The Nursery

This morning I did something I haven't done in over 4 years. ...I worked in the church nursery. They came desperately looking for volunteers during Sunday School (or whatever we call it these days) What a great morning, rocking, singing and talking to the under 1 set and the biggest plus...I didn't have to change a single diaper. I loved holding those sweet smelling babies. Just another step back into the old normal.

Another year of Homeschooling

This week began another chapter in our lives. Emily began High School. It is hard to believe she has gotten so old. I don't feel old enough to have a child in high school. For now she will be at home until we get settled somewhere. We didn't want to enroll her somewhere only to uproot her mid semester when we move on. She agreed whole heartily and would like to wait until her Sophomore year to go off to school. She is excited about going to some of her cousin Laura's High School's Football games.

The kids are taking some of their tougher academic courses online this year. We did a little of that last year and it was a great experience. The classes are rigorous and they have to develop some form of self discipline since I don't know everything that was taught and all due dates. An important thing to learn as a homeschooler. One of the classes Em is taking this year is Biology. 4 times during the upcoming year, some place in our home will turn into a dissection lab! Fun or Yuck?? Maybe a little of both. She will get to dissect a worm, a frog, a perch, and a crayfish. Maybe we should limit guests during that time. I remember the smell from my high school days. Eww.

Will is looking forward to a Computer Programing Robotics course. It uses a robotic educational Lego set and the Terrapin computer language. He should do well with that and have a blast doing it. While Emily always dreads the start of school, he was excited for school to begin again.

I didn't take a picture of the first day of school this year. I always do that when the kids go off to school, but rarely when they homeschool. I should really try to do that. By the way, I always get this question; in case you are wondering, the Gilmers do not school in their pjs. (OK well at least the kids don't. Sometimes their teacher shows up in hers)

The Job Hunt

If you could move almost anywhere in the US where would you move? I'm serious. I need to know. We are facing this dilemma. There are family practice jobs almost everywhere, but what's the right job and where's the right home? How do you pick a place when where you really want to live is 9000 miles away. School at Faith Academy has begun this week and through Facebook it has been hard to watch Emily's class mates begin their first year of high school while we sit in a holding pattern. For now, we wait for direction and continue the job hunt. This year we will be homeschooling once again. Who knows what the next school year will bring. I think I'll take a break from all this thinking and go hang out by the pool with my sister-in-law while the kids swim with their cousins. The end of summer is rapidly approaching. It's a tough life being a stay at home mom, but someone has to do it!

By the way, Will says the picture in the blog below of the boy at camp who looks like he is sleeping is not him. He had a fabulous time and can't wait to go back next year. He won a trophy for Horseback. He loves horses now and wants to begin riding somewhere. Here's a shot of him carrying a homemade raft for some kind of competition.And another of him with a Djembe (African drum). This was one of his favorite skills at camp and he now taps and drums on everything.

A verse for the path we are on:

Isaiah 42:16

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,

along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;

I will turn the darkness into light before them

and make the rough places smooth.

These are the things I will do;

I will not forsake them.

More Camp Photos

Well I have heard from Emily. She says "Camp is a blast!!!" Her favorite activity so far? Horseback riding. That was always my favorite too. No letter yet from Will. I made the kids promise to write home at least twice. He could possibly wait and do both of them the last day. I have at least seen him in a few pics now. Below he is climbing up on the docks out in the lake.

He is wearing his green rash guard so I know it's him.

Here he is with his team playing

a live version of the board game Clue

and Finally the shot that lets me know he's having fun...

Notice the boy with the mouth hanging open being goofy.

That's our Will!

Here are Emily and Laura headed to

the Council of Progress

Camp Photos

Every day the kids camps post pictures of the campers participating in activities and having fun. I thought I would share a few.

First up: Just a couple of the pictures I've seen of Emily

Jumping off the dock with her cabin mates

She's the one in the middle with the light blue bathing suit

Climbing out on the "blob"

Wish there was one of her being popped off into the water

Archery!

In 3 days of pictures, Will has been in exactly 2 pictures. One was him during the swim test that I put in the last blog. The other is below.

He's the one in the gray shirt with his head down. I hope this isn't indicative of the time he's having. I am going to think positively and say it's because he is worn out from too much fun.

Ahh, Silence!

