2016-09-29 15:46
In early August Bart and I went to dinner with Dan and Terri Coley of "Show Hope" while we were in Nashville. It was awesome. They are awesome. And as part of our meal we heard their ad… Read More
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My Journey as a Foster and Adoptive Parent.... 12 kids in 12 years.
2016-09-27 11:26
A little over a week ago I was sitting in church in our first service where I sing in the choir. The five of us (yes, we're a small ensemble, but we still call ourselves a choir and wear ro… Read More
2016-09-27 01:42
So, what's going on with me? I had the stomach flu all weekend. Fun. Not. But it's over now. A quick bug. I got to watch a lot of Netflix.OK, so as I used to do when I blogged all the… Read More
2016-09-22 15:29
I'm working on a major work project today and don't have time to post this, but I need to share a few of the little things.1) Dominyk, at the age of 20, can now live alone a few days a week… Read More
2016-09-14 11:53
So... Happy Birthday to me. I woke up at 5:45 so excited about my day that I couldn't go back to sleep. And it isn't because it's my birthday, believe me. It's because things are really q… Read More
2016-09-08 13:09
For only the second time in about a month I was up for an hour in the middle of the night last night (from 3:15 to 4:20 to be exact) stewing. Rehashing and rehearsing conversations and try… Read More
2016-09-07 12:06
If you know me very well, you know I’m not lacking in self-confidence. I blame my mother…. I’ve told her often that she and my dad over did it on the self-esteem building… Read More
2016-08-30 11:34
Actually my job isn't new, but it kinda is. Let me explain.Last November I was interviewed for a job as the "Chief Program Officer" at Patrick Henry Family Services. I was told that I woul… Read More
2016-08-25 15:09
Our son Dominyk has been working for the Physical Plant department at Patrick Henry and has been back at the job for about 4 weeks. And most of the time he has spent weed whacking. Literal… Read More
2016-08-19 16:08
I am a person who is always full of hope. Well maybe not always always, but most of the time. And it can be fairly annoying to have me around if you are planning on being depressed forever… Read More
2016-08-13 16:28
Very seldom will I want to communicate something so bad that I will spend 30 minutes finding the video clips, but do you remember the Grey’s Anatomy episode where Dr. Bailey has to ope… Read More
2016-08-13 16:26
Very seldom will I want to communicate something so bad that I will spend 30 minutes finding the video clips, but do you remember the Grey’s Anatomy episode where Dr. Bailey has to ope… Read More
2016-08-05 02:01
Starting in 2005, when presenting with Bart in Pittsburg, I wrote a legendary blog post called, "How's NACAC?" that was quoted in a NACAC publication. It was from the perspective of a paren… Read More
2016-08-02 23:02
This past week I had a chance to spend time with my daughter in law who is a phenomenal mother. Watching her with my grandkids was an amazing experience. She is so patient (she has twin gi… Read More
2016-07-20 11:53
I’m an extrovert so when I am alone for several hours without being able to process verbally I start to drive myself crazy. My thoughts spin around in my head with nowhere to go and I… Read More
2016-07-15 22:35
Last year at Bill Hybel's leadership summit he talked about the 5 intangibles of leadership. He borrows from Simon Sinek's Ted Talk where he talks about being driven by your "why." He sugg… Read More
2016-07-11 14:11
Yesterday my husband Bart and I were talking about his current love affair….with the writings of Karl Barth (pronounced Bart)I know, I know, we’re weird.He has begun reading Bar… Read More
2016-07-09 15:29
Last night was wonderful. I want to tell you all about it, but it involves a lot of background.From 1992 to 1994 I lived in the country of Mexico as a short-term missionary. The first yea… Read More
2016-07-08 12:11
I'm not going to lie. Yesterday was a hard day. A really hard day. In fact, when I got to the cardiologist for an echocardiogram that he ordered, my blood pressure was higher than it had… Read More
2016-07-06 12:10
In February of 2014 I fell in love with the song “Oceans.” I sang it. With sincerity. And in March of that year something horrible happened at work that led to six very diffi… Read More
2016-07-01 21:17
So today we spent three hours having our first home study visit for Foster Care. Yes, we want to do it again. You may ask why.There is only one reason.We have space and kids need homes an… Read More
