The Intentional Life

January - the Flood Your grace will never be forgot Your mercy all my life February - Maddie turns 4! Will be my source for every song My story and my light March - the end of snow...finally! From mountain top to valley low through laughter and through tears April - learning patience Surely the goodness of my God  Will follow all the year April - Hannah turns 6! For all that you have done for us For every battle won  May - a much needed getaway  We'll raise a song to bless your heart For all that you have done June - moving on from our lives of 5.5 years  You know our failures and regrets You always led us home July - redefining what summer break really is   Redemption's arm has raised us up Our triumph in the storm August - first days of school all around   In unity we'll stand as one A valiantly we'll go September - the Stache Dash Shoulder to should...

There are so many pictures taken in December, I feel I can't just pick a few. So to avoid making a post that is ridicuously long, I'm going to split it up. This is the Christmas Edition, a lookback at our family Christmas's, for the family's sake. The Suvar Christmas.   The girls helped Grandma roll out and fill the dough for cinnamon rolls.  It was...a bit messy.  These girls get along so well - so glad for cousins!  Of course we did the traditional Slovakian Villia Dinner  Sam and Kat have the ideal spot for a family gathering - thankful for the hospitality year to year! Suvar, Party of 5, Christmas  Dressed up for Christmas Eve Services  The kids got puzzles in their stockings, which they put together after a breakfast of cinnamon rolls  We did our traditional 'Picnic in the Living Room'   Everyone chose a dish they wanted to have be a part of the dinner.  ...

As Christmas Day, and all it's celebration, is now in the rear view mirror, I can't help but feel a bit deflated. There is all this build up and then it's gone.  The anticipation of family time and coziness and delicious food and then it's over. I guess all good things must come to an end. Or do they? If we think about the real reason we celebrate - the birth of our King - what was it like 2 days after for Mary? For the shepherds? I can imagine them, back out in the field, talking over the experience with awe as they continued their watch over the sheep. And Mary, no doubt in the middle of a late night feeding, in quiet contemplation, a smile on her lips as she reminisced the past few days. For them, the celebration was not over. It was just beginning. May we not see this as the end of a season, but truly the beginning.     Be not content this Babe to know Nor stay at Bethlehem. But go with Christ to Calvary's brow Beyon...

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate  with people of low position.  Romans 12:16b At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it happened again.  A verse I assigned to the month of December way back in January, with no thought of what was to come.  It was just the next verse in line. But yet that verse up there is so fitting. What a better time of year to discuss someone willing to associate with someone of a low position than in the month of December? The month that we celebrate the time when Someone gave up His throne, His glory, His comfort. For us. Right now I bet you can think of someone that is a little bit better off than you.  Has a few more creature comforts. And I bet you can think of someone who looks at you that way as well. But here came Jesus. He leveled the playing field.  We are all of low position.  We have nothing to be proud of. Even the best among us are tainted by sin...

We’re doing it again.  Just as we have for the last 2 years. We are buying another goat...and a few chickens. And just like the last two years, 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 a montage of pictures taken in about 5 minutes of throwing everything together. In June of this year, Paul and I, and our 3 kids, moved on from our tenure as houseparents at Gateway Woods after 5 1/2 years.  This has been a roller coaster of a year as we struggled with burnout, saw a 75% overhaul...

You know how the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence? Yeah, I am seeing now that I had that outlook a year ago.  I read this post from last December and I had to laugh at myself.  I still feel that way. Why does Christmas feel so different to me now than it did just 5 years ago? I still feel the blanket of meloncholy.  The pull to keep things simple. I thought for sure I would bust out all-the-Christmas-things the first Christmas after houseparenting.  So much more time!  So much less stress! Can you spot the error?  Yeah, I left it like that from last year... And then I remembered that I can't bake a cookie to save my life (family can attest!) And this introvert doesn't do crowds. And I prefer simple decorating to lots and lots of things going on everywhere. So Christmas time here has leaned toward the simple and slow.  We've caroled to the elderly at a local nursing home. We've assembled a boxed...

November brought us Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving brought us the croupy-up all night hacking-can't breathe through my nose-I'm exhausted sickness that has left us all breathless for a good week. At any rate, I am just now surfacing and feeling like I have energy enough to sit at the computer and download pictures. Back to November. We hosted a potluck night with a few good friends.  Since Novemeber was Adoption and Orphan Awareness Month, everyone brought a food dish from a country where they knew personally of someone who was adopted from, or works with orphans.    We had Haitian, Indian, Zambian, and Hungarian dishes. Didn't realize how monochramatic it would all turn out to be - but it was all good! As it got darker earlier, and colder, more evenings were spent indoors.  Also, No-shave November was in effect.  This is only about half-way through the month though.  Oddly enough, I didn't want him to shave it when the month wa...