Christmas Letter 2015, The J Fulks

     Happy New Year! We think of family and friends often and have enjoyed hearing from many of you. Thank you. When you think of us, here is the lean review of our 2015.
     Our third grandchild’s birth was THE top highlight of the year. Diane was present for sweet Isla’s birth to our daughter Shayna while Jeff was in El Salvador on a missions trip. Isla met the world on March 2nd, an 8½-lb. smiler. She studies her two big brothers’ every move. Crawling is now conquered, and she begins to walk, grabbing all furniture. 

     Grandson Jackson turned 5 exactly 5 days ago; Will is 2½. For Halloween, the 3 "littles" dressed up as Iron man, The Hulk, and Super girl. But, we think Will’s heart is still with another superhero, as he regularly wears his 2014 Buzz Light-year costume. Their daily play times at the YMCA will no doubt keep them lean.
     Our August vacation was a quick get-away to Miami to celebrate a milestone of 120 combined years of life. Walks on the beach and spending a day with Diane’s high school Buddy Mary were better than visiting the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls. Over 20 years apart melted after the first 15 minutes together.

Miami Bike

Hostess Mary introduced us to a variety of Amazing Race sights, like her Everglades alligator friends (better than Shark Tank friends any day) and to crab shack meals. Thank you for tirelessly working with (former Haitian refugee) students. We’ll keep sending our box tops Teacher Mary’s way.

     Jeff's almost 81-year-old Mom continues to do well. 2015 family visitors to her nearby home included Jeff's overseas Brother Ron and other family members. Five extended visits to Chicago yielded Diane opportunities to savor time with Aunt Bettye, Sister Elaine, and Brother Brian's family.

     High-tech gizmos are a daily part of our lives. These new and exciting items impact our overall health:

• First is the electric toothbrush, firmly prescribed by our dental assistant (yes, we consider ourselves early adopters). Hopefully our teeth will last decades longer than the 6-month life span of a toothbrush head.
• With our two grown children living hundreds of miles away, we were finally coerced into our second technology. The iPhone and its FaceTime feature. (Jeff was holding-out his hopes that a Windows phone with Skype would more than suffice.) Diane’s day could not start any better than to receive a “little’s” FaceTime call. Diane dabbles in using iFeatures, like Notes, the Calendar, and (more than necessary) Photo Editing functions.
• The third technology, introduced to us just this Christmas by Favorite Oklahoma Son Nathan, is the Fitbit family. In yet another way, Jeff needs to stop using his Windows phone as a tracker. One added bonus is the Fitbit’s ability to track our sleep behaviors. We say we had a bad night’s sleep and now have clear proof of the claim on the tracker.

     Our lives continue to lean-in, lean-out, and maintain leanness. Diane has almost daily afternoon walks (sometimes with neighbors, many times not) and Jeff heads out with almost daily morning runs (now sans bulky phone). Diane continues as a homesteading and intensely artsy Facebook fanatic and thrift store shopper, who every so often temps at Evangel University. We attentively follow the 4 reality TV shows that are italicized in the other paragraphs of this letter.
     We are glad that 2015 is over! It was a fine year in many ways, but overall colored with frustration and disappointment. One down[ton Abbey] blow was to Jeff’s Evangel responsibilities, transitioning to his original role of 22 years ago at the University… to enlarge minds and help teach students to think and problem-solve. With God’s mercy and help, Jeff will be a Survivor with Diane included in his alliance. In this one move, Jeff's busy work calendar becomes leaner with the removal of 7 committees and teams from his university responsibilities.
     In 2016 we hope to continue to be mindful of the importance of removing extra weights and burdens that may entangle us and discover new opportunities. We hold to faith (and cradle Grandbaby Isla Faith) knowing our true strength, source, and song. We lean not on our own understanding, but look to God’s wisdom and direction.
     May the Lord’s face shine on you and your family as you leap through this New Year. Enjoy the extra day in February, find unscheduled time, and seize the opportunities to which you are presented.

Love, Jeff & Diane

Season of Giving 2015, Week Four

More gifts for each day of the Season of Giving, Christmas-time.

Season of Giving, Gift #22
Happy Surprises. Our birthday boy was definitely surprised, 2 days early for his big 5th. Happy Birthday to our funny and most passionate blower-out-of-candles, 3 times during the ♫Birthday Song♫  

Season of Giving, Gift #23
God's comforting and guiding presence... which helps one to navigate a tangled and unpredictable world to uncover our destinies. The quote in my picture meme stood out while recently re-reading the true story "Tangled Destinies." Years ago I intentionally left my first copy on an airplane as encouraging reading material for other flyers. And finally for the holidays, last week I re-purchased it :)


Season of Giving, Gift #24 (just one more gift to go).
A Christmas sky song. Illustrated in doodle art. And tonight, one full moon all night long. Happy Christmas Eve and much joy on this special day. (I connected the random dots and cloud patterns in my photo of swirling turkey vultures)  -- >



Season of Giving, Gift #25
The greatest.gift.ever: "For to us a child is born, a son is given." Merry Christmas, a joyous New Year, and love to all. In only 3 months and 2 days... comes spring with Easter time's demonstration of love.

