The naming of a son.

Naming another baby was way harder this go around. Not because we didn't have some really good leads on names, but more that when the name was finally decided upon all I could really think was, "Whoa, who is this kid gonna be?!"

It took a solid week of me doing an intensive Bible Study for me to fully come to grips with the name and even as I write this I feel like I still don't fully understand the depths of what his name will mean for him.  But  in a lot of ways I am now even MORE excited to meet our little fellow. Who, from now on, will be referred to by his name: Justice Tirian Wilson

Tirian I got behind a lot faster so I'll start there. Not long after the beginning of 2015 I started to feel the great need to re-read C. S. Lewis' The Last Battle which is the last book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. I'm usually not one to pick up the last book of a series, but in this instance Brett and I have read them all so many times it was easy to grab the last book and devour it in two evenings after the kids had gone to bed by reading it out loud to each other. BOY IS IT GOOD!!! Not to get to end-timesy on you, but I'm one to believe that C.S. Lewis may have gotten a little prophetic in writing this book and the first few chapters are beyond sobering ( if you've never read it, push through, I promise it gets easier and its ALL worth it). That said, we were reading along and it became pretty clear that Tirian, the last king of Narnia, was a great name for our son...it probably started ( SPOILER ALERT) when we saw the character pushing through his doubts and his discouragement and calling on Aslan for help, but it was by far solidified when we got to the glorious ending when the King finally meets Aslan...oh, come on, I better just quote it for you:
"Then (Aslan) fixed his eyes upon Tirian, and Tirian came near, trembling, and flung himself at the Lion's feet, and the Lion kissed him and said "Well done, last King of Narnia who stood firm at the darkest hour." 

Oh MAN, that's super good, right?! And I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that those were the words I want spoken over our son's life, it is my most fervent prayer-that he would stand firm in Jesus' name even in the darkest of times.

And while I may have had trouble at the beginning about Justice's first name, it really does fit so perfectly with his middle name I should have known it was right from the beginning... but I'll back up and say that the origin of the name Justice is similar to that of Ransom. We wanted the name to point to Jesus. However, while Ransom has a very nice and encouraging message about Jesus-on first glance the Justice of Jesus does not seem as cheery. However, can I just tell you that it IS?! We see in the Bible that the Justice of the Lord is very much wrapped up in mercy.

"( The Lord) loves righteousness and justice the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord." -Ps 33:5

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of Justice blessed are those who wait for Him." Is 30:18

In a similar way that Tirian points to the end of all things, we must remember that every day that the Lord tarries He is showing us mercy by giving us chance after chance to come to Him. Yet ultimately we can expect the Lord's perfect Justice. And yes, HIS Justice is perfect. I personally have a strong sense of justice and I tend to be very black and white. My own Abigail-sense-of-Justice gets me into trouble all the time and I worried that I was putting that onto my future child. But what I'm coming to see more and more is that Abigail's worldly justice is not what we are naming our son after. The Justice of Jesus is FULL of mercy and grace, it is a gift and it is both mysterious and wonderful. 

And I am woefully unqualified to write about it.

Of course, there is another cool aspect to Justice's name that I really love- the call to mirror even just a little bit of that Heavenly Justice here on earth. Time after time when man is called to bring forth Jusice it is for those who no one stands up for: The orphan, the widow, the poor, the destitute- we are called to remember them and to give them Justice where none has been found before.

"Learn to do good;
 seek Justice, 
correct oppression; 
bring Justice to the fatherless,
 plead the widows cause."  Isaiah 1:17

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of Thee but to do Justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

And so we will pray that Justice Tirian will grow up to be a man after God's heart-who fights for the cause of the oppressed, who stands even in the darkest of times and who points to the great coming of Our Lord.

We can not wait to meet you Justice Tirian Wilson.  We love you already.