Cheryl Williams

Through the Fire and the Flood...

Cheryl Williams — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:21:00 GMT

I wrote a few days ago about some of the "personal" things that have been going on in our lives. I see it as a season of reflection, but also a sort of "fire" where all the "dross" is getting burned away. Although it is a painful process, it is also a necessary process so that we can be more like Him! For that, I thank God!

This morning we experienced the "Flood". We received a call this morning from the roofers who were working on the church building saying that they needed access to the inside of the building to check the roof out. We were not expecting anything traumatic! However, we walked into a MAJOR mess. It BREAKS my heart! I told Danny that I feel like I could of "handled" it a little better if it had been our own home. We take the ministry of the church so personal, after all we are dealing with people's souls! Christmas is typically a time of year where you have more people come into the church and it is such an important time for the body of Christ!

Please keep us in prayer over the next couple of days as the repairs are being done to the building. Also, that their insurance, etc. won't drag their feet concerning the replacement of our chairs and the Splash Kids' (brand new) projector and stereo system. (Our sweet Kelsey who does that ministry with her whole heart was pretty upset about the damage.)

It has been confirmed over and over this week to both Pastor & I that we are doing EXACTLY what God has called us to do at Oasis Church!!! This is just another tactic of the devil to thwart that plan. All I have to say is..........the devil better watch out!

Thank you for your love, prayers and support! Blessings to you my friends!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year?

Cheryl Williams — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:40:00 GMT

I have been wanting to blog for SO long, but have had so many things going on. Wow! I honestly don't know where all the time goes. I have been missing you my friends.

I love the "holiday season" ~ it is my favorite time of year. For me, it's a chance to spend time with family and to reflect on all the goodness of the Lord that we have seen come to pass over the last year. We have experienced LOTS of goodness, grace and mercy over this past year and for that, I am so very thankful!

However, we have also had some very challenging things happen over the last year and even these from just the past couple of months. From Danny losing his job unexplained, to the unexpected death of a cousin who hadn't even had a chance to really experience life yet, to the "home going" of a young man whose life was cut short by cancer, to family members that walk out of our lives for reasons that we cannot explain or understand and to the unexpected challenges that have faced us with the pregnancy..........but yet, we TRUST him! There are times over the past few months that I have had my ups and downs. I have to chose to focus on the "goodness" of each situation, if I did not...at times, I felt as if I would lose my mind. So, at this "most wonderful" time of year, I chose to do just that. Although Danny losing his job was definitely not part of "our" plan and in spite of the financial challenges, I am thankful that hat he has been at home to help me. He has pretty much taken over every area of the household duties, etc. For me, that has been a HUGE blessing, but has also been very hard on a mom to relinquish "control". He has done everything from picking up & dropping off kids, to laundry, to cooking, taking care of me and making sure I have every opportunity to rest. For that and for him, I am so blessed and thankful. (By the way, he is a FABULOUS cook!) Sometimes, I don't understand death, especially when it happens to young people. In the case of my cousin, through her death, I have already seen how her death has affected some family members to move toward making positive changes in their life. I also believe that through the life giving words of Jesus Christ spoken at her funeral, there will be those who come to or have already come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ. In the case of the other young man, it is amazing to me how much "life" he lived out in his 30 short years. I feel SO very blessed to have known him. He was the kindest person you could ever meet and had the most contagious, infectious smile. He had a zest for life and had a way of making everyone around him feel special. I believe that he fulfilled his purpose that God had for him. We had the special pleasure of reading a book that one of his friends put together for him for his birthday. The words that everyone wrote explained how much of an impact that this young man had made on their lives. It was amazing!. I can't wait to get to heaven and see all those that are in heaven because of the impact that Kevin made on their life. We love his family and they are so courageous. We rejoiced with them in his "home going", but we are so sad that he is not here with us. Please keep his family in your prayers. In the face of difficult family situations, our hope and prayer is that regardless of the situation that they will only see Him in our lives. They might not understand or be able to explain why we do things in the manner which we do, but to us it's all because of the transforming love of Jesus Christ. We strive to not only live our lives in honor of him but also to be His arms extended to our children. We want to honor him in all that we do and we try to instill those same values in our children. There's a great song that we sing at church that says it like this: I want more of you, I want more of you, though it costs me EVERYTHING, to the cross my life I bring. Cause I want more of you Jesus, I want more.....so have ALL of me, so I might see more of your life in me. It is painful to walk through the "abandonment" of family members, but we know that God has a plan. My heart's cry is that all they see is more of Him in our family. This pregnancy has been quite a challenge for me physically. I am not used to having to slow down to a turtle's pace. But, it has given me PLENTY of time to reflect on Him and the things that He has for me. From an early hospital visit to the ever constant threat of complete bed rest........I am monitoring my contractions twice a day for an hour each time and am still getting my weekly (ouch!) shots. I feel as big as a house and thank God for my husband's sense of humor that helps me laugh off some of the not so fun moments. We have 7 more weeks to go and can't wait for Jillian Hope's arrival.

