some good news!

first of all, thanks so much to everyone who has been praying for dave and for us. the Lord has definately been answering prayers! yesterday we had a meeting with the doctor to get some answers. basically, he said that he was treating dave's symptoms day-by-day. they still don't know what happened to him. some of you thought (because we thought) that it was an attempted overdose, but his doctor believes that it wasn't. that was a relief for all of us. right before this meeting, dave was not very responsive and they had sitting straight up and down in bed (basically laying down, but vertical). he DID NOT look comfortable! but, when we all came back last night, he talked to all of us, he had been sleeping, and he recognized most of us! praise the LORD!!! last night, they only had to suction out his lungs once, and this morning he was still sleeping...which i don't think he's been doing a lot of ;). thanks again for praying. ben and i are planning on coming home saturday or sunday. we have to go back to work on monday, plus, there's a little puppy who needs us :). we'll keep you updated as we get more news. peace of Christ.

update on dave

today, which i believe is wednesday, has been pretty hard. everyone left the hospital last night thinking that we were coming back tomorrow to the dad and husband that we all knew 3 weeks ago. it didn't happen. dave's breathing was a lot worse today. the nurses even told brenda that he might have to be put back on the ventilator. however, praise the Lord, he hasn't been! he has been receiving breathing treatments because his oxygen levels are so low. they also are having to do something called a trumpet to get the "crud" (as dottie myatt would say) out of his lungs. he's not able to cough on his own right now which really worries the doctors since he has so much fluid on his lungs.
PLEASE keep praying for a miracle. we want to see dave back at home, enjoying life. we just hope he does that and we know that we have the victory in Christ alone! so, we beg you to continue to pray for him. i'll keep you updated each day we know something else. thanks.

for all those who know and don't know...

(this is brenda and dave in hawaii last year.) ben and i have been in oklahoma for the past few days and we're going to continue to be here until saturday or sunday. ben's step dad, dave, was admitted to the hospital about 15 days ago. they admitted him because he woke up mumbling and couldn't even walk to the door from his bed. he was then put on a ventilator a week and a day ago. they tried to take him off the ventilator for several days, but he wasn't able to breathe on his own. on friday night, ben got a phone call (his mom) and brenda said that they were going to try one more time on monday morning to take him off the vent and if he made it, praise the Lord, and if he didn't, they were legally not supposed to put him back on it. ben and i came out here saturday to be with his mom and the rest of the family. on monday morning, they had tried to take dave off the vent, and he couldn't breathe on his own. they had to put him back on the vent immediately and they decided to check his oxygen levels in his blood to see how hight they were. they began to ween him off the vent and he is COMPLETELY off it now! PRAISE JESUS! they have since taken the tube out of his lungs and he has even whispered to some of his other kids. we are going to go up to the hospital later on tonight. we're still going to stay until saturday or sunday just to be with brenda and the rest of the family (dave has 8 kids and half of them have kids;))! we look forward to being back in jackson, but ask that you continue to pray for dave's mental state. we want him to have a fresh mind when he does come home. he will probably be moved to a regular room tomorrow and we're not sure how long he'll be in the hospital. he probably has a long road ahead of him, but we're very excited for his progress and we're very thankful that we could be here with the stover family. peace of Christ to everyone!

little baby williams!!!!

i went to the doctor today for my monthly checkup! the pregnancy is going WONDERFULLY!!!! i heard the heartbeat again today and they did it so quickly, i couldn't get my phone out to record it...sad! but the baby's heartbeat was at 150 today...very good :) and my blood pressure was REALLY good...:) we ALSO have a date scheduled to find out what the sex of the baby will be!!!!!
it is July 9 and we CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!! thanks for all your prayers for the baby and for me. i know that the Lord is listening to them and answering them :). we love you guys!!!!

tweeking

i'm trying to work with our layout. i did something last night that i'm not sure i can fix...so bear with me and we're going to have the coolest layout ever pretty soon :) (no offense to you other bloggers...)
much love!

Ephesians and the Sermon on the Mount

ok, it's been about 6-7 months (if not longer than that) since ben went to our pastor and asked him about a situation he was in. Dennis said "Read the Sermon on the Mount everyday for 30 days and you'll have your answer." well, this is never the answer that you want from anyone, but you go into knowing that the Lord is going to show you things that a person couldn't tell you because it's in scripture and you can't argue with scripture. SO, when ben started reading this, we had MULTIPLE people come up to us at the most random places asking for money, i had some things at work to happen where i needed to love and turn the other cheek instead of judging, and i ran into some families that i could've judged immediately, but God said wait. also, in the process of what turned into several months of studying the Sermon on the Mount, a guy started coming to our house asking for work for money. well, ben is SO GRACIOUS and much more compassionate than i am, and he ALWAYS found something for our friend (i'll call him greg) to do around the outside of the house. whether it was pulling some branches to the curb or cleaning out our gutters, all greg wanted was $5 to get him some dinner. well, greg recently moved to paris, tn, and i never thought i would say this, but i miss him coming to the door, knocking really loud, petey going C-R-A-Z-Y and having to hold him down while ben went out and found something for greg to do. please pray for greg that he's ok in paris. thanks!
now, how all this relates to Ephesians, you might ask, came about in a strange way. my book study (yes, janie williams is in a book study...i know it's amazing!) is reading a book by watchman nee called Sit, Walk, Stand and it's just really slapped me around. it talks about how you have to sit first in your salvation and Christian life instead of just going and doing immediately. well, i'm a fixer, and i like for everyone (even if i don't know you) to be happy. well, this is impossible to do, and i'm realizing that more and more everyday. so, the 3-5 chapters of Ephesians talk about walking along side other believers (i think it actually starts in chapter 2.). lately, i have been overly focused on myself because of the baby. and although it is an answer to prayer that we're pregnant, that doesn't mean that i have a "one-up" on everyone else. so, i encourage you today to turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, and go the distance for your brothers and sisters in Christ. and if you're not a believer, i urge you to look for this in Christians. i pray that we show you that we don't judge, that we will walk beside you no matter what has happened in the past or where you've messed up. Jesus never leaves our side. we shouldn't leave each other's sides as a body of Christ. and it's my new venture to NOT judge, to walk the extra mile, to not worry about what's fair or not fair, but to simply trust that God IS sovereign and He does everything for a reason and sometimes just for a season in your life. i also urge you to read Ephesians and the Sermon on the Mount for a month everyday. it's amazing what will happen. Peace of Christ to everyone.

a little teaser...

i really want to post some things that have been on my mind lately. however, i'm at work and i have some paperwork to do right now, so you will have to wait until tonight. (i don't even know if anyone reads this daily) so, for now, i urge you to read a little bit of Ephesians because that's where this post is going. more to come later. lates peeps.