Swimming, hiking, horseback riding, canoeing, chiggers, sleeping under the stars, leather crafts, cabin cheers, archery, riflery, bonfires....these things stir up such fond memories for me. When I was a girl, each summer I went away to summer camp. The old fashioned kind where you slept in unairconditioned cabins and each day was crammed so full of activities that you fell instantly asleep at night. Each year I begged to go for as many weeks as my parents would send me. When I was old enough, I spent all summer long there working as a counselor and a lifeguard. I have always wanted my kids to have this same experience. Unfortunately, med school, residency, and living overseas have kept us from sending them.

Back in February, I had looked into it for this summer, but with a church youth retreat in June and plans to leave the US in mid-July, it would have made things too crazy. In June, with the summer still stretching long before us, it dawned on me that camp might actually work for this summer. After discussing this with Allan, I quickly signed Emily up at Camp Crestridge for Girls. Her cousin, Laura, decided she wanted to go and also signed up. Sadly, Will had to be placed on a waiting list at Camp Ridgecrest for boys. It seems 12 is a really popular age for boys to go to camp. Over the last few weeks, the camp has called with possibilities like a kid missing camp for a play-off game, but these didn't seem to pan out. The wonderful camp registrar told us last Thursday to pack his stuff just in case. She just felt good about him getting in. There was always the possibility of a no-show and since we would be dropping Em off at the sister camp down the road, we could easily bring him at the last minute. This morning as we were backing out of the driveway to head up to North Carolina, the call came. Will was in!! What a good lessonfor all of the family on God answering prayers .

Will was beyond ecstatic. He had wanted to go so bad and it was hard to put a trunk in the car that he knew might come out back at home at the end of the day. For the next 2 weeks, the kids will be romping and playing and worshiping in the North Carolina mountains. They will both ride a horse for the first time and learn to play the guitar. Bonfires, campouts, canoeing, ziplines, crafts, archery, paintball, riflery, and too many activities to name await them. I hope they love it as much as I did! It is quiet in the Gilmer house tonight. It's just me and the dog. Allan is off working 24 hours in the ER. The TV is off...no Disney channel, video games, Jonas Brothers, or Adventures in Odyssey fill the space. In a few days, the quiet may seem too loud, but right now silence is golden. It's time to refresh and renew before we begin the crazy months ahead. (By the way, isn't this more exciting than new pillows??)

I am sure I will have more pictures to share in coming days, but these are the only ones I found my kids in on the camp website today.

Emily's Cabin Mates

Emily is in the blue shirt on the end

and Laura is in the green shirt next to her

Will during the swim test

Pillows

Ok I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but my children have never had a new pillow that belonged to them alone. When they were little I gave them old pillows that were somewhat flat because they were so small. Since that time they have just had hand-me-downs from Allan and I. When we returned from the Philippines last August, we each got a pillow that we had left at my parents house 3 years before. The kids each thought they could remeber the one they had left behind and were thrilled with tha little bit of the past. Back in May after our decision to remain in the US, I decided that I needed to ditch the sorry pillow Allan and I were using and buy new ones for us. Since that time, I have felt a little guilty that my kids do not also have new pillows. So yesterday the kids and I went out and I let them pick their own new one (within a reasonable $$). They have been so excited and funny about it. We had to try everyone at JC Pennys. I thought at any moment Will was going to start trying them out on the sample beds. I tried to take their pictures, but being 14 and 12 they wouldn't cooperate. I guess it was a little bizarre. So here are the 2 pictures I tried to snap. Were they pleased with their purchase? The morning after verdict was that the pillows were soft and they slept wonderfully.

Isn't this a pathetic way to begin blogging again?? Maybe I should post some pictures from our recent trip to DC

Beginning again

It has been a long time since I have blogged and I'm not sure anybody even checks this anymore. Since our decision not to return to the Philippines, I haven't had any words to say. It has been a tough time for our family as we have grieved the death of a dream and a vision. Last week I was talking to a dear friend on the phone and she asked me if I had been journaling the things we are going through. In the past 14 years, I have kept a record of this journey and the path God has led us on. But recently, I have not been able to write down any of my experiences or feelings or even blog about our daily happenings. Maybe it is time to begin blogging again. Life continues and we struggle to see God's purpose in our remaining in the US. We have big decisions and job interviews in the coming months and would appreciate any prayers for those decisions.