It truly is the "most wonderful" time of year. I thank God for this "season" that He has given me to reflect and am SO looking forward to all the great things he has in store for us in 2010! These are some of the ones that I am most thankful for.......my sweet family. I am SO BLESSED!

The Williams Family 2009 (Jon, Abby, Danny, Me & Jillian, Kylie & Kelsey)

I enjoy blogging and will try to be better about it, and also promise that it won't be so "heavy". I just needed to pour out my heart, I guess. For that my friends, thank you for letting me be me and for loving me. With much love and blessings!

Fall Is The Best of All...

Cheryl Williams — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:46:00 GMT

I LOVE Fall!!!!!! It is my favorite. Football season is in full swing, cooler temperatures are on the way and the holidays are right around the corner! I love the colors of fall, although, we don't really see much of it around here!

This is one of my favorite fall pics!

We started this month out with a bang! We had our fall revival and it was AWESOME! We had a great time Saturday night at Marshall & Vickie's house. It not only rained down literally, but also spiritually. It was a great evening! Sunday morning service was great as Danny brought the Word again! Sunday night, my Pawpaw preached and it was so great to have him with us! I can't wait for the next revival - how about you? I am SO excited about what God is doing at Oasis! We have had some WONDERFUL people come and join us! I'm looking forward to us getting in our own building when God opens the door.

I keep saying that I will be better about blogging....oops! I REALLY WILL TRY HARDER!!! We stay so busy and I guess now we are back into our "normal" school routine, so I have no excuses!

SO much has happened since the last blog..... I am now 22 weeks into the pregnancy. We found out 2 weeks ago that we are having another GIRL!!! We are SO excited and feel so very blessed!!!! When we had the sonogram, they gave us 2 3D pictures of the baby's face, it is so amazing!!!! Our little "Jillian Hope" will be here before we know it. Danny has been SUCH a big help to me as well as Kelsey & Jon ~ the Dr. told me that I need to slow it down a little. I am so blessed to have such a WONDERFUL husband who takes such good care of me!

I can't wait to hear from you my friends ~ I've missed you! Love & Blessings, Cheryl

All good things must come to an end...

Cheryl Williams — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:53:00 GMT

Here we are at the end of summer.....it has been great; but, sadly it has come to an end. Abby started school today and Kylie starts tomorrow. I always dread this time of year with sending them back to school. We have so much fun during the summer and get to spend so much time together. We spent a lot of time indoors this summer, more than we wanted and much more than we normally do for this time of year. However, due to the extreme temperatures, it was not much fun to be outside, even to go swimming. We did get to visit with some family over the summer (including both sets of my grandparents) and that is always nice!

I'm not looking forward to dropping Kylie off at school in the morning, of course, I never am. However, over the past two years we have been blessed to have wonderful teachers and I am believing that this year will be no different. As much as I will try to be brave, I'm sure that by the time I make it back to the car, there will be tears shed. It's so hard to watch your "baby" grow up. As I take Kylie to school tomorrow, it will be the last year that she goes to school as the "baby" of the family. Abby has her cousin and her aunt at her school to keep her company and watch over her, so that makes it easier on us. Tonight when we talked to Abby, she said that she really liked her teacher today. She was really looking forward to seeing all of her friends!

As we say goodbye to summer, we look forward to the fall. We are anxiously awaiting cooler temperatures and football! We love the fall. I always look forward to the colors of the fall with the leaves changing, pumpkins, etc.