2016-07-01 15:22
For some insane reason a few months ago I decided I had missed out on pop culture by never having watched the series “Lost” and committed myself to 117 episodes of watching peopl… Read More
2016-06-28 12:22
For every task that is out there, there are multiple distractions that can pull us away from accomplishing that task. My months at Patrick Henry Family Services have been a constant series… Read More
2016-06-27 12:38
Have you ever wished you had the perfect boss? Or have you ever wished you had a different boss? Sometimes the relationship between an individual and their supervisor isn't always perfect… Read More
2016-06-27 12:37
The song I have linked to below has the lines “in the mirror all that I see is your grace looking back at me.” I love that concept. Because there are a lot of things I don&rsq&hell…Read More
2016-06-25 13:49
Have you ever wished you had the perfect boss? Or have you ever wished you had a different boss? Sometimes the relationship between an individual and their supervisor isn't always perfect… Read More
2016-06-24 14:20
Hat Creek is a GORGEOUS camp and we are excited to have this day together. I will be leading the mom's group. If you have questions, let me know. RSVP NOW! Read More
2016-06-24 13:24
Have you ever caught yourself saying this phrase to yourself or out loud? Something happens in your life that seems very similar to something that happened before and that is your first th… Read More
2016-06-23 11:58
I love mornings. I know some of you are already groaning. But I love the promise that each new day gives us. We can start again. It makes me smile that we make such a big day about Janua… Read More
2016-06-21 00:13
I am fortunate enough to have a great husband and a great boss. They are similar to one another -- in fact they have the exact same Myers Briggs profile. They are both very bright, very i… Read More
2016-06-18 14:03
A spur of the moment decision, I decided to join Bart in Roanoke last night and I'm sitting in a brand new Hampton Inn hotel room for a few hours before I join him for lunch. I'm excited to… Read More
2016-06-13 13:55
Fortunately for your sake, I am not physically weighing in. In fact, if we were to start talking about my weight I would get suddenly very crabby because that whole issue is frustrating me… Read More
2016-06-12 22:39
I have had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time online doing what I want to do this weekend. It's great to get away and be able to do whatever I want.... and one of the things tha… Read More
2016-06-11 16:44
The past five months have been a blur. Having moved away from the daily drama of our adult children and starting a new job in a place where I knew no-one has been a bit challenging.Bart is d… Read More
2016-06-11 16:20
So for at least the fifth time I am in San Antonio, Texas for the purpose of speaking to CPS workers about adoption. I was here in 2005 and again in 2010. And apparently a couple times in… Read More
2016-06-04 16:36
We finally have a new website up and running to promote my speaking schedule and our books.Check it out and let me know what you think! Read More
2016-05-19 12:25
I now live in a part of the country where rumors and gossip are a way of life. Small town living combined with communal living can read havoc on any church or organization and it pains me a… Read More
2016-05-13 12:36
Have you ever thought it would be nice to have hymns translated into familiar words like The Message translated Scripture?Here’s my words for you today! Not perfect, and done quickly… Read More
2016-05-10 11:55
I grew up in Colorado, so this may make more sense to me than to others, but mountain driving in the Rockies involves a lot of trees, a lot of paying close attention the road, and a lot of t… Read More
2016-05-05 11:54
Most of us have lots of things we want. Things like:1) Basic needs met — food, clothing, shelter etc. times a thousand. :-) We want more than just the basics…. we want th… Read More
2016-04-26 01:08
Last night I spent two hours in one of our cottages where we house teenage boys. It was not a perfect night. In fact, it was not a fun night at all. I won't go into detail to protect the… Read More
2016-04-22 13:11
This has been a rough couple weeks. I am not at liberty to share a single detail, but I ended yesterday feeling like a crazy person. It's hard to even explain it.But in the midst of it all… Read More
2016-04-18 11:52
