Mom who wept over Skype as I whispered the possibility — this little Blake is part of a story that goes back and back and back, and will hopefully stretch forward and forward and forward. The lives we are given are an invitation to be a part of the life that has already been happening, since the Creator of the Universe first said Let there be and there was.
And into this family, this place, this time, in God’s perfect timing, this stanza in the symphony of life has begun to play its notes. With crescendo and decrescendo, pauses and rests and refrains, this one’s opportunity, this one’s moment, this one’s song has begun. Overjoyed to be on this side of the prelude, we hear the soft and sweet first notes and rejoice.
A Blake by any other name would probably be as sweet…but we find joy in welcoming him into our song and our story.
xCC
In the year that I worked as a pawnbroker, I only took in, as far as I know, one piece of fake jewelry. An interesting part of the experience of standing behind the Pawn Shop counter is learning that people come in with the intention of swindling you. People often hope to get as much money as they can for something a) they are not coming back for, b) they stole and shouldn’t be selling or c) isn’t what they say it is.
They stand in front of you and lie and, teary-eyed or confident, they’re convincing.
A girl stood on the other side of my counter one day with a gold chain. It should’ve clicked when she seemed surprised at the amount I offered her for it. I did a quick scratch test to see if it was real, but it can be difficult to tell if things are gold plated. My inexperience made me an easy target, and I gave the girl $100 for a necklace that wasn’t worth ten….
I have the privilege of being a guest over at {in}courage today! Click over to keep reading!
{Still no exciting news of contractions or water breakage around here…}
xCC
Hey gang! Have you been as thankful for this week as I have? I sure hope so! As promised, there’s one more day of {Thanks}giving here for you, today!
Grace Kinne has a beautiful guest post to share with you today. She is a well-named young lady after God’s own heart. We share an affinity for the culinary arts and decorating, and we enjoyed life and church and good and not-so-good weather together during my four years in Scotland. She blogs at grace. Her words are grace-filled, and I hope they’ll be an encouragement to you!
I woke up this morning to great lashings of rain against my window. ‘Ah November. How I love you’, I thought. It’s on days like this that I find it hard not to succumb to the Anne-of-Green-Gables-Depths-of-Despair-ness. Oh the melodrama.
But in all seriousness, it is in the dark and cold of coming winter (or, if you are anywhere near the North Sea like I am, the very much arriving winter) that we are called and reminded to celebrate a day of giving thanks.
Honestly, though, I find it hard in the day-to-dayness of this thing we call Life. I get discouraged so easily. Before me, all I can see is a bleak, cold land. Barren. This seemingly endless search for a job, a purpose, has led me to the bewildered and twisted places in my soul that I would rather have let fester quietly in the dark. I question my value, my place, my foundations.
I have felt recently like I’m trying to hold warring parts of my soul together, desperately grabbing through my tears at some sort of future. Some sort of hope. Why is this disorienting time of waiting, longing for a ‘something’ to sink my hands into, so very prolonged? I wake up each morning fighting. Fighting to believe that He has a purpose for me; that this wait is not empty, but it is paradoxically a time of fullness.
It is in these times of barrenness that we are most vulnerable. And when we are most vulnerable, our thanksgiving has the most power for our souls – for we truly have nothing else to cling to. It lifts us out, placing us on our Indestructable Foundation.
‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength….’ (Isaiah 30:15).
For it is when I am quiet, when I am still and remember….I know. I know that He is God. I remember Who He is. I remember my salvation. And suddenly, my barrenness is swept aside in the torrent of His grace. His grace that delights to remember and pour into the barren, the empty, the foolish, and the forgotten.
What makes it a vulnerable thanksgiving, though, is that I still don’t seem to see where the path is leading. It’s vulnerable because in thanking Jesus for where I’m at, I am trusting that the ‘boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance’, that He has ‘made my lot secure’ (Psalm 16). I am trusting again. Again and again and again and again. I am trusting that He is my Answer. Not a job. Not a duty. Not a purpose. He alone is my Answer. He alone is my Provision. He alone is my God. This vulnerablity of thanksgiving is oddly freeing. I am free to rest in His provision, grace, and presence. To just breathe.
So November? Rain away. Rain all you want. My God is stronger….and though I might not be able to see just yet, I’m trusting that around a corner, tucked away in a wee cobbled alley, is a sunny, wooded path. As Anne Shirley says, ‘There’s always a bend in the road’, for….’God’s in His heaven and all is right.’
Surely that assurance is worthy of our utmost, vulnerable, and heart-full thanksgiving?
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Grace is a girl who doesn’t currently pay taxes (one definite benefit of being unemployed!). But she finds herself quite busy nonetheless; cobbling together a random assortment of daily activities she loves as well as loathes, such as: experimenting with random recipes, exploring the hidden coffee shops of Edinburgh, and writing job applications. She is also rather fond of the word nonetheless.
