Keep Walking . . .

I know it has been a while . . . and I know that I haven't posted any pics from Thanksgiving yet. My goal is to get those up before Christmas, but hopefully sooner :) Life has been bustling around here - attending parades with Daddy, singing at the mall, caroling at a nursing home, spending the afternoon with friends making gingerbread houses and ornaments (Thank you, sweet friend), our entire family going to the dentist, schooling, playing, wrapping, planning . . . Of course, the list is endless - or so it seems at times. In the midst of all that, I have had the blessed opportunity to stop and gaze at my precious 3 month old little girl as she laughs and talks with me, hear stories about heaven from my 2 1/2 year old, watch my son dress up like the brave, adventurous father in Swiss Family Robinson, and see my oldest daughter reenact a drama from the beginning of Creation to the Second Coming. It just doesn't get any better than that - and all of it within the past 24 hours!!
Sadly, though, there are people that I love that don't always have the same opportunity. Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to reconnect with many of my friends from high school, college, seminary, summer camp, etc. What fun it has been to see the pictures, hear the stories and be able to be in touch with people who have deeply impacted my life! Our friends are spread across the nation - and the world - and it has been so good to know more about where they are and how I can be praying for them. Something that I didn't expect, however, was to be heartbroken and to grieve over some of the things that dear friends have experienced. I never thought that people I went to seminary with would get divorced - or that a friend from high school would now be in a wheelchair - or that another friend from my youth group would have just lost her very young son after a long battle with cancer. I just can't imagine the suffering that they have - and continue to - endure.
Sin - I hate it. But nowhere near as much as Our Heavenly Father. How much more does it sicken and anger Him? The results of it so horrible: separation, death, sickness, brokenness, pain. It makes me long for heaven so much more. Sarah Elizabeth told me today, "In Heaven God will take care of us because He loves us." It will be wonderful to be with Him and be able to see His glory in all its fullness. No stain of sin anywhere. Thank you, Jesus, for the incredible love shown in your death to overcome sin. Without you, there truly would be no hope. Praise the Lord there is! We do not grieve as one without hope precisely because of Christ's death and resurrection (I Thess. 4)
I am finding that Paul expressed my current sentiments better than able to right now. "For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened - not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him." 2 Corinthians 5:2-9
May this ripping of my heart serve one purpose - to love Him more and to love others well. May it cause me to long for Him even more - hate sin even more (especially that in my own life) - and to make it my aim to please him.
As a young child, part of that passage was printed on a banner that hung in my church for several years. I think I am beginning to understand what it means a little more than I did back then. We MUST walk by faith and not by sight. We have no choice - it is too dark to see and we have to trust the One who is the Light and who knows the way. May He give all of us the courage to do so.

No marathon yet . . .

Okay, let's be honest - probably no marathon ever :)  However, today I started jogging again!  Yea!  I was inspired to get back in shape after Jason and I hiked several miles in the Smoky Mountains last week.  It felt great!

Knowing how much I dislike the cold weather, on our way back from Virginia I invested in some power stretch pants and a half-zip at REI.  They were marvelous!  I was toasty the whole time :)  My sweet husband spent some time last night putting some new pumping music on my hand-me-down IPOD, too.  It was super encouraging to have some great music to keep me going, while helping me focus on the Lord.  Thanks, Baby :)  I love you!  

For quite a while I have been ready to get back into the groove of exercising.  I feel so much better, am more energized through the day, and I get ready for the day early on.  I am constantly aware that I need to be taking better care of myself and this is one way that I can do it.  I do plan to be running in Memphis for St. Jude next year celebrating with the Gates family.  What a victory "lap" that will be.  (We love you, Caleb!)

