My Gift to Jesus

Amber, a friend of mine that I met in Korea had this wonderful tradition in her family. Every year her and her family would decide what they would individually give Jesus that year. Some wrote poems, or drew a picture, wrote a song…etc. Perhaps giving back some of the creativity they had been blessed with. With that said, I thought that it was a really wonderful thing to do for Jesus and I thought about what I could give this year. I’m sorry that this is really late and some have already given me money or bought me a gift but if you haven’t yet, I would encourage you to give it away in my honor. This is my Christmas gift to Jesus. The following explains why and at the end there are two organizations that I have found to be reputable for donations.

The Lord has definitely been working on my sinful self- entitlement this year. We had to pack up everything and get ready for the movers on Mother’s Day in May. There was no time for myself without kids or sweet gifts from my wonderful hubby. And then it just so happened that we moved into our new house on my birthday in August. Once again, no time for myself without children, no dinners out on the town with my husband and no gifts to open. I really do enjoy well thought out gifts especially from my husband and I didn’t receive any this year. He is a wonderful husband and if we hadn’t had so much going on those days, I know that he would have planned for something so I know that God is teaching me something. Praise the Lord, I have learned. I pray I don’t regress. I now realize that I have more than I will ever need in terms of stuff. I have been blessed with a wonderful husband and family, a house to live in and grocery stores full of food for my belly.

At some point in August while I was worshiping at church a switch just went off inside me and my whole perspective on giving changed. I have always loved to give but this was a total breakthrough. I totally have the perspective now that someone else could better use the money I am given in that $10 can buy 2 bags of groceries for the holidays for families in our local area, $15 could help a child to learn to read and write, $35 could help save the lives of mothers and their children, $350 could provide an ox or other sort of livestock animal necessary for food and labor. I don’t need more clothes, shoes, purses, makeup, scrapbooking stuff…the list is neverending. I want to be apart of something bigger than myself and therefore I want to give more than I receive by hundredfold at least. Please help me do this, please consider donating to the following organizations.

These are the two organizations that I have found that take the money and give it to the need in the world.

www.samaritanspurse.org

www.heifer.org

I pray that you have a wonderful Christmas with Jesus.

Nicole

You Didn't Forget....Thank you

When I graduated college, I was married only a few weeks to a wonderful man who had been called to Korea to serve the military. Oh how I had a hunger and thirst to go abroad, to experience new cultures, see different things, have wonderful adventures, and see how truely BIG my God is. The last thing I wanted to do was 'settle down.' Well, Kenny got to go to Korea ahead of me while I stayed behind praying for the opportunity to go join him there. Praise God, I got that opportunity. However, when I left I was very scared. I was afraid that if I came back no one would remember me because I didn't know how long I would be gone. I confided in a good friend this and she said that she could never forget me and she hasn't but that didn't mean that others wouldn't forget.

So after Kenny got a job in early July, we then started hunting for a place to live. We wanted to move out of Houston soon and thought that renting an apartment again would be the best option for us. When we went to look at apartments we realized that they would be tiny and we could have a mortgage payment that would be equal or less than what we would pay for an apartment and be getting much more space. So then we decided to house hunt and go after a house. I was not prepared for the many steps it takes to buy a house after you find one that you want to make an offer on. Both our kids were troopers, they saw every house we did and our realtor was very gracious to us and patient with us. We hadn't found a house to make an offer on and our time in Houston was up so I sent out an email to two people I knew in College Station, Tim Brown and Gene Kornegay. I was asking if they knew of any place that we could stay for about a month while we close on a house. Gene immediately replied offering his guest house to us. We took him up on the offer and got to stay there for a week and a half. Gene was one of my Sunday school teachers in college. The fact that he has stayed in touch with us throughout the years and many updates I've made was so encouraging and thoughtful. I was astounded and blessed. There was another couple that offered their one bedroom apartment to us also that we ended up staying the remaining three weeks in who were in my Nearly/Newly wed class when I was engaged to Kenny. They remembered me from there and were very hospitable to allow us to stay in their apartment on their land for those remaining three weeks. Then just the other day I made a phone call to a lady I had known in college asking about a Bible study starting up. She remembered me from college, thought my voice was familiar and even pulled over her van, jumped out and gave me a hug because she knew who I was. I couldn't believe it at all. So, the Lord is good and never ceases to show me how much He truly loves me despite myself.

