2010 Reflecting Back a Decade

Not only are we saying goodbye to 2010 but we are saying goodbye to the last decade and hello to another new decade. I remember the Y2K scare that made many people I know change plans or stock up on food and generators over the fear of what would happened to our highly sophisticated world we live in by being so dependent upon computers. I could argue today may be even more alarming when we look ahead to what future holds for our country's economic outlook may be.

Ok, Ok, enough of the gloom....that is not why I write today. I write today as a I feel so grateful for all the blessings the Lord has blessed us with these past ten years and all the wonderful adventures he continues to bring us on.

Top 10 in the last 10 years......

1. John and I celebrated 13 years of marriage this past summer. God has truly blessed me with a hand picked Godly man who loves me in ways I cannot even begin to comprehend sometimes. Some of the sweetest quotes from him recently....a cab driver asked us why we were on vacation in Hawaii, John replied, "so I can date my wife." Another, "I love you more than the day we were married, and I loved you a lot then", one I am still trying to figure out the meaning to or why..."why do you have to put on make-up and do your hair? You are one of those women who don't need makeup, you are beautiful without it." Fortunately he sees me more without it than with it! LOL! We are still each other's best friends and we still love being together and laugh a lot!

2. Year 2000 started off with a bang! No Y2K scare! We moved into our house we built and a few months later, we find out we were pregnant with Isaiah! He was truly the best pleasant surprise ever! God is so good! I can hardly believe he turned 10 in November! God has great plans for this child as you see through God's intricate embroidery he has so tenderly stitched in his heart. There is no greater joy than to see your son love and worship the Lord the way he does through music and the words of wisdom he says to me after reading His bible.

3. 2005...another miracle and gift from the Lord. Gabriella Grace! Again, all I can say is that God has mighty plans for this girl. Only God through his sovereignty and purpose is she here with us today. After finding out I lost her "twin" and that I was no longer pregnant, days later after a follow up ultrasound looking at my ovaries and seeing nothing in my uterus, the practitioner was just ending the scan and about to remove the probe when I said, "wait, what is that?" She responded, " I don't know, I think it is a blood clot from your surgery." I said "it looks like a heartbeat", she responded, "no, it is not, but if it is, it is too slow to be viable.". She barely made it alive out of my tummy and we were told during my pregnancy she didn't have a nasal bone which could mean a number of possible issues concerning her health. I could go on and on about the countless times in how God has proven himself to us and how he has a strong purpose in her life in these precious last 5 years. I am so excited to see what more He has in store for her and how she will bring Glory to God by doing what he has willed for her life.

4. 2008....another beautiful creation and gift from God. Isabella Grace. She is the sweetest little thing ever. She continues to bring us so much joy, love and laughter to our home, I cannot imagine our life without her. I think by being the baby and the third child you have to have some spunk in you. She has that and more! Thankfully she has a healthy portion of it and it brings balance to the family in more ways than one. I love watching her try new things and say new things. I am excited to see the plans God has for her as well. She adores her big brother and big sister and wants to do everything they want to do! Her most recent quotes have been..."Here you go mommy", (she hands me something in my hand), I look down and ask in disgust, "what is this", she says.."I don't know, it came from my nose". And then yesterday she had another bu gar in her nose that I tried getting out and she protested saying, "why do you do that?" I said, "what do you mean?", she says, "you keep taking things out of my nose and I don't like that."

5. We have been blessed to travel a lot over these past 10 years. Thank you to John's travel perks and his parents being so gracious with their timeshares. There is no way we would be able to do even a fraction of the traveling without those two perks! Some of our best trips recently....Hawaii, Washington D.C., New York City, Florida, South Carolina and South Dakota. The airline perks are great, but our most recent travels to South Carolina made me re-think if they are worth it after a 16+ hour commute....ahhh, yes they still are well worth it, even on those days that are that long. The kids thankfully are some of the best little travelers ever!

6. Family...we have become aunties and uncles to all of our family with all of our nieces and nephews who have been added to both sides of our family. It is so much fun to see how they have all grown these last years and how their relationship with each other as cousins grow and change.

7. Good Health...after having some years of just plain "weird" things health wise happen to me over the years, we are all so thankful and grateful for each day we are healthy! I had numerous surgeries and blood transfusions, but thankful that God brought us through those desert like times, oh so thirsty for His Living Water and for the Great Physicians healing touch. Gabriella also went through a weird escapade last summer where the doctors were puzzled at what was going on with her and started to give us to worry there could be something more serious than the flu. Through a constant faith and prayer, God healed her almost overnight!