The Elephant

Have you ever heard the expression about overlooking the elephant in the room? Well, there's an elephant in our blog that we just can't overlook any more. Many of you already know that we recently had to make a tough decision concerning our ministry in the Philippines. We were scheduled to return to the PI in late July. Unfortunately our support has been impacted by the current economic crisis and we are unable to financially return at this time. This has probably been the toughest decision Allan and I have ever had to make, much harder than deciding to move overseas. It has been a decision filled with sadness by all of our family. The kids in particular have had a hard time adjusting. Missions is what we have felt called to and planned for. We have struggled with what God has for us now. We would appreciate your prayers during this difficult time as we seek out what the future holds. I plan to keep blogging and we will keep you posted as to our future plans. I have loved blogging about our experiences in the Philippines. Thanks to all our faithful readers for sharing in our adventure with us.

NASCAR All Star Race pt 2

Well Allan and Emily's NASCAR trip on Friday and Saturday was a rousing success. Emily loved every moment at the track. I am afraid she likes NASCAR even more now. The 2 of them couldn't have asked for a better time. They kept me posted on all the exciting events by the cell phone. One of the main highlights happened Saturday afternoon. They went to a Q&A time with Emily's favorite driver, Matt Kenseth that was broadcast on the Speed Cable TV station. Emily was chosen to ask Matt a question on live TV. She was given a Kenseth shirt because of that. Afterwards, Kenseth signed her hat as he was heading out. The race itself was an thrilling nail biter. Kenseth was in the lead during the last few laps of the race, but was beat out with 2 laps to go by Tony Stewart. This made for much excitement and she was thrilled he came in 2nd. They had a great time and came home exhausted. What a precious memory for the 2 of them of their NASCAR race together.

Matt's trailer

You can hardly see it, but here is Emily in front of Kenseth

as he is about to begin his Qualifying run.

Answering Emily's Question at the Q&A Session on SpeedTV

The Question?:

"What type of tracks do you like better; long or short?"

Autographing Emily's hat

NASCAR All Star Race

If you have personally known Emily in the last few years, you will know that she has an obsession uncommon to most 14 year old girls. She is crazy about NASCAR. She developed this love while we were in the Philippines through a combination of the movies Herbie and Cars, and our neighbors the Brewers and Nelsens. Her favorite driver is......Matt Kenseth, who happens to be related to our partner Cindy Nelsen. After Kenseth won the first 2 races of the season, his website offered some $17 tickets to the All Star race in Charlotte. Emily had a birthday coming up and Charlotte just happens to be 2 hours from here. So Right now Emily and Allan are having a father/daughter weekend cheering Kenseth on at the Lowe's motor speedway. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

40!

Well it's official. I am now middle-aged!

Yesterday I turned the big 4-0.

I had a really great birthday. After lunch at Chick-fil-a, I spent the afternoon with Emily at our monthly crocheting class. We have been taking this class together for the last couple of months. This month we are making dish rags. It has been a hysterical time as we have bumbled through together. After our class, we arrived home to find that Allan had been busy decorating with the obligatory black crepe paper and sparkly streamers. We celebrated last night with my family by eating at my favorite restaurant--The Flat Rock Grill. For those of you familiar with South Carolina cuisine, I love their she-crab soup and crab stuffed shrimp. YUM! We then stuffed ourselves with cake and loaded cherry chocolate ice cream. (or Cookies n Cream for those non-cherry eaters) I now have to get back on my healthy eating plan today.

What am I doing right now?

I haven't quite joined the Twitter age or posting blogs from my cell phone about what I am doing moment by moment. To be honest, it would be really boring, but I thought this morning I would let you have a peek into my life. Right at this moment I am giving the Iowa Test of Basic Skills to a group of homeschoolers (including my 2). Once I get each section started, I have 15 to 30 minutes of silence. I am thankful for wireless internet so I can get on my laptop and check emails and such, but I should have brought a book.

Special Olympics

Last week the kids and I had the opportunity to work at the Greenville Special Olympics Spring Games. It was a really fun day and the weather was perfect. It couldn't have been nicer. Emily, Will and I were buddies for 2 atheletes. They were both 9. The hit of the day for both boys and Will was not actually the games, but climbing in some Army Hummers and talking to the soldiers who had come out for the day. Unfortunately, I thought I had left my camera at my parent's house on Easter Sunday so I didn't take any pictures myself. To be honest, I found my camera in my purse later that evening so I could have actually taken some. Someone else took the pictures of us below, but there were none of Emily.

