~Angel Kisses~ - Faith Sisters Scrapbooking Gallery

This was a rather difficult challenge for me to work on. I do not like to dwell in the past, but after much thought and prayer I realize that the past is what makes us who we are today. So thank you Dahlia for a TRULY inspirational and eye opening challenge~ It WAS worth the wait =)

LAYOUT: angel Kisses

SUPPLIES:
Patterned Paper: Botanical Bliss by Memory Kits
Digital Elements: Burnt Journal Paper and Title Page from Legacy of Faith Digital Kit by Dahlia Co
Vellum: Club Scrap
Font: Journaling: Papyrus; Bible Verse:Zurich
Adhesive: Vario: EK Success; Vellum Adhesive Runner, Zots:Therm O Web
Embellishments: Glitter Photo Frame & Die Cuts Botanical Bliss by Memory Kits; Velvet Sayings: Baby by Memory Makers; Dimensional Stickers: The Gifted Line by Punch Studies; Sticky Alpha Stax: Vintage by Colorbox; Distress Ink:Vintage Photo by Ranger

JOURNALING:
Growing up in southern California, I spent a LOT of time out in the sun. Sunscreen was not even around…it was more suntan oil. Our family spent every summer at the beach house and some time every winter in Palm Springs. Because of my fair skin I would always go thru the routine of burn…blister…peel. So I ended up with a lot of freckles and moles. My mum always called them angel kisses. She told me that all the little spots on my skin were where the angels had decided to kiss me whenever they wanted me to know that they were watching over me.
When I was 30, one of those angel kisses started growing and changing. A biopsy showed that it was malignant melanoma and I had to have surgery. I was totally thrown for a loop! My grandfather had died of this same thing 10 years prior and I was scared that this was my fate as well. In addition, I had gone back to work full time a few months before, even tho Meg was 3 and Jim was only 18 months old. I was moving up the management ladder at my work. I was totally focused on what the next upward step might be… supervisor… manager? So when I got this news all I could think of was not only would I die and my children never really know me but also how could work survive without me? Wasn’t ~I~ the vital wheel that kept everything moving? How could God do this to me and ruin MY perfect life, MY perfect plan?
Because this angel kiss was located on my leg, I was forced to be bedridden for over 3 months. Meg and Jim went to the baby sitters house during the day when Michael was at work because there was no way for me to get up and take care of them. Family and friends helped, but when we were home alone, the whole burden of cooking, caring for the kids, keeping the house in order was left to Michael. All I could do was lie in bed and watch as the world continued to move around me. And slowly, my focus started to shift. As I lay in bed reading, working on a craft project, calling friends who I had lost touch with, I thought about all that I had been missing while I was so totally focused on work. I started keeping a prayer journal I wrote down all my hopes and prayers for Meg & Jim so they would have a written, tangible record of just how much I loved and cherished them in case all this took a bad turn. I so looked forward to when everyone was home. The kids would crawl into bed me with me and I would tell them stories or we would read books. We would dress up Barbie and play with dinosaurs. We would laugh and sing ~Monkeys jumping on the bed~ and they would fall off in giggles. Precious glimpses of all that I had been missing.
During my recovery time in bed, I got a phone call one morning saying that we had won an all expense paid trip to Hawaii! Several months back I had jokingly filled out a contest form in our supermarket and out of 10,000 entries they picked mine! The trip scheduled to be taken in 4 months time. If all went well, according to the doctor, my stitches would be out, the graft would be healed; I would be off crutches and finally back to walking, and could possibly even go swimming. God’s amazing timing and God’s amazing healing. Off we went to Hawaii to spend an all expense paid week at the Turtle Bay Hilton on Oahu. We swam, snorkeled, rode horses, walked along the shore, hunted for sea shells and spent precious time together as a family. It was just what we all needed to make us whole, physically and spiritually.
When we came back, I put in my notice, switched departments and started working part time. Since then I have turned down many opportunities for advancement in my job. I have absolutely no regrets, I was taught a lesson and I listened and learned most heartily. God literally knocked me flat on my back, so I would have the time and the open heart to stop….focus and regroup on just what my priorities my life are. And I learned, that being the best supervisor at my job, was not the legacy that I wanted my children to remember me for. I wanted them to remember me for being a child of God who listened, followed and was the best wife and mother they would ever know.
Since that first operation, there have been some minor setbacks with my melanoma, but all along I knew that God and his angels were watching over me. After all, it was one of their kisses that brought me back to Him.

Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared.
Exodus 23:20