WOW....Not much more to say then that!

So life has been pretty busy here on the Gillum home front, it seems like the more we sink into the teenage years the more I would be totaly ok with just escaping.... then I bounce back into reality  with the image of my house falling apart and my children going through withdrawl because they have no one to scream at.  :)
Well that's my thoughts this month on raising teenagers, I am sure it will change next month possibly even tomorrow, I'll get back with you on that.
The one good thing is I have managed to complete a baby quilt and a King Size quilt since November, now that's funny who needs medication when you know how to Quilt. Two of my dearest friends we just started working on the Farmer's Wife Quilt, I am just amazed at the story behind it to only have lived back then. I often find myself drifting back wondering if raising daughter's was more simple or did they deal with pretty much the same issues just on a different level. I hope I meet one of the ladies when I get to Heaven that will be a question I will ask. So i just completed block 12 and I have to add I am doing 3 of each block, because while I am making a King Size Quilt for my own bed Iam doing a Wall Hanging for our Athletic Boosters to Raffle next year and well the third Block you never know when something might come up that I will want to donate a quilt to or maybe someone will want to buy it. I think I have too much time on my hands, and while I am thinking about it my thoughts on my word for the year Compassion well let's just say it's still a work in progress and I am so thankful for Christ and all his love, otherwise I would be bald and possibly commited.

I will post some pictures when i am done!

Compassion

My word for the year, I think I already adnitted that I was a little hesitate after I chose this word. My first reaction was "What am I going to endoure through out eh year for God to teach me a little Compassion."

I have to say that i have been blessed and more blessed since this one little word has entered my thoughts and my different way of thinking. God has brought person after person into my life with Compassion and purpose to bless me and my family. I am just amazed at the lengths people have gone to bless me, i wonder why. Because of God and his Compassion for us he surrounds us with those who show His love and Compassion.

After a short trip with the girls to WalMart yesterday, we made a quick decision in the car to black out Facebook for the week, i have been tempted to get on a few times today, but have over came the temptation and found something else to do in it's place. Like finally completing this quilt i have been working on since November. It is long over due to be getting done. We came into the house I realized i had not checked my school email since last Thurs. i logged on and found a very short email from our building Accounts personnel, i briefly explained that someone who chose to remain unknown and felt it in their heart to pay my daughters cheer leading fees for this school year. Now if any of you have had daughters cheer in High school you know how costly it can be come, i pay mine when we get our tax return each year. i was so blessed and again reminded of Compassion.

Thank you Lord for your love and the love of your faithful servants to bless us in our time of need to lighten the load, to find Mercy and Compassion, even when we don't think we deserve either.

Just Another Tuesday

Where did Monday go? Monday's always seem to last forever, with one horrible event after the other. This morning like all mornings I woke up just wanting to spend 5 more minutes in bed. Yesterday was a rather unusual Monday with Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, we just happened to be out of school yesterday. Making our Monday go rather fast, and less forgotten by the next morning.
For me I would have rather spent a little longer sharing my Monday, Watching the basketball game and sharing with an old friend. Time seems to go too fast anymore these days, as Adam and i laid in bed last night reflecting over the last 11 yrs. or so. I was reminded of all the changes that have taken place, how we are getting even closer to the end of a Chapter in your lives and expecting to turn the page to a new adventure much different then the last.
I guess from this time forward we will spend many of our days asking where has the time gone, children turning into adults. I am reminded of a very dear friend of mine, she would often say don't rush time it rushes enough on it's own. Enjoy the little moments and celebrate the big ones, maybe because we never know how life will turn out.
I think i will spend everyday thankful with out complaint, making even the most miserable of days the best that i can make it.

15 Things I would Want Someone To Know About Me If I Was Gone Tomorrow

1) I am a passionate Mother.
2) My youthful spirit comes from the hours A day I spend with children learning from their innocence.
3) I believe that through God all things are possible.
4) A life's journey is more than finding yourself, it's more than where you have been, it's about seeking God's gift's in you.
5) The simplest of things are the only things that matter.
6) I understand the true meaning of "By the Grace of God Go I."
7) Depression does not consume us it defines who we are.

8) I have loved deeply and lived with passion, but the greatest of all was,waking to happiness every morning.
9) I have experienced the lose of someone very close to me.
10)  The birth of my 2 amazing daughter's was not just the happiest day's of my life, it was everyday i spent watching them grow and learn.
11) I discovered that deep love comes from having to watch your children experience pain and heartache.
12) Friendship is one of the greatest gift's God gave us.
13) I loved to Quilt not because it kept me busy, but because i loved seeing the thankfulness in the faces of people I made them for.
14) God's timing is everything, it's the waiting that forces growth.
15) I hope that my life is celebrated, and not spent in sorrow.

My youngest daughter taking a sort rest from her game one evening. She is my pillar of strength at times, even though more times than many she feels defeated, I see someone so very strong and grounded. How proud we are of her.

