Fires

It smells like smoke here.

Houses are burning down over Golden Gate. Please pray for the people who have lost their homes.

We got some rain today... praise God!

a ball of emotions

yep. That has been me for the last week or so.

Some exciting news to start the blog... Kevin Jones, Mr. Robotics, got a job! (For those of you who have been out of the loop, Kev's company went bankrupt and for the past month has been out of work.) He has been on a bunch of interviews, and as of last Wednesday has a job!

Now for the awful, terrible, sad, heart wrenching news... This new job is in Richmond VA! Yes, friends, you heard that correctly, not Sunny South West Florida. Yes again, that is 14 hours away from us, the Gillians. Sad.

I haven't really been able to talk about it without crying. I actually am welling up with tears, just thinking about writing it... I think about the last FRIENDS episode when Rachel is moving and having to say all of her goodbyes, it is just awful. Ya know, Carly, besides Slim, is my person. The one that I tell everything. The one who tells me to snap out of it when I am having a bad attitude. The one that I just go and hang out with when I don't want to be sitting at my house.

I know that this is the best thing for them. They have a baby coming in 3 months. They need the work, but still that doesn't make it any easier.

I always thought that our little ones would grow up together: Little Gillian teaching Little Jones to play air guitar while Little Jones teaches Little Gillian to finger paint. I hate the fact that they are going to know each other through visits, stories, blogs, and phone calls. It breaks my heart that they won't be able to see each other every day if they wanted to, like Car and I have been able to for the last 4 years.

I know that I am being so selfish, and that this is just one more of the fights with God that I have no chance at winning. I just get sad wondering about things like, Who are we going to sit with at church? Who am I going to call when I need to borrow some fun shirt or funky jewelry? Who will meet me to go shopping for things that I don't need? Who will go to Teavana, Starbucks, Ruby Tuesdays, or any other establishment, on just some whim?

Slim says that I have to stop crying about it because I am going to ruin the last few weeks with them. I wish that I knew how...

Know this. Slim and I love these two people, and Little Liberty, too!

Car and Kev, You will always have a place to stay when you need to soak up some sun! You guys mean the world to us and we are so thankful for the friends that you have been. (And will continue to be)

Pray for the Chapman family...

Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday evening after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home.Maria, one of the Christian singer’s six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver’s name.The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.“It appears to be a terrible accident,’’ McPherson said.

No charges are expected, she said. The accident was witnessed by two other children; the entire family was home at the time, McPherson said.Singer/songwriter Chapman, who recently was inducted into Music City Walk of Fame, is one of contemporary Christian music’s most recognizable and most awarded names.

He and his wife Mary Beth have long been supporters of international adoption, having brought three girls from China into their family. Maria was the youngest.The couple is so active in the cause that they formed an organization, Shaohannah’s Hope, to aid families wanting to adopt.

With his latest music tour, which came through Nashville in November, Chapman started a campaign called “Change for Orphans”. He asked audience members at each stop to bring spare change to the concert, where it was counted and given to a local family to aid in their adoption process.“I don’t know of anybody who loves his children more than he does and is so committed to the adoption concept, and to lose one, no matter what the circumstances, is heartbreaking beyond all comprehension,” said John Styll, president of the Nashville-based Gospel Music Association.“He talks about his kids all the time. That’s his life. His kids are more important to him than music, that’s for sure.”

The tragedy was announced during Wednesday-night services at Harpeth Hills Church of Christ, which the family attends. Maria had just graduated from the church preschool.And word spread throughout the tight-knit Christian music community on Wednesday evening.

Styll got the news not long after Maria’s death.“I’m confident I can speak for everyone in the community to say we will do everything we can to support this family, as we would do at any time, but especially at a time like this,” he said.

Most of the Chapman family was at Vanderbilt children’s hospital after the accident and could not be contacted. The long, gravel driveway leading to the home west of Franklin was blocked off by Williamson County sheriff’s deputies.

Graduating on Friday!

Congratulations, Tara on being done with High School!

I am so proud of you! It feels like just yesterday that you were starting 8th grade, and now it will be college, full time. There have been many stories and crazy times from your high school years, but you definitely finished strong, and are becoming more and more the woman who God wants you to be! You are a blessing to both Slim and me. We love you!

miss them

already!

some insight from Red Letters

From Tom Davis, author of Red Letters...

"It seems our "church" has been formed and reformed and shaped and reshaped and cluttered to the point that is is practically unrecognizable. I wonder what the first-century Christians would say if they could see the church today? I have often wondered what today's church might look like stripped of all the excess. I don't mean to disparage church movements or the many good things that the church is doing, but I wonder how much digging it would take to find the church in its purest form- people whose love and compassion for God overflows into the lives of the most needy."

What do you think?

Kari's blood is boiling.

We are reading Red Letters, as you know, in our girls Thursday morning study.



God is doing something in Kari's heart. Don't get me wrong, he is working in all of us through this book, but in different ways. Stay tuned to see if God is calling Kari to Africa:) (Right now she says she hates the book.) HAHA.

Her passion about doing the right thing for the right people is definitely there. It is hard for her to have any sort of compassion on the older people who are causing the spread of the AIDS pandemic.



It is easy to say that God loves us, despite our falling short, but when you read about men raping young girls and then the children receiving the HIV virus, it definitely breaks your heart, and makes you have hatred toward those men. God doesn't hate those men. Yes, he does hate what they do, but God still loves them despite their sin. This may seem controversial, but it is the truth. Those men were still created by Him, and just like us need a Savior.


How can we help? I am not sure yet, but I sure want to... How about you?

in case you were wondering

http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2008/05/203-not-knowing-what-meals-to-pray.html

You may need to know this.

Happy May

This is going to be a great month. Here's what's happening...

1. Heather and Jake come today for the week. You are all probably sick of hearing about this, but you have no idea how excited I am!

2. Slim's 25th birthday is on Sunday. He is getting so old. ha.

3. My sister-in-laws are in the Estero High School musical performance of 42nd Street on the 9th and 10th

4. My brother Jimmy turns 23 on the 10th.

5. Ben and Caeden turn 3 on the 12th and 13th

6. Levi and Julie get married on May 17th. (I love weddings)

7. Kari's birthday is the 17th...

8. Memorial day is the 26th, so that means a long weekend from work:) Maybe Kari will have a boat by then and we can spend the day on the water... (just an idea, Kari)

9. My sister-in-law Kelsey graduates from High School (this might be the 1st of June though)

I love thinking ahead to the fun things to come, but for now, I must get back to today.