So, as I close...I will post one last picture from summer of the girls at the beach. I will be thinking of all the moms tomorrow...may the peace of God rule your hearts as you leave those "babies" at school. I will be looking forward to celebrating the triumphs of the year as our children learn and grow together.

Kelsey, Abby & Kylie at the beach

I'm looking forward to hearing from you my friends, all of us "moms" have to stick together. Love & Blessings, Cheryl

Wow! A lot has happened........

Cheryl Williams — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:11:00 GMT

I can't believe that it has been 2 months since I have blogged. Let me tell you, a lot has happened in that two month time span!

The last blog I wrote about how we had gotten moved. And no, all the boxes are not unpacked. The garage is still full of boxes. We are still getting adjusted to the house. We have a lot of things that we want to do, but of course, those will all come over time. It is so nice to have our own place and what a blessing it was that we were finally able to buy a house. Our house payment is cheaper than the rent that we were paying, that is one of the biggest blessings! Hopefully, we will get those boxes unpacked very soon!

A couple of weeks after we moved........WE FOUND OUT THAT I AM PREGNANT!!!! WOW!!!! That was the biggest news ever!!! What a shock!!! (I was wondering why I was so tired!!!) Danny had been asking for about the last 2 years about another baby and I said that I thought we were done! Well, did I ever get a surprise! The kids are excited and we are looking forward to celebrating yet another February birthday when our bundle of joy is expected to arrive around February 10, 2010. I am 13 weeks today. We had another sonogram today and Danny practically begged the technician to tell us the baby's sex - but she said it was still too early. Hopefully, in about 7 or 8 weeks we will be able to share that good news! What a blessing! I have not been feeling well, but it will all be worth it. I have been living in a constant state of nausea and heartburn. I have also been VERY tired - thus, the reason for no blog for 2 months. I promise to be better! With starting the second trimester next week, hopefully, some of this feeling yucky will ease up!

Happy Father's Day to Danny! (Kelsey, Kylie, Abby & Jon on Father's Day weekend!)

In July, we went to Galveston / Houston area thanks to my cousin Linda letting us come and hang out at her place for a few days. We took the kids to the beach and they loved it. Abby & Kylie had a great time "rescuing" about 12 hermit crabs and playing out in the ocean with dad. We collected lots of sea shells. We all got sunburned, but still had a great time. While we were down there, we also went to NASA with my cousin Clay & his sweet family.

Danny & the kids playing in the ocean. Abby is on the left, she swims like a mermaid. She just kept diving in. Kylie is on the right of Danny, she only weighs around 40 pounds. Danny had to hang onto her, the waves kept knocking her over. And of course, Jon and Kelsey having a great time!

Abby & Kylie at the Kemah boardwalk.

Kylie & Abby at NASA in front of a Star Wars exhibit. (I don't think we can ever get Jon & Kelsey to pose for a picture!)

On Monday, our sweet Kelsey turned 16! I cannot believe it - where does the time go? She is growing into a beautiful young lady and we are so VERY proud of her! She loves her sisters and is so sweet to them. She does the children's church and is doing a GREAT job! We managed to pull off a surprise party for her over the weekend. She was so excited, she screamed & cried. We had it at our friends (Jay & Gail's) house. Thank you Jay & Gail! The girls had a great time swimming in their pool! It was so much fun!

Kelsey & Dad!

A friend of mine makes cakes and she did a great job on Kelsey's cake.

We have also been busy this summer with our Oasis family. It's so exciting to see what God is doing and I can't wait to see what He has in store for us next!

And that brings us to Wednesday....wow! A lot of catching up to do. I'll try to post more summer pictures over the next few weeks. It's hard to believe that it's almost over. We love the summer and getting to spend time with the kids. There has been record breaking heat almost everyday in Austin, so we are definitely looking forward to the fall and cooler temperatures. Plus, (those of you who know us will not be shocked by this next statement!) we are looking forward to FOOTBALL!!!! Praise the Lord ~ our six month drought is almost over!

I hope all of you are doing well. Thank you to all of you for your thoughts and prayers, it means so much. I can't wait to hear your thoughts. Love & Blessings, Cheryl

Home Sweet Home!

