Another Christmas Party

We went to a Christmas party at Mark and Aegis Stuart's house. We had another white elephant gift exchange and guess what we brought? The lion! Actually, the girl who won it LOVED it. She named him and threatened everyone not to steal it from her. She said that she thought he knew who his mama was! Needless to say, she became immediately attached.

The funniest part was that we had to dress up in our cheesiest Christmas outfit. I wore a Christmas sweat shirt and a santa hat that said, "I still believe in Santa." Brock was so funny looking! A couple of years ago, he went to this exclusive place called the Magic Castle out in LA. A tie was required and Brock didn't have one, so his friend brought him one. It's hideous! It's a Christmas tie that is in the shape of a Christmas tree. Also, it's so short on Brock! He also had a lime green suit that he used to wear as a joke...it's the only suit he owns!

Anyway, we took all kinds of "family" Christmas pictures in our outfits...

Stephanie Smith

The Winter Wonder Slam with Toby Mac was sold out last night. However, my friend, Stephanie Smith, performed as an opening act. Therefore, she got us tickets. We went up to the very front to watch her sing. Wow! She did so well! She's great and her album doesn't even come out until next spring.

A lady next to me asked if I knew who she was. The lady seemed very impressed. Nobody knows who she is yet, naturally, because her record isn't out. I watched a few girls in front of me stand and watch her for a while. Then, they started dancing and bouncing around. They looked at each other and giggled. They loved Steph!

Steph is a beautiful girl and she looks so cool and sings so well. The best thing about her is her heart. She has such a love for the Lord. With talent like that and the Lord on her side, there is no telling what she can do!

Christmas Decorations

You can guess that Brock is not very into Christmas decorations. He thinks that everything is too commercial at Christmas. He's right about that, but I enjoy a few Christmas decorations. I talked him into cutting down a tree from our backyard. It's a little like a Charlie Brown tree. We affectionately call it our Christmas bush. I decorated it with the ornaments and stuff that Gin and I used back in college one year.

The candle stands on our mantle were a gift from a church where we did a show. The nativity scene is the one we've had in our house every year while I was growing up. My sister and I actually fought over who got to arrange the ceramic pieces in it. My mom allowed us to rearrange it every day taking turns each day.

Nontraditionalist

Brock is untraditional to say the least. I cannot think of one tradition that he keeps. At Christmastime, this is really evident. There are so many traditions surrounding Christmas.

The other day, we were in downtown Franklin where they were celebrating "Dickens on the Square." Brock was so confused as to why people were dressed up like they lived 100 years ago and some guy was walking around saying "Bah Hum Bug!" I said that it's because of the famous book that is now a famous play by Charles Dickens. HE HAD NEVER HEARD OF IT. Can you believe that? He had heard of Scrooge but didn't know where it came from.

One year, we were at my parents' house when they were putting up their Christmas tree. Mom told Brock that he could put the angel on top since he is so tall. As the rest of us began busying ourselves with the lights and ornaments, Brock reached up to place the angel on top of the bare tree. We all froze and said, "NO!" Brock was startled. We explained that the angel goes on last. Of course, Brock wanted to know why. We said that it was because of tradition.

Try and explain a tradition to someone. It really sounds illogical. You begin to sound crazy even to yourself. Then, you usually end up just saying something like, "Because we do it this way every year...that's why!"

Jeanne Assam is my Hero

I'm sure you've heard about the shootings in Colorado. Well, have you heard the petite blond security guard's testimony? It's amazing! After being on a fast for 3 days asking God to show her what to do with her life, she "happened" to be the security guard who was closest to the door. After she heard the shots outside, she steadied her hand and aimed right at the shooter when he came into the New Life Church. She said that she felt as if the Holy Spirit was guiding her. She fired three rounds ending the shooting.

You see, she killed him before he came into the church where 700 people were gathered. If the shooter would have entered the auditorium, the unsuspecting congregation would have been like sitting ducks. We later found out that the shooter had 1,000 rounds of ammunition. The security guard, Jeanne Assam, saved many lives that day.

