Over the past nine months, we have grown more and more excited as our daughter, Alicia has carried a precious life within her. In April, we learned that this baby would be Tim and Alicia's first daughter and Mimi and papaw's first granddaughter. Well, last night Alicia and Tim went to the hospital and this afternoon, we welcomed our newest family member, Miss Caroline Grace Williamson! We are thrilled! First of all, we are so thankful to God for this precious blessing and for her good health and the health of her mother. You all can read this, but it is really for my grandaughter, Caroline Grace!
Oh precious little one, you cannot know how much you are already loved! Your mommy and daddy and your big brothers, your aunts and uncles and especially your Mimi and Papaw have been looking forward to meeting you since the day we knew found out you would be born. I want to tell you some things that you will need to know about your family and how much they love you!
First of all, your Mommy is my little girl and at one time, a long time ago, she was not really much bigger than you. You will learn that you have the best Mommy in the world, your brothers will tell you that! Your Daddy will love you the same way I loved your Mommy. Both of them will love you no matter what happens. That is one thing that you can always know! They will teach you many things as you grow, how to dress your dollies, how to have tea parties, how to ride a bicycle, but the most important thing they will teach you is that God loves you and that He can do anything! Don't ever forget that, little one!
You will soon get to meet two of my very favorite people in all the world, your big brothers, Mark Garrett and Luke Patton. They are the best. They have also been excited to meet you and have lots of fun planned with you. Most of that fun will have to wait until you are a little older. Always remember that Mark and Luke will watch out for you. Since they are a little older than you, they know a few more things than you. They will show you their favorite books and I'll bet they even let you play with their trains when you are a little bigger. I think Luke may have a bit of a hard time saying your name. As your brother Mark would say, "That might be a little bit tricky for him!" But always know that they will love you...even when it might not seem that way!
In a few months you will get to meet Aunt Meghan and Uncle Mark. Uncle Mark is your Mommy's brother and he is the one your brother Mark is named for. Aunt Meghan will read to you and have lots of fun with you. She has been waiting to meet you just like the rest of us. Uncle Mark will love on you and hug you and he will seem really silly sometimes, but always know that Uncle Mark and Aunt Meghan love you sooooo much!
Now, let me tell you about a very special lady that will be waiting for you at your house, when you come home from the hospital...Mimi! Mark and Luke think that she is the best Mimi ever! And I think they are right. Your Mimi has been waiting for you for quite some time. She has already bought you books and cuddly animals and dolls that you will love! Mark and Luke can tell you that she has a whole closet full of toys at her house, just for you and your brothers to play with! Mimi is one of the wisest people you will ever meet. She loves God and loves to tell your brothers about Him and I know she will tell you also!
That leaves me, your Papaw! Mark and Luke will tell you that there is one thing that you can know...you have a Papaw who loves you more than life! I can tell you one thing I already know about you. You already have your Papaw wrapped around your little finger (that just means that you can pretty much get Papaw to do anything you want!) Oh Caroline, I am so excited about going for walks with you, and reading bedtime stories (Mark and Luke are pretty big fans of my bedtime stories!), rocking you and loving on you! I want you to know that Mimi and I will always love you no matter what! Well, I can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks! I love you, baby girl!
Papaw
Monday, August 23, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Confusion Over Obama's Faith
In one of the most recent survey efforts by the Pew Research Center and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the American public has indicated some confusion over the President's faith. Apparently, more than 40% of the American public does not know what the President believes. This is up significantly from last year's survey. I could probably offer a number of reasons for the change and for the confusion about the President's faith. However, that is not my point today. Suffice to say that there are questions and confusion that centers around his beliefs. And, it is probably true that his actions and words have done nothing to clarify his belief system. However, the deeper question for you and me is not whether the American people know what the President believes, but rather the real question is whether my circle of family, friends and acquaintances can look at me and know what I believe?
I profess to be a follower of Jesus Christ, but does this belief system drive what my life looks like? How would the people around me respond if asked about my beliefs? Would they be able to say without question that he is a follower of Jesus Christ, no matter what or would they respond by saying that I was a Christ-follower except when life got hard? Would they say that he really stands out as an honest, dependable employee who always gives more than others? Would my family say, he would give up his life for his beliefs and for us? Would my church family agree that I have a passion for God's Word and His work?
The worst possible answer I can imagine, to the question about my beliefs, would be "We are confused about his beliefs!" Wouldn't that really be an indictment of my lack of trust and obedience to God? It would be much like the indictment of the church at Laodicea "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16)" It is my prayer that we always live so that there is no confusion about our faith!
I profess to be a follower of Jesus Christ, but does this belief system drive what my life looks like? How would the people around me respond if asked about my beliefs? Would they be able to say without question that he is a follower of Jesus Christ, no matter what or would they respond by saying that I was a Christ-follower except when life got hard? Would they say that he really stands out as an honest, dependable employee who always gives more than others? Would my family say, he would give up his life for his beliefs and for us? Would my church family agree that I have a passion for God's Word and His work?
The worst possible answer I can imagine, to the question about my beliefs, would be "We are confused about his beliefs!" Wouldn't that really be an indictment of my lack of trust and obedience to God? It would be much like the indictment of the church at Laodicea "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16)" It is my prayer that we always live so that there is no confusion about our faith!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A Great Time!
Well, summer has almost come and gone and with it vacations and family trips too! Our summer was relatively eventful. Mark and Meghan celebrated their 1st anniversary and have weathered the first year of marriage quite well. Anita and I, along with Meghan's mom and dad, Steve and Donna, are all so glad they "found" each other! The summer also saw me start a new job in San Antonio, as a senior project manager on the renovation of the existing Brook Army medical Center and the addition of a new 8-story hospital tower. I love the job, but do not enjoy being away from Anita all week. We are pretty unsettled about what we should do and where we should live. With our financial situation, we will be looking to sell the house and downsize this fall/winter. So we await what God has for us. He has led us through some amazing paths over the past several months, reinforcing what Anita says, "Life is hard, but God is good!"
