A day in the life of...Mark Williams

A two-week blogging break

I am back from a two week blogging break.  A lot has happened since then.
Our pastor at ABC, Tommy Mitchell, had chest pains, a heart cath, and then bypass heart surgery.
He is now recovering well at home.  It is a blessing to have him at home. 
The range of emotions that I have experienced through his surgery and hospital stay is wide.  When you work alongside someone for 5 1/2 years, you tend to develop a bond.  I am thankful he is making a good recovery. 

With this happening, my leadership role at the church has increased.  Not only day-to-day stuff, but also preaching, counseling, visits, etc.  I am enjoying these opportunities.  The amount of my preaching will be determined by how speedy Bro. Tommy's recovery is.  I am humbled to be able to fill in for him.  I pray that He will be back preaching soon.

In the midst of all of this, we have a full staff again.  Nick Wolfe has come on board as our Worship Pastor.  Nick and his family have officially moved to Agricola.  Last Sunday was his first Sunday leading worship with us.  I am excited about what God has for us as our staff is now "complete" again. 

Other notes:
--Melanie and I are doing good sticking to new, healthier eating habits. 
--We have also been working out with our Wii Active. 
--Christmas was great this year.  We spent time in Philadelphia, Starkville, and West Point.  There was lots of intermediate travel in there with Bro. Tommy's surgery.
--We went to see the Christmas lights at Bellingrath Gardens this year.  Wow!!  They were prety awesome.  I would definitely recommend checking this out.
--Micah starts Upward basketball practice this week. 
--Melanie and I are going on a cruise next week.  I cannot WAIT to get on that ship. 

Weekend summary

Friday--Took Micah to the dr. in Mobile.  He didn't have the flu.  Just a nasty virus.  I think he's better this morning.

Saturday--Soccer without 3 of our players makes for a long game. 

Praise in the Park was amazing.  Great event and experience!!

College Football.  State lost.  Ole Miss lost.  Southern Miss lost.  Florida beat LSU.  There ya go.

Sunday--I preached in both the AM and PM worships.
        AM--Nehemiah 4.  Pushing through Discouragement...and fighting for our generation.
        PM--Journeying to Joy.

All in all, the weekend was good. 

On this Monday morning, I'm weary and don't feel well.  My allergies (or sinus) is killing me. 

I'm getting ready to speak again on Wednesday night.  That's always a good time!!

Gonna get slimed this Sunday.  The children's department reached the goal of 1000 points.  They got points for attendance, scripture memory, bringing friends to church, bringing their Bibles, etc.  It'll be great to celebrate this way with them.  We'll do this during S.S.  Hope I can get cleaned up by the time worship starts. 

What's happening with me

For starters...

The Labor Day holiday was great.  We wound up eating at friends' homes for both lunch and dinner.  That was great.  The downside...it threw my "rest of the week" routine for a loop.  I've been off all week.  That's ok though.  I can handle being out of the routine in return for a day off.  We are supposed to break out of the Cage of Routine anyway.

on being a soccer coach....I'm trying to get 8 boys that are 8 and 9 years old to kick a ball into a net.  I'm also trying to get them to keep the other team from doing the same.  You think this would be easy.  It is not.  It is a love/hate thing.  I actually think I'm a half-decent coach.  The other half of me thinks I stink at it and believes someone else could definitely do a better job than me.  We're gonna have to have fun with this.  Otherwise, my hair is going to turn more gray than it already is. 

...on being a Miss. State fan.  I pray that this past weekend wasn't a game just to get our hopes up.  We play a real team Saturday in Auburn.  I'm not naive enough to believe that we'll have a winning season this year.  If we do, GREAT!!  But I know better than to expect that with a new coach this year. 

...on Wild Goose Chase.  I'm enjoying the weekly time I have teaching and leading a group through this study.  I believe that, if applied to our lives, it can literally change the course of what people do with their time on this earth.  I think it can be that life-transforming. 

...on being a daddy.  My kids are great.  But this week, they've been driving me (and Melanie) crazy.  I'm not sure if its the moon and stars, or what.  I've been ready to "take a belt" to em though. 

...on being a husband.  I love my wife.  She's planted the fire out of some plants this week.  I helped last weekend with it.  But this week, she planted 50 something without me.  God bless her.  And she's an amazing mommy too!! 