Finally, FINALLY we closed on a house on August 28th, my 28th birthday. We packed up our stuff on Mother's Day and I moved in to my first house on my birthday. God is working on my self entitlement this year, most definitely. We left Maryland, left the military after having a vision of moving back to the College Station/Bryan area. We left with no job, no place to call 'ours', and no healthcare for any of us.

Did God provide for us every step of the way? Oh YES!!! Why? Because He loves us deeply and I am continuing to trust and hope in His unfailing love. He has brought me to my knees this summer. We have been completely and utterly surrendered unto Him and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Living in God's will is the best place to be and I always want to be right there.

Kenny has been teaching his 5th graders for 3 weeks now and it has been hard. He's got a rough group of kids. One has already visited jail. Pray for Kenny to be wise about how he conducts his class. He is a new teacher and to be put in a class as rough as this is hard. I can't help but wonder if God is doing a 'wax on, wax off' job with Kenny using this job to strengthen him, and teach him for what He ultimately has planned for him. I think Kenny has a different perspective.

I have been trying to get our house in order since we moved in. I'm making little progress. I hope to have pictures of it up soon. Right now my pictures are of the house with all our stuff...everywhere. Algun dia...one day my house will be the way I want it...or at least closer.

We have found a church to worship in and the praise and worship there is wonderful. Something the Lord has really hit home with me this summer and so much travel is that I need to make the most of all opportunities to praise corporately whether we are singing a hymn or a familiar song or an unfamiliar song. I need to completely surrendered to Him and not get distracted with people who are delivering the music or how they are doing that but just take the opportunity to tell the Lord how much I love and adore Him.

Pray for us.
Pray for Kenny and his teaching job, he needs encouragement and strength to learn what he is to learn through his difficult class.

Pray for his continued leadership of our family.

Pray for me to be the mom that the Lord wants me to be. That I would be patient with Faith as she is learning what she can and cannot do. Pray that I be attentive to both William and Faith's needs. That I will be diligent to teach Faith how to pray, her ABCs, and other educational and spiritual things.

Pray for us as we attempt to get to know our neighbors in the coming months. Pray for acceptance and opportunities to get to know them.

Pictures from the summer

The first picture is from the 4th of July.

The following 2 pictures are from visiting my mom, Ryan and Tracey in Austin the second weekend in July.

The next two photos are from a nice day in Brenham with Kenny's dad, Aileen and Tommy. We swam in the hotel pool and the kids flew through the air.

Before Kenny started his job we had the opportunity to see some friends from MD in Flatonia. Cara and Audrey. Faith and Audrey are good friends when they get together.

Next, the kids and me went to visit Adriana while she was off for a few days. We had a blast, swimming and going to the children's museum. Faith got to milk the fake cow. I think she is going to be a farmer..heh heh.

The last pictures are from our Labor Day trip down to San Antonio to see some really great friends ranch, turkey's and chickens. Faith loved to feed the chickens, collect their eggs and ride on the tractor with Mary. Faith also took the liberty to 'borrow' Mary's hat.

We have had some wonderful visits with family and friends. We are thankful for all of them.

Much Love to y'all
The Fleming Four

He Did

"Praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise His Holy Name" Psalm 103

God has strengthened our path with another open door. On July 9th, I (Kenny) was offered a 5th grade Math and Science position in an underprivileged school on the north side of Bryan, Texas for the 2009/2010 school year. I got a teaching job exactly where God said we would be following Him.

How amazing and unpredictable is God? After forty days of searching, applying, being rejected and doubting our understanding of God's will, I had an interview for what was advertised as a 5th grade Social Studies teaching position at Jones Elementary. When I arrived at the school for an interview, I found out very quickly that there had been a mistake in the job announcement and that there was a six-member board waiting to interview me for a challenging 5th grade Math and Science position. After the principal called and made the official offer, I thought about what our prayer life has been like up to this moment. I remembered how Matt Judd and I had prayed for closed doors to any opportunity that wasn't from the hand of God. I remembered how Nicole had spent many of her prayers asking God to place the perfect administrators, staff and students in my path. Even though it wasn't at the grade level I had been focusing on, even though it wasn't the most competitive salary, even though it wasn't the academic field I wanted it to be in, I accepted the offer because I believe it was God's response to our prayers. I accepted in faith and am moving forward.

