Gets me every time...

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is all the Christmas specials that come on (Rudolph, The Grinch, Frosty, etc.) I do my best to catch all of them when they are on, and they bring back such good memories of my childhood, and nine times out of ten they always make me cry. Not because I'm sad, but nostalgia always gets to me.

But the one that gets me the most is "A Charlie Brown Christmas". It's my favorite of all the Christmas shows, and it makes me cry every time. Why? This right here:



It's the only Christmas special that tells the true meaning of Christmas, and that is Jesus Christ being born into the world. In fact, I read somewhere that when it was created back in 1965, it almost didn't air because producers were afraid of the controversy the message might cause. According to IMDb.com: "Bill Melendez tried to talk Charles M. Schulz out of using Biblical references (especially Linus's speech) in this special. Schulz reportedly won him over by saying, "If we don't do it, who will?" As it turned out, Linus' recitation was hailed as one of the most powerful moments in the highly acclaimed special."
And that, friends and family, is why the Charlie Brown Christmas special makes me cry...every year.

Merry Christmas!

Reflections on 2010

I think I probably say this every year, but this year absolutely flew by. I feel like I just took a deep breath, and just like that, the year is coming to an end in only a few short days. It just goes to show you that you have to make every moment count because before you know it, it's gone.
And so, that being said, I'd like to recap some of my favorite moments of the year 2010.

In no particular order, they are:
1) My nephew Michael being born.
My sister-in-law and brother-in-law went through a lot before they finally got pregnant with Michael. Heck, they were told they couldn't even get pregnant in the first place! When he finally came, the whole family was overjoyed. Kelly looked so radiant during her last month of pregancy, and I was so proud to finally be an aunt of possibly the cutest baby I have ever seen.

2) Becoming a First Responder.
My job offered me the opportunity to become a first responder at the office. Of course I accepted. Growing up with a mom who is a nurse - it's just naturally in my blood. The course was great. And even doubly so because I am able to use my skills in other places besides work. I even initiated a first aid/CPR course to be taught at my church for all the leaders in children and youth ministry! Luckily, I haven't yet seen anything to gross for me to handle, but at least I'll know what to do if that day ever comes.

3) Soup Suppers
This was the year I finally got to showcase my cream of turkey soup. (Want the recipe? Here you go.) People went crazy for it! They started begging me to make it week after week. Thankfully it's relatively easy and cheap to make!

4) 30 Hour Famine

I love the 30 Hour Famine. This year, I set out to make it my "baby." I let the other youth leaders know that I would take charge and organize everything. It was a total success, and the students loved it too. The Famine really puts things into perspective and really makes you appreciate simple things like food, water, and clothing. This year, we made it not only eye-opening as far as world hunger goes, but also on the spiritual level. We stepped it up a bit and made the worship very intentional, and even had a separate prayer room for those students who were interested. It was great, and I can't wait 'till next year's Famine!

5) Celebrating 5 years of marriage with Evan.
Words cannot express just how much I love Evan. He is my soulmate. Being married for five years has taught me so much, and I cannot think of anyone else I would have rather spent the rest of my life with.



6) Getting to actually meet Michael.

Like I said, I was so excited to finally be an aunt (I don't know why, but I've always wanted to be an aunt)! It was even better when I got to hold my nephew for the first time, and kiss him and hug him and love him! He was so cute, and I had the best time with Kelly and Christian. I miss them so much!

7) The 84th(?) Fleisher Family Reunion

It may surprise some of you to see this on the list, because most of the time, I dread the family reunion. Not because I don't enjoy seeing my family, but because if I don't go, I will hear about it from my aunt until the next one. This year's family party was at my aunt and uncle's house in Flemigton so it was nice and close. We had a really good time. They have a pool, so of course I had to go in. And the whole time, I was playing with my little cousin Savannah, and she kept calling me "best friend." It was great. I got to see relatives I haven't seen in ages, and it was just a great time all around. (Here's us chatting with Grandma Fleisher, Brad & Tina and my cousins).

8) Meeting the O.C. Supertones
For those of you who don't know the Supertones...what's wrong with you?? Just kidding. They are one of my favorite bands of all time, and this year at RevGen, they were playing, and I got to meet them. It was out of control. (The picture is a little blurry because there was a lot of dust in the air).