...on being a son-in-law.  Melanie's parents are on a cruise....in the Mediterranean.  Yep...Turkey, Greece, Italy.  I'm one jealous son-in-law. 

...on being a camp director.  We opened up registration for M4 Camps last week.  So far, we have over 300 ALREADY preregistered for 2010 summer camps.  Wow!!  I can hardly wait!!

Sickness, Soccer, Football, and Bible Study

The sickness hit our household 3 days ago.  Hence, the reason for no posting.  Melanie came down with some sinus junk with a sore throat.  I pulled double duty with that.  I'm so thankful she's doing better now.  

Tonight, Micah and I will go see George County vs. Stone County in football.  Looking forward to this!!  I love me some football.

On Sunday, we start our "Wild Goose Chase" Bible Study at church.  This is going to be an excellent 6 week study.  

We had our first U-10 Boys soccer practice last night.  We had six of our 8 players there.  We should be ok this season.  We are a little young, but we'll get better.  

Jumprope

I think the jump rope is one of those things that "anyone" can do.  Some take it to the extreme.  Check out this amazing video!!

The blog has been sleeping

The blog has been sleeping.  I don't like it when it sleeps.  However, I haven't found the time to blog much lately.  I am "out of the habit" of it from the summer months.  So, here is what I'm going to do.  I am going to take some time and put together some topics mixed in with my everyday life experiences.  And we'll see what happens. 

It is therapeutic to blog.  But at the same time, it can become a "habit" that you just do like anything else.  So...I'm going to try and get it re-organized. 

Snake in the washing machine

I never thought this day would come.  We were in the office this morning working.  We get all kinds of "unique" calls and requests at the church.  Today, however, was different.  Our secretary came down to mine and Dusty's end of the building and stated that a church member was on the phone.  She had a snake in her washing machine and was freaking out.

Dusty and I hopped in the car and were off.  But not without the video camera.  We got there, and Dusty and I looked in the washing machine.  At that moment, I decided that I would be the cameraman.  Wise Choice!!  Below is the video.  You've got to turn up your volume, b/c the sound is funnier than the video.

The weekend update

Well....we went to the beach on Friday and had a BLAST!!  There were 12 of us that made the trip.  The kids played.  We watched, talked, and played with them.  I made one mistake though.  I didn't put sunscreen on my feet or ankles at all.  And then, I forgot to reapply to my legs.  Bad mistake.  I woke up Sat. morning and literally could not walk.  It was bad.  It's getting better.  I know better than this.

The last time I was sunburned this bad was on a youth trip to Ship Island.  I vowed I would never do it again.  Well....I just wasn't doing what I knew I needed to do.  I'm definitely on the mend though.

We went and ate at Lulu's.  I gotta tell ya....I'm not sure what all the fuss is about with Lulu's.  I can say we've been, but I wasn't impressed.

Father's Day was great for me.  I got an Atlanta Braves blanket from Melanie and the kids that they made.  I also got an IPOD/Clock radio and dock station.  I know it's geeky, but it's super cool.  The clock set itself (it's atomic) and it also projects the time on the ceiling above my bed.  How sweet is that?  Or is that the epitome of laziness?  I don't really care because it's cool!!

I also got a few shirts and stuff from them as well.  Melanie made some FINE meals for me this weekend.  She did it up right!!  She and Micah went and picked some purple-hull peas on Saturday.  So I shelled them while I was laid up.  They were really good too!! 

Yesterday at church, we had a great parent-child dedication.  Overall the day and weekend was great!!

Phil Wickham

Phil Wickham is a worship leader who has some amazing music and lyrics.  I just wanted to introduce you to him, for those who haven't heard his music.  Go to www.philwickham.com to download a free live album.  My favorite track:  Beautiful. 

Some community time...

Tonight, I took the family to our local ballfields. We had no obligations. No kids of our own playing. We just wanted to go and see some of the kids in our community play ball. We got to visit with quite a number of people.

It was really a great time of just hanging out in our community. I love doing that. It's not that we do it all the time. It's the fact that we enjoy being around our friends and in our community outside of the church setting as well.

The kids, Melanie, and I had a great time as a family, AND just being out enjoying the springtime and what's going on.