I thought about the first time God called me to follow him. After September 11th, 2001, God called me into a relationship with Him and placed an unquenchable burden on my heart, a burning desire to serve. I tried to become a firefighter in San Francisco, California, but the door wouldn't open and so I tried paramedic in the U.S. Army but the recruiter's weren't home and so I went into the Air Force office and told the recruiter about my call to serve and my desire to be a firefighter or paramedic. The recruiter gave me all sorts of information and supported my decision to enlist as a pararescueman (paramedic with an assortment of weapons that drops in to hot spots to provide medical attention and triage care). After I took a bunch of aptitude tests and physicals, the recruiter said that she understood how much I wanted to be a pararescueman but that if it was in my heart to serve where I could best be used by the military, my strengths and skills pointed to linguist not pararescueman. Right off the bat I thought, that's not what I was planning but I prayed and listened and I heard God say "Serve me with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength." My mind was my strength and so I committed my heart to being the best linguist I could be and to trust that God was intentional with every turn along the way. It was God's perfect will.

From that decision to follow Christ, His perfect will has put people, events and more decisions in my life to refine me and prepare me for what lies ahead in this life and in the life to come. For those of you that have gotten to know me along the way, I hope I took the time to share with you how much God has blessed my family and I through every challenge and moment of grace. I believe it is His will that has given me the most amazing community of family and friends in those of you who are reading this and continuing to stand beside us as we move forward in faith. With great joy for what God has done and anticipation for where we will go and what we will do with Him in the days to come, my prayer for each of you is that you will receive this testimony and let it strengthen you when you find yourself called by the King to do something amazing and unpredictable. Remember this always, we love each of you very much.

Thank you for your love and support,
Kenny for the Fleming Four

But Even if He Doesn't

Howdy All,

Kenny, Faith, William and I have arrived safely in Texas. We are now residing in Houston, TX with Kenny's grandparents. They have graciously allowed us to stay here until Kenny gets a job and we find a place to live. The Lord is so great! So many times I think of God's providence for our lives and every time I think of the temporal first and the eternal second when in fact the most important is the latter. I believe and expect that God will provide us with a job of somesort that will provide for our shelter, food, clothes etc. however He has already provided us with our greatest need which is salvation. That is so much more important than all the temporal things anyone could ever possess. I praise Him continually for allowing us to have relationship with Him.

We left Maryland very early in the morning on May 14th to travel down to Texas via Michigan to visit my dad and stepmom. We learned the first night that it was going to be a long traveling 10 days with 2 kids so young. We had a great time nonetheless and I eventually got used to my new state of being; tired. Faith and my dad really got to play and spend more time together and my stepmom enjoyed seeing William and Faith's spunkiness.

We traveled through Branson, MO which is definitely somewhere I would like to visit again to see our friend and sister in Christ, Amber. She was so wonderful to arrange a place for us to stay that had 2 separate bedrooms...such a blessing with Faith and William not really being able to sleep in the same room.

Finally, we got to Texas and stayed with Adriana and Fred for a few days of down time before we made our last stretch to Houston. We enjoyed hanging out in the pool and playing, 'Faith, where's the remote' ha ha...not really a game but she thought it was. We had an all around great time.

We've been in Houston for about a month now with Kenny actively pursuing a job. Wow, it's amazing how hard it is to find a job. As many of you know, Kenny is pursuing a calling in teaching and trusting in the Lord to supply him with a job in that area. Kenny has recently finished his teaching certification classes and has tested and received his certificate for middle school 4-8 generalist and is awaiting his scores for his 8-12 Social Studies certification. He has only had one interview with no job offer to follow. He's been to two job fairs all of which have been very discouraging. It seems pretty impossible for Kenny to get a job teaching Social Studies right now. Perhaps it has always been hard to get those positions or maybe just a little harder these days, who knows. All I have to say is BRING IT ON. The greater the difficulty the greater the glory goes to God for supplying all our needs.