Cheryl Williams — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:48:00 GMT

We closed on our new house on Friday Morning. My dad came and along with a army of people from the church we got it all moved by Saturday evening. WHAT A BLESSING!!!!! We appreciate everyone's help so very much. We had people moving out of the rent house and others cleaning at the same time. We feel so blessed and loved by our wonderful church family. A sincere thank you to all of you that helped, you will never know how much we appreciate and love you!!!

I was off of work yesterday and the kids and I managed to get the kitchen organized & I even cooked dinner last night. It will take a little bit to get everything done, but it is all coming together nicely.

We are so thrilled to have our own place and we give ALL the glory to God! Thank you again to all of our supportive friends - we love you so much. I'll post some pictures soon!

On another note, I am so excited about what God is doing at Oasis Church. We have seen God do some powerful things in our midst and we are believing him for even greater things. I'm looking forward to a great Wednesday evening service. How about you?

Weekend Update!!!

Cheryl Williams — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:16:00 GMT

What a weekend this has been! I attended a wedding last night at the University of Texas Golf Club and it was so beautiful. The bride was beautiful as was her mother. Her mother walked her down the aisle and yes, I got choked up. The minister spoke of the bride and groom's love for the Lord and it was a beautiful ceremony. A cord of 3 is not easily broken! Congratulations to Mallorie and Aaron!

Today was a great day at Oasis Church! This morning's service was AWESOME!!!!! The presence of the Lord was in that place!!!! This evening we had our 2nd membership class and it was wonderful. It's so amazing to see the people that God has brought to us!! We are so thankful for you!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!! We are so glad you are here. A special thanks to everyone that helped serve our new members!

In honor of Memorial Day, Danny put together a video that honored all those that had served in the military from Oasis. It was wonderful. I am so proud of all of those that served and want to say thank you for serving our country. We love you and thank God for you and your families for the sacrifices that you have made. Danny was in the Marine Corp and I am so proud of him!!!!

Danny

I also want to say a big thank you to everyone who has brought us boxes, I have not had to go "box hunting" and for that I am so thankful. A special thank you to Gail for coming over and helping us take pictures off the walls and filling the holes, what a blessing!!!!! Also, a BIG thank you to everyone that has offered to help us move next weekend. Only 5 more days!!! Praise the Lord!!!!

I hope you all have a great holiday tomorrow. I LOVE you my friends and can't wait to hear your thoughts! Love & Blessings, Cheryl

House Update!

Cheryl Williams — Tue, 19 May 2009 02:53:00 GMT

Today we went over to office of the home builder and spoke to the consultants. They are so nice and so helpful. They had great news that all the paperwork is on time going through the process and closing will be on time. PRAISE JESUS!!!

We were so excited when we went over to the house to find that they had begun the "clean up" process. They also put the microwave, stove and dishwasher in today. They also put in the blinds! It is so exciting to see everything come together!

Thank you to everyone that has offered to help, what a blessing! Also, to all of you who have brought us boxes, thank you, thank you!!!!
We are so excited about what the Lord has done!

We had a great service at Oasis yesterday and I'm looking forward to a GREAT week! I can't wait to hear from you my friends. Love & Blessings, Cheryl

We have an author in our midst!!!

Cheryl Williams — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:13:00 GMT

The Williams family is proud to announce that we now have a author in the family. Kylie has written her first book and we celebrated with an Author's Tea at her school on Friday as the children presented their published books. She not only wrote the book, but she also illustrated the book. Her book is titled "Our Family Vacation To Sea World". We are so proud of her. Ms. Gail & Ms. June also joined us at the Author's Tea and we all had a great time.

Last week we went to Abby's Field Day and she came home with a whole handful of ribbons. It's so hard to believe that we are at the end of another school year. Abby has one more week left and Kylie has 12 more days. All of the end of the year events only remind me of how quickly they are growing and how fast time flies. However, we are ALL ready for summer and can't wait to get into the pool!!!

On another note, I am so excited about service at Oasis tomorrow. I can't wait to see what God has in store. I have heard some fascinating stories of what God is doing in the lives of some of our Oasis family and I'm so amazed! Please continue to pray for the Watkins family, Kevin is supposed to have his next round of chemo this week. Also, please pray for Wayne & Sharon to sell their house! We are preparing to move in the next couple of weeks. Our closing is scheduling for the end of the month, please pray that all goes smoothly. We are so excited!!!

