Happy 2012 from At the Well

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

Monica and John W. Fountain

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 joyous year of dreams fulfilled for the Fountain Family and for that we praise God.

Our book, Dear Dad, that lived for years in our heart and mind has come to life. Lost family ties have been bound. In October, for the first time, I met my brother Walter face to face.  Awards have been won professionally and academically, on the field of athletics and in the discipline of martial arts. In 2011, my husband, John W. Fountain, was honored as the top columnist in the Chicago area by the Society of Professional Journalists.

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

The vision I had for At the Well has come to fruition. When my husband encouraged me to start blogging in 2008, he gave me the name At the Well based on the woman at the well who had a life-changing encounter with Christ. My hope for At the Well was that it would be a place of enlightenment, encouragement and edification. This year, it has truly been all of those things for me and I hope for many of you as well. Through the platform of social media and the Internet, I believe we have created a community where God's name is glorified, the Gospel is proclaimed, prayers are lifted and people are encouraged and edified for this journey called life.

Not only have dreams been fulfilled for me this year, but also dreams have been renewed.

The Well magazine is in the works and will be given birth to in 2012. The Well will be a quarterly magazine that will complement At the Well and have the same mission of edification, enlightenment and encouragement as well as inspiration. It will be a forum where we can share and learn from each other's testimonies and triumphs.I hope that many of you will contribute your testimony and story to The Well magazine. (click here for writer's guidelines) We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the words of our testimonies. My prayer is that the testimonies and stories that will be shared on At the Well and The Well in 2012 will bring healing and deliverance.



Thank you to all of you who have encouraged me this year. I can't tell you how much it has meant. And I thank God for freeing me from fear and helping me to step out on faith. A special thank you to my best friend and husband, John, for giving me tough love sometimes and telling me to stop talking about it and get about the business of doing it.

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.