It is the intention of the bishop to appoint Rev Bart Fletcher to serve as the pastor of the Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church in Danville, VA.For the fifth time in my life we have heard se… Read More
2016-04-14 12:09
It's been almost a month since I have blogged and it has been quite a month. The more steps we take forward it seems that we have been taking steps backward just as fast or faster. You kn… Read More
2016-03-22 11:18
I woke up with this song by Mercy Me in my brain and it won’t go away…. so maybe it’s a sign that you need to have it in your brain all day too!Yesterday in staff meeting… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
I just finished an amazing weekend. I flew to Seattle on Thursday to attend and speak at Refresh 2014, a Christian Foster and Adoptive Parents conference. This is the third year... I was h… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
I'm feeling a bit contemplative today as I reflect on the year 2013. It has been an incredible year. Possibly one of the best of my life. I am beyond grateful to God for being with us th… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
If you've read my blog or seen my Facebook you know that I have an incredible amount of passion for the issue of kids in foster care who are waiting for a family. Recently that passion has… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
Where did the last two months go? I think I was immersed in life and today have come up for air. I was asked on Facebook to blog again, and so I am going to do that and try to answer the… Read More
2016-03-08 13:13
Every morning when we wake up we have no idea what the day will hold. The day ahead is an empty page that is yet to be written. There are many people (I’m married to… Read More
2016-03-07 13:09
Bart is a good preacher. In fact, he is an excellent preacher. But once in a while he knocks it out of the park, and yesterday was one of those days. He did it not once, bu… Read More
2016-02-28 05:10
Refresh just ended. For the fifth year in a row I walked out of Overtake Christian Church with a full heart amazed at all that God has done.I love Refresh for several reasons.1)  &hell…Read More
2016-02-20 16:55
One of the people I work with just told me "go do your blog." And she reminded me that I was going to write about something that happened this week.It's been a beyond crazy week, but I… Read More
2016-02-17 13:13
My email to my Residential Care Staff turned into a blog entry. Here it is:Don’t you love it that God’s mercies are new every morning? That he gives us a fresh start… Read More
2016-02-13 17:51
My time hop indicated today that I was getting out of the hospital 6 years ago after surgery for a blood clot in my arm. I also had one in my heart. It was a scary time -- it re… Read More
2016-02-12 13:03
I wrote this email to my staff this morning and I thought it was worth sharing here. Every day I send my staff a YouTube Link to a song. Today's was suggested to me by our Direct… Read More
2016-02-09 11:31
In every system there are roles. And when a person is placed into a role, there is sometimes very little they can do to get beyond the role. Suddenly the person becomes their ro… Read More
2016-02-09 11:12
I certainly had plans to blog this past week. I just didn't find the time. I was rushing from one thing to another and one home to another and one office to another and one town… Read More
2016-02-03 12:15
It was very appropriate that yesterday was Groundhog day, because the dysfunctional system reared it's ugly head around here for a couple days. Details don't matter. I ca… Read More
2016-02-01 02:16
This morning in church I had one of those surreal moments when I thought about the past.... and the future.... and how it sometimes is a good thing that we don't know the future from the beg… Read More
2016-01-30 15:27
For the 7th time on this blog (yes, I went back and counted) I am quoting this little ditty my mother used to sing to me as a child:"Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the… Read More
2016-01-29 15:50
Oh wait, Was that supposed to be grace?I know I haven't blogged this week... not for four or five days I guess. It may have to do with the fact that i have driven 452 miles between tri… Read More
2016-01-25 22:17
As I mentioned yesterday, this transition is taking a long time. It's not a bad long time, it's just a long time. Today the pod came with our possessions. We ended up havi… Read More
2016-01-24 12:07
I really hope I got that song stuck in your head. "It's the song that never ends.... it just goes on and on my friends.... Somebody started singing it...."HA! It's stuck in mine… Read More
