Nancy C. Williams

The Privileged Life: The Faithful Seasons and Wild Goodness of God

“Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” Acts 14:17 In our Middle Earth landscape in East Tennessee, summer greens have given way to autumn gold. Maples have turned bright red and orange, gingkoes and tulip poplars are…

The Privileged Life: Wise Words from an Adult Daughter

“Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days.” Proverbs 19:20 If you’re on this great journey called parenting, you know the milestones along the way. If all goes according to your plans, you and your kids survive together through first steps, potty-training, first day of school, teenhood, driving, going off to college…

The Privileged Life: Facing Our Giants

“Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.” 1 Samuel 17:47 It’s fall, y’all! The trees are finally turning beautiful colors in our neck of the woods, which prompted a trek last week at Bays Mountain Park with two of…

The Privileged Life: “Ordinary” Friends

“As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” Proverbs 27:17 I am so blessed to have “ordinary” friends. There’s not a billionaire among them. No royalty either. No rock singers, sports celebrities, or movie stars. No monuments anywhere dedicated to them. They’re simply people who have befriended me over the years in our…

The Privileged Life: Friendly Fire

“Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.’” 2 Chronicles 20:15a Civil discourse in the United States is all but dead. There are occasional whispers of calm, measured rhetoric, but it’s quickly drowned out by megaphone ranting. With stress from the bad news and…