8. Homeschooling...these past few years, God has laid it upon our hearts to homeschool. It has put our faith to the test in many ways, but out of obedience to the Lord we are seeing the fruit of it in more ways than one! Even to the point of feeling like I am redeeming an education I had no idea I even missed out on!

9. Fun Family Moments....from swimming with the kids, water and snow skiing with the kids, fires on the porch playing I spy, family game night, reading together as a family, morning snuggle times, family movie night all snuggled on the couch together eating popcorn to worshiping the Lord together around the piano or guitar as John and Isaiah play praise and worship songs. These are all moments in life that I would not trade for anything.

10. God...my relationship with Him has changed and strengthened over these past 10 years. I am so thankful for the journey he has me on. Through studying His word and gaining insight and knowledge of Him in ways I didn't even know were possible, I can truly say God is good. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I am excited to see how my relationship with Him will strengthen even more and I hope that I will be able to serve Him in ways that I know he has destined for me to serve in. Still waiting for my little ones to grow a bit more! :) But I am willing!

Christmas 2010

Wow! What another busy time of the year. The most amazing gift ever given to us was God's son and as I reflect upon these past few weeks leading up to His birthday, I question and wonder to myself is this how God would want us to celebrate His son's birthday? A piercing question that pulls at my heart. As my convicting heart ponders the last few weeks I call out to the Lord.

Here in America we so easily are caught up in the alter of commercialism, materialism and plain old "busy-ness" that is associated with Christmas we not only minimize His birth but we get caught up with the distractions that pull us away from Him. How do you find balance? Is balance even what God would want? These are questions I will continue to talk with the Lord about, but in the meantime I do want to share some of our highlights in the last few weeks.

John and I were able to escape to Hawaii for a wonderful time together and with friends. We were amazed at the absolute beautiful world that the Lord has made and were in awe at the beautiful mountains and of course the force and beauty of the ocean. We came home and the hustle and bustle of trying to get gifts for everyone was about to put me over the top! I am a procrastinator by trait and I did do a few things prior but of course saved mostly everything for only days before Christmas. We have been bringing the kids skiing every day that we can this month and have been thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. Both Gabriella and Isaiah have improved greatly since our first time out this year. Gabriella had a lesson 10 days ago and they said she is doing great and doesn't need anymore as she has seem to master the lifts and the hills. Isabella is begging to start skiing, maybe at the end of the season? In the meantime, she enjoys hanging out on the slope with us playing in the snow, snacking in the lodge and she has even made some friends in the ski school!

It was really neat watching the kids' expression opening the gifts and that is what I love. One thing though, their expression dimmed as I watched them open more and more presents. It is just too much. John and I say that every year, but why do we feel like we still have to give them that super cool gift(s)? My only answer is that we are guilty of getting caught up with the materialism and commercialism that inudates our society. Something that will have to change for next year as my heart has been thoroughly been convicted.

One thing we did do this year was read, as a family, Jotham's Journey. It was a great story that really brought us on a journey with Jotham along with the sheperds and Magi to the stable in Bethlehem. It painted a picture in my mind that has pierced my thoughts this holiday season. The kids looked forward to reading it every night before bed as we would light the candles and read. Our Christmas morning was beautiful. We enjoyed reading from God's word and singing and worshiping the Lord as Isaiah played piano, shared in a wonderful breakfast and of course we opened gifts. We were saddened that John had to go off and work, but again are very thankful he is blessed with work.

God is so good! Thank you Lord for giving us the best gift of all and help us to not get caught up in the wrong reasons for celebrating. Keep us focused always up to you!

Blessed Be The Name of the Lord! Part II

We had a wonderful weekend visiting some dear friends down in Charleston SC for a long weekend. The commuting down was one of the worst I had ever experienced with standby travel. What should have taken a 5 hour commute took over 15 hours from door to door. The kids truly amazed me and I had a peace and joy about the whole day that could only be summed up by the Lord transfusing abundant peace, patience and joy in the midst of one our most chaotic start of a get away we have had thus far. This was one of those moments in my life that on the outside it looks like a horrible day but on the inside it was so amazing to feel God's presence with me the whole day...THAT, I would not trade for anything. Thank you Lord.

