Happy Birthday To Liberty!

     Today we celebrate Liberty's 4TH birthday!....or at least we would if we were with her and knew where she was.  As I've written in the past "birthday postings" we don't know where Liberty or her siblings are or how they are doing.  As I write this and look at this picture I remember the journey this little gift from GOD has already had in the few years shes been here on earth.  If you go back to one the very early postings I made on this site, I shared how very close we came to loosing Liberty before her first birthday due to diabetes.  Prior to turning 1, she had to be life flighted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital with a blood sugar level that was through the roof and since then has had to be monitored constantly and take injections multiple times daily.  Through out this whole ordeal, Liberty never lost the sparkle in her eye or her laugh and smile. She is truly a miracle of GOD and always brought much happiness and joy into our home. I think one of the things that hurts the most with her absence in our lives is not knowing if she will remember us. I know some of us have vivid memories of things when we were very young...but I am not one of them! (I have a hard time remembering things that happened when I was 10 or 12 so remembering things at age 2-4 seems impossible for me)  Having said all this, I want to take a moment and write directly to Liberty, the same way I've done with Joshua and Lily.


     Happy Birthday Liberty!  Today you turn 4 years old and Gramma and I want to wish you not only a Happy Birthday but also to say we love you and miss you more than you could possibly know.  Just like your brother and sister, we pray for you all the time and long to know how your doing and where your at.  You are a very special little girl and hold a special place in our hearts.  As your grandfather, I want to tell you that your name, Liberty, is no mistake and that it is not just a name chosen by your parents but a name given you by the LORD your creator.  Your name means FREEDOM and we are praying to that end constantly for you.  Freedom from sickness.....freedom from sin.....freedom from turmoil and confusion... freedom from any type of bondage and the release of GODS perfect plan for your life!  I know your still too young to understand fully but my prayer for you comes from Isaiah 60:22 and Isaiah 61:1-11..................


 ^60:22 The least one shall become a thousand [a clan], and the small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its [appointed] time.

61     The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound,

² To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord [the year of His favor] ^[a]and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

³ To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion—to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit—that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

⁴ And they shall rebuild the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former desolations and renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

⁵ Aliens shall stand [ready] and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

⁶ But you shall be called the priests of the Lord; people will speak of you as the ministers of our God. You shall eat the wealth of the nations, and the glory [once that of your captors] shall be yours.

⁷ Instead of your [former] shame you shall have a twofold recompense; instead of dishonor and reproach [your people] shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double [what they had forfeited]; everlasting joy shall be theirs.

⁸ For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong with violence or a burnt offering. And I will faithfully give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant or league with them.

⁹ And their offspring shall be known among the nations and their descendants among the peoples. All who see them [in their prosperity] will recognize and acknowledge that they are the people whom the Lord has blessed.

¹⁰ I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹¹ For as [surely as] the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring forth, so [surely] the Lord God will cause rightness and justice and praise to spring forth before all the nations [through the self-fulfilling power of His word].

Chapter 61 is called "Good News For The Oppressed " and ANY sickness (diabetes) is an oppression and we believe you will be not only set free from this disease but that you will see and fulfill GODS perfect plan for your life....and that we will be allowed to not only see this but be a part of it as well!


Isaiah 53:5 Amplified Bible 

⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.

Christs work on the cross paid the price for your healing and restoration. We are praying to that end for you!

Love Grandpa Williamson

Wishing A Happy and Blessed Birthday To Our Grandson!

     Today our grandson Joshua celebrates his 8th birthday....and his second birthday without Susie and I in his life.  It's been 2 long years since he and his sisters were taken away in the divorce aftermath and to this day we have no earthly idea where they are at or how they are doing (or what they are being told about our absence)  Regardless of what they are led to believe, we rarely go more than an hour or so without grieving for them, interceding and praying for them, and shedding tears for them.  I feel that there is a hole in my heart where these beautiful gifts from God have been stolen from our lives and I will NEVER stop praying and longing for their restoration to us....and they WILL be restored to us!  So, in honor of Joshua Michael Williamsons birthday, I write the following "open" letter to him with the hopes that somehow, someway he will be able to see it and KNOW he is loved and missed!


 Dear Joshua,

     Gramma and I want to wish you a very Happy and Blessed 8TH birthday and wish we could be there to share in your special day.  It doesn't seem possible that you are turning 8 already!  We want you to KNOW beyond any shadow of a doubt that you  are loved and missed and we are praying for you constantly.  We still remember you playing here in the creek and helping with the chores....all the books we read (especially the Ginger Bread Man....YO!)...eating pancakes and cookies....hotdogs and hamburgers....having bonfires and listening to the owls.  Our life is lacking in your absence and we long for the day that we can see you again and assure you that we did not abandon you and your sisters and that NONE of this was our doing or our desire.  We have continued to pray for GODS blessings and protection to be upon you and trust in the goodness of the Almighty to see you through anything that you face.  Please trust in the following scriptures we are praying for you:



Numbers 6:24-26  “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”


Joshua 1: 5-6 (New Living Translation)  No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses.  I WILL NOT FAIL YOU OR ABANDON YOU.  Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.


