Lay Lay (Leighton) Williams: A Beautiful Life

Tuesday night I had the honor and the privilege of being a part of a celebration where no one in attendance actually  thought it was the right time to be celebrating. Early Saturday morning, Lay Lay stepped from this Earth into eternity and met her Savior face to face.

Lay Lay was a beautiful, young woman who loved others because she was in love with Christ. It was evident in every area of her life. I was privileged to watch her grow from a 10-year-old girl into a beautiful, young woman. Lay Lay was a special gift. She was a fiery and feisty one when there was a ball involved; she was kind, compassionate and giving where there was a life involved. She was everyone's best friend; every parent's daughter; and everyone's sister. It was just they way it was with her. Jesus had captured her life and He shined through her to everyone.

Lay Lay, I will miss you. I remember our last conversation on Friday, September 6. You were excited (in that signature monotone voice of yours) about your nursing school assignments. You hugged me like you always did (and like you hugged everyone else you knew) and your eyes sparkled. Thanks for shining Christ's light through your life.

We will take care of your parents and your brothers and sisters. In fact, Jesus already is in amazing ways. He is good at that. Enjoy our Savior. I am a little jealous about that but rest well in him young lady.

Thanks for loving. You have taught many how to love well through your example.

Thank you God for a beautiful life in which you have revealed more of Yourself to us. So long Lay Lay. See you soon and I'm counting on that hug.

Getting Out of a Pickle

I love being a part of the Royals family during the bad and the good times. Granted it has been painful since 1985 but I am a Royals fan. Always will be. I am having fun this season with them still in the hunt and this video of stealing home last night by Escobar was too good not to share. Go Royals!

80 Years of Beauty and Grace

Today my mother-in-law, Joyce (Trail) Holmes, turns 80. She has relayed to us that she was born about

3am after her mother and father arrived at the hospital on their motorbike. Because it was so early in the morning, they pushed the motorbike away from the neighbor homes before starting it so they would not awaken any unnecessarily that early in the morning.

Joyce was born in New Zealand and the best I can recollect, she was born in Wanganui which is about a 3-4 hour drive north of Wellington. I know that she has 3 sisters; Nola, who lives in Atlanta; Rose, who lives in New Zealand; and Betty, who is lives in Guatemala. There was a brother, Jack, who died in an accident when he was pretty young.

She married a boy named Bernard (Bernie) Holmes who ended up bringing her to the US via Canada. I have to admit that seeing home movies a few years ago of their move to North America via ship with a stop in Hawaii showed a much less developed Honolulu. It was pretty awesome to see.

Joyce is known by many as Bernard's wife, but what she is known for is her incredible, gracious service to Bernard and so many others. When Bernard became ill, Joyce assumed the primary care-giving role and continued to serve not only Bernard much more intentionally but served at her church, her neighbors,
countless college/university students who were in Bernard's missions and discipleship groups. Bernard was intentional in discipling students and they would come to their house early in the mornings for study but I am convinced that a major reason they wanted to be in Bernard's discipleship groups, were for Joyce's home cooked breakfasts.

Joyce is the Proverbs 31 woman. She has faithfully served Christ. She has sacrificially given her time and health to serve Bernard, her girls, and countless friends. She has a few aches and pains. (I am probably one of the biggest in her life - pains that is) She is a wonderful woman who just loves. She has spunk and one of the things that I love about her the most and scares me the most about her is her desire to prove that she can do it. Whatever it is, she believes she can do it.

A couple of years ago I had the privilege of spending a couple of days with her by myself in her home. She had a few things to do around the house like some light painting and just general clean up. It may have not seemed like much to her, but the time we spent together painting the bottom part of her back porch was just sweet time to me. She is a wonderful lady and I love her so. What a privilege to be a part of her family and legacy.

Happy 80th Birthday sweet lady! I love you.

