Celebrating Six Amazing Years of #TeamWilliams

It is a rainy Saturday morning as I sit down to write. Jamie is sleeping in after a long night where sleep was not her friend as she did what she always does so incredibly well. She gave of herself to serve others—this time it was for our precious daughter Sylvia. And, right now, Sylvia is in a Líllé carrier strapped to my chest, sleeping restfully as well.

It was a rainy Friday on the day when we made our vows before Jesus and a small gathering of family, and friends. God gave us so many incredible gifts that day! First and foremost, He gave us the gift of each other. I don’t think either of us had any idea of the adventures God had in store for us as we stood on the shore of Lake Floyd looking at each other with tears of joy as we began this incredible journey. And, although it was a rainy Friday when we made these vows, God opened the skies over our outdoor wedding festivities while it continued raining in communities all around us. What an incredible gift! What an array of incredible gifts He has carefully placed along the path we walk together, always following His lead!

Earlier this morning I sat down to read my Bible, and the story was of Jesus’ first documented miracle. He was celebrating at a wedding in a place called Cana in an area called Galilee when He turned water into wine. And it wasn’t just any wine, the master of the feast said it was the best wine—and it was strange to him, because this best wine was being served last instead of in the beginning of the celebration. Jesus did his part to enable the celebration to continue (if he had not intervened, the wedding party would have run out of wine), and not only did He do his part, but He insured that this feast had the very best He could provide.

And now as we celebrate the anniversary of our own wedding, we are so filled with gratitude. Jesus continues to lead us in our celebration, and as we follow Him we are blessed with so much more than we could have ever imagined. And this year, we celebrate in simplicity close to home, enjoying our growing family, and cherishing gifts we have been given that are too many to count, especially the wonderful gift of each other.

My best friend in the whole world, Willie, wrote the song in the video above for us on our wedding day, and the words ring as true today as they did on that warm spring evening six years ago amid the flourishing of the Creator’s beautiful world.

Remembering and Looking Forward: Celebrating Our Fifth Anniversary!

I remember it as freshly as if it were yesterday. Eight of my closest friends joined me to stand on a boat dock in West Virginia on Lake Floyd, and we prayed together as the time moved purposefully to the grand moment. A text message came through indicating it was time for us to begin the journey. It had been raining earlier in the day, and all around the region, massive storms had broken out, but for us, there were blue skies and the lush greens of spring. The water was calm, peaceful, and inviting. The nine of us purposefully descended into three small rowboats, and began our journey across the lake.

Upon docking at the far side, we came walking in single file to a gathering of a few close friends and family (to be honest it was all family—our friends are our family as well). The music had begun, and I was looking over the crowd smiling and filled with anticipation of what was to come. And then, she came from around the corner of the Lake Floyd Clubhouse with her father walking alongside her. My eyes began to well up with tears of joy. They came down to the waters edge across a grassy field through a center aisle made by folding chairs brought out for the occasion. I breathed in deeply as I thought about the sacredness of this moment. I was about to commit my life to this amazing woman, and she was about to do the same.

She looked so beautiful as she gracefully made her way down the aisle in a refitted and redesigned wedding dress, made from her mother’s own wedding attire. Her eyes glowed in the same bright azure blue that I’ve enjoyed waking and looking into as we start our day together for the last five years. I can remember so vividly every moment because my heart was (and is!) so captivated by this incredible, compassionate, faith-filled, beautiful woman. We exchanged our vows, we participated in an ancient Shawnee wedding tradition, and we even had the blessing of my best friend in the whole world, Willie, writing an original song for us. The entire time we were surrounded in beauty and held in love by our gathered witnesses.

As the wedding came to an end, the celebration started, and honestly hasn’t really stopped! We were presented to our gathered family as husband and wife, and made our way down the aisle exceedingly joy-filled to the tune of Country Roads, a fine new West Virginia/Appalachian tradition. We made our way to the dance floor of the clubhouse and enjoyed the best wedding food I have ever experienced thanks to the generosity of Jessica Kerr—She even made pepperoni rolls from filo dough. (Jamie had told her dad when she was a little girl that she didn’t know all that she hoped for with her wedding day, but she definitely wanted pepperoni rolls—a West Virginia staple).

And here we are, five years into the future. As full of joy and vivid memories as that day was, today seems more full. We have both grown in our understanding of what it means to be husband and wife, and we have also both grown in our understanding of how deeply loved and cherished we are by God and by each other. On our wedding day, when Willie sang that song he wrote, we carried it aspirationally, and today we still carry it in the same way, but at the very least we can say that for the last five years it has held completely true. Our love has only grown stronger over time, and our understanding of just what a treasure God has given us in each other gets revealed freshly each new day.

 

As we left crossed Lake Floyd late that night on a paddle boat to the cheers of many who we hold very dear, we had no idea that the late night paddle across the lake and ensuing drive to our home in Morgantown would be not only the very beginning of our marriage, but it would be a foretaste of our adventures around the world to make new friends and connect with old ones. So many times we have been richly blessed by the hospitality of others, and we have been so privileged to share in experiences with them as we learn together how to live out the exhortation of the ancient Hebrew prophet Micah to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.

And today, the journey continues. We are nestled on a small island off the coast of Maine, and enjoying a moment of respite and reflection before making the journey across another body of water and starting the drive back home. This time, instead of a paddleboat, the Swan’s Island Ferry will provide our transit.

