Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas to you! The holidays are such a precious, priceless time for us and our families. I enjoy every piece of It…cool nights by the fire, beautiful decorations, the cheer in everyone’s heart, the delicious foods, and most of all, time with my family. Time with family this year will be just a bit sweeter in some ways and will likely look differently than other holidays.

“…Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the workers wore his sword at his side as he worked.” Nehemiah 4:17-18

Building and fighting. Facing opposition and remaining focused on the calling the Lord has placed on your life. Overcoming the many and varying obstacles your family has faced in 2020. Grieving over losses. Facing fears. Buying groceries and making meals for your friends and family through illness. Finding new ways of doing business and living life. Building and fighting.

As the holidays approach, I have felt overwhelmed, sad, angry, and insecure. And tired. After 2020, I have felt the kind of tired that sleep won’t fix. I was thinking about that recently and immediately realized that our clients are in that same place. They feel sadness, overwhelmed, insecure or angry. Despair engulfs them like a dense fog.

The Lord reminded me of this scripture in Psalm 105:4, “Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.”

Whatever our life situation, if we will look to the Lord and seek His face, His radiant beauty speaks joy, hope, faithfulness and peace into the fog of our circumstance. It is His strength that we are so desperate for.

Each day, precious people come through the doors of Hope Choice facing an infinite number of different circumstances, fog surrounding them. Gentle volunteers come along side them and help them to turn their gaze in His direction. He pierces through the fog and brings the light of His salvation and hope. Once the fog has lifted, they are able to see clearly and are free to receive beauty for ashes.

2020 has given us, the Body of Christ, a run for our money. I know you are tired. But God is on the move. Hope Choice will be opening a new branch on the campus of WTAMU in 2021. We have continued to serve our clients every single day of this pandemic. We are in schools and offering all of our mentoring programs. We offered Rise Camps 2020 to over 300 young people this summer with 30 salvations! We had our Walk for Life and we will have our Banquet in February. At the beginning of the shutdown, the Lord’s direction to me was, “No steps back. Step into the chaos. Advance.” So, we have done just that…Building and fighting.

A few weeks ago, I was speaking to a group of college students who are exhausted, as are we all. But my words to them were, “Do you want to live your life any other way?” I don’t. I want to live my life so as to exhaust every ounce of strength and resource the Lord affords me. I will build and fight for the next generation, to know the truth, grace and love of the cross.

Will you join us? Will you continue to build and fight? More than ever, we need your prayers and support. Please consider giving a special year-end gift. As you sip hot chocolate and get lost in the twinkle of your Christmas tree, remember, “…your strength will equal your days.” Deuteronomy 33:25.

Together, we build and fight.

Merry Christmas,