Whenever I saw her on TV, she was sitting next to a man, and I honestly thought she was his wife or something. Not so...SHE was the hero. It sounds a little like a modern day David and Goliath. Plus, after not eating for 3 days, you'd think that she would be weak, but she was very steady. In our weakness, HE is strong.

Pictures from our Christmas Party

We formed a line from the living room into the kitchen area to get food. It's tight, but we were able to manage.


I set up a table in the kitchen.


Then, people crowded around our dining room table.


Some of us had to sit in the living room while we ate.


This is us having the white elephant exchange.


The lion


The eagle mounted salt shakers that we won.


A low rider with Santa and a few reindeer.


The lion in our bath tub

Another Party at the Gills

I must say, our parents taught us how to throw a party! With the cooking skills that Brock inherited from his parents and the hospitality skills I acquired from my mom, we throw great parties. We love it, too!

Last night, we had a Christmas party at our house. We had some really good food, of course. Brock made his famous turkey all over again. He also made a gumbo. I made my mother-in-law's famous cornbread dressing and pudding made from scratch. Plus, everyone brought a side dish or dessert to add to the mix. All 22 of us ate to our hearts' content.

Then, we had a white elephant gift exchange. It was funny! Some of the popular gifts were incredible hulk gloves, an old ipod, and a lion's head. I don't know who won the lion's head, but I discovered that they'd placed it in our bath tub!

After that, Brock did some incredible magic tricks. They were a hit! After that, Brock told everyone about a collection we were going to take for a family in need. (More about that on another post.) Then, we had dessert, and it was time to go home.

Shrimpboat Willy's

Last night, we had a birthday party for one of my friends. We were talking about the good times we used to have on the road together and specifically this one restaurant that she absolutely loves. The name of the restaurant is Steamboat Bill's, but I seem to get things mixed up sometimes. I always call it "Shrimpboat Willy's."

I remember one time I was giving Brock directions to a place called "Mount Blossom." After driving for a while, I said, "There it is!" while pointing to a sign that said "Flower Mound." You see, I get the concept but it still isn't quite right. Brock thinks that it's so funny that he never corrects me, so meanwhile I look like an idiot!

I know exactly where I get it from, too...my dad. It's really funny with him because he's a pastor. One time he was preaching a sermon and used the band "The Ungrateful Dead" as an example. He kept referring to it when finally somebody said from the choir loft, "It's the Grateful Dead, Preacher." Then, everyone got extra tickled because they are in church, and you are supposed to be quiet in church. I've seen my mom correct dad during one of his messages from where she sits to the side interpreting it into sign language.

In fact, I was talking to dad on the phone one day, and he told me that they were going to see a movie with Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley in it called "For Better or Worse." I told him to have fun! Isn't the movie called "For Richer or Poorer?"

Christmas Gifts

Need Christmas present ideas? You can get somebody one of our dvd's! Our new one is called Standing Room Only and is a documentary of the Freedom Experience. If you wish you could be at one of these shows, you can through the dvd. You can purchase our dvd's at our website www.brockgill.com.

I've been buying more and more online. Yesterday, I went to a few stores and it was crazy! Traffic was outrageous! I just purchased a gift on amazon.com while I was sitting in my bed. Plus, I didn't have to pay any tax and shipping was free!

Dependent on Brock

I realized how dependent on Brock I've become the other day. He was in Birmingham having meetings and I stayed here. On my way to my village meeting, I stopped by Publix to pick up a turkey for our party Sunday night. Then, I began to drive to Emily's house. When I was about two blocks from the house, the road closed down. The sign said "Road Closed to Thru Traffic." I thought that I wasn't thru traffic, because I was going to a house on that street. Therefore, I went past the barricade and got all the way to the railroad tracks about one block from her house. That was where it was shut down! I could almost park and walk to their house if it wasn't 30 degrees outside.

I turned around. Due to a little fender bender and a long line of traffic, I couldn't go simply one block over. I had backtrack big time! Then, I went one road too far. At this point, I realized that I'm not used to driving around myself. Brock always drives, so when one problem arose, I couldn't think quickly enough to know the best way around the mess.

