Mission Friends

I used to go to "Mission Friends" as a kid. It was like Girl Scouts for church.  Well, I didn't really have an missionary friend then, but this year God has given me so many! Actually, they were already my friends, and God has made them missionaries!  It's thrilling to have so many friends living on the edge for Christ.  This weekend, I was so blessed to able to spend time with some of them, hear their stories, play, and celebrate their coming endeavors!

Remember when I asked you to "Meet Megan"?  She's baaack!  And her stories were amazing!  Me and my best friend no longer live in the same state, and haven't lived in the same city since 2004, but everytime we reunite nothing has changed. We were so lucky to be able to spend time together after her trip in Atlanta while her team debriefed! I seriously am so lucky to have such an awesome kindred spirit out there who gets me.  She is one of the very best people I know.  Going to Brazil for 2 months was a very big deal for her, and I couldn't be more glad that God used her there this summer.  I'm sure she brightened the lives of many. If you know her, you'd agree!




Right after spending the night in Atlanta, I took the road to Birmingham to spend some quality pool time with my little fishy neices, Deci and Journey, and my sister-in-law Audrey who all moved to Oregon with The Crash. Their time here is almost over, and I have love love LOVED the time I've be able to spend with my family before they head back across the country!

                                                                                                                   

And today, we said goodbye to my great friend, Breanna, who is moving to Oregon along with the other Crash members to help reach the people in the west coast with the Gospel of Christ and spread her love for missions over there!   I don't know how I will replace Breanna in my life! She is such a huge help on the trips to Mexico and shares the same love for the people.  I'm inspired by this young girl who is taking this leap of faith to move away from her family and many of her friends, as well as her home, to pursue Christ.  I can't wait to partner with her on future mission trips!                              

Tomorrow we get ONE more day with Audrey and the girls at a good-ole' family cookout. Complete with hotdogs and slip-n-slides. I can't wait :)



*please excuse these grainy phone pictures!!

just a singin'...

As you may know, my sister-in-law Audrey and my neices, Deci and Journey, are in town from Oregon. Tonight they stopped by church while our band practiced for this Sunday. Deci decided to join me on stage and sing a few songs. Definitly a special moment!

Overcoming Fear - a lesson from Green Lantern

I just had to post video of this weeks message at Lifepoint. If you've got an hour or an hour and a half, you need to watch this! Q (my brother in law) preached on fear. It's seriously inspiring. I think we gained several more missionaries this week :) Also, the band is dang rockin'.

We are doing a summer series of "Lifepoint, at the movies" where we take summer flicks and take the spiritual context out of them. It's amazing to see how God is even in the things that this world may try to keep Him out of. God cannot be left out of anything because he is in everything!

Before the message, we watched this Green Lantern trailer.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."

2 Timothy 1:7

WATCH THIS! 

72411 from LifePoint Church on Vimeo.

"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when we adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm we are God's children."

Romans 8:15-16

Updated Family Photos

If you've been reading my blog for almost a year, you may remember my first time shooting photos for someone else.  Well, I just did it for the second time - same family ;)  Also, note the new addition! If my math is right, its possible he was in the previous photos as well ;)

I am by no means a photographer - AT ALL.  But I love that Janna asked me to do photos for them again. And they brought along Marvin's sister's family as well!

Here's a sampling...

(I had to put the "nose-pick" picture in there. I just couldn't resist!)

How'd you like the chicken photo? New additions to the Williams Family Farm.  And a great photo prop! The kids loved it.

Dinner for twelve!

It was a double date (Xs 6!) last night at Bonefish Grill!  Several couples from Lifepoint got together to spend time with Quiton and Audrey while they were in town.  We kept saying how funny it was that it took two people coming across the country to get us all together at one time!

I miss my sister-in-law so much!

Please excuse my "crazy eyes"  in the next picture, haha 

After dinner we walked around Bridgestreet and mostly just laughed.. a lot!

Ahh I'm going to miss them so much when they leave again!

They're Baaaacckkkk!

If you've been reading my blog for more than 6 months or so, you may know that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, and my two nieces, moved to Oregon to help plant churches for people who, typically, don't like church. 

They finally got to come visit, and yesterday was their first day back!

I loved the time I got to spend with them at Wade's dad's house.  And Deci LOVED the new chickens.

She wasn't scared of them at all!

In fact, she even talked me into holding one...

I may look happy to be holding a chicken in this picture, but believe me when I say that about 2 seconds after that picture was taken, I screamed like a little girl as it flapped right out of my arms.

We spent a lot of time outdoors, enjoying the heat that they've been missing in the NorthWest!

Can I just say, I adore this picture of Journey and Paw-Paw Mack?  So sweet.  (her great-grandpa)

hah! and this one, of Deci "helping" Journey down the slide.

And of course I had to show you Deci's art work! She's quite good! Her interpretation of me and Wade, however, is questionable...

Yes, you read that right. That would be me on the left, and Wade on the right.

Oh! And the circles above our names are our bottoms.  The double circle above that is our belly. :)

I'm sure there will be more Deci and Journey posts, as they will be here for the next TWO WEEKS! I'm so excited!

I've been "Fabricating"

Or so my husband says. I tried to explain to him that "fabricating" meant that you were making something up.  But, if you take the word quite literally, he's right.

Before:                                After:

When I ruined my first pair of Toms, I was very sad.  Eggs and Tom's don't mix!  The stains kinda sorta made them look like the stone washed version, but not really. So, in my closet they sat, because I just couldn't bear to throw them away.

They don't look horrible in these photos, but trust me, in real life you could tell they were messed up. You may have seen my post a few days ago about some Toms I found on Pinterest.  I was going to wait to do this project until I bought a sewing machine, but I couldn't! So, by hand, I "fabricated" my old Toms and made them look completely different.

I love the finished product!  It took FOR-EVER (a few evenings, at least) to finish them!  But the newly-renovated shoes were worth it, in my opinion. 

I only lost about an ounce of blood in the process (needles aren't my friend).

I know what you're thinking.

"Am I supposed to be impressed at this awful sewing job?!"

I find the fringe kind of charming, and I used a thread that would show on purpose. Not to mention, they look alot better with a pair of feet in them!

 

beso beso

I'm so missing her right now!  Sweet little Merlan. Mi buena amiga.

This picture expresses such a BIG HUGE HONKIN' piece of my heart! 

Seriously.

Just 3 short weeks and I'll be headed back with a team for a Medical Camp. Pray for us! Already issues are rising with passports and Spiritual battles are being waged! I have a feeling "someone" is none-too-happy about us going there under the name of Jesus Cristo!