Joshua 1:9  Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
 



 I Thessalonians 3:16~ "Now, may the Lord of peace Himself, give you peace at all times and in every way. the Lord be with all of you (and all of us.) Amen.



  John 17:11,15,17~ "Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your Name so that they may be one., My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. Sanctify them by the truth, for Your Word is truth."




Have a very Happy Birthday and know that you are in our hearts, our minds, and our prayers. We LOVE you Joshua!


Gramma & Grandpa Williamson

 

 

    

Strange Growing Season This Year

      With not having hardly any rain here for over 5 months, it's a wonder we got anything at all out of the garden. What watering we were able to do was all by hand from the little amount of water we were getting into the leaky spring house. The cotton crop this year died early on so we didn't even get a Q-tip this season.  Our tomatoes didn't come into production till very late but even then we got a pretty good crop.  We planted a new to us variety this year called a Sausage tomato which is a paste type and we staked them in our usual Florida weave manner but have found them to be a much bushier plant than the Roma's so next year we will have to do something different (and shorter).  Our peppers did pretty good....especially the Thai Dragons and the Jalapenos.  The peppers pictured here are called a Trinidad Scorpion and they were the record holder last year as the hottest pepper grown.  If you want to see "crazy" in action, just go to YouTube and watch people TRY to eat these!  Don't ask me what we are going to do with them....I sure am not brave enough to try one.  I think we will dry them and grind them up and maybe use a GRAIN or two in a pot of chili.  I had seen these in the seed catalog and just had to try them.
      Our beans did well as did our lettuce. We actually got lettuce this year and couldn't begin to guess how many salads we ate.  The watermelons didn't grow at all and the zucchini was rather disappointing but we did get a number of bags in the freezer which we use making chocolate zucchini bread.  Our apple trees didn't produce and neither did our blueberries or the grapes but yesterday was November 1 and we were still getting red raspberries!

     We did get our first strawberries, asparagus, and rhubarb this year so that was a great blessing.  All in all, we have put up enough to keep us through the winter and praying for a BETTER growing season NEXT year!

It's Been Intersting To Say The Least!

     We have had a year here where the water has been a constant problem and source of stress... at least for me.  It started about a year ago when we decided to clean out the liner in the spring house and in doing so, made a small leak.  Now the leak itself was bad enough because of all the mess it made...mud and standing water around the building but when you couple that with the frozen and busted pipes and the pump itself that we experienced with this past winter, it became even more of an issue. We've lived here for 21 years and while we have had frozen pipes before, this was the first time it was bad enough to actually break things. I mean really!....how in the world can it get so bad that the iron pump actually breaks into several pieces? We spent almost 2 and a half MONTHS carrying water from the spring to the house in 5 gallon buckets but even in that I felt blessed since a lot of folks went that long or longer with NO water at all.  (We can at least haul our water even though it gets rather old)  After more attempts than I care to remember to get the plumber out here to fix it and ACTUALLY fix it, we were well into spring.  Even though we had running water again, the system was not (and still isn't) working right but at least it was working well enough to take a bath and flush toilets and do laundry.  THEN the next problem hit! We have gone pretty much from mid June to the past few weeks with NO rain at all....not a freaking drop.  Again, after living here 21 years we have now seen the spring as low as it can possibly be without actually going completely dry.  To say that I have not handled it well is a gross understatement. (Just ask Susie!)  All the while what little water we were getting was still slowly leaking out.  I do have to stop and say that regardless of my stress and lack of faith, GOD has never allowed us to be without water...but I do have to say that He's cutting it a little closer than I care to live.  Besides the leaking liner, we also had a roof that had caved in due to being over 30 years old so the past 2 weeks we have undertaken what may seem like a small project to normal people but to a career printer was like building the ark.  During this time we have removed the old roof completely, re-wired a new light fixture inside for a heat lamp, replaced the liner, and re-insulated it.  Above shows the results of all our efforts. (I know...don't laugh but we are fairly pleased with the results)  I still need to finish cleaning up the area around it and replace the siding on the right side but at least it's holding water now and the ground is beginning to dry out and the rain isn't going straight through the roof.....and I hope and PRAY that I will never again have to do this project.  Our next step is to build a completely new spring house in a different area with a plastic holding tank and a flush valve on the bottom and a new water line to bring more water here than is currently flowing.

 

 

And here is a picture of the overflow just to show that we do in fact have water!  Many years ago when Jeremiah was still here, he hand dug and buried this overflow pipe to drain into the creek rather than into the yard like it had been since the original owners had built the place. The pipe is about 130 feet long which may not sound like much but if you've ever tried digging 130 feet in length in the Tennessee ground you'll know this is more than a major accomplishment! This is something I doubt I could have done on my own but he just went out one day and the next thing we knew, he had a buried overflow pipe...and to Jeremiah we are thankful!