What I'm not doing for Christmas this year



There is something that we are not doing this year.

We are not sending out a Christmas picture. We are not going online and picking out a style, picking out a picture, picking out a font. We are not putting money out to order pictures and then pay for postage.

It is going against my nature, because, well, I like pictures.  I like taking them, sending them.  And I really like getting them in the mail!  But it has been laid upon our hearts to do something different this year with the money that would have originally been used to send out Christmas pictures.

We bought a goat.

Not for us. But for some family whom we will never meet.  Someone who is in need of a goat for sustenance and income.

So instead of a picture in the mail with a happy holiday greeting, you get this email update.  Who knows, I may go back to doing a picture again next year.  We may sacrifice something instead else to buy that goat.
But this year the sacrifice is the picture in the mail.  Please forgive us.  And have a very Merry Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior and King!

A quick update and some prayer requests:
Paul and I, and our 3 kids, are still living and working at Gateway Woods.  We will pass the four year mark in January.  There are days that exhaust us, make us cry, but it is fulfilling and we are learning so much about ourselves as God continues to work in us to make us who He wants us to be.  Owen is 6 and has started Kindergarten this year.  He is reading books and doing math, stuff I KNOW I wasn’t doing in Kindergarten!  Hannah is 4 ½ and is going to preschool 3 days a week.  It is an understatement to say that she LOVES it.  Hannah is our singer and dancer and is daily making up new songs and singing (instead of speaking) all her memory verses and prayers.  Madeline is 2 ½ and has quite the personality.  She is the most independent and headstrong of the three.  She loves to color and draw and cuddle on the couch and makes us laugh daily with the little things she says and does.


We have a full house of residents.  This past year we’ve had 13 different teenagers come into our lives and home.  Each one takes a bit of our hearts with them.  Prayers are needed daily for these kids that experience more hurt and pain and rejection in their young lives than some of us will ever face.  Please pray for soft hearts to the Gospel.  We have a few kids who have already started their walk with Jesus and we see differences in their lives!  Other kids are still trying to wrap their mind around the idea of Jesus, and what He can do for them.  Some want to believe, some are afraid to.  Pray for these kids families as well.  Some of these kids have no end of placement at this point; they do not know where they are going once they leave here.  Pray for potential foster families and mentor families to come into these kids lives to give them the stability and security that we all crave. 

We thank you for your prayers and want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.  We are so thankful that so many years ago Jesus was willing to come to earth and live a human life, devoid of sin, and die on the cross for each of our sins.  We don’t deserve His sacrifice on our behalf, but we are SO very thankful for it!
Merry Christmas,
Paul, Nichole, Owen, Hannah, and Madeline

Comments

  1. ChristiDecember 21, 2012 at 3:32 PM

    Hey Nicole, Mom just told me about your blog last night. don't know why I didn't see it before. It's lovely! Of course I'm right there with you on 'a goat is better than a christmas picture'. Have a wonderful 2013 and we'll just print up a few of these from the blog if we need to have a hard copy. :-)

    love you cousin,
    Christi

    ReplyDelete

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