When I got to Emily's house, I didn't have my wallet. I called Publix, and yes, it was there. When I awkwardly carried out my turkey (normally Brock would have carried it), I left my wallet on the counter. I had to turn around and go right back where I came from to get back to Publix to retrieve my wallet. This was such simple a simple task, yet it became so difficult because Brock wasn't there to know exactly what to do.

Advent 2

The other part of Advent that I know about is that is symbolizes our anticipation of the Second Coming. However, how many people really are excited about that? We aren't even really yearning for heaven. We are so focused on our little world here that we don't really want HEAVEN. That's crazy when you think about it.

This makes me really appreciate that Christ came to this Earth. For the first time, I really get this. I'm sure that Christ had a choice whether to come down here or not. He chose to leave heaven and come down to this disease infested, sin filled world. Talk about homesick! I'm so glad that He made the choice to come and dwell among us not only because of the cross, but because He can sympathize with us now. He's gone through the pains of being human.

"For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are---yet He did not sin." Hebrews 4:15

Advent

I'm speaking to my girls at village tonight. We are focusing on Advent. I don't know too much about Advent except the fact that it's the month before Christmas and it is a season of anticipation and longing. I've never really celebrated Advent, but it's a good way to keep your focus on the right things at Christmas such as Christ.

Last week, we talked about waiting on things to happen. We discussed how we need to not get too caught up in what's to come if it means missing out on things happening today. For example, when we were a kid, we couldn't wait to be a grown up. Now, we wish we could go back to those carefree days at times. I, being the only married girl in our group, told them how much I love being married. Yet, I cannot go back to those single days again. There are certain things that they can do at this time in their lives that I cannot because I have another person to consider (you parents REALLY know what that is like).

Tonight, I'm going to talk about whenever the Lord does answer your prayers but not in the way in which you expected. The Israelites believed that Jesus was going to come into this world and be a mighty king and warrior. That's not the way He did things. In fact, He did it so differently than some expected that many didn't even believe He was the Messiah. How many times in our own personal lives does the Lord do things differently than we expected Him to? Some times it is even so different that we don't recognize it as an answer to our prayer. Usually, we can look back and see why the Lord did it His way and not ours. After all, He's God and sees the big picture. We are so human and can only see our own little world.

Tell me your thoughts on Advent...

More Chocolate Making

We did it again! Last night, we went over to the Cocoa Tree kitchen and helped Bethany make some truffles. Since she makes everything by hand, it can be a lengthy process. With four extra hands, it was easy! She would dip the truffles in the chocolate and then place a couple of truffles in each of our containers. We rolled each truffle around in whatever coating she places on the outside (cocoa powder, nuts, chocolate pieces, etc.)

It was fun! We were all talking together. Bethany is about to be on the food channel network. She's going to be on a show where she competes with other chocolatiers. I don't know when it's going to air, but the taping is next week. We were all really excited for her!

One of our friends who was helping last night (she took the pictures above), just made number 20 on the CHR charts! Stephanie Smith is her name and the song is entitled "Not Afraid." She had just found out before she got there last night. We were all so proud of her!

Wonderful Day

Yesterday was a great day! We went to church and saw some people there that we hadn't seen in a while. Then, we met some people at a Mexican restaurant for lunch. After that, we stopped by the Cocoa Tree kitchen to give Bethany (the chocolatier) something. Two of our friends were with us, and they'd never seen where they actually MAKE the chocolate before. So, we all went into the kitchen.

Bethany and two of her other workers were bent over a vat full of chocolate. She wearily looked up and asked if we could help her for a little while. We rolled up our sleeves and began dipping the chocolate. We dipped several trays worth of chocolate in 30 minutes' time. We were literally up to our elbows in chocolate! One of my friends had it on her nose. Brock accused the girl next to him of getting chocolate on his shirt. We later saw who was the real culprit...he had it on the inside of his arm, so every time he brushed his arm against his shirt, it would stick. It was so fun!

At that point, Brock had to go to a meeting in downtown Nashville, so I went to my friends' house. We watched a movie until it was time to go to the party. The party was great! We had hot apple cider and watched "It's a Wonderful Life." What a wonderful day and a wonderful life!