50 on 50

Best Part of the Trip

So . . . how does one celebrate their 50th birthday?! I knew that I was not interested in anything involving adult beverages especially with someone like me who can have addictive behavior tendencies, so I put my mind to work.  I have known of people who run 50 miles on their 50th and that really did not sound like alot of fun to me.Back in the Spring, I entered and completed my first triathlon and found it to be pretty fun so I thought do a combination of running,biking and swimming that would add up to at least 50 miles was my best option.

I took off from the Downtown YMCA with a bunch of buddies (Rusty, Mike Whittle, Young Mike, Gordon, Young Charlie, Stubblefield, and David Grant). We ran a familiar 8 plus mile course and then David and I ran almost 5 more to complete the half marathon distance. I ate some breakfast and climbed on the bike and started making my way towards the Donelson Y to swim. On the way I stopped and saw Sondra at her work and then continued on. The green way system is really nice and pretty much traffic free so it made for an enjoyable ride. I arrived at the Y to swim and got

Hardest Hill on the Bike

a mile in there. I found it to be pretty refreshing and talked to a couple of friends who happened to be working out at the Y. After swimming, it was back on the bike and on the way to see Sondra again and then to finish up the day of exercise. All together I think I was out there about 6.5 hours with many breaks and lots of fun. I was just covering the distance and had to remind myself of that a few times. I have a tendency to be a little competitive as some of you know.

While riding and swimming I did a lot of thinking and remembering. So many people who have invested in my life over the years. I am incredibly grateful and blessed. And . . . so many of you sent birthday greetings. One of my friends, Chrissy, wrote a blog post about me which I decided to read during lunch at Calypso restaurant. What she wrote was very humbling. Here is a link to her blog post and I know that sounds a little self-serving, but it reminds me that what we say and do influences people at times when they and we need it most. (By the way, when eating lunch at Calypso by yourself, reading the blog post and crying can tend to be a little awkward but agh . . . who cares?)

I am thankful for you. Thank you for influencing me and allowing me to be a small part of your life as well.

As John Gruden of football fame said a couple of weeks ago when he turned 50, "Hey! All you 50 year olds, let's keep fighting." Count me in!

Celebrating 80

On Thursday night I got the opportunity to go to the Vandy/Ole Miss game with Michael DiMarco and Ben Williams. I have known Michael for a long time but I did not know Ben before Thursday. We go to church together, but since the church is so big, there are many I do not know. Ben is from New Zealand, loves sports, and is the father of young children. With Sondra's parents being from New Zealand, we had an automatic bond. I enjoyed getting to know him and I always enjoy Michael and the football game was just a bonus. It was a hot and humid night and virtually no defense in the football game so lots of points and lots of excitement.

On Friday, Sondra, Morgan and I headed to Bolivar to be with Sondra's mom and Sondra's sister and brother in law and family. It is an 8 hour drive each way but it did not prove to be too bad. We arrived about 11p on hit the bed not too long after. On Saturday we enjoyed doing some work around Joyce's house and my dad came down and spent most of the afternoon with us. It was great to see him. I am thankful for any time that we get together.

Sondra's mom has been in some ill health the past few months as I have reported before and she had back surgery in June and a couple of complications related to that surgery but all in all is doing pretty well. She at times gets a little confused but all in all is doing pretty well. Her back seems to be healing but at times she seems pretty weak and forgets that she is weaker and takes off after something or to do something without totally realizing she is not as strong as she has been in the past.

On Sunday, we went with her to her church Wellspring and they acknowledged her during the service and sang happy birthday to her. She actually does not turn 80 until the 9th but we celebrated while we were all together over the holiday weekend. Sunday afternoon we hosted a reception at her house and had many people come through to wish her a happy birthday. She has had a significant influence in so many peoples' lives. It was a great afternoon. For dinner, we all headed into Springfield for a Chinese meal and enjoyed our time together.

Yesterday, Monday, we all loaded up and drove back to Tennessee. Joyce will be with us for a month or so and we are trying to work in a visit with her sister and her husband in Atlanta before she heads back to Tulsa for a follow up dr. visit in early October.