Pollinate the world with the love of Jesus

Season of Giving 2015, Week Three

More gifts for each day of the Season of Giving, Christmas-time.

Season of Giving, Gift #15

Trust, especially when facing smiling super-structures. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).

Season of Giving, Gift #16
     Psalm 23. Today my eyes witnessed the after-effects of a deer hit by a car. I entered the scene after a line of cars had stopped. In the middle of the road was the fallen deer whose legs crazily flailed straight into the air and then sideways, like a helpless and shaken horse in a wild west movie. He/she eventually clumsily re-gained footing, steadied, and then high-tailed to the safety of the wooded valley.
     Death is a part of life, but thankfully that blind-sided deer's life only temporarily passed before its very eyes. He/she was in the no-win, wrong place at the wrong time. It will wisely lie down in green pastures, for just a time, to be stabilized. Then, head for quiet waters. And, be restored. To once again cross busy roads (Kissick in particular). Be steadied, I pray, my deer. And please don't consume my pretty hosta plants next summer.

Season of Giving, Gift #17
(With my son-in-law in mind) everything Star Wars! Including this Brady Bunch-like medley to enjoy. With you, let The Force Awakens, be:
Jimmy Fallon's The Force Awakens Medley

Season of Giving, Gift #18
"War Room." Dealing with various real-life sticky situations since seeing the movie on Tuesday. Just settle down, focus-awaken, and to your room, GO !?!

Season of Giving, Gift #19
     Micah 6:8, winter 1972/73-style: A down-on-her-luck high school senior. Alcoholic father. Experiencing her Mom's daring and secretive planned escape and separation from her sometimes volatile husband, my Dad. I had no money. No car. And was asked to move seemingly forever away from everything familiar. Anorexic. Quiet. Afraid. Confused. Blubbering. Would someone nearby act mercifully to help a "refugee?" A brave friend’s parents decide to risk, rescue, and house desperate, stray puppy dog… Diane... for months. Decades later that puppy seems like a stranger to me; but, a vivid reminder just popped in…
     Micah 6:8, winter 2015-style: A down-on-her-luck 23-year-old. Volatile boyfriend with a scary record. No money. No car. No place to live. Alone, with hours-away family that could be at risk. Anorexic. Afraid. Confused. Blubbering. Who is the coerced but reluctantly willing co-worker that takes a huge risk? Giving extended shelter to a 2015 "refugee" at Christmas time? One very "Good Samaritan" my son. Open to walking through a “Pay It Forward” act of kindness that seems eerily similar to the one afforded... to his own stray puppy dog Mom in 1972.
     I nervously fidget and recite: “And what does the Lord require of you [and even your cherished adult children]? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

Season of Giving, Gift #20
The end of 2015 nearing. We still feel banged and kind of dizzied from 2015's labyrinth.

Link to: Still Dizzy

Season of Giving, Gift #21: A crown.  Faith, or egocentric naiveté, mentally connects angled "dots" in this picture (just tilt your head to the left and revert to childish imagination tactics). Think 2015's Miss Universe crowning faux pas, and see a most beauteous crown.

Season of Giving 2015, Week Two

More gifts for each day of the Season of Giving, Christmas-time.

Season of Giving, Gift #8
Memories, and thinking of "It's a Wonderful Life" 's compelling conclusion.... emphasizing strength-sustaining family and friendships and special times together. Three special White Christmas "Sisters" come to mind this Christmas Season.

Season of Giving, Gift #9
     Season of Giving Gift #9 is writers. Without inspired writers, we would not have the timeless Bible. The particular writer/blogger at the link below clearly says things I've not thought of before about the phrase "I married-up."
     39.5 years ago I was not beyond the edge of reason, did not "settle" for Jeff, nor did he sneakily "catch" my love in a weak moment. And vice versa. Despite my harried childhood, there was no “better-half” who was mixed-up, numbed-up, giving a hand-up to perk-up someone with hang-ups. In other words, no fix-up, cook-up or clean-up of a spousal round-up. (Admittedly, there was one bridge to my heart--his sporty baby blue Chevy Vega because I lacked wheels at college. The city bus was my transportation of necessity).
     We pretty much each married-up because, at least in our case, we are better people together rather than separately. We are equally blessed to have married each other. I've said it before (because I'm the emotionally expressive one) and will say it again and again:  I Love him. Always have. Always will.       Married-up?? the article

Season of Giving, Gift #10
     Season of Giving Gift #10 sounds a bit like I am entering "The Dark Side": It is the gift of sundown that brings night-time. Why?

