Keeping up with the Williams Family

The past couple of weeks have been extremely difficult in our family.  There have been many people who have shown us their love and support and who have taken the time to love on Payton specifically but I want to take a minute to tell you all about something that happened to us yesterday.  You know, in life we cross paths with many different people.  Being in the ministry over the years, we have had the privilege of serving God with several churches and literally thousands of different people.  There are always those few that stand out as extraordinary people and lasting friendships.  Typically in each church, there are one-maybe two families that we stay close to and continue to keep in touch with and see from time to time.  However, in 1997 when we moved to Batesville, Arkansas we never dreamed that we would become so close with an entire church who would continue to love us and take care of us long after we served together with them in ministry.  Batesville First Church of the Nazarene is a church full of people who CARE.  During our years there, they took such good care of us and loved on us like crazy.  They were always giving us gifts.  From recognizing all of our birthdays and our anniversary, each year and every holiday this church was so giving and spoiled us like crazy.  The people in this church have a real gift for looking beyond themselves and recognizing when someone else is in need and then taking the extra step to help meet that need.  It was hard to leave Batesville when God called us to a new direction in ministry in Texas .  We literally felt like we were leaving family behind – not just a church with a few close friends – but an entire congregation full of moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, and brothers.  Even though we are no longer their “responsibility”, this past year this church has continued to love on us and support us as we have gone through everything this year has held for us.  We have so appreciated the prayers, cards, messages, and phone calls to encourage us this past year.  Then, this week once again we were touched by this group of people in a way that a mere “thank you” cannot even cover.  We received a monetary gift in the mail that was so sacrificial that everyone must have had to sacrifice and dig deep to give.  We are so blessed, honored, and touched by this gift.  There is no way to appropriately thank this group of people for their love and sacrificial giving.  Once again, you have allowed yourselves to be used by God to bless us and help us during a time when we needed it most.  We love you all dearly and miss you so much.  Thank you for thinking of us and for sacrificing to make things better in our corner of the world.

Today began the hard work of physical therapy for Payton.  We did our usual walking the halls and talking about everything under the sun.  At least we are on a different floor this time so the view is not the same.  The therapist had her walking up a step and back down several times.  When she returned from an hour of therapy she was not in pain.  Her face was flushed and her leg was mottled colors which shows that she would have been in pain without the epidural but she was feeling nothing.  Her doctor is so awesome - once again he got the location of the epidural exactly perfect and her right leg has full feeling and function and her left leg is now only numb from the knee to the ankle.  That is a miracle to zero in that close!  Last night she slept well.  She was doing that really slow and deep breathing that people do when they are deep in sleep and resting comfortably.  That was wonderful for this mama to see.  She had a busy day today with nurses and people who remembered her from being there in October coming to see her.  She made such an impact on so many people during those 23 days we were there in October that these people remember her and wanted to see her again and wish her well. 

Today she went to a Christmas party for the patients and won a GIANT stuffed puppy.  No joke - lying in the bed next to her it is almost as big as she is!  That really lifted her spirits.  When Dr. FG came in this afternoon he said if she keeps up her progress we will be on target to go home on Monday afternoon.  So, continue to pray that she keeps progressing as the level of the epidural is turned down she will continue to be pain free.  The scariest part is when they start really turning down the levels.  It has been turned down some since it was put in but that was just to decrease her level of numbness from the waist down to just her leg.  Dr. FG’s assistant told me this morning that they really did not think this epidural would work this well so quickly.  The severity of her pain and the way the leg looked on Monday when they saw her really made them concerned that this would be another long battle.  Thank God that she has responded so well and quickly! 

So, that is the news for today.  We appreciate your prayers and comments on the blog.  Thanks for the support you all have given to us during this difficult time.