I am in a state where the point in all this is to glorify God. That's all I want to do, that's all we want to do. When Kenny does get the job the Lord wants him to have and things start coming together, I don't want people to explain it away or give credit to some person or organization. I want all the glory to go to God, all of it. He deserves every bit of it and I want Him to have it.

One verse has come up quite often in this season and it is Daniel 3:16-18.
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king," O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

So I'm thinking God is going to provide Kenny with a teaching job with just the right students and administration and a place to live that is just where the Lord wants us for His divine appointments etc...for His kingdom to come, not mine. But even if God doesn't we will not bow down to the gods of convenience, of 'so called' security, or the god of comfort. We will continue to serve our God in the form and fashion of His will, not ours.

On a lighter note, Faith and William are doing well. Faith just had her 2 year birthday party of which I hope to attach some pics and William just turned three months old and is such a smiley, wonderful little man. I take Faith to the park often and when we swing we sing songs. My absolute favorite moment was when I was teaching her, "My God is So Big". While I was pushing her in the swing, I would sing 'My God is so ____' and she would throw up her arms and say "BIG" and then I would continue with the song...'there's nothing my God cannot do for ____" and she would say 'yooouu' and point her finger at me...So sweet, makes me smile and praise the Lord.

William is quite the giggler and cooer. He will look at you and his whole face will turn into a smile and he will gasp for air and let out a little giggle...so wonderful.

Well, I should upload some pics for you, I have no idea how long it will take.
Much Love to all
Thank you so much for your continued prayers for us. We are in much appreciation for them. We would not be able to stand firm in the faith if they were not there.
Praising God and giving Him ALL the GLORY
Kenny, Nicole, Faith and William

So, if you want to look at these in chronological order, start at the end and scroll your way up...I always forget how they upload. :)

William's Arrival

Kenny and I are now the proud parents of a little boy, William Joseph Fleming. He was born exactly on his due date, April 6, 2009 weighing 8 pounds 10.5 ounces and was 21 and 1/4 inches long.

I can't tell you how wonderful his birth was. The Lord was so good to answer all my prayers concerning his birth. As some of you know we chose to have a midwife instead of an OB this time around and wanted to give birth at a birthing center instead of a hospital. Before he was born, I was super excited about the experience of having a baby in a home-like setting. Consequently, I had to have him naturally since epidurals are not an option at the birth center.

In preparation for his birth the Lord reassured me of his unfailing love for me by reminding me that He would be with me. How He did this is a whole other blog post. The second thing He reiterated to me was that I could trust Him completely. I have a horrible tendency to trust in what I can do rather than in my God or in what others can do. So when I started to get worried that Kenny wasn't going to know what to do as my birth coach, He would remind me, "Who are trusting in?" Or when I would get a little anxious about the birth, I would want to take a childbirth class or hire a doula but then Kenny would say those are not really realistic options for us and God would remind me again to trust Him and only Him. Just reminding me that I don't 'need' those things to get me through or to accomplish His will. I just need to keep my relationship with the Lord as the utmost priority.

So, at 2:45am on April 6th, my labor began. It was rough and tough and very painful. However, thankfully, it only lasted 4 hours. We got to the birth center at 6:15am, my water broke at 6:20am and William was born at 6:42am. Kenny did a great job coaching. Our midwife was wonderful. I gave birth standing up and she caught him and immediately gave him to me. Holding him was so great and made the last stage of labor more bearable. We left the birth center around lunch time that same day and I was starving so we stopped at Denny's to have breakfast on our way home. When the hostess asked how old William was, we said, "oh about 7 hours" She was shocked. However, not shocked enough to give us a free meal...gees, what does a girl have to do. The lady that sat behind me at Denny's overheard us say that and she thought I was crazy for one, having a child naturally, and two for not being in a hospital for at least 24 hours before leaving. Oh well, I thoroughly enjoyed my French Toast and William slept like a baby (ha)

Faith loves her little brother William. From the time we brought him home, she has wanted to be near him, give him hugs and kisses and has a really hard time being away from him. Even today she brought her little stroller over and wanted Kenny to put William in so she could go for a walk with him. She likes to crawl up the side of the new double stroller to check on him and every time William loses his pacifier or blanket, she's right there to give it back to him. The other morning, when William was a little fussy, she came up to me in a panic and said "eat, eat, eat, bubbles, bubbles, bubbles." You could see in the expression on her face that she was really trying to say, "I don't know what's wrong exactly but I think he needs to eat or get those little gas bubbles out." She is going to be a great big sister. I think she is anxiously awaiting him to get a little bigger so they can play together.