(Re)Fresh 2011

Refresh was the topic of the day, as i sat in a room of maybe 60 women or so give or take. I thought OK God what in the world do you have me up so early on a Saturday morning for. I know for most 40 something yr. old women 10:00 am is rather late. Not for me i am very young at heart and even though i feel every bit of 40, i try to trick my body with the occasional guilty pleasures of the young, try sleeping till Noon even when i have to crawl out of bed (because my back is stiff and soar). It's really soar i tell my self not because i am a few pounds. over weight, but because my husband waits for me to fall asleep each night so he can roll over me 20 times like a steam roller. It's his way of getting back at me for the occasional nagging i do during the day or the few chores i have for him as he is walking in the door after a long day at school and work.

Anyways i sat there, excited to spend a day with a new friend and kind of nervous well because God does not get me out of bed on a Saturday unless it's something good. Well i wasn't prepared for what was about to happen and i certainly was not ready for it. The topic was "Stories Matter" the one thing i can relate to, you know i sort of sat there shaking my head sort like the old cartoons when they would get hit over the head, I thought maybe everyone at my table saw the stars over my head cause God knocked me silly. He does that at times when he can't get my attention any other way he sort of has to hit me over the head.

Over the years i have used this very spot to sit and challenge myself to pursue God a little harder, or to stop and listen.As you look back through the old posts you see they are pretty sporadic in times, cause well that's sort of how life gets to go for me. It doesn't mean that God is sporadic in my life it means more like i am sporadic in his. I think we are all a little guilty of that.

As the guest speaker began to talk, she challenged us to allow God to use us through our very own stories of our journey in life. to " Say hello and share the work of God." How he teaches me in the unexpected circumstances, pray with blind faith.

You know the one thing i have discovered most challenging in my life these days, is raising teenage girls. Sometimes i think they are raising me instead of it the other way around. I look back and remember how easy it was for me to get them to pick up their rooms. I would say " Girls let's play a game, let's see how many toys we have left on the floor by picking them up one by one and counting them as we put them in their proper place" Now i say "can i help you pick up your room," I either get the look of "stay out of my room", or "OK" and i end up picking up the room while they lay on the bed watching their favorite program. It  was so simple when they were little. Now it's been twisted and mangled by peer pressure, hormones, BOYS, emotional stress( mine & theirs) I use to enjoy being a mother to the most precious darling loving daughters....now i hide and tremble in the closet because those little darlings have turned into confusing, multiple personality young women most days i think i live with Sybil. I was reminded that the "Shadows are a part of life" those are the times when we listen , learn & keep going.

I took a separate class on journal, my passion, We were challenged this year to search a word that we want to learn more about. Something God can teach us, or maybe something we really want to focus on this year. I had many words come to mind, but a word that resonated with me the most was Compassion. Any mother of TEEN daughters needs compassion, with out compassion you spend most of your days with a soar throat from yelling all the things you need them to hear. Of which they could quite frankly give 2 craps about. Your needs and their wants do not line up any longer.

I looked up the definition and then I gulped, and got a little scared because even though this is definitely a gift i need to learn. It may become quite a challenge to teach it to me.

Compassion- A feeling of deep sympathy& sorrow, accompanied by a desire to alleviate the suffering; MERCY

Please for the 2011 yr. jot down my name and pray for me when ever I come to mind, i am just going out on a limb here i am going to need it!

Sincerely,
your compassion less (Not for long) friend
Angie

Another Year has came and went

I just can't believe that 2010 has already left us. It's just another memory stored in our file of  as time moves on. It seems to be going much faster now as the girls get older.

We have been busy as usual, with one sporting event after the other, this year i was anxious to see Basketball Season get here, and even more anxious to be getting to the end of another Season.

A recap of last year, Kiana started High School, she played Volleyball and Basketball, of course Alexis is still cheering. She is looking more toward colleges. She is finding that school is taking a little more effort on her part. Kiana is right now on the activity ladder, doing what ever she can to make her last 4 yrs. the experience she will always remember. I on the other hand continue to hold my breathe for long periods of time, in hopes that it may just make time either stop for a moment of to or just slow the process down a few months or so. I am not trying to be too picky, i will take what ever i can get.

While i have made new friends this year, I have even been blessed to have old friends come back into my life. i have also had the opportunity to grow closer yet to one of most dear friends. Life has been good.

Adam is only months away from graduating from school, He has been fortunate enough to have job offers, it's just getting better.

The best thing that happened in 2010 was we found our dream home, a rather old but gentle home, sort of like us. With more Character and passion then we have ever experienced in a home. It's good to walk through the door everyday with a sigh of finally coming home.

I guess you can say that while 2010 had many days of growth and challenges, the things i choose to let resonate with my soul are the times of growth and beginnings.

I am Welcoming 2011 with open arms, and a bit of excitement to see what it has 2011 has to offer.