Evel Knievel

It's sort of crazy that Evel Knievel died this weekend. He just came to know Christ this year. When Brock was at the Crystal Cathedral this past April, Evel Knievel was scheduled to be there the following week. After fighting God for 68 years, he finally became a Christian in March of this year. He told his testimony at the Crystal Cathedral on Palm Sunday this year. He explained that the Lord simply got a hold of him. The same year, the Lord called him home.

Years ago, Brock went with his pastor to visit a woman whom they didn't know who was in the hospital. Brock didn't really want to go because he's not fond of hospitals, but he went anyway. The lady didn't have any affiliation to any church, so they decided to reach out to her. After speaking with her, she gave her life to Christ. It would almost appear that she was simply waiting for someone to lead her in that. Two days later, she died.

People had been praying for Evel Knievel for years. To our knowledge, nobody had prayed for the lady in the hospital. I guess it just goes to show that you need to be obedient to the Lord in whatever He asks. He's the One that holds eternal life in His hands. You never know the timing of life here on earth either.

Party Time

Today, Brock is going to ride his dirt bike at a local track. While he's gone, I'm going to watch movies and make cookies for a party tomorrow night. I'm excited to have some time to myself. Lucas is visiting family in Minnesota, so I have the whole house to myself.

Lots of people couldn't hang out with Emily on her birthday, so we had a larger celebration last night at Chucke Cheese! It was fun!!! There were about 20 of us there. They had this Deal or No Deal game that was a blast. We won over 1,000 tickets for Emily collectively.

Tomorrow night, I'm going to another party (for Christmas). Next weekend, we have two birthday parties to go to. Then, the next week, we have 3 Christmas parties and one more birthday party to go to. Wow! It's a season for parties, and I like it!

Emily's Birthday

Yesterday was my friend, Emily's, birthday. We celebrated her birthday all day only she wasn't with us most of the time. We had a card for her that said, "Whazup Nephew" on the front. If that wasn't funny enough, we had strangers sign the card everywhere we went for the day.

The people at the gas station signed it. Then, we went to Marble Slab to pick her up some ice cream (her favorite) and take it to where she works at a tea shop in downtown Franklin. We had tons of people sign it along the way. Brock was telling people to sign the card for his nephew, Emily. One lady asked if she was in therapy about that.

Some other friends met up with us at the tea shop. Then, we went to the tattoo place to finish up some ink on Brock. After that, we stopped by the Mexican restaurant next door and had the waitress and waiters sign the card in Spanish. It was so fun!

After stopping by another friend's house, we went to the Cocoa Tree. There we hung out until Emily was ready to go to dinner. We made her another card in the Cocoa Tree using a magazine, some notebook paper, and a sharpie. We ended the night eating dinner with Emily at PF Chang's where we gave her the cards. We also showed her video we had taken of people all over town signing her birthday card. We had the best time celebrating Emily's birthday!

Running

Remember how I told you that I don't have any kind of daily routine? I do now! Brock and I run almost everyday. Actually, we are training for a half marathon in April. It's so fun! We run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Then, we do some kind of cross training on Tuesday and Thursday. Saturday, we usually take a walk, and Sunday is a rest day.

I ran cross country in high school. I kept up running rather regularly until we got married. After we were married, it was difficult to run while we were on the road. It wasn't safe for me to run by myself in an unfamiliar area. Now that Brock is running with me, it's great!

We actually bought some really good running shoes at a running store. The salesclerk there watched me run (that was a little intimidating). Then, he told me what kind of shoe I needed. I purposely paid quite a bit of money for our shoes so that we would stick with it. We have been faithful in running, and now we are going to run a half marathon!

Pictures From Saturday

The GUYS help clean up.


We all ate taco soup and homemade pudding.


The guys worked outside while it was sleeting!


We had a bonfire during the day.




Then, we went to eat at one of our favorite places...Thai Spice.




Kristin (or Crackhead) joined us Saturday.


Of course we had to end the weekend at the Cocoa Tree!




Me, Emily, and Shannon

Pictures from Friday

We had a big bombfire.


Some even made smoores.


Lucas uses the wheel barrel to shield himself from the hot fire.


Our friends from SuperWow, Kelly and Amber, came over.


Lucas and Kyle talk.


Then, Brock did some magic for everyone.