Twenty Years and Counting

Darren and I celebrated our twenty year anniversary this week. Well, I'm not exactly sure that "celebrated" is the right word. We had Financial Peace University at church and went to Dairy Queen for ice cream afterwards. After we ate the ice cream (and ditched the evidence so the kids wouldn't find out) we went home and watched tv for a while and then I went to bed while Darren played with his cell phone. Very exciting stuff!

We're hoping to be able to go out this weekend but it's not looking real promising. Jarrod has 8th Grade Party on Friday night and then my nephew's 1st birthday party is Saturday. Oh well, what's twenty years anyway.

I can't believe that we've been married 20 years. We are now older than my parents were when we started dating. Yikes! They just seemed so much older at the time. It has been a good 20 years. Of course we've had our share of ups and downs just like everybody else but I love him more today than the day we were married and I wouldn't change a thing about our lives together. There's no one else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. Happy 20th Anniversary, Darren. I love you!

Prayer Request

We got a call after revival last night saying that Darren's cousin, Stephanie Grimes, had passed away unexpectedly. She was only 40 and leaves behind a 13 year old son, her husband, and her father. They think she had a heart attack caused by an allergic reaction to some medicine. Please keep this family in your prayers, especially her son, Tyler. In the space of the last couple of years he has lost an uncle, two great-grandmothers (one of whom lived with them), his grandfather and now his mom.

Also keep my brother-in-law, Rob Hughes, and the rest of the Carlisle Guard Unit in your prayers. They should be on their way out of Iraq soon. They are supposed to be home on May 1st.

Out Of The Mouth Of Babes

We've been in revival here at New Life all week. It has been a great week with some great messages but a long week nonetheless. It has been especially hard on Noah. He is not used to having to sit still through a church service and it has been a real struggle. Tuesday night I had to take him out and spank him about five minutes into the service. He was pretty good for a while after we came back in but then he started getting loud and rowdy again so I looked at him and told him if he didn't behave I was going to take him back to the bathroom. He looked at me just as serious, cocked his head to one side and said, "Mommy, if you're gonna' spank me again you need to spank me slowly and carefully." I couldn't help be get tickled. Of course, I couldn't spank him after that.

I Survived

Well, April 15th has come and gone and I survived. I only ended up filing three extensions and, hold on to your seat, one of them was not my own. For only like the second or third time since we've been married I filed my return before the April 15th deadline. I decided I didn't want any surprises in the form of unexpected checks to write come October this year. We still owed but we had the money saved to pay it and it's done! I must admit that it felt pretty good to be that "on top of it" this year.

I got a few days to catch my breath and then we started revival yesterday so this week will be very busy. I'm planning on cutting back to three days a week at work once school is out so I'm looking forward to that. At least I think I am anyway. I may change my mind after being home with the kids a couple of weeks.

Hope everyone is having a great Spring! I just love this time of year. Everything is so green and starting to bud and bloom. It's times like these I look around and wonder how anyone could ever question God's existence. It is so easy to see His hand in everything around us. Personally, I'm so grateful that He is part of the tapestry of my life! Love to all!

Proud As A Peacock

Yesterday, being a fifth Sunday, was Youth Sunday at New Life. The kids did a really great job. They used a lot of the music and videos we've been using in our new Wednesday night program and it was about the best youth service we've ever had in my opinion. Of course, you have to take into consideration that Jarrod, my firstborn, preached the morning message.

He and his dad had worked on putting his sermon together all week. His text was Acts 16:16-34. Darren showed him how to research the background of the text and put together a sermon outline. Jarrod found a Mythbusters video clip he wanted to use as an illustration and threw in a couple of personal stories. He was so nervous when he first started but then he really loosened up and started stepping away from the pulpit (and his notes) and getting into it. A chip off the old block. He did such a wonderful job and I was so proud of him I almost cried. His sermon lasted 20 minutes which I think is very respectable considering he was a first-timer. Hopefully we'll be able to get his message up on the church website soon.