So, one way you can really help me out in this department is to ask me if I have kept it up!  It is so easy to get in a routine for a while until something happens (everyday life!), and then slack off.  I would like to be more consistent in this area of my life.  So . . . ask away and hold me accountable on this!  You never know, I actually could run a marathon someday - or at least a half marathon - but I would just be content being a healthy wife and mama :)

Pre-Orders Begin After Christmas

Many of y'all know that we jumped into the world of gardening this year. We have had an herb garden since we moved to Mississippi, and have planted a few tomatoes and peppers in the past, but this year we became more adventurous. We decided to just go ahead and jump into it, knowing that we really didn't have a clue (especially around here where a small garden is larger than our entire lot!) Vacuuming the stink bugs that consistently attacked our beautiful zucchini became a highlight activity of our summer. Who knew that Joshua's bug vacuum would come in so handy or that I would have a vengeance against these annoying little pests? Too bad I don't have pictures of that, but I am hoping that we won't have the opportunity in the future! Most of our crop was eaten as soon as it was ripe (or close to being ripe), and there were many delicious additions to our summer salads. What a fun and healthy reward!!

Next year we plan on doing things a little differently - a much larger herb garden by the kitchen window and possibly moving our tiny vegetable garden to the other side of the yard. We also plan on getting the seeds in the ground MUCH earlier. Our garden motto this year was "better late than never!" That proved true on most things and enabled us to learn a lot. One thing that we learned takes a much longer time to grow and produce, however, was our carrots. Considering the size of our "crop," we may need to plant them right now for next summer's harvest! However small they were, the kids enjoyed them immensely. Pre-orders for next year's fruit and vegetables will begin after Christmas. . . .

Double the Fun!

Well, the day has finally arrived! No, we are not expecting twins (yet!) - ha ha! Our sweet little Abigail Grace has doubled her birth weight. Yesterday she weighed in at 10 lbs. 4 oz.! What a big girl! She is filling our lives with sweetness and joy every day. Hannah loves to help out and take care of Abigail. She even picked out her clothes and got her dressed today! Joshua loves to hold her and love on her, and so does Sarah Elizabeth. Sarah often reminds me that she is a good big sister and that she loves her new baby :) She always makes sure that Abigail has her special little lambie and that she is covered with a blanket, nice and warm. I told her today that she is just like her Nana - always covering up the baby :) This little lady certainly gets lots of love around the Williams household - and we are so glad that she is here for us to love! God is so very good to us and we are reminded of his incredible blessings every time we look around :)

Fall Fun, Furry Animals and a Fabulous Birthday!

This year's Fall Fun Fest was super fun! Jason was not in charge of a church event for a change and we thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Here's the lowdown . . .

Abigail Grace: a clown (though one of our friends thought she was a jellybean!)

Sarah Elizabeth: a ladybug (minus the antennas most of the night)

Joshua Andrew: a hunter (due to his friend Austin wearing a similar costume)

Hannah Kathryn: a cheerleader (because she thinks Bailey is awesome)

Jason and Tammy: Mexican attire (in honor of our friends the Mulhollen's, who returned home to Mexico the day before)

Jason brought in the excitement by making a splash in the dunking booth. Each of us had an opportunity to dunk our Daddy. Quite fun! And yes, he did get sick being soaking wet in the super cold air for 45 minutes, but he is doing better!

Saturday was Hannah's birthday and we had a very FULL day! In our house, when it's your birthday you are treated even more special than usual! Lots of special requests are fulfilled and special treats are given. We made muffins for breakfast, per Hannah's request, and headed out the door as soon as they were finished baking. None of us had ever been to the amazing Buffalo Park of Tupelo, so this was a very special occasion! We were celebrating our friend Jacob Robinson's birthday and were able to celebrate Hannah's birthday, too! All of us were quite impressed with the exhibits! They had: birds, snakes, a lion, tiger, fox (smallest species - only weighed 3 lbs.), monkeys (one of which - Oliver - is world famous for escaping multiple times), alligator, giraffes, donkeys, zebras, zeedonk (combo of the two!), kangaroo, wallabies, bear, camels, emus, longhorn cattle, water buffalo, and - of course! - lots of buffalo! They even had a white buffalo - one of only 60 worldwide. And that was not all! There are many more animals that we either cannot remember or don't know exactly what they were :) I know - you are all very impressed and cannot believe the wide range of exotic animals available for your viewing and feeding here in Tupelo!! It's okay to go ahead and catch your breath before you continue reading :) My favorite area housed all the different exotic birds. Abigail and I hung out there for a while talking to them. 3 of them would say hello and two of them carried on all kinds of conversations, but I never could figure out exactly what they were saying! It was a hoot - ha ha ha!