Easter

Sunday was such a gorgeous Easter Sunday. After church, the family gathered at my parents for lunch. Mom made such delcious food; ham, sweet potato cassarole, broccoli with Hollandaise sauce, Sister Shuberts rolls, Mimi's famous Mac and Cheese, and Strawberry Cake for dessert. It was all so good!

We took a great family picture in front of the fireplace.

Back when Allan was in medical school, my mom had an Easter egg hunt for Emily and Will one year. I think the kids were 2 and 4. It was such a big hit that she began to do it every year. Sometimes my brother's kids would also be there. As we began our year long walk down memory lane, it was one of things Em and Will were excited about. They have mentioned it quite a few times since last Easter. My mom had no choice, but to plan another hunt. (like she would have ever told the grandkids no) Since she hadn't done one in 3 years and this might be the last one, she went all out and had 18 dozen eggs filled with all kinds of goodies. After lunch, the "kids" hid the eggs for the "grandkids". My brother set the rules: at this age, the eggs had to be hidden well, but at least part of the egg had to be able to be seen. I was in charge of hiding 12 golden eggs that each had a gold dollar inside. That responsibility included remembering where they were hidden. Well at last count, there were still 15-20 eggs hidden in the yard, including one of the gold eggs. I can't remember where I hid it. I have even offered a reward to the kid who finds it, but it is no where to be found. Maybe 30 years from now some child will make a wonderful discovery. Of course if they discover one of the ones with chocolate inside, I wouldn't recommend eating it.

The kids getting ready to hunt eggs.

They decorated these bags when they spent the night with Mimi and Pop the week before.

They needed large ones for 18 dozen eggs

Will on the hunt

Revelation

It's late and my mind seems to be racing with all the thoughts running through my head that I can't seem to turn off. As we anguish over the decision laid before us, once again a song seems to express my feelings and emotions better that I can. If only I were eloquent enough to explain what is in my heart tonight. The Christian group, Third Day, says it much better:

My life has led me down the road that' so uncertain...

This time, I know you are holding all the answers...

My life has led me down this path that's ever winding
Through every twist and turn I'm always finding....

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
Cause I've been tryin' to find my way,
I haven't got a clue
Tell me should I stay here,
Or do I need to move
Give me a Revelation
I've got nothing without You
I've got nothing without You

I don’t know where I can turn
Tell me when will I learn
Won't You show me where I need to go
Let me follow Your lead,
I know that it's the only way I can get back home

Give me a revelation,

Show me what to do

Cause I’ve been tryin’ to find my way,

I haven’t got a clue

Tell me should I stay here,

Or do I need to move

Give me a revelation

I’ve got nothing without You

I’ve got nothing without You

Revelation by Third Day

14!

Emily turned 14 today!

It is hard to believe she is so grown up. She has become such a beautiful young woman.

On Saturday, we celebrated at our house with the family. Emily chose to have fried chicken and a Matt Kenseth cake.

She is a huge NASCAR fan and has enjoyed being able to watch it this year.

Allan and I are learning to like it.Afterwards, we went go-karting per Emily's request. She has always had a need for speed and she drives around the track pedal to the metal. I might need to be scared of her turning 16.

Here is a final picture of Emily this morning after breakfast ready to open presents

God of This City

Do you ever get a song stuck in your head? Usually when that happens to me, it drives me crazy. Often it is some bizarre song that I don’t even really like. In the last few weeks I have had the song “God of This City” by Chris Tomlin suck in my head. This time, it is driving Will crazy. You see there aren’t too many words to this song and I tend to sing the same 3 lines over and over. On the other hand, I have liked having this song playing over and over in my brain. The Lord has really used it as a great reminder of why we are serving in the Philippines. As we struggle to raise enough support to return to the Philippines, it helps me remember that He isn’t done with Manila yet regardless of what our future holds. There is Hope among the poor and hopeless of Manila. Please pray with us that we will be able to return to the Philippines in late July and share His Love, Grace and Mercy there.

Below are the lyrics to this song along with some pictures of things that flash through my mind as I hear it. You can hear this song at http://www.last.fm/music/Chris+Tomlin/_/God+Of+This+City?autostart It will start playing automatically.

God of this City

by Chris Tomlin You’re the God of this City
You’re the King of these People
You’re the Lord of this Nation
You Are

You’re the Light in this darkness
You’re Hope to the hopeless
You’re the Peace to the restless
You Are
There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God
For Greater things have yet to come
and greater things are still to be done in this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
We believe, we believe in you God

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God