Merry Christmas from the Suvar's (Our Christmas Letter)

Last year I put up this post.

Well, we are doing the same thing this year again.

We are buying another goat...and possibly a few chickens.

And just like last year, it's for someone that we will never meet (this side of heaven at least).  I hope that with this gift of food and income, that the message of the Good News will reach them too.

If you want to join us in the gift giving you can go to:

www.worldvisiongifts.org

or

www.holtinternational.org/gifts/

or

http://www.compassion.com/catalog.htm

All are great organizations who are reaching out in Jesus' name.

So instead of a picture in the mail with a happy holiday greeting, you get this email update. And the montage of pictures that we took when I randomly said "Hey! Let's get a picture by the tree!"

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 five 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 7 and is in 1st grade.  He is reading books and doing math, and building fantastic creations with his Legos.  Hannah is 5 ½ and is in Kindergarten this year.  Hannah is our in-house artist.  Daily she is making things with random recyclables and markers and glue.  She needs her own studio with the amount of "art" she is pumping out.  Madeline is nearly 4 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 currently have 6 teenagers living under our roof.  This past year we’ve had 10 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 kids whose hearts are at that point, but lack the humility to take the next step.  Or they are fearful of what their families will think.  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.  Pray for the parents, that their hearts will also be soft to the change needed in their lives.  Because the truth is that we are all broken.  We all need fixed.  And only Jesus can do it.

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