Cherise Fleming

A view from our trip

2009-08-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

Grand Canyon
Slide Rock state park

The beach
Juju and Ariel
B' man
Little spunky Levi
Jackryan looking tough
Cute pick w/ Mickey in the background
So sweet!!!
Notice I said trip and not vacation, in my opinion when you go on vacation you go somewhere remote and sit on the beach with a cold drink in one hand and your spouses hand in the other. When we travel with the whole family for extended periods of time we basically pack everything and the kitchen sink and move our residence for a few days. Don't get me wrong, we had a BLAST! But there was not a thing relaxing about it! We drove through some of America's most beautiful country side. Our drive started out on the back side of the Rocky Mountains and ended us in the Ocean in California. Along the way we saw Michael's grandmother, mom, aunt, cousin, sister and family and lastly Disneyland for two days. Here are some cute pictures of our time away.....

New picture updates...

2009-03-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

Our big baller just finished his fourth season of basketball. Braeden has really improved through the years, scoring in every game. Way to go B!!!

Our new cute house, we are so excited to move in March!! I will send more pictures later...

Our little getaway skiing in the mountains with our good friends the Kubicek's for my birthday. Two days of skiing will really make you feel your age!!

Me and my kiddos on my birthday

Being a church planter's wife....

2009-01-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

Michael sent me this web site (http://yourjourney.org/waterNew/default.asp?T=508434&DID=1189 ) for church a planter's wife and I found it hard to read, yet comforting at the same time. Here is the summary of the article I read challenging us lucky (or unlucky) women....

She will not be perfect. We all fail and do so will she. Failure is not to fall down, but to stay down. At this point she should dust herself off, ask forgiveness, if necessary, and continue the calling already received, her family and the church.

Resume:

1. A church planter's wife must be just as committed to church planting as her husband.

2. Her role of wife and mother are her first priority.

3. Emotional stability needs to be cultivated as much as possible. (really? :)

4. The church planter's wife needs to be a model for others. (ouch, this one's hard)

5. Organization is to be sought at all costs. ( AMEN!!!)

6. Her resource is in Jesus Christ and His Word alone.

A Decade!

2008-12-19T13:56:00.001-08:00

Today we have been married 10 wonderful years! It is so hard to believe! It feels like just yesterday that we met and badda boom badda big here we are today four kids and many moves later! I love being married to my best friend. Michael is such an amazing husband, leader, father, provider and the list goes on! There is never a dull moment around my sweet man! We have been through so much together, but that has only made our relationship that much deeper and more reliant every day on the Lord. I have enjoyed every last minute these last 10+ years and I can't wait to see what the next 50+ bring! Love you babe! I am so proud to be Mrs. Michael Stanley Fleming!
This picture is greatness!!!! SHMILY??

Christmas Cuties....

2008-12-10T20:50:00.000-08:00

Look at my sweet Christmas cuties. No really, you have no idea what it took to get these shots, quite comical...but what a sweet Santa huh? Happy early Christmas! I hope your holiday is filled with giving and love.

Let it snow!!!

2008-12-04T13:34:00.001-08:00

This is what we woke up to this morning....

Happy Fall Ya'll!!!

2008-11-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures to show you what we have been up to this fall...

My princess and two super heros..

We all had fun dressing up, the general question from my kiddos was what are fifties people??

Levi's first day of pre-preschool...

Our neighborhood fall party....

The Leventhal's come to visit...

Lucky Dog!

2008-09-27T20:16:00.001-07:00

What a sweet puppy dog! Today we added a precious new addition to our family....Lucky! He is part black lab and part border collie. Lucky is almost two years old, house trained, kennel trained and neutered, he met all of our criteria. He weighs about 40 Lbs, the perfect size for the kids to play with. We have been looking for a sweet dog for our kiddos and he is perfect! He is our families early christmas present. We found him on craig's list, a family was moving to L.A. and couldn't take him with them so they gave him to a good home, US!!!! The boys and Julieann are so excited, it is good for them to have some more responsibility. What a Lucky Dog!!!

Dog????

2008-09-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were able to have a much needed family getaway. Some close friends parents have a house in Winter Park, CO and let us stay for a couple of days. The payment was for us to watch their cute dogs. Needless to say my kiddos had a blast being out in the mountains and have shown us that they are ready to have their OWN dog. I know, I know we aren't dog people, but you should see them with dogs, we feel like they are missing out in life. Here are some cute pictures from our hike and fun weekend. More to come later.....

New Location for Watermark Denver!

2008-08-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

We are moving to a new place of worship! I am so excited to be in this beautiful facility. It is the Broomfield Auditorium adjacent with the library. As you can see it is a beautiful space with a lot of room to grow, Lord willing!!!! I am so proud of Michael. He has been working so hard. Michael has been investing in a guy who found us through a friend, was not a believer, and through many conversations he came to know Jesus as his own personal savior. What a blessing! We started community groups last week and everyone is very excited about them. Our little church is grow ever so steadily, we are so excited to see what God has in store for us here in north Denver. Braeden and Jackryan started school last week and are excited to make more new friends, but not thrilled so much with the idea of homework again! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and notes of encouragement. Check out Michael's blog for more info about Watermark Denver, he is much better about blogging than I am, but I will try to give more updates now that I am two less daily!