I think Anita would agree, that the best part of our summer was the visit by our daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons. They spent a little over 2 weeks with us and we had lots of fun and made lots of memories! Alicia decided to drive out to our home, from King's Bay, Georgia and she asked Meghan to come and travel with she and the boys. Tim was limited in the time he could spend away from the Navy. Meghan and Alicia drove for two days and arrived at our house on a Saturday afternoon, with two little boys who were ready to be out of their car seats! The good news was that Aunt Meghan probably loved Mark and Luke even more after her trip than before! Over the next two weeks, we had lots of good bedtime stories, trips to the pool, fun with the pellet gun, an outing to the lake with Papaw and Uncle Mark, a ride on the light rail and visit to the aquarium, snow cones and ice cream! Best of all, I got to spend pretty much all day and evening on the weekends, with all of them. One of the best times of the day for Papaw is bath-time and bed-time! It is interesting that when they are at Mimi's house, they believe that Papaw is the one who should bathe them and put them to bed...so I do! As Mark would say, they have both gotten a little bit tricky now. They know which stories take longer to read and they also know that Papaw will read until Mimi or Mommy tells him to stop, which usually happens after the fourth or fifth story! We also usually have to sing a song for each of them. Sometimes Mark will choose a hymn, but sometimes he will ask for the "Aggie song" (for the non-Aggies, that means the Spirit of Aggieland!) He will sing along with me and never miss a word. He also knows and sings all the hymns he requests. Luke is not quite up to Carnegie Hall performance standards yet, but he does know "Nothing But The Blood!" and he sings it with gusto! After reading and prayers (Mark prays that God will take away "mine and Lukie's heart of stone and give us a new heart of flesh!") each one gets tucked in. Luke likes to have me tuck in "Jake, Big Monkey and Widdle Monkey" and then he likes to have his back rubbed for just a minute. Mark sleeps with Jake (yes they each have a Jake bear) and usually a car if he can get it past Mom or Mimi. He also sleeps with an iPod playing his "night-nights music." He likes for Papaw to "lie down and snuggle with me for just a minute or two." As I leave, I always tell him, "No matter what happens, always remember that you had a Papaw who loved you no matter what!" He responds the same way, every night...he looks at me and smiles and says, "Me too, Papaw!" I can't resist either one of them!
I also got to spend time with my daughter and son-in-law and we all got to "meet" our soon-to-be-born grand-daughter. She is not a big fan of her two big brothers climbing all over her Mommy's tummy and she usually responds by kicking back! September should be interesting around the Williamson house!
All in all, it was a great time and we fell blessed beyond measure! We Love you Mark and Meghan! We love you Alicia and Tim! And, Mark and Luke and Baby Girl Williamson, always remember that you have a Mimi and Papaw that love you no matter what!
I think Anita would agree, that the best part of our summer was the visit by our daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons. They spent a little over 2 weeks with us and we had lots of fun and made lots of memories! Alicia decided to drive out to our home, from King's Bay, Georgia and she asked Meghan to come and travel with she and the boys. Tim was limited in the time he could spend away from the Navy. Meghan and Alicia drove for two days and arrived at our house on a Saturday afternoon, with two little boys who were ready to be out of their car seats! The good news was that Aunt Meghan probably loved Mark and Luke even more after her trip than before! Over the next two weeks, we had lots of good bedtime stories, trips to the pool, fun with the pellet gun, an outing to the lake with Papaw and Uncle Mark, a ride on the light rail and visit to the aquarium, snow cones and ice cream! Best of all, I got to spend pretty much all day and evening on the weekends, with all of them. One of the best times of the day for Papaw is bath-time and bed-time! It is interesting that when they are at Mimi's house, they believe that Papaw is the one who should bathe them and put them to bed...so I do! As Mark would say, they have both gotten a little bit tricky now. They know which stories take longer to read and they also know that Papaw will read until Mimi or Mommy tells him to stop, which usually happens after the fourth or fifth story! We also usually have to sing a song for each of them. Sometimes Mark will choose a hymn, but sometimes he will ask for the "Aggie song" (for the non-Aggies, that means the Spirit of Aggieland!) He will sing along with me and never miss a word. He also knows and sings all the hymns he requests. Luke is not quite up to Carnegie Hall performance standards yet, but he does know "Nothing But The Blood!" and he sings it with gusto! After reading and prayers (Mark prays that God will take away "mine and Lukie's heart of stone and give us a new heart of flesh!") each one gets tucked in. Luke likes to have me tuck in "Jake, Big Monkey and Widdle Monkey" and then he likes to have his back rubbed for just a minute. Mark sleeps with Jake (yes they each have a Jake bear) and usually a car if he can get it past Mom or Mimi. He also sleeps with an iPod playing his "night-nights music." He likes for Papaw to "lie down and snuggle with me for just a minute or two." As I leave, I always tell him, "No matter what happens, always remember that you had a Papaw who loved you no matter what!" He responds the same way, every night...he looks at me and smiles and says, "Me too, Papaw!" I can't resist either one of them!
I also got to spend time with my daughter and son-in-law and we all got to "meet" our soon-to-be-born grand-daughter. She is not a big fan of her two big brothers climbing all over her Mommy's tummy and she usually responds by kicking back! September should be interesting around the Williamson house!
All in all, it was a great time and we fell blessed beyond measure! We Love you Mark and Meghan! We love you Alicia and Tim! And, Mark and Luke and Baby Girl Williamson, always remember that you have a Mimi and Papaw that love you no matter what!
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