A Merry Christmas Update!

Hello friends and family!

We hope you are all well. For those of you living in the snowy parts of the world, we hope you are staying cozy and warm. Sorry, it has been so long. Life has been a whirlwind and filled with constant change, surprises, and challenges. There is no doubt God's hand has been protecting us and holding us up. There is no question that we are still standing because of God, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and all of your prayers! You are all so special to us.

Jared's Dad and older sister Marina came to visit us in the beginning of the month. It was such a blessing to see familiar faces. The pictures here are from out trip with them to the Karen elephant village. The village is a Christian village! Seeing some of our family was a breath of fresh air to us. There is no way to express the comfort they brought to our hearts. Family is precious!

One day after our family left three Chinese girls moved in with us. Our friend Peggy met them at her noodle shop and overheard them saying they were looking for a place to stay. Peggy immediately thought of us and called. Needless to say, they moved in the next day! One of the reasons we chose to get a big house was so we could provide housing for transient people, and all of you when you come to visit! We were expecting God to bring someone along at some point. The girls are not Christians. However, they are very interested in learning about God. They all speak and read English. Every once in a while I will see one of them pick up a few of our AIG books and flip through. Can't wait to see how God works in their lives. If you want to pray for them their names are Tracy, Jodi, and Nancy.

Next big development. Jared and I are expecting baby number 2. Maya is extremely excited. She pats my belly to put the baby to sleep almost every night. It's so cute. I'm about 3 mo. along. The due date is around July 1. It certainly changes a lot of things. My last month of work will be in March and then hopefully Jared will be starting a full time position in the K-1 class (3 year olds). I am happy to say my energy is slowly coming back. I have to be honest, I haven't been the easiest to get along with the past 3 mo. This trimester has been very rough on my health, especially working full time in the nursery! I am happy to say, I've been healthy for a week straight! That's a huge victory. As you think of us and are praying please pray for this pregnancy and new baby.

Thank you so much for you love and support. God bless you in this special season! Enjoy your families and friends.You are all so blessed to have each other. You are blessed to be able to speak the same language as the majority of those around you. Take the time to Bless a stranger with encouraging words! What opportunities you have!

There is so much more I want to tell you. We'll try not to wait so long between the next blog so that we don't have to skip stuff :) If I put it all in here you would fall asleep before you were done reading! I'll try to put better pics up to. I just don't have them on my computer righ now.

Love You

Prayer Points:

- Diane is still looking for just the right job. Please pray that God provides her direction in finding it.

- Jared has been offered a full time job starting in March. Please pray that the offer will hold through, especially since I stop working in March (I'm not allowed to work past 6 mo. preg. here. Not that I would honestly want to :)

- Health and Safety ALWAYS! Also, for the pregnancy, and growth and development of new baby.

- Clear direction as the new year approaches

- Finances to make ends meet and bless others. My job doesn't always cut it :) However, God always provides.