9) First Giant's game at the new stadium.
I always go to the Giants home opener at the start of football season. This year, we had a new home in the form of a huge new stadium. It was beautiful. Not only that, but we had different seats as well. In the old stadium, we were in section 306, up in the nosebleeds. Now, we are in section 126 (or something), which is field level. Right behind the end zone. Awesome.

10) Corn Maze trip at Etsch Farms

This was something I was looking forward to all year. We found this place online, and their corn maze was epic. It's shaped like Mount Rushmore, so you try to find your way through the president's heads. It was really cool. We didn't have a huge group of students, so it was nice for us considering the only two leaders were me and Karl! This was a lot of fun.

11) Thanksgiving

Duh. I made the biggest turkey I've ever made this year: 20 pounds (for 6 people!). Everything was delicious, and I really enjoyed having my family at our house for dinner. It's no wonder it's my favorite holiday!!

12) IEEE Holiday Party

I am on the party planning team where I work, and man oh man did we throw a spectacular party this year. We held it at a restaurant in Edison called "LouCas" (if you've never been, I highly recommend it). But, during the lunch, we also had a murder mystery team builder going on. We played a real-life game of Clue, and the actors we hired were amazing. They were so funny and we were literally crying with laughter. I didn't hear one complaint from anyone and everyone was smiling at the end. It was a great way to kick off the holiday season. I just don't know how we're going to top it next year!!

2010 has been a great year. I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store!!

Happy Belated Birthday to a Dear Friend

December 14th was my Uncle Walt's birthday. I say "was" because he passed away back in 2008. I also should clarify that he is not my actual uncle, but rather just a very good friend of our family (see this blog post about Aunt Gail - Uncle Walt's wife).
Uncle Walt was such an inspiration to me. He struggled much of his life with cancer. He would go back and forth between beating it, to it beating him, but always managed to keep a smile on his face throughout. He also gave the best hugs IN THE WORLD. If you were ever feeling down about anything, a hug from Uncle Walt would cure it in a second. But the real reason Uncle Walt was such an inspiration was his genuine and absolute love for the Lord. Even though he was battling cancer, and he was sick most of the time, he knew that God was in control, and that there was nothing he needed to worry about because ultimately he was in God's hands. Of course Aunt Gail went through many struggles herself caring for her husband. She was under a lot of stress, but she too kept God at the forefront and took comfort in the fact that Uncle Walt's illness was part of God's plan and that there was greater meaning in all of it.
Hanging in my cubicle, I have a Christmas card from Uncle Walt and Aunt Gail that on the front has a picture of them standing by their car around a license plate that says "LET US GO." This always made me laugh, until I found out why their license plate says that. On the inside of the card, there is a poem written by Aunt Gail that has a different word for "go" to represent each town that each of their family or friends live in.
Like this:
Announce it in Alloway
Bring it to Bellbrook
Carol it in Center Valley
Declare it in Dunellen
Extol it in Enon
Focus on it in Fort Pierce
Go, tell it on the mountain and in Galax
Honor it in Hampton
Inform everyone in Indianapolis
Justify it in Jacksonville
Know it in Kettering
Laud it in Lakewood
Manifest it in Middlesex
Notify everyone in Newark
Orate it in Omaha
Proclaim it in Piscataway
Quote it in Queens
Rejoice in it in Richmond
Share it in Stewartsville
Tell it in Tulsa
Understand it in Union City
Verify it in Vista
Welcome it in Washington
Xerox it in Xian
Yodel it in Yellow Springs
Zip it along in Zanesville
Then, she closes with "Wherever we are, whatever we are doing, let us go and tell the Good News of a great joy...for to you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10a,11)

I love that! They had a town for every letter of the alphabet.

I miss Uncle Walt a lot, and sometimes get all misty-eyed when I think about him. But he has made a lasting impression on my life in that he has made me appreciate God's power and love. No matter what our circumstance, God is in control, even if we may not like it. And if God decides to take us home, we don't have to be afraid because we are going to spend eternity with Him in heaven! So, happy belated birthday Uncle Walt. I love you and miss you, and look forward to seeing you again one day in heaven.

