Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

from the Fountain Family

 Wishing you

love, joy, peace and hope

 today and every day of 2013.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

 Romans 15:13

Our Year in Pictures 2011

2011: Dreams Fulfilled, Family Found, Fellowship with Friends, Lots of Fun

Langston Hughes posed the question what happens to a dream deferred.

So many live with the gnawing ache of dreams deferred.

But what happens when your dreams are fulfilled? When what you hoped and prayed for become a reality. When you plant and water and God through His grace and amazing love gives the increase. When the hard work of planting and nurturing, building and dreaming, working and planning finally come to fruition.

Joy.

Not just happiness at the circumstances, but a deep satisfaction and peace because you know you are in the space and place where God intends you to be, even if all the circumstances still are not perfect.

2011 has been a year of dreams fulfilled for the Fountain Family and for that we praise God.

In FountainPens, you will see some of our dreams that have been fulfilled this year. Lost family ties have been bound. A book that lived for years in our heart and mind has come to life. Awards have been won professionally and academically, on the field of athletics and in the discipline of martial arts.

We praise God for every blessing, but most of all we thank God for you--our family and friends.

The greatest treasures we possess are the intangible ones. Our health. Our relationships with family and friends, those who we love and who love us back. Not the things we accumulate, but the memories that we make. Hugging a brother for the first time. Laughing and playing games on a trip to Detroit. Watching your son be a pirate in a play. Singing and dancing under the sky at a music festival in Cincinnati. Driving with the drop top down on a humid summer night. Sitting by a fireplace with the one you love.

We pray that you treasure the moments and that your 2012 is filled with joy.

Our Year in Pictures 2009

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We stand on the cusp of a new year and a new decade. And what a year and decade this has been for the Fountain Family. It is a decade that has seen many transitions for our family. We have physically moved this decade. And we have moved, grown and transitioned in many other areas of our lives.

It has been quite a journey. This decade started with the fears of Y2K and the Fountain Family in Ann Arbor, Michigan where John was in the middle of the Knight Wallace Journalism Fellowship. We went from a year in Ann Arbor to a summer in New York City to moving back to our beloved Chicago. It was our desire to return to live in the Chicago area and God brought us back in a way that only He could.

God has been faithful. God has provided. We stand amazed and our hearts are full of praise as we reflect on His blessings to the Fountain Family. And one of the many blessings that we count are you—our friends and family.

When we started this journey this decade, our son Malik was not even with us. We have been blessed with other additions to our extended family this decade and sadly, we have said goodbye to precious loved ones. There have been unexpected twists and turns, challenges and opportunities. And through it all, God has been faithful.

We started this year with the exhilaration of the inauguration of our first Black president. During the summer we lost the king of pop, Michael Jackson. The stock market has gone up and down. Technology has changed the way we communicate and live. There continue to be wars, rumors of wars, escalation of war and no peace in many places. People have lost jobs, homes, and hope and on the streets of our cities across this nation, many have lost their lives to senseless violence.

We do not know what the next year or decade holds, but we do know who holds us and the times in His hands. We do know who our trust and hope is in. We do know the King of Kings and the Prince of Peace. We know the name that is above all names. And although we know that many things have changed and will change, one thing is constant.

Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, today, forever.

May you know and experience the presence of the precious gift of our Savior this Christmas, New Year, next decade and forever.

Peace and Blessings,
The Fountains

A Scholar, Leader and Comedian

Malik is in second grade now.

Malik is an A student and was chosen for the scholar and leaders program at his school. He also sings in the second grade chorus at school.

Malik loves playing basketball in the summer and beating his Dad at baseball on the Wii. He also learned how to ride a two-wheeler this summer. He keeps us laughing with his funny observations and commentary.

Run, Mani, Run

Imani is now in eighth grade and will be entering high school in the fall of 2010.

Imani is an honor roll student and a budding athlete. This year and last year, Imani ran cross country and did very well. She finished first for her school last year and this year, despite having an injury that sidelined her for a few weeks this year. She also sings in her school choir.

Anyone who knows Imani knows that she loves children and children love her. She wants to be a teacher. She volunteers at the nursery at church and at other activities that involve children at church. She participated in youth church and the junior high ministry and was part of the mime group during Vacation Bible School this summer.

This fall, Imani was baptized at our church. It was a wonderful day that brought tears to her mother’s eyes.

Now she is looking forward to graduating from eighth grade and transitioning to high school.