2016-01-23 13:52
The way that human beings are designed makes it very difficult to forgive and nearly impossible to forget a past hurt. The anatomical culprit is the amygdala. This is the part of… Read More
2016-01-22 16:16
In case you are following the ever changing "How many Fletchers are in Virginia" saga, we are now at 5. I am thrilled to report that Bart and Wilson are now here and safe before the bi… Read More
2016-01-19 12:45
One of the things that Dominyk and Wilson were so excited about when we decided to move is that we were all going to move away from the drama of their older siblings. We had found hou… Read More
2016-01-18 12:47
How many of us live a life that is similar to a tennis match? I ask you out for lunch. We have a great time. The ball has now been hit into your court and I wait and wait… Read More
2016-01-16 12:35
Wow. I went in to see the CEO for the end of my orientation process (2 weeks), and asked him if it were time for my 90 day review. It feels like I have worked here a long time.I… Read More
2016-01-12 21:18
The first Guideline is "I will acknowledge that I am ________."Fill in the blank. It could be the name of an organization like I put in my powerpoint yesterday. "I am PHFS."Or it… Read More
2016-01-09 14:43
Last night I hit my first real rough spot... the low point of my journey here so far. There were a bunch of things that led up to it... first of all I woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't… Read More
2016-01-08 11:06
We didn't have the opportunity to name our children. In fact, even our dogs came named. We changed some middle names, but basically our kids go by the name that was given to them… Read More
2016-01-06 13:02
On my other blog an entry called, "What Does it Mean to be Child Focused?" Read More
2016-01-06 12:46
Have you ever started a job that you were really passionate about where the task was huge and information came at you super fast? And have you ever been so excited that you can't sleep… Read More
2016-01-06 11:53
The name of his blog is "Another New Place to Love" and he has already made me cry Read More
2016-01-05 12:20
Yesterday was my first day on the new job. Even though I had spent about 10 hours with the CEO last week in one-on-one training, that had been my idea so that I could hit the gro… Read More
2016-01-04 12:50
Yesterday Dominyk and I went to church in Lynchburg -- to Heritage Baptist church. Our next door neighbors who have a teenage son go there and he had gotten Dominyk all excited to try… Read More
2016-01-03 13:06
I love people. Always have. An extrovert for sure, I just love diving into the lives of other people and living life with them. I can be a bit intense so I have to work ha… Read More
2016-01-02 12:34
Knock Knock, You About to Get Shell Shocked!Things are strange. Not strange in a bad way. But strange in a good way.I have a medicine cabinet. I put my medication, toothpa… Read More
2016-01-02 12:14
Those words have been going through my mind all week in musical form, sung to the tune, of course, of the hymn "God Will Take Care of You!" I left behind a lot of people that I love an… Read More
2016-01-01 16:27
Another post on my new blog:Heredity or Environment? Read More
2015-12-31 13:35
So I started this new blog and I want you to read those entries too. Of course I do. I am so excited about reconnecting with bloggers and my blog readers again. It has bee… Read More
2015-12-31 11:20
I was awake at 3:30 this morning and never went back to sleep. After spending 6 hours with the CEO at my new job yesterday my mind was spinning. I also learned that trying to get anythin… Read More
2015-12-30 12:58
I use the word coincidence here because I fear that I will soon be accused of using the word miracle way too often. My brothers have chosen a completely different path in life than my pare… Read More
2015-12-30 01:27
We have arrived in Virginia. I am sitting at the dining room table that I'm borrowing in the townhouse that I'm borrowing for the next several months. I arrived and was overwhelmed with a… Read More
2015-12-26 01:10
Happy to announce that it really wasn't Holiday Hell this year. It was a really good Christmas.We started celebrating at noon on Christmas Eve. Wilson has a Christmas Eve Birthday and Sal… Read More
2015-12-24 16:41
Six years ago I blogged a blog entry called "This Year, It's all about the baby". I remember that post, and that year, because it struck me that every single Christmas it should be about th… Read More
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