NaBloPoMo - Blog Post #30

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” - Revelation 1:8

I can't believe NaBloPoMo has come to an end! It went by so fast! I have really enjoyed sharing some of my favorite verses and passages with you. Of course there are many more I could share, and perhaps I will in the coming days!
I thought it would only be fitting for the last verse of the month to be from Revelation - the last book of the bible. And I thought it would be even more fitting that the verse be something that came straight from the mouth of God. I just love the absolute power in this verse. Alpha and Omega means beginning and end. It's like saying "A to Z." God, who is, who was and who is to come, the ALMIGHTY. What power in that sentence!
As humans, it's hard for us to think of something that never had a beginning, and will never have an end. Everything we know starts somewhere and ends somewhere. But God always was, always is and always will be. Amazing! And yet this same Almighty God is the same God who loves us more deeply than we could ever imagine. He is more compassionate and caring than we will ever know. The God of absolute power is also the God of absolute love. I don't think there's anything more that needs to be said.
Just read this verse over and over to yourself and reflect on God's power, but also his love for you. And all God's people said, "AMEN!"

NaBloPoMo - Blog Post #29

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:12-14

I am actually cheating here, because this is actually one of Evan's favorite passages. But I'm sneaking it in here because it makes me think of Evan, what with all the running analogies and all.
One of the most important things any good runner will tell you is to never look behind you. By all means, use your peripheral vision to see what may be coming up beside you, but looking behind you is a runner's death. In the split second you are turned around, you could trip, you could veer off course, you could run into something or someone, another runner could pass you, etc. In order to finish the race strong, you keep looking forward at the road ahead until you cross that finish line.
That is exactly what Paul is referring to here. In the great race of life, we should not be looking back, but always ahead. Looking back can only lead to destruction. We need to press on toward the crown that is promised us in heaven if we are faithful to God and continue to follow him. I've heard a saying that goes, "It doesn't matter if you are crawling, limping, walking, running or sprinting, as long as you're moving forward." I think that is good advice for our Christian lives. The bible tells us to put off our old lives of sin, so we have no choice but to move forward.
We have not yet reached that finish line. The finish line comes when Jesus Christ comes back for us, or he calls us home - whichever comes first. But until then, let's keep pressing on, forging ahead, and focusing heavenward.

NaBloPoMo - Blog Post #28

"That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Corinthians 12:10


I have this verse highlighted in green in my bible, and I also have the word AMEN! written after it. The green means that this is a verse that represents growth and/or new life. I think that is very true for this verse. It's not easy for us to say that we actually delight in weakness, or any of those other things that Paul says. Most of us just hope that life will be a cake walk, everything will go our way, and nothing bad will ever happen to us. But that is definitely not reality. Especially in the life of a believer. In fact, as believers we will probably suffer even more hardship simply for the fact that we follow Jesus Christ. But Paul gives us encouragement here. We are supposed to delight in our weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties because when we are weak, then we are strong. No, it's not a contradictory of terms. Think about it, when we are weak, we are forced to rely on God to help us through, and through him we are strong! A few verses earlier, God says, "My power is made perfect in weakness." That is exactly why Paul says that he delights in weakness, because it is the time when we can allow God's perfect power to work in us. We may not like it when we are weak, but we have the hope that God's power is made perfect in our weakness. AMEN!

NaBloPoMo - Blog Post #27

"But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be." - 1 Corinthians 12:8


The "body" Paul is referring to here is not an actual physical body, but rather, the body of believers. Every person has a special place in the body. We are all one in body, but we all represent different parts. God gave us each special talents and abilities so that collectively, we can carry out the works that God has commissioned us to. Think about it, if all of us had the ability to be pastors, there would be no one to shepherd. If all of us had the ability to play guitar and sing, who would play all the other instruments in the world? At work, we have a saying that says, "None of us is as good as all of us." That means that none of us is as good on our own as we all are together. That works the same way for the body of Christ. We can't do it alone, so God has surrounded us with other believers who can help us on our way. And according to this verse, God has arranged us just the way he wants us. Like I have been saying all along, God's plan is perfect. I know a lot of us say things like, "I wish I could sing like her," or, "I wish I could preach like him," etc. But the truth is, God gave you specific and special talents and skills for a reason, and it's perfect! Maybe your talent is playing an instrument, maybe it is caring for children, maybe it is cooking, maybe it is hospitality, maybe it is writing. Whatever it is, it is special and perfect because that is exactly how God wanted you to be. No one can do everything, which is exactly how God wanted it. So I encourage you, whatever your talent or ability is, embrace it, thank God for it, and get out there and use it!