Summer Fun....

2008-08-02T15:43:00.001-07:00

Our summer has flown by! I can't believe that we are starting school in just a few days! We have enjoyed sleeping in, going on hikes in Boulder, playing games, reading, swimming, celebrating brothers birthdays, our first family camping trip to Mount Rushmore and most of all Sundays spent with our new church family of Watermark Denver. There will be more to come, I promise as soon as I catch my breath on life....

Such is life.....

2008-05-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

Well I know it has been a while, but....no excuses. Today was Memorial Day and Michael and I threw a rather large back yard BBQ that went a little askew with the horrible cold, wet rainy weather. We didn't have quite the turn out we hoped for but God is definitely moving and working! We really are having fun and enjoying ourselves, although this is the hardest venture we have ever endured. We are looking forward to this coming weekend and next week as our sending home church is coming to Estes Park for family came. Estes is about an hour from us and we can't wait to see some old friends. I will post some more pictures and information about up coming events later this week, keep praying.....

Calling all chocolate lovers

2008-04-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

Join me ladies for some good treats, fellowship and some life long relationships! I am having our first ladies community time at my house tomorrow night. Email me if you are interested for more info on address and phone. I am looking forward to getting to know some ladies in the Denver area and I am hoping to build some strong relationships out of our time together. It will be fun to see where God takes us on this journey together and to see and hear about life change. See you tomorrow, bring your sweet tooth!

2008-04-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

We are all enjoying the snow. In fact, we are having SNOW much fun! More to come later.....

Bitter-sweet

2008-03-30T13:32:00.001-07:00

Hello All. I am sorry it has been so long since my last entry, a few of you have reminded me of how long it has been...well I titled this entry bitter-sweet because that is how life seems right now. We are getting settled and are really loving our new house, neighborhood, and friends. But I sincerely miss my family and friends. God is good and faithful. I truly feel blessed and loved, but I do have to remind myself of that at times, because it can be lonely. My sister-in-law, Chandra said that these first few weeks and months are the busiest, slowest time of our lives. Chandra and her husband planted a church, Copperhill Community Church, five years ago in southern California. So if anyone understands how weird this time is she would. It is busy because we have so much to do, calls, emails, meetings to make/have that 24 hours in a day aren't enough. But slow because it feels like things are moving at a snails pace, at least to me. We have had ALOT of family time and togetherness. The boys start school on tuesday and are very excited. We have met our three surrounding neighbors and our boys have made a couple of friends. We went over to our next door neighbors house and talked about church, religion and the idea of us planting a church. I think they thought we were crazy but nice people. We are looking forward to developing that relationship.

God is teaching me so much right now, one of the biggest things He has revealed to me is how selfish I am and can be, duh?? Right? Well just being here is such a blessing and answer to prayer for so many years, but at times I feel like Thomas, the doubting disciple. "Lord, I know you brought us out here to start a movement for you and your kingdom, but I am lonely and want things to happen now, on my timing. I do believe in you and your word, but will you just show me your hands and feet so I can just MAKE SURE?" How sad that must make my Savior feel. So, for you prayer warriors out there or Thomas's like me will you pray along side of me that this amazing yet hard journey will never be about me or my selfish desires, but Christs glory alone! I pray that we daily, hourly die to ourselves and our selfish desires and aim to live our life for Christ. "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Phil 1:21. Until next time....

Time to sell....

2008-01-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know it has been a while, since I have summited an entry, since last year to be exact! But life has been moving fast and furious around the Fleming home. Yesterday we officially put a sign in our yard to sell our house. Last friday I had a garage sale and sold a bunch of stuff, I also sold some big items on craigs list. We have been doing home improvement projects, like me staying up till 10:30 last night painting my doors, all 14 and base boards. Whew! I am tired just thinking about it all! Michael is going to Denver for another vision trip the first of February and I will be meeting him on the weekend to find a house/apartment to rent, so please pray! We are finishing up things here in Dallas, support rasing and team building then we will transition ourselves on the ground in Denver sometime in March if all goes well. It is such a scary and thrilling place to be, but keeping our eyes focused on Christ and the journey He is taking us on is what is keeping us going. I rest today in Psalm 16:11 "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

Merry Christmas!!!

2007-12-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Y'all!!!! We went to santa's village on Sunday night with some good friends, the Jacobs, and took some pre-Christmas pictures. It was cold, crazy and filled with Christmas cheer! Enjoy the pictures....

What has God called you to do with your cloak?