I hope that wherever you are for church tomorrow that you experience the power of God. I'm expecting great things! How about you? I can't wait to hear from you my friends. Love & Blessings, Cheryl

Happy Mother's Day!

Cheryl Williams — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:35:00 GMT

I got to call my mother on the way to church this morning and wish her a Happy Mother's Day! I have always called her mother instead of mom. Danny always makes fun of me for calling her "mother" instead of mom, but it's always appropriate on this day..."Mother's Day!" I also want to wish my grandmothers and my aunts a Happy Mother's Day. You all have played a wonderful part in my life and I am so thankful for you!

Here is a picture of me and "mother" back in March on her birthday!

I've had a great Mother's day. My sweet husband took me to lunch today with friends and we had a great time! This afternoon we went over to the new house to check on the progress over there and things are coming along! This week they put up the fence, put in the bathroom fixtures and toilets and got the windows all cleaned up. Today we had a new surprise to find out that they had put in the granite counter tops in the kitchen yesterday. It is so exciting! I have already started packing and I am wondering how in the world we have accumulated so much stuff!!!

On another note, our dear friends David & Susan Watkins made it back to Texas today with their son Kevin. What a blessing and answer to prayer that they were able to make it back without Kevin getting sick! Please pray for them as they walk with Kevin through this journey! We are standing with them in faith and are anticipating great things!

Since it was Mother's day, Kelsey & Jon did the children's church and I was able to stay in the service. What a blessing! Danny preached a great sermon called "Sweep The House". It was so great!!! I am so thankful for our Oasis family, we have such a great group of people!!! We missed everyone that was out of town today and can't wait until all of us are back together again!

I'm looking forward to a great and blessed week! How about you? I can't wait to hear from you my friends. Love & Blessings, Cheryl

A Blessed Weekend...

Cheryl Williams — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:01:00 GMT

What a blessing it was to be in the house of the Lord this morning. We had a WONDERFUL service. The presence of the Lord was so strong in that place and so was the love of the people. I am SO very thankful for our church family. Please join us in praying for the Watkins family, their 28 yr old son was diagnosed with cancer this week. I am believing God to do great things in Kevin's life and body!!! God is moving at Oasis and we are so thankful for what He is doing in the body and who He is bringing to join us. We have a lot of great activities coming up which include Membership and Baptism. I am looking forward to it!

On a personal note....we have been talking about a shifting and a shaking going on...well, the Lord did some shifting and shaking this week in our circumstances and I am happy to say that we signed a contract on a new home this week!!! It was all God!!! I could seriously write a book on everything that fell into place for this to happen. Danny & I along with the kids are so thrilled that we will no longer have to rent, but will have a home of our OWN!!!!!!

Our new home...a work in progress!

We are closing at the end of May and are so thrilled. To all of our Oasis family who has offered up their services to help us move, thank you, bless you, thank you.....did I say bless you?

We have been leasing from a wonderful couple that live in another state who are believers also. They are very sweet people and I feel like we have known them for a long time. Please pray for them that they will be able to sell or lease their home and that the Lord will meet their needs.

I am looking forward to a blessed week. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us. I am also looking forward to spending a little (hopefully) extra time with Danny this week as he is off! Thank you for joining us in prayer for the Watkins family and for Wayne & Sharon. I love you all very much and can't wait to hear from you. Love & Blessings, Cheryl

Flat Stanley Update....

Cheryl Williams — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:25:00 GMT

Thanks to all of you who helped with our Flat Stanley Project! We completed it tonight and sweet Kylie will turn it in tomorrow.

Here is Kylie with her completed project!

Flat Stanley visited Nana's work where he got to meet the General Manager, received an ID badge, got to learn about Water Quality and he even got to go to the lab to see samples of fish that were taken out of the Brazos River.
Flat Stanley in the lab with the fish.

Flat Stanley also visited one of my friends from high school who is in Nursing School. She took Flat Stanley to her clinicals. He ate some cookie that the nurses had gotten from the Great American Cookie Co. He then ate so much he got sick and had to ride in a wheelchair to the hospital. He even got his own hospital room. After the nurses treated him, he felt much and even climbed a radio tower!

