The Jesus Wall
I don't know that I've spoken a lot on here about my niece, Annie Williams, but I might have mentioned how much I admired her eloquence at my sister's graveside service nearly three years ago now.
Back when she was a little girl, I used to drive her and her cousins around in my (then) red convertible, driving too fast to make them squeal and send their hair flying in the wind. When I'm very lucky, I get to do the same thing with Annie's kids, Elayna and Nathan.
Because, of course, Annie, daughter of Debbie and Steve, is now a grown-up girl, married to Justin Williams, and one of the best people I know.
It's easy to admire her. Forty is on her horizon, but she's still a gifted athlete. She's a pharmacist. A coach. Her kids are awesome, and she is supremely grounded even though, as I was reminded this weekend, she was queen of her high school prom.
She also has a Christian faith that rivals my father's. It's something to behold. Like him, she's not preachy about it. She just lives it and lets you know that she'd be happy to help you on your path if you're open to it. If you're not, she's just as happy to beat your sorry but at pickleball or euchre or anything else she puts her mind to.
She attends and is a small group leader at a nondenominational church in Washington, Ind. The church has two satellite campuses in southern Indiana and is outgrowing its space in Washington. A couple of years ago, they installed a huge wall of small, round light bulbs that spell out the name, "Jesus." At night, it blazes like a beacon that you can see from State Road 57 as you drive by the church. I didn't measure it, but it's big. It fills nearly the whole wall.
I, of course, missed it when I went there to attend a Women's Conference. In my defense, the first time I walked right by it, I was looking for a restroom. It's a two-hour drive from Indy, and I hadn't stopped along the way although I did sip a sparkling water as I motored down Interstate 69.
Anyway, at a certain point, Annie is telling a story and says something about the "Jesus Wall" and how you can't miss it. (Clearly, she's not infallible.)
But she's telling a story, so I just listen. The story is that a coupe of years ago, when they were installing the wall, the congregants were given the option of adding a light bulb to the wall to create the beacon. And on your light bulb, you could write the name of someone you wanted to come to the church. Sweet Elayna suggested they add my name.
"Oh, Elayna," Annie remembers saying. "You might want to pick someone else. That's a hard one."
But Elayna persisted and my name has apparently been on the "Jesus Wall" for the past couple of years. It had wandered from the "J" over to the first "S" but it was still there.
When I told Annie that I'd like to attend her conference, she said she went looking for the bulb and eventually enlisted help when she couldn't initially find it. I think she admitted that while they were searching she started to wonder if she'd imagined the whole thing. But there it finally was, a little off its original spot, but still there.
And now I have it. Simple attendance is all it takes to win your bulb, apparently. I was there on two separate days, so I feel like I earned it. And Annie gave it to me.
I don't think I've ever had an issue with Jesus. His father, well, I might want to have a discussion with him about the state of the world. Respectfully, I have questions, sir.
We should have worked harder on a photo together. In our defense, Saturday started with a downpour that didn't let up.
We are slightly cuter in other, older shots.
We also got to watch Nathan play basketball; his first year at it, I think. It was so much fun. Many thanks to Justin for potentially saving my life with his automotive skills.
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