On Friday we were eating food at the airport and Isabella is belting out "Blessed Be The Name of The Lord" so that everyone could hear. She has such a sweet voice but she can also be very loud when she wants others to hear and boy did she want others to hear. It was such a precious moment. Then today she was belting it out as we were one the airplane delayed for sometime due to a mechanical issue and the whole plane was relatively quiet and she sang so everyone could hear and look!

Today was such a precious day with the kids. Despite the rush rush from gate to gate at the crazy busy Atlanta airport and Isabella having her "two" moments! They are so much fun to be with and we laughed so much together today. These are priceless moments that warm my heart. This afternoon we came home and schooled for 3 hours and I was amazed at how attentive they were considering we woke up at 4:30 EST. Gabriella is reading so much now and after dinner tonight she read to Isabella for about 30 minutes and Isabella was completely captured by her big sister reading; full of life and gestures. Gabriella has made leaps and bounds these past few months and today she has finally mastered her head stand for a prolonged period! The girl has been living on her head for the past few weeks! I told John tonight, Isaiah always has a ball in his hand of some sort and Gabriella is always tumbling or on her head!

In ending I would say...Blessed be the name of the Lord! Every blessing He pours out I will turn and praise Him!

Blessed Be The Name of the Lord!

I was picking up Isaiah yesterday at piano, when I could tell something was a little different. Isaiah has just started his 6th year of piano and still loves it. Yesterday, was a moment that solidified that he was meant to play music, something as a mom (a very non-musician mom) figured out when he was very young.

Rebecca, his piano teacher asked her son who is 15 to come down and play a song with Isaiah on the piano. As they started playing, Isaiah on the piano and Tyler on the drums, the biggest goosebumps I have ever had and tears came to my eyes immediately as I listened to them play "Blessed Be Your Name" together, while Isaiah belted out the words of the song. Not only was it amazing music to my ears but it was truly an act of worship that these two young boys (9 and 15) were praising the Lord with their musical gifts. A mom moment I will never forget.

Today as I was having some time with the Lord, I ran across this scripture and thought it to be so fitting.

"Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights above. Praise Him, all His angels, praise Him, all His heavenly hosts. Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars. Praise Him you highest heavens and you shining stars. Praise Him you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created." Psalm 148:1-5

A Fun Weekend With Daddy

Have I mentioned recently that we (the kids and I) think Daddy (John) is our (earthly everyday) hero?! Not only does he fill the few days that he has off filled with getting lots of things done around the house, but he is constantly cooking for us, helping the kids make cookies, plays with us and teaches the kids. He truly has embraced what a homeschool father's role is. He is the greatest teacher! Thank you John for taking over the presentations for the kids for their CC!

Speaking of presentations, John had Isaiah do a presentation on Mount Rushmore last week since he invited us all to go on a trip out to Rapid City SD with him as he had a long layover. The kids were smiles ear to ear as we got to board the airplane early and the kids were able to sit in the cockpit with John. What a neat experience for them. Isabella really liked having the plane to ourselves for a while and then couldn't quite grasp why so many people kept coming onto the plane. We were all quite impressed at his landings!

We jam packed yesterday with a lot of fun! We started the day off going through Bear Country and were fascinated by all the bears that came up to our car.. buffalo, wolves and elk. We then headed to an attraction called Cosmos where the center of gravity was tested and felt! We then headed outside of Keystone to a cave that truly was a unique experience for all of us. We marveled at the creation of it...from the stalactites, stalagmites to the fossils, all so richly designed. It was marvelous! Too bad my battery on my camera was drained. I know, I know, how could I have not charged it before I went, or at least brought the charger?? Well, as you can imagine life is crazy here and with the commotion of everything, I simply forgot! Thankfully both kids brought their cameras, so hopefully we have a few good snapshots with theirs! We then headed off to Mount Rushmore. I don't think pictures of it do it justice, it truly is an amazing site to see in person. Isaiah of course was an excellent resource for all of us as every time I asked him a question about it, he knew the answer! Great job on your presentation bud and great job for being an excellent tour guide!

This weekend was one of those "magical" times with the kids. They were truly captured by the beauty of all that God created. Watching their eyes light up and their expressions as we saw new things and experienced new things are mental pictures that will stay with me forever. Thank you Lord for giving us this time together! Thank you God for blessing John with a job to be able to see this beautiful world You created!

