2017 Suvar Christmas Letter

For the last 6 years we have taken the money that we would have used to pay for Christmas cards, pictures, and postage and put that money towards a charity.  For the last six years that money has gone to World Vision to buy a goat and a few chickens for a family in poverty. Last year we were able to add a cow to the mix as well, thanks to my commissions from Rodan+Fields. 

This year, with the increase in commissions from my side business, we are able to purchase the chickens, goats, and cow, plus support a local family in need.  We aren't tell you all this so that the light can shine on us. Rather, we share this with you so that others may see the Light that inspires us to give of ourselves. We can only give because He first gave to us.

"Let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify YOUR FATHER in heaven." Summary of Matthew 5:16   

As my friend Carey says, "Our arrow points UP."

So instead of a picture in the mail with a happy holiday greeting, you get this update. And a montage of pictures taken over this past year.

Owen is 11 and is in 5th grade.  He is reading books at a high school level, building fantastic creations with his Legos, and aspires to be a surgeon someday. He is certainly the first-born of the bunch. Bent toward the Type-A rule following (to a T!) and constantly "directing" his sisters on what they should do. He has a knack for memorization and can recite long parts of scripture with hardly any practice and is self-teaching himself piano, mostly by listening to songs.

 The Boston Common

Hannah is 9 1/2 and is in 4th grade this year.  Hannah is our in-house creative, singer, and dancer.  We have noticed lately that, although she is incredibly shy and has a hard time around big groups of people, if you put her on a stage it's a whole different story. This girl loves to perform. I think I see musicals and drama club in our future. Daily she is writing stories, drawing pictures, and creating new things out of items found in our recycling bin.  All of her requests, questions, and stories come to us through song and melody.  Sometimes it takes 3 minutes to tell us something that really only takes 30 seconds, but at least there is entertainment through it all. 

 We as a family hiked a mountain in the Green Mountains of Vermont.

Madeline is nearly 8, in 2nd grade, and has quite the personality.  She is the most independent and headstrong of the three.  She seems to have a mature sense of humor that does not match her age and makes us laugh daily with things she says. She also loves to make little people out of simple ordinary objects (erasers, corks, clothespins), cuddle on the couch, and has a soft heart that is quick to ask and receive forgiveness. 

 He did it! 26.2 miles on the streets of Boston, MA.

 In April, we as a family took a road trip to Boston to cheer Paul on as he checked an item off his bucket list - running the Boston Marathon. A race that you have to qualify for in order to run (under 3 hour 10 minutes for his age group) it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip.  In June, Paul finished up his third year of teaching with much singing and rejoicing from me.  Having put in more hours in 8 months than a full time job does in 12, I was so very thankful to have him around for the summer.  But our summer was hardly a sit-down relaxation type of summer. We spent nearly 2 weeks traveling and visiting our dear friends in Zambia, thanks to a donor who paid for our plane tickets! The whole trip felt like a dream. In fact, if I didn't have the 400+ pictures to prove it, I would completely believe that I had imagined it all.  As far as myself, I continue to work for Gateway Woods as the Systems Coordinator in the Foster Care Department. I love being the support behind the department as we license foster parents and support them as they take care of hurting children.

Victoria Falls, Livingstone, Zambia

I have been striving to be more active on this blog over the past year because I love to write. But so often I don't have those large chunks of time to sit down and type. I am hoping someday that I will be able to be more regular, until then, thank you to my few faithful readers!

 A quick stop in London, and a 3 mile trek to see Buckingham Palace

Along with working at Gateway, being a wife, mom, taxi driver, and all around supporter of everyone's lives, I am also balancing that along with the time I put into my side business. Two years ago I took a leap and joined as a Consultant of a skincare company, Rodan+Fields. For quite some time Paul and I have desired to live off as little as possible and give most of our income away. We felt like we were about to the point of squeezing blood from a turnip, when God brought along this out-of-the-box way of funding His Great Commission. These past two years have been a lesson in trust, waiting on God's timing, getting a better understanding of what giving really looks like, and changing our question from "How much should we give?" to "How much should we keep?" 

A typical home in the compound, outside Kitwe, Zambia.

Each of us is called to serve the Kingdom in different ways, and different capacities. I pray that each person who reads this will realize they have a part in furthering the Kingdom, and that 2018 will bring it into clearer focus just what that may be.


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!

A very Merry Christmas and a joyful, Happy New Year!