Thank you SO much for these words, Grace. I am going to read this again. And again.
xCC
Hello, guys and gals! What a week it’s been! I have been so challenged and encouraged and blessed by what’s been shared. I am {thank}ful! I have some great news to share before today’s guest post — we have a bonus day of thanks happening tomorrow! One more beautiful post is headed your way to close out our {Thanks}giving Week, so please come back!
Today’s guest post is by an old friend of mine who is an encouragement and inspiration to me for so many reasons. Annie Beth Donahue is a woman of great faith. Inside a tiny frame, she is a woman of boldness who lives out an authentic life for Jesus that is a beauty to see. Her post verbalizes some things on my heart that I struggle to express even after researching in this subject area for a year and a half at PhD level. I hope it provokes you to thankfulness, and thoughtfulness.
Hello Readers!Ă‚Â I’m a mom of 4 that grew up in Washington, North Carolina and now lives in Charlotte.Ă‚Â I already have many stories I could share from our relatively short journey as a family.Ă‚Â My children are 6, 5, 3, and 2.Ă‚Â Two children were adopted and two are biological- and they all have some kind of health problem, running the gamut from spina bifida, to food allergies, to sensory processing disorder.
We knew our child with spina bifida had this particular birth defect before adopting- but the rest of our children’s challenges showed up after birth.Ă‚Â Through my connection with such a wide range of health care professionals, this summer God led me to start Signposts Ministries.Ă‚Â Signposts Ministries is a religious and charitable organization designed to minister to the whole person.Ă‚Â We meet the needs of families that have children with chronic health problems in a variety of ways- physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual.Ă‚Â We want to provide free devotions and Bible studies online for both parents and children, and we hope to continue meeting physical needs both here in the U.S. and internationally.Ă‚Â Check us out at: www.signpostsministries.org
I have several friends who are pregnant right now.Ă‚Â I remember being pregnant.Ă‚Â It was both enjoyable and loathsome at the same time.Ă‚Â But then again, I had terrible morning (all day) sickness.Ă‚Â That was actually the only loathsome part.Ă‚Â Overall, it was pretty fun.Ă‚Â I really enjoyed getting to the point where I was showing.Ă‚Â I didn’t mind people asking me about my pregnancy.Ă‚Â I was kind of hoping they would notice, because I was pretty excited, and I wanted everyone else to be just as excited as I was.
There are recurring themes in people’s conversations with parents-to-be.Ă‚Â When are you due?Ă‚Â Is this your first?Ă‚Â How do you feel?Ă‚Â Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?
Usually, if the parent does not know the baby’s sex, they will answer, “We don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl- as long as it’s healthy!” *Big smile*
That sounds nice.Ă‚Â To the average person.
I’m not sure when this phrase started bothering me.Ă‚Â I think it was when I first became a mom, way before I knew what our journey would be like in a few years.Ă‚Â Don’t throw tomatoes yet.Ă‚Â I understand the sentiment behind the words.Ă‚Â We hope our children are healthy.Ă‚Â For that matter, I hope I’ remain healthy, and that we all live to a ripe old age, doing God’s kingdom work to our fullest, until we peacefully pass away in our sleep with our grandchildren gathered round.Ă‚Â Every single one of us.Ă‚Â I even wish that for you, dear reader, whom I may not even know in real life.
“As long as it’s healthy.”Ă‚Â I want to ask, “And if it’s not?”Ă‚Â Then what?
For some people, the answer to that question is abortion.Ă‚Â Children like my daughter are aborted by the thousands every year.Ă‚Â But even strong, pro-life Christians can be found spouting the phrase, “as long as it’s healthy.”Ă‚Â So, it *kind of* sounds like we’re saying, “God, I’m letting you pick the gender as long as you don’t give me a child with a disability.”Ă‚Â I wasn’t aware that God was making deals like that.Ă‚Â Personally, I think he’s most capable of picking the gender and the physical and mental condition of our children.Ă‚Â As JobĂ‚Â asked his wife, “should we accept good from God and not evil (trouble)?”
I could never make those words come out of my mouth.Ă‚Â My pregnancies and adoptions were totally surrendered to God.Ă‚Â We wanted him to pick the way things turned out.Ă‚Â We wanted him to be totally in charge.Ă‚Â Because if there is one thing we know about God, it’s that he is trustworthy.Ă‚Â He loves our children more than we do (can you imagine)!Ă‚Â No matter what their physical or mental condition, your children contain a precious soul that is worth more to God that anything else on this earth.Ă‚Â He wants you to cherish your child, no matter what packaging they come in.Ă‚Â Knowing this, I can thank God in advance for what he is going to give me, before I even know the outcome.Ă‚Â I can thank him for his goodness and kindness and omnipotence.Ă‚Â At church, we often do a call and response of, “God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.”