Obstacle Course

Gabriella made an obstacle course this evening for Isabella. Of course to me it looked like a HUGE mess! Almost every book and lots of toys were scattered in the family room.
I said,
"Oh my, this is quite the mess!"
Gabriella told me,
"Oh no, it is exactly the way it is supposed to be."

So I asked her where I start and she proceeded to tell me where and what to do. I have to say I was quite impressed by the difficulty of the obstacle course and how carefully everything was placed with thorough thought. I had to turn whole books with only my feet and if I stepped into the headband and touched a polka dot, I would be out of the course. There was a lot of pressure to make sure I did everything just right! It was a lot of fun!

I loved obstacle courses set up by my phy-ed teachers when I was a young girl and even in the most recent years at a bootcamp class I attended at the club. I started to ponder how my life sometimes feels like an obstacle course. My course starts early in the morning and does not stop until I hit my pillow. There are days where it can be long and sometimes I feel frustrated when I touch that "polka-dot" where I wish I could go take a break!

I am reminded of one of Isaiah's favorite Bible verse from 1 Corinthians 9:24-25:

"Do you not know that in a race all runners run,, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will that will last forever."

My days are spent loving on my children, teaching them how to love others the way God loves them, but mostly instilling into them the love God has for them and how they were created in His image for a specific plan and purpose. You combine this with the "daily-ness" of life and you have one HUGE obstacle course. The best and most rewarding obstacle course of all, GOD'S!

October 13, 2010

I had to laugh this morning after the girls came down to tell me they were ready to go. Isabella proceeded to change from one pair of pajamas to two different pair of pajamas layered! Gabriella changed into clothes, but layered two pants and two longsleeved dresses....."in case it's cold mom, or if it gets hot, I can just take off these off."

These are the priceless moments!

Way Too Long!

Fall is a busy time of the year. In some ways it is nice to get back into a schedule and routine and other times I feel like it is too much! I feel like I am constantly fighting for balance in the most precious thing God has blessed us with...time. So as I continuously seek Him for wisdom in this area, I am embarassed that it has been over a year since I last posted!

I ask what has happened in the Fletcher household that has caused this beautiful thing called time to feel as someone pushed fast forward?

Well....

About two in a half years ago, I had a strong sense God laid it upon my heart to homeschool! It was so not in MY plans, but after a lot of prayer and investigating what this all entails, the overwhelming sense of God leading us to new adventure prevailed! We started homeschooling Isaiah last fall (2009).

It has been the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but also the most amazing time for all of us. I have always thought teachers are the most amazing individuals I have ever met, but my respect for them has increased a hundred fold as I have no idea how they do what they do daily. Isaiah was blessed with the amazing teachers at Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion and I thank them for what they did for him. Senora Maendel and the principal gave us their blessing in this new endeavor and without their amazing support and encouragement, it made this transition smooth.

Isaiah is one of the most compliant children to start homeschooling. He just goes with the flow of whatever is placed before him, which as a homeschooling mom, I guess this is a HUGE blessing! His love for reading made our year a huge success.

Just a few things he accomplished last year:

1. He wrote a piano piece
2. He wrote and illustrated an amazing adventure book! (He is taking orders!)
3. He memorized huge chunks of scripture. (Why can't I do that?)
4. He memorized 160 major events chronologically in history (Creation-now)
5. He read more books than John and I have combined in our lives!

I could go on, but I don't record all of this to brag or boast about him. I strongly believe God is the one to boast about in all of this. He is the one who laid it upon my heart and for whatever the reason is, I don't quite know right now. I trust in Him to reveal it, but for now I stand amazed by the few things Isaiah has done this year. I strongly believe without this time schooling at home, it would not have been possible.


Besides homeschooling taking over in our home, we have had a wonderful year full of fun travels (another perk for homeschooling and airline benefits!). But the most precious times are those morning snuggles, curling up on the couch with the kids as I read to them, watching my kids be each other's best friend, taking nature walks, building the coolest and messiest forts in the house, sitting on the porch late into the evening by the fire and playing the "thankful" game, but mostly teaching them about God, who He is and why He created us, to do His work by being His hands and feet while spreading the gospel.

Isabella is asking me to read a book...something I would not trade taking any more time posting on the computer than to read to her. I hope to post some new pictures soon!