Enjoy the pictures! Thank you so much for those of you that were praying for me. Be encouraged...He answered our prayers!!! Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we could ask or think, be all the glory for this new life.

Trusting God Versus Being Responsible

I have been inspired to write a bit on our blog. Sorry no pictures this time so if that is what you were hoping for, all you will get are some of my words that may or may not make sense to you.

Kenny and I are in or entering in a different season in our lives characterized by a second little blessing from God to follow our ever increasing blessing of Faith, a fact that we are not called by the Lord Almighty to stay in the military, and have currently decided to move South, with or without a job upon the prompting of the Holy Spirit despite the economic crisis at hand.

Some people say, "Stay in the military, it's 'secure' and you'll have a job and your health care is paid for" Now if Kenny and I were to stay in the military for just those reasons where would our faith be? Our faith would be in the military and what the government can do for us, not in the Mightiest God EVER.

I'm going to brag on my husband for a bit. He is one of the hardest workers and so very good at his job. He is very marketable in the intel field where he is currently working. He is talented in language and scored the highest on his language test this past year than he has ever. The reports that he has written have been recognized by the highest of officials in our country, he has briefed many high ranking military members both here and in Korea on the information he has...it amazes me. I often think of him as the Pretender (if you have ever seen that show once on t.v.) I watched it a few times when I had cable (do you still call it that?). Anyway, I have told him that he is able to go and do really whatever because he is such a quick learner and can realize where his strenghs and weaknesses are. Well, the Lord has placed in him a desire to teach History in some way. So he will be giving up his very expensive government clearance not to mention all of his job experience to pursue the call that the Lord has placed on his life. Not an easy decision when Kenny qualifies to work for contracting companies and is worth $95,000 a year.

Still, what would be our motive for taking a job around here that makes him worth $95,000 but really not where God is leading us? Hey, it's a job, it will pay the bills/healthcare costs. Where would our faith be in that? It would be in us and what we can do for ourselves just so we would have an income...not in the Lord Almighty who says for us not to worry about what we will wear or what we will eat...He will provide.

So we are not placing our faith in a government system or in ourselves, we are placing our trust and faith in God only. Praising Him for this opportunity that I'm praying will MAGNIFY the Lord GREATLY and speak loudly to those who have yet to know the Lord Jesus intimately.

I was reminded last night of Moses and the Red Sea. When Moses took the Israelites out of Egypt, there was no government 'welfare' system set up, Moses did not have the means to feed all of those people and he definitely could not fight off all the Pharaoh's soldiers. I can just imagine if Moses was talking to a friend or neighbor or family member about his endeavor and what the Lord had placed before him to do... I bet they would have mentioned all those obstacles. I'm glad those obstacles are mentioned because the bigger the obstacle overcome, the bigger, mightier and stronger the Lord Almighty is and the higher He is exalted. My prayer is that when God does His Mighty Will, it is recognized as such.

To sum it up: We are having a second child around the end of March/beginning of April, we do not have a job after May 11th of this year and we are moving from where we are now. Does this sound irresponsible to you?

I once asked a good friend what the difference is between Trusting God and Being Responsible. He said that Trusting God often looks like irresponsibility...and he ended there. I sought the Lord for the answer and it came a few months later. God says to me, "The biggest responsibility you have Nicole, is to trust me." Oh it is so sweet and wonderful when the Lord God takes the time to answer my questions.

If you are in a position to petition the Lord at His Throne and you think of us, please do not hesitate to lift us up, we are about as weak as the next person under the circumstances and totally relying on the Lord for support and encouragement through all this.

Much Love in Christ
Nicole