Sin, disease and sickness are not things God intended.Ă‚Â We live in a fallen world.Ă‚Â I’m sure that if it weren’t for his divine intervention, we would see much more deformity in the earth around us.Ă‚Â Any good health you or your children have is a gift.Ă‚Â For my children that gift has been temporarily withheld on this earth, and God has not intervened in every situation to make things the way they “should” be.Ă‚Â However, I have found that sometimes God takes things that Satan means for evil against us, and he works and uses that very same thing to produce a harvest of righteousness.Ă‚Â It almost makes me laugh aloud sometimes to see situations in which I’m sure Satan thinks he has control, only to realize that God is miraculously aligning the universe to turn that evil into a blessing.
So, I’m not going to judge people who say, “as long as it’s healthy.”Ă‚Â I just think that it goes without saying that we wish the best for our children, and that maybe we should examine our words.Ă‚Â The next person you say that to in the grocery store may have a child at home that is twisted by cerebral palsy or who is severely mentally retarded or who lives in constant danger of dying from a peanut allergy.Ă‚Â The words “as long as” kind of sting a little because they seem conditional.Ă‚Â It’s not that I don’t desire heath for the child, it’s that I don’t want the child without health to be undesired.Ă‚Â There’s a difference.
***
Thank you so much for sharing those challenging words with us today, Annie Beth. I found myself starting to say “even if it’s not healthy” in response to that phrase a few weeks ago. I hope your thoughts will provoke thoughtfulness, and even conversation in the days ahead. I am even more excited, being reminded that the omnipotent and good and kind God of the universe has plans for the little one He’s forming in me right now!
Hey guys and gals! Hope those of you who are Thanksgiving-celebrating folk enjoyed a lovely celebratory moment yesterday. Perhaps all these thoughts about Thanksgiving made it even a lil more special? Mehopes… The week of {Thanks}giving in this space is continuing just a wee while longer (yay) and I am especially delighted to share today’s story of provision and trusting God because many of you might be thinking of heading out to make some Christmas-related purchases today!
The delightful Michelle Dameron is sharing thoughts on thanks with us today. Michelle and I went to East Carolina University together (Go Pirates!) and she is a woman of great faith. I hope her stories will encourage you to patiently wait for things, and to bring your requests to the Lord before throwing them on the Black Friday credit card! Michelle blogs at Michelle Has Thoughts, where her thoughtfulness and her honesty are both a challenge and an inspiration. Now on with the {Thank}fulness!
Thanksgiving happens once a year, but I think most of us know we should try and cultivate thankfulness all year long. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. I know in my life, if I cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving Jesus is more likely to keep doing some pretty cool “little things.”
We get so bogged down with life and all that comes at us. We even can chalk some events up to “good luck” or “just happening”. But shouldn’t we be looking for the hand of God in our everyday lives. After all, He does care about the little things. If you read the story of creation you know just how detailed our God is.
I would like to share a story of Jesus doing little things in my life lately.
This past month I’ve been working hard on some ideas for a friend’s baby shower.Ă‚Â I really wanted it to be a great event and blessing, but knew financially I would not have a lot of money to put into it.Ă‚Â God knew the desires of my heart and opened some doors.Ă‚Â I wanted to make a diaper cake and low and behold at a consignment sale I found all I needed for $12 instead of $35 at the store!Ă‚Â Then I wanted to get some mini pumpkins for decoration and found them at Walmart for 19 cents a bag!Ă‚Â They had them priced wrong and I was able to get 35 mini pumpkins for $2 instead of $20!Ă‚Â Then, to top all this off, I received a TV survey in the mail from the Nielsen Research Company with $30 enclosed to fill it out for a week!Ă‚Â Isn’t it neat how God provides?!Ă‚Â It’s never predictable and always creative.Ă‚Â And He wants to do it for everyone!
It’s neat to see when our hearts are for others to be blessed He works things out for us. I don’t mean this to be a trivial example. I am well aware there are much more important things in life than planning showers. But the point is, it meant something to me for this event to be special to my friend. And God knew that. And He provided.
It seems the more I’ve thanked Jesus in the moment, the more He does. Let’s thank Jesus in the “little things,”  even if you think what you desire isn’t that important.
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My name is Michelle Dameron and I live in Eastern North Carolina. I am married to the love of my life, whom I met my senior year in college. He was a campus minister in the campus ministry I attended. But it’s not nearly as scandalous as it sounds! 🙂 We were friends for a while and married in May of 2006. Two years later we had our first son Isaac who is now two. We are currently 16 weeks pregnant and awaiting the debut of our second child in May of 2011!
Thanks so much for sharing, Michelle! I am so encouraged to be reminded about God’s great provision — it challenges me not to try to make things happen in my own strength! I am glad you shared this important thoughts with us on this particular Friday!
xCC
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