Flat Stanley's hospital room!

Flat Stanley also traveled to Arkansas with my Aunt & Uncle to watch my cousin in concert.

My Uncle with Flat Stanley in Arkansas!

My Aunt with Flat Stanley in Arkansas!

We also received an e-mail from a friend of a friend in South Carolina - Thanks to Karen & Evelyn.

Thanks again to all of you who helped with our project. We REALLY appreciate everything you all have done for us.

On another note, our subdivision is having it's Spring garage sale this weekend. I have lots of junk to get rid of. Say a prayer that we will be able to get rid of a lot of stuff!!!! I also have some other very exciting news to share with you all very soon!! Hope you have a Happy Friday!!!!! Love & Blessings, Cheryl

Could you help Flat Stanley out?

Cheryl Williams — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:28:00 GMT

Well, there's nothing like a "little" procrastination is there? We seem to have had a case of this come through our house. Kylie has a "project" due on Friday, (I hope her teacher is not reading this) which is really nothing more than something for mom to have to do. That is the honest truth. Anyway, they sent this letter home about a month ago and it seems that "Flat Stanley" (All you moms will know what book character I'm talking about) got lost in all the junk mail and school papers that lay around & here I am at the last minute scrambling. (No comments from the peanut gallery!) Seriously, I did not intend to procrastinate I just TOTALLY forgot about it until I read the teacher's update for the week on the internet this morning.

The letter we received for the "project" which was to be mailed to a friend:

Dear ______________,

In school we read a book about a boy who got mashed by a bulletin board. His name is Flat Stanley. He wanted to go on a trip, so his family folded him up and mailed him to California.

I am mailing my Flat Stanley to you. Please take him somewhere and write me back telling me where he went. If you have pictures or postcards, send them too. I will take Flat Stanley back to school and share his adventures with my class. My parents will then display the letters, pictures, and anything you send on a poster board.

Thank you for helping me with this project. I wish that I could fold myself up and visit you.

I love you,
Kylie

Here is the Flat Stanley that Kylie colored at school:

She must have been in a hurry when she colored it and yes, his head is a little jagged from her cutting! Looks like he had "surgery". Wink, wink!!!!

So, this desperate mom would appreciate any of you who would print and cut out Flat Stanley and take a picture of him with you or your family having an "adventure". It could be anything from sitting on your computer at work, to eating dinner with the family, working outside, reading a book........ etc. You get the idea? E-mail the picture back to me at cheryl@oasischurchtx.com with a short paragraph explaining what City and State you live in along with what Flat Stanley is doing. I will print the pictures and post them on a poster board along with the explanations of what Flat Stanley is doing. I would appreciate your help SO very much!!!!! I need them back by Thursday morning so I can have time to print the pictures.

Thank you guys in advance for your help!!! I'm looking forward to seeing how many responses we get and from where!!! I'll update the blog later in the week (and possibly post your picture of Flat Stanley if that is ok with you, let me know) with what kind of response we received.

Hope you all have a blessed week! We are getting some much needed rain in the Austin area today. Be careful out there!
Love & Blessings to you my friends,
Cheryl

Great Weekend!!

Cheryl Williams — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:53:00 GMT

We had a great weekend!!! How is it that the weekend goes by so fast and the week goes by so slow??

Saturday night we had our first Marriage weekend for Oasis Church. It was a couple only event and we had such a great time!

Me & Danny before Marriage Weekend

We were so grateful to David & Susan for hosting the event in their home. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, food and teaching. Since the subject was marriage, we also enjoyed a few laughs as well. It was a great event! I can't wait for the next one! A couple of people left before we snapped some pictures, but I wanted to post these anyway!

The "Girls"

The "Guys"

We had a great service today! The kids started a new series called P.U.S.H. - Pray Until Something Happens! The kids really enjoyed it.

I'm looking forward to a great week! Another busy week ahead! Our community is having their Spring garage sale on Saturday and I have plenty of junk to get rid of!!! Kylie has something special this week at school on Friday and I can't wait to share that with you. I hope you all have a great week! I can't wait to hear from you my friends. Love & Blessings, Cheryl

Long time...............No blog...