2007-11-07T14:44:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was studying 1&2 Kings about Elisha and Elijah and their ministries, I love the symbolizm of the cloak. We were first introduced to the "cloak" in 1 Kings 19 when we saw the cloak on Elisha and how when Elijah asked him if he wanted to be a part of his ministry Elisha threw his cloak, (which then symbolized status, and wealth), around Elijah's shoulder's, meaning I am "all in", you can have everything of value to me because I want to follow you. In 2 Kings 2 Elijah was getting ready to ascend into heaven and he was ready to pass on his ministry or "cloak "to Elisha symbolizing that it was his turn to lead the charge. The cloak was used not only by both prophets to separate the body of water in 2 Kings 2:13-14 but also to show who was the prophet. It was God's way of showing the people around them that they believed and followed Him whole heartily. What does it look like for God to want us to throw our "cloak" around him and just be "all in?" How does that play out in our lives? How often has God given us the charge to hand over our "cloak" to be able to effectively serve Him with our whole hearts? What would your cloak look like? Anger, money, possessions, lust, laziness and the list goes on. I feel very challenged to daily check my heart and life for anything that would hinder me in my walk with my Savior. My passion with being a completer to my husband during this church planting season is that I would not only throw my "cloak" around his shoulders but that I would help him persevere to spur others on to believe in what God has laid on our hearts. I leave you with Elisha's charge, do you have it in YOU? "So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elisha went up to him and threw his cloak around him." 1 Kings 19

Are you a Jezebel?

2007-10-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

Life is moving at a crazy pace right now. We are in full throttle of church planting, raising four precious babes and trying to manage the chaos! Two weekends ago Michael and I were able to getaway for a night at our churches marriage conference. It was such a blessed time for the both of us. It is so fun to "let your hair down" and enjoy reflecting on the good times and hard times to let God use those circumstances to grow you in your marriage. I helped out our good friend on Saturday do a "speaker/listener" demonstration who was teaching one of the breakouts on communication and I was blown away by the little tid-bits I learned. God must have been laughing at me because he revealed some interesting ways I sin during conflict with my loving spouse. I thought I knew how to effectively communicate with Michael in a conflict and for the most part I did, but it is funny how the little things can get you! One of the ways I get caught up is that Michael is forever telling me that I am not listening when in a fight, and of course I always rebuttal, but I learned that when someone else is speaking and you are only thinking of ways to negate EVERYTHING they are saying, then guess what? You aren't listening! Hello! It wasn't any major epiphanies, just practical stuff like that but it provoked some great conversations between us.

I am also convicted about the influence we have over our husbands. Do we daily use that influence to bring honor to them and glory to our Savior? In reading this past week in 1 Kings 21:5-25 I learned about a woman named Jezebel who was married to a powerful king, Ahab. Instead of being a helper or completer to King Ahab she was an ultimate manipulator. In fact she was so good at "fixing or meddling" in her husbands affairs that she had an innocent man killed. When times got tough she whipped out the pants and put them on instead of challenging her husband to lean on God. 1 Kings 21:25 says, "There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife." Wow if that is not convicting women, I don't know what is. How am I a completer to my spouse? Am I daily bathing in God's word and not just reading it but memorizing it and applying it to my life? Let me leave you today with this thought from Gods word, found in 1 Peter 3:1-4 "In the same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands. Then, even if some are disobedient to the word, they will be won over without a word by the way you live, when they see your pure and reverent conduct. Let your beauty not just be external – the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes – but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight. "

Some Light Reading...

2007-09-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

So I just finished reading two very interesting books, the first is called Faces of Rage. The author, David Damico does a great job explaining how in our rage we take control, at least we try. We intend to manage our lives, but instead only fragment and paralyze our souls. The strength, joy, and wholeness of life will not be ours unless our relationships to others are redeemed in our relationship with God. Damico says our strategy of control leaves us starved and weak. Rage wears many masks, rage can be both warrior and peacemaker, it can be the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. Rage is not just about angry emotion it is about self-protection, it blooms in the deep soil of unresolved loss. It is hard to find life amongst the rage. Life is conquering circumstances to maintain an inseparable relationship with the Lord who is our treasure and glory. I believe God used this book in my life to help me examine triggers of when I let my flesh or circumstances control my thoughts, attitude, and behavior. It does not always look like a red eyed, fire-breathing dragon but it effects me and others as if it was. I am never going to "arrive" in this life and it is not going to get easier, but I believe that God gives us a brain and tools, the bible, and a Savior to pave the way to have abundant life with His son, Jesus Christ.

For if, by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ! Romans 5:17NET

Last Summer Fling

2007-09-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

OK, so life is moving at a very fast pace these days with four children, our church, Watermark just opening up at our new facility and church planting in full gear but I love it! Last weekend we spent some much needed R & R with old friends swimming. I swear my children are fish!! We are ready for the transition of school and responsibility, well I am at least! It will be crazy to see the twists and turns that God sends us on this fall... The verse I have been clinging to lately is Isaiah 60:19 "The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory"

Schools In

2007-08-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

First day of school! Braeden was excited to see old friends and Jackryan was looking forward to making new ones. They are getting so big so fast! Braeden was thrilled with his short, new dew. Jackryan loved his early b-day present, his new backpack and lunch box.

2007-07-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here we are last summer in Estes Park, Colorado.

2007-07-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

My boys in brown..
Pretty in pink...
Bathing beauty...
Hats off boys...

Ju Ju

2007-07-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

My little girl has changed my life. She is amazing!