Fritz Family Letter 2013

December 2013

 

Much has happened since you last heard from 

the Fritz family a few years ago.  I will

attempt to briefly fill you in on our

adventure called life.  

The biggest news is that, after 13 years of living on the Oregon coast, we relocated to the Tucson, Arizona area in the summer of 2012.  We sensed the Lord opening the door to move.   Eric is currently a youth pastor with the possibility of moving into broader roles.  It’s been a long time since we’ve been the “new kids” breaking into social circles and, as a pastor often does, stretching the people to new and different ground.  We still feel displaced but are trusting God brought us here for a purpose and look forward to bright days ahead. 

Gabrielle has been battling a gastroenterology issue for a few years.  The pain and other symptoms she endures causes her to miss quite a bit of school and a lot of experiences which make for a fun senior year of high school.  Nonetheless, she continues to excel at school (including an “A” in a college class) and keeps an incredible, faith- and hope-filled attitude.    She plays the flute in the symphonic orchestra.  Because of her health issues, she will likely stay home for the time being following graduation.

Graydon is a sophomore and continues to be highly successful in running cross country and track.  He played freshman basketball last year but is now concentrating on running in hopes to receive a running scholarship.  He lettered in both xc and track his freshman year.  He has surpassed both Eric and I in height, for which he thoroughly enjoys reminding us.

Gideon is a 7^th grader at the Christian school, which he really enjoys.  He’s always working on a project with his hands or on plans to fulfill his dreams for his future.  His classmates ask him how he always knows how to make the best construction for the engineering projects.  In his spare time, he enjoys adding to his notebook, which is full of diagrams and plans for living “off the grid” as a taxidermist, blacksmith, farmer, etc. in a log cabin built with his own hands.  An exciting highlight for Gideon is that he shot his first “big game” in the desert—a javelina, which we “get” to enjoy daily on our family room wall.  J

Geric is in kindergarten.  After more than three months of seeing our sweet little man go to kindergarten with a nervous tummy and having it affect him both emotionally and physically, we decided to homeschool him.   He’s doing very well with learning how to read but, more importantly to us, we have our happy, care-free little guy back.   

We haven’t gotten used to living in the desert and not being near evergreens and water.  We have found a couple places we can go to get out of the heat—San Diego is just six hours away and Pinetop, AZ (resembles central Oregon) is just four.  Fishing and camping have been replaced with 4-wheeling and swimming in our backyard pool.

No matter what you may face this coming year, our desire is that, with God, you can face it with confidence and faith.