     Heavenly angels appeared, at night-time, to shepherds who watched their flocks with the stars and moon shining. Those startled first-Christmas shepherds might have felt a light-force sensation similar to a paraphrased quote from "It's a Wonderful Life": "If we could swallow the moon, and let it all dissolve, then moon beams could shoot out of our fingers and toes, and out the ends of our hair!!!"
     And then I think of our newest neighbor’s holiday lights that glow in different phases, all night long. At 11:00 p.m. multi-colored lights beautifully shine over the entire front of the house. We can enjoy the view, but only when it is dark.

      Indeed, beautiful sights arrive at night. But, a brilliant light can shine from within us outward, 24/7. There is no need to swallow the shining moon, hang Christmas lights year-round, nor permanently enter "The Dark Side":  “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

Season of Giving, Gift #11
< --- Thoughts, re-programmed and re-ordered.


Season of Giving, Gift #12
Season of Giving Gift #12:  Dreams that see beyond the present, and beyond the pains of the present. --- >

Season of Giving, Gift #13
Season of Giving Gift #13: Wonder and awe. Like the reaction, thousands of years ago, of simple and isolated shepherds, and their jaw-dropping look up into the darkness to see bright heavenly angels visibly coming to earth. Announcing God with us!!!! A reaction that might somewhat resemble a curious child's awestruck jaw-drop as he studies. The overwhelming, 15-foot-high, lighted Frosty the Snowman at a Christmas-time display.


Season of Giving Gift #14
Season of Giving Gift #14: Simple but meaningful "earworms" from a portion of ♫At the Cross♫ and song lyrics "such-a-worm". How odd, in mid-December, to hear crickets chirping on our walks and see worms on the parking lot's pavement. Had to take a photo.

Season Of Giving 2015, Week One

Gifts, for each day of the Season of Giving, Christmas-time.

Season of Giving, Gift #1 is a pipe dream, but I can dream: "Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight"...  Peace and goodwill to all men (and women).

Season of Giving, Gift #2 is complicated, but in a twisted way it is reassuring as well. As is Joshua 5:14: "[Joshua asks] 'Are you for us or for our enemies?' 'Neither' he replied. 'But as commander of the army of the Lord I have come.' "

Joshua 5's "I have come"

     "I HAVE COME" is today's gift. In good times and in bad. To experience "I have come," not to help defeat for us others nor to fear His presence, but to stand beside us. To be with us. That we may have life and "...have it to the full" (John 10:10) even during times of shaking.
     Actually, it is a good thing the commander doesn't literally attack. For, many times, emotions are our "enemies." The self-promoting, blinding and lethal kind that so cleverly masquerade and justify themselves.
     In other words. Psych. But for the mercy and grace of God, it is I the commander would destroy.

Season of Giving, Gift #3
I awoke this morning from one of those dreadful dreams. I entered a fast-food restaurant and realized that from the waist up I was naked. I crossed my arms and quickly turned to calmly walk out of the establishment (hoping that no one had seen me), hearing workers at the counter say, "Sorry, ma'm, but we can't serve...." I was exposed, pointed out, and rejected.
     The Season of Giving Gift #3 is: ♫I'm dreaming of a BRIGHT Christmas♫ for all... bright starts, futures, eyes, ideas, stars in the sky, opportunities, and of course bright twinkle lights.

Season of Giving, Gift #4 The Season of Giving Gift #4 is a desire for truth and justice, and safety, too. For every Chicago and Ferguson and San Bernardino police man, and for law-breakers, it's true.
     Solid, anchoring Truth can be found through reading God’s Word, but the truth I speak of needs specific proof and a twist of fate.
     I am reminded of a popular, late-1960’s television drama series. The premiere episode opens… “Name: Richard Kimble. Profession: Doctor of Medicine. Destination: Death Row, state prison. Richard Kimble has been tried and convicted for the murder of his wife. But laws are made by men, carried out by men, and men are imperfect. Richard Kimble is innocent... Richard Kimble ponders his fate as he looks at the world for the last time, and sees only darkness. But in that darkness, fate moves its huge hand.”
     To provide truth, justice, and safety for all, some people need grace + Truth + truth + time (and Netflix Fugitive).

Season of Giving, Gift #5 
The Season of Giving Gift #5 is music. This isn't a traditional Christmas song, but certainly could be. What a voice. What a song. Enjoy Carrie Underwood's rendition of:  ♫ How Great Thou Art  ♫

Season of Giving, Gift #6
I'm a sucker for Frozen's Olaf, White Christmas, big red ball gowns, snowfalls, and the accordion. Mix those with communicating God's gift of love, and I give the James River Church Christmas presentation 5 stars tonight. Early Season of Giving, Gift #6:  Love

Season of Giving, Gift #7
The Season of Giving Gift #7 is pure joy: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance" (James 1:2-3).