Cheryl Williams — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:25:00 GMT

I received an anonymous comment this week from someone saying they missed my blog. I don't know who it was, but thank you. I have also had people come up to me and ask me to blog. So, here you go!!!

It's honestly been sort of a strange season of life, the last year or so. Not all of it has necessarily been in a bad way. I try to share what is going on in our lives and maybe I "expose" us a little too much. I just am so proud of our little family, they are such a joy to my life, I can't help but share them with you. There have been some things that have gone on outside of our four walls that have made me reflect, cry and ultimately cry out to God. There have been times that I have just simply "pitied" down. But through it all, I am so thankful that He has never left me or forsaken me. God is so faithful and I am so thankful for what He is doing in my heart and life. I'm looking forward to what He has in store! I'm also so very thankful for my husband. I am so honored to have him in my life. I love him more everyday!

The other part of my not blogging has been that we have been SO busy with life!! I have been working a few more hours and Danny always stays busy with his work. Besides all of that, we have been really busy with the church and all of the activities that go along with that. I'm so amazed at what God is doing and who He has brought to join us. It's so exciting!!!! I'm really looking forward to the Marriage Weekend tonight. I hope you will join us!

On another note, here is a picture of the kids from back in March. We drove around for about 30 to 45 minutes looking for Bluebonnets and we could not find very many. But, here is our picture anyway!!!

Jon, Kylie, Kelsey & Abby

As far as the kids go.......Jon and Kelsey have been busy working on their schooling through the University of Texas. Jon has been doing lawn maintenance and Kelsey is gearing up for her summer babysitting job. Those two are so funny!!! They keep us laughing all the time!!!!!! The "little" girls as we so fondly call them are winding up another year of school. It's hard to believe how fast it goes by. Abby is finishing up second grade and we are looking forward to her field day in a couple of weeks. Kylie is finishing up first grade. We enjoyed her field trip to the Austin Science and Nature center this week. She also has her Author's Tea for the book that she wrote this year. She also has a field day coming up. Of course, they are ALL looking forward to getting back in the pool and all that summer has in store.

So, thank you my friends for loving me. You never know what your words of encouragement or kindness mean to me. I look forward to sharing many more tales of what is going on in our family. I can't wait to hear your thoughts!!!!! Love & Blessings, Cheryl

Happy Birthday Mom!

Cheryl Williams — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:07:00 GMT

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, so the kids and I went to visit her for her big day! We had a great time as we ate way too much pizza and cake. We visited and spent the night. Then today we ran around and did some stuff with mom. We all enjoyed our visit so much. The kids enjoyed aggravating Grandpa! Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Me & my sweet mom celebrating her birthday

I'm really looking forward to our church service tomorrow. I'm expecting great things!

I'm also looking forward to Spring Break this week. I am so excited about getting to spend some extra time with Danny & the girls. I think we all need a little break. Spring fever is in the air!!

Love & Blessings to you my friends.

Losing Faith?

Cheryl Williams — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:48:00 GMT

For those of you who read my blog on a regular basis, you know that I stick to mostly telling about my family or whatever is on my mind. But I have something that I wanted to share.

There was a story on World News tonight about the Loss of Faith in America. It was stated that in America as a whole, people are abandoning organized religion. It was also stated that people claimed to be "spiritually anchored" but they were not part of a local church body. That really saddens me. There is such a joy in coming together as the body of Christ. One of my favorites scriptures is found in Psalm 122:1 where it says, "I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the LORD." That has been my whole life. Thanks to the upbringing that my parents gave me in the house of the LORD; I remember being at church every time the door was open. I do remember sleeping under the pew as a little girl, drawing on fun pads during church and as Danny would say, watching the ladies dance until their hairpins fell to the floor. HA!!! I also remember awesome times of seeing my parents being refreshed, but also feeling it myself. The house of God has always been such a comfort to me, no matter what I was going through in life.

One poll that they gave said that in 1990 Americans who identified themselves as Christians was at 86% and as of 2008 that had dropped to 76%. 15% of Americans stated that they had no religion. In 1990 Americans that identified themselves as atheists was at 900,000 and in 2008 it was at 1.6 million. I could say I'm shocked by these numbers, but not surprised. There have been so many areas in our country that have been comprised.

