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Dear Friends and Family,
Last year I started the letter talking about the ability to, and understanding of, making a commitment. I decided I would try to set commitments for myself rather than goals that always seem to be too easily forgotten. And so began 2008.
It seemed a bit ironic to me that in the midst of a commitment, so much change was needed. I mean think about it. With commitment you think of remaining steadfast, not necessarily something I would relate with change. But there it is, in order to reach and maintain being steadfast in a commitment, there is an inevitable cause of change that takes place.
My first and main commitment was to learn how to slow down. The leading cause of anxiety in children this day and age is the “hurry” factor, and I was tired of always rushing Eliza and myself out of the house to go here and there.
On top of that, I started to do some math and realized that I only had 2 ½ years until she started kindergarten, after that she would be on to her own busy schedule. Time just goes by too fast. I had just this little window of time to show her that there was another way to live, a slower way. So I started praying that God provide me a miracle so that I could spend the next two years with Eliza, before she started school.
I spent the beginning part of the year dabbling in some self sales, and other stay at home opportunities, to no avail. In the meantime, I had moved Eliza to a Southside preschool, La Petite where her cousin Reid had gone. She was enjoying it, and learned a lot in her time there.
Then one Sunday changed everything. It was a combination of a couple of things that God used to move me to another commitment, one that would lend itself to the “slow it down” theme of the year. The morning of May 18th started with a communion brunch at my church home. It was the first one that we were doing, and that was exciting enough. In the midst of the brunch potluck, a friend, Eric, got up to talk about some things that God was doing in his life. In his talk he used an illustration of an Indiana Jones movie, where in order to get to the prize, he had to walk over a bridge that was not visible. He had to step out in faith BEFORE his path would be revealed. HMMM!?!?!
Later that day, I took my nephew Reid to see the Narnia movie, Prince Caspian. It moved me just as much as the first one, leaving me with two messages. First, that we need to keep our eyes and hearts on Christ, and second that the battle is not ours, and we will not be victorious without Christ, the real hero of our lives. By that evening, I was not sure what to think, but was ready and willing to listen.
It was not until the next morning that I would be given an answer. I was to quit my job in August and start an in home daycare. I was so excited, because I knew that God was answering my prayer, and going to make it possible for me to be with Eliza for a time before she went to school, but I was not all that thrilled with the means. Do not get me wrong, I LOVE kids. LOVE! LOVE! LOVE them! I was just skeptical of the consistency and other factors that come into play with running an in home daycare. Nevertheless, I got started at once preparing the way.
It wasn’t until late June, just before our annual trip to Minnesota, that I finally got excited. By that time I had taken, or was signed up for all of the courses I needed to take to become certified. I had also worked hard on readjusting my lifestyle and budget, getting rid of cable and some debt.
Eliza was able to move to an in home daycare close to my work for the summer. This allowed us to be able to take the bus. That was such a fun adventure, and we both enjoyed getting to spend the extra time together. Once the bus got us to West Des Moines we would walk a half mile to the home. Then my mother would pick me up on her way to work and take me the rest of the way.
Our trip to Minnesota was great, but too short as usual. On the way home Eliza stated how she wanted so badly to be able to stay up there longer, I told her I shared her feelings, as there is little I find more relaxing than a northern Minnesota summer. It was at this time, I remembered that the next UNI 2+2 cohort was starting in JAN 2009. This is a program where UNI and DMACC have come together to allow people who are place bound to get their teaching degree from UNI.
Later that week I went to the DMACC campus and found I was sitting in a great position to make it happen, and so I committed myself to going back to school full time. I felt that now that I was with Eliza all day, (or going to be once school started) a few nights and weekends were doable.
So then I came to the hard part, leaving a job that I loved. A job that had provided for me financially, and so much more. The people at INS are like family, and I quite literally had grown up with a lot of them. It made me feel so grown up to think that this was going to be the hard part, as I remember many times in my life quitting a job resembled an attitude more like the last day of school before a break.
Once the notice was given, it was a crazy three weeks of training, which I was so thankful to be able to have a chance to do. I had spent a lot of my time as Supervisor making sure things were documented, but spent a great deal of the summer getting it all together and in good order for others. It was still hard to leave so many friends and mentors.
Alas, it was done, and I moved quickly into the new role of full time student, homemaker, mom and in home daycare provider. I was a bit surprised at the emotions that came with the first few weeks. As I recall, I felt over blessed, and not sure if I was worthy of having such a miracle happen in my life. I remember feeling the same way when I was pregnant with Eliza. I finally realized it was real, and was able to focus my eyes where they needed to be.
I am still trying to just take one day at a time, but I can still say that I feel overly blessed. Our lives have slowed down a great deal and now I am being lead to other things in my life that need some fixing. I hope to be able to give you some victorious news on that in my next annual letter.
A few other things worth mentioning would be first of all, the role that I was able to play in a VBS program. The program was based at Evelyn Davis Park on Forest. This is a park that is known for more criminal and other activities, but for one week I got to join with a group of people and tell and show these kids about Jesus. It was quite humbling and went too fast, but I got to meet some great kids, and other people, including my friend Mariah, who does an amazing job with these kids on a weekly basis. I am still hoping to do more work like this in the future, we will see what happens.
Eliza also got to start dance and tumbling at Amy Peel’s Dance Avenue. This is where her cousin Reid has been learning dance and tumbling for 8 years now. (WOW!) She started in the fall and loves that her Uncle Ed picks her up every week. It is a fun time for them together. Her other favorite things to do are spend the night with grandparents, which she does every Friday right now because mommy has school, and spend the night at the farm where my sister and her family moved to last year. Her crafts continue to amaze me as well as her love for playing dress-up. What a great imagination. She has also been blessed with constant friends in her life whom she loves to play with like Payton, Chivon, Sam, Reagan, and her newest friend from Chicago, Stone. There are many others that she has meet more recently, and some she hasn’t met yet.
It has been an amazing year, and so many of you have played a roll in that. I am very eager to see what else is in store as I follow the commitments that have been given to me. It reminds me of a verse I have focused on since becoming a mom, “"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,” Isaiah 30:15
Have a blessed year! ~ The Fitch Girls ~ check us out on the web ~ http://thefitchgirls.blogspot.com/