We do not have any idea what the future holds for #TeamWilliams, but we are certain that if we continue to faithfully seek the wisdom and counsel of our gracious Creator together, He will supply us with absolutely everything we need for the adventure ahead. We are thrilled as we think back over memories that we have made with many of you during these last five years, and we look forward to savoring each new chapter of this story we are writing together with each new day. May we all take moments to soak in the joy of the present while we look forward to a future filled with hope and possibilities.

The Battle of Tippecanoe: 200 Years Later

On my way back from a recent trip to Columbus, Cincinnati, and Chicago for Nuru, I had an opportunity to stop at Prophetstown State Park and the location of the Battle of Tippecanoe. I have for a long time wanted to visit this site where Tecumseh and his brother were beginning to build a confederacy of American Indian tribes to resist the encroachment of western settlers into Indian territory. Over the last several years, I have made it a point to visit historic and sacred sites for my tribe with members of my family and tribe.

It was a bit ironic to me as Jamie and I took a break from our long drive to visit this historic site. The date we visited was November 7th, 2011--exactly 200 years to the day of the original battle. It appeared there were a number of people who came out for the weekend to commemorate and remember the combatants (based on the number of re-enactors I saw dressed as militia people walking around the grounds).

So a bit about the significance of the battle for me. My family is Shawnee. Tecumseh and his brother were also Shawnee. Tecumseh is seen by many as one of the greatest orators and military leaders in history. He and his brother had begun assembling an array of people from tribes all over North America to stand as a united front against the illegal encroachments of settlers into Indian territory. Not only was Tecumseh a brilliant orator and military strategist, he was also an astute diplomat and a champion of justice. He's one of my personal historic heroes, and holds a special place in the hearts and minds of all Shawnee people.

For every good thing that Tecumseh represented, his brother Tenskwatawa was the anti-thesis. In early November 1811, while Tecumseh was speaking to tribes in the southeastern United States to encourage them to join this confederacy, his brother was making claims to great power, influence, and medicine. And a young American leader named William Henry Harrison began driving a militia group to encamp near Prophetstown, the gathering place of Tecumseh's confederacy. Tenskwatawa told the gathered people in his village that if they attacked Harrison and his men, they would become bulletproof, and the bullets in the rifle's of Harrison's men would roll out of their barrels and turn to dust.

But that's not how it happened. Tenskwatawa rallied people to fight and early in the morning, they attacked Harrison's camp. Harrison and his men were ready. They routed the poorly executed attack of the confederacy (without their leader, Tecumseh), and destroyed Tecumseh's dream of a massive confederacy. It also secured Harrison's political future and he later became president of the United States.

As I stood at the site of the battle, I was overcome with emotion. I can't quite describe it. I began bawling my eyes out when I thought about the lives lost in this place, and the possibilities of a different future for shawnee people that were shattered during this event. After spending a couple hours walking around the battle ground and memorials with Jamie, we proceeded to drive to Columbus, OH where I was able to share the whole experience with my best friend in the whole world, Willie, who is also a member of my tribe.

He had really cool insight for me as I told him about the great sadness I felt standing in that place. He said, "You know, nobody who had been there for that battle could have possibly imagined that there would be a Shawnee walking over that land two hundred years later." His comment put things in a little better perspective for me. It was a bright spot of a different sort. It was a reminder of the power of perseverance.

In my tribe, we have a song called Itcheepon. As I walked the battlefield on November 7th, 2011, I found myself singing it. I'd like to share one of the verses here.

"Now you think that we're gone.
Look around you! Hear my song!
Aren't the skies still blue? Don't the rivers run?
We're still here on Itcheepon.

And as I close this reflection, I'm encouraged in the middle of walking through such a sad place, because there are still Shawnee people walking on this earth. Things look different than could have been even imagined two-hundred years ago, but we are still here. HeYa!

Five years of Twitter

On March 21, 2006, Twitter was born when Jack Dorsey sent the first tweet.  Now, literally billions of tweets are emitted from mobile phones, computers, and other technology as people share news, updates from life, links, and sundry other 140 character pieces of information.

I joined the world of twitter on May 26th, 2008 while attending a leadership conferences for churches called Drive. I wasn't quite sure what to do with the technology at that point in time, but I thought it might be worth checking out. Over the last three years of my own use, I've been able to see it used a number of ways, including staying connected with friends I've met during my life's journey. I've watched people use it to share information with others on an amazing scale, and I've seen Nuru International use it to share the release of media, updates from the field, and more.

Twitter is defined as a micro-blogging technology. Since you are reading this post, you probably know what a blog is. A Tweet is 140 characters long and can share anything from links to life reflections. There has even emerged a form of philanthropy called Twestival which in years past has been used to raise $250,000 for great organizations like charity: water.

With the emergence of smart phones and dozens of apps and platforms for managing twitter accounts, I'm curious to see where this technology is going.  Do you have a twitter account? If so, what do you use it for? If not, what do you think about all of this tweeting going on?

Regardless, I think the emergence of twitter speaks to a great desire we have as human beings to share both information and experiences with others. Whether you tweet or not, may you find a community of people with whom you can share your experiences and may you together help make the world a better place.