We have a lot of work to do my friends. There is a lost and dying world out there, it could be your family member, your neighbor, your boss, your child's teacher or even a close friend. Can I encourage you today to share the love of Christ with that person? People are seeking for answers in these hard times and there is no greater time than now to share the Love of God. As I said in my blog recently, we have had 14 adult salvations in the last 3 weeks alone at our church. It's all about relationships; relationships with others and relationship with the LORD!!!!!

If you do not have a home church and you live in the Round Rock area, I invite you to come and check out Oasis Church. We are a body of believers that are passionate about our relationship with the LORD. And to seeing those who are lost, broken and hurting restored to the Father. If you live elsewhere, find a bible based body of believers that will encourage and aid in your walk with the LORD.

My heart aches for the lost, broken and hurting. May I see through His eyes of Love.

Spring Forward!!!

Cheryl Williams — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:55:00 GMT

I know we all have to Spring Forward with our time, however, I have chosen to Spring Forward with my attitude. I know that there lots of things going on in my life and in the world that I have at some point or another allowed to have a negative impact on me. I've come to realize after a long and sometimes painful process, my "worrying" gets me absolutely nowhere. I choose to trust in the Lord and in the power of His might. I'm looking forward to what God has in store for not only myself, but my family and our church family as well. Can I encourage you to do the same this week?

On another note, a lot has happened since I last blogged. We celebrated Abby's 8th Birthday. She is growing up so fast and is such
a sweetie. She is such a character and she always brings a lot of joy to us. I love you Abby!!!

Danny & I also had our anniversary, although, we have yet to have to celebrate. I'm looking forward to something that he called a date. Does anyone know what that is? I think I sort of remember something like that.

God is on the move at Oasis Church we have had 14 salvations in the last three weeks in the adult service and 6 children. This week we have a lot of members out of town for various reasons and we missed everyone!!!!! I'm looking forward to our fellowship meal on the 22nd!!!!

One last thing, one of the members of our church who has been coming since August was speaking Wednesday night of a dream she had many years ago. She mentioned that the dream happened when she lived in Panama. I began asking her questions such as did she go to church when she lived in Panama and if so where. She said yes that she did, she said that the Pastor was a tall man with a beard and he was a nice looking man. She said that the church was up on a hill with lots of steps leading up to and it had a large porch. I looked at her and smiled and told her that she had attended the church that my grandparents pastored in Panama. We hugged and cried. She told me that her husband had bought my grandfather's toolbox. What a small world we live in. And what a blessing to find out that connection. My Memaw called last night to remind me to take a picture of her at church, but of course, this morning, we could not find the camera. So, Memaw...I will have to do it another day.

I'm looking forward to a great week!!!! How about you? I love you my friends and can't wait to hear from you!!!

Happy Birthday Danny!

Cheryl Williams — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:15:00 GMT

Today is my love's birthday, he says that he is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his 29th birthday. I think he thinks that sounds better than saying 39.

One of my favorite picture of me and my sweet

Danny is such a blessing to my life. He is my best friend and he makes life fun, exciting and very special. He is a great husband, father, pastor and friend. He truly cares about people and is very eager to share Jesus with whomever he comes in contact with.
I'm honored to be his wife and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us as we continue each year celebrating another year of God's goodness, grace and mercy.

Happy Birthday Danny! I love you!

A great weekend!

Cheryl Williams — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 03:12:00 GMT

After the little girls went to bed on Friday night we finally had the opportunity to watch the movie "Fireproof". It was a great movie and I highly recommend it.

Last night we hosted our 2nd annual Father / Daughter dance here at the house, we had a great time. We cleared out the living room so we would have a "dance floor" & we put up balloons and decorations. We had "party" food and punch. The girls dressed up for Dad and they had a blast dancing. I laughed so hard I cried. It was a very special time. We haven't had a lot of family time lately & let me tell you, it was priceless. I love my family very much.

Kelsey, Abby, Kylie and Dad

Today was our 2nd service in the new building and it was another exciting day. I'm so thankful for our church family and appreciate so very much all of you who help.

I'm looking forward to a great week and hoping we get some much needed rain (both natural and spiritual.) I love you my friends and can't wait to hear your thoughts. Love & Blessings!