I know pride is not often talked about in a favorable light but I can't help it. I just feel so blessed to have such a wonderful kid. He just never ceases to amaze me. He is the most unselfish, gracious and helpful young man. He never complains and so far I haven't seen any of that "teen attitude." I am so proud of him and the Christian example he sets for others....even me. Of course, with what I've got to look forward to with Jacob and Noah, I better enjoy it while it lasts!

Blown Away

We are having a unique problem here at the Fizer household. This problem involves Noah and is completely different from anything I ever experienced with Jarrod or Jacob.

The root of the problem: We've had A LOT of wind over the past couple of months and those of you who have visited/attended at New Life know that the particular spot on the hill where the church is located is one of the windiest spots in the world. One Wednesday evening when we came out of church we were walking along the side of the building toward the van and the wind was really gusting but as it turns out we didn't feel the full force of the wind until we cleared the end of the building. The wind was so strong that it picked Noah up off the ground. He was holding my hand (thank goodness) and it blew his feet out from under him. He was literally flying, suspended in mid-air for a second. It scared him to death! Now every time we get ready to go outside to walk to the van or to get out of the van to walk inside he screams if you don't carry him or at least hold his hand. "Hold me! It's winny! I'll blow away!"

I guess the upside to this problem is that I don't have to worry about him going outside without me.

Re-Entry

Wow! Has it really almost been a week since we got back from Mexico? This week has simply flown by. Of course I returned to a PILE of work thanks to it being the middle of tax season so there's been no shortage of things to do. Thankfully, Darren kept the house under control so I didn't have to come home to that mess. Heck, he even did all of my and Jarrod's dirty laundry within the first couple of days after we got home. I think he was trying to show me how much he appreciated me. LOL!

Mexico was great! Amy, Linda and I had a blast. I haven't laughed that hard or that much in a long time (probably since last year's trip to Mexico with Kim and Sarah). Our kitchen ran like a well-oiled machine. Gordon Ramsey would have been proud! One of the ladies in the village (who spoke no English) came and showed us how to make homemade flour tortillas one day. We had so much fun learning and trying to make them. We all shared coffee together and even the language barrier couldn't stop us from learning about one another. It was such an uplifting experience.

In the area where we were working there are very few white faces. For the most part, the Mexican people we came into contact with were friendly and grateful for our help. There were some who looked at us as if we were oddities (or Llamas as Amy so aptly put it) and that is a really weird feeling. It's very strange to catch people peeking over store shelves at you as if you have three heads and horns. Now I know how animals in the zoo must feel.

Jarrod had a great experience right up to the last day. He accidently left his backpack lying in a chair outside one of our motel rooms on Friday night and of course someone picked it up. It had his ipod and the gift he had bought for Hannah in it. He was so upset. I'm not sure if he was upset about losing it or upset because he was afraid Darren was going to kill him for losing a $300 ipod (and his Bible Bowl text). There was even talk among the group on the way home of taking up a love offering to help pay for his funeral. I'm happy to report that, even though Darren did his fair share of yelling, ranting and raving, Jarrod is alive and well (and saving up to buy himself a new ipod).

I've been experiencing PMS (post-mission syndrome, as Amy calls it) this week. I've missed being with Amy and Linda and the rest of the group every day. We had so much fun. Also, part of our schedule every day in Mexico were times set aside for morning devotion, personal devotion, and daily Bible study. I really miss all those things. I'm not very good at making myself set aside time for these things on my own. I really have to work at it because of all the distractions in my life. I'm really missing the super closeness I felt to God last week and I'm trying hard to figure out how to work these things into my daily schedule. Also, it's kind of depressing knowing that the thing we worked so hard for and looked forward to for so long is over. I don't mean to whine. I just needed to express my feelings.

Thanks to all of you who prayed for us while we were gone. I wish that everyone could go work on the mission field. It is such an uplifting experience and you get so much more from it than you could ever give. If you get the opportunity to go on a mission trip, either out of the country or right here in the USA, you should definitely make the effort to make it happen. I promise you'll be glad you did!