We headed to Olive Garden for the big birthday dinner, but had to stop at Ryan Newman's car and check it out. They even had cake to help us celebrate the big #7 for Hannah, and Joshua got to use the air wrench to take the tire off and put it back on (a demo). I'm sure he won't be able to watch another NASCAR race without telling everyone about his pit crew experience!

When we got home we continued celebrating the big day with presents and fun time together. At bedtime, Hannah said that it was the best birthday ever and she wished it could be her birthday everyday! What a good way to end the day :)

Very Busy, But Having FUN!!

Last week was a whirlwind, but filled with great blessings! On Tuesday night, we drove to Nashville and stayed with some wonderful friends of ours, Rob and Holly Tims. (You know they are great friends when you don't get there until really late and they stay up even later to visit with you!) The kids had a blast getting to play with their two boys, Trey and Jonathan, the next morning before heading out for Virginia.

Trey, Hannah, Jonathan, Joshua and Sarah Elizabeth

We hit the road and headed East to Virginia to visit with Jason's family for the night. Everyone was able to meet our sweet little Abigail Grace for the first time, and the big kids got to play outside and explore around the old barn at Mamaw's house.

Mamaw (Great-Grandmother) holding Abigail Grace

We spent the next morning with Mamo and headed back East to Greenville, TN to spend the day with our good friends, Steve and Holly Mulhollen. It had been 3 years since we had seen them and they left for Mexico. We had both added two more children to our families during that time, so it was even more exciting than before! It was such a blessing and didn't seem like any time had passed since the last time we were together. We were able to visit with each other for hours and the kids spent the entire day playing. Holly's dad took all of us on a wagon ride around their property and we had a wonderful time walking by the river, exploring caves and being joined (unintentionally) by the neighbor's dog, Ginger. Thank you to the Callans for hosting us all day and sharing your family with us!!

After our fun and exciting day we headed back to Virginia and returned home the next morning. It was a whirlwind trip, but worth every minute! Thank you, Lord, for lower gas prices!!!

Getting Ready for the Hayride (Minus the Hay!)

Joshua's First Time Spelunking

Julia, Meredith and Hannah

Kristin and Sarah ElizabethSteve and Jason on the laptops (sharing pictures)The Williams and The Mulhollens All Together

Are we up and running?

Well, I had great plans of getting this up and running before the baby was born. . . Instead, we had a lot of fun and excitement around here earlier than expected and thus the blog was delayed a bit :) So, here we are now - on the worldwide web - ready to keep our friends and family up to date (at least better than before!) on the happenings of the ever growing Williams Family. I will begin with a disclaimer, however: I have great intentions and I plan to try to update at least weekly - hopefully more - but please be willing to give grace to a homeschooling, ministry-wife Mama of 4 children 6 and under! :)
After a busy day at home, Jason and the "big kids" went to the Saltillo Football game where they had lots of fun and enjoyed getting to spend time with their friends. They had a super time and got to stay up extra late to watch the Tigers win!!! Abigail Grace and I had some fun of our own and we were able to work on this new blog all evening.
I have quickly learned that it is not that difficult to blog, but it can be very addicting looking at all the cute backgrounds and fun additions! If you would like to subscribe and be notified whenever there is a new post, just fill in your email address in the box on the sidebar and you will get an email letting you know :) It is our prayer that this will be a way that we can be more connected to those that we love and are so thankful for!