gates family christmas letter

here is our family christmas letter.  it was mailed in december and i'm just now getting it posted.  sorry for the delay.

I love Christmas. I love any excuse to spend time with family and friends. I am quite fond of seeing decorations everywhere (as long as I am not the one having to put them up). The food. Spending days in layered comfy clothes and actually getting to sleep. Driving the rest of my family crazy while Jeff and I insist on watching the entirety of the A Christmas Story 24 hour marathon on TBS every Christmas. There’s comfort in the traditions that have been established over the years, and even with all of the changes that come with growing up, I find myself a 28 year old who can’t imagine not getting up early to be the first to see what Santa brought. I love that the reason behind the celebrating has nothing to do with presents, Christmas lights or homemade fudge (all of which play their role in creating holiday cheer), but something much greater. The Christmas story is the foundation on which the Gospel lies; Jesus humbling Himself, being made in human likeness, taking on the very nature of a servant, being obedient to death on a cross in order to save someone like me (Philippians 2:5-11). Christmas is a reminder of the good news of the Gospel, that you get Jesus and He is all you need.

Mom and Dad, Paula and Steve, officially moved to Corpus Christi, TX in May and have settled into their new home. Dad is staying busy with his job as Medical Director of the Intern and Residency program at the Bay Area Medical Center. They travel quite often to fill the spaces in his growing residency program. While they both love living in Corpus, Mom is adjusting to the effect the humidity has on her hair. Dad is still serving on the Board of Trustees with TOMA while Mom has been organizing a local district of Advocates for them. They also enjoy investing in the families of the Interns and Residents and being involved at their local church.

Scott is starting back to school in January to become a physical therapy assistant. While in school, he will be working from home doing Medicare billing for the company he works for. He’s enjoyed his time as a physical therapy aide and is looking forward to pursuing his career. He has a great heart for working with the sick and has been a blessing to those he’s helped. He enjoys watching sports and spending time with his girlfriend, Jen.

Jeffrey is right in the middle of his junior year at Oklahoma City University. God has been opening some amazing doors for him to perform and use his amazing talent. He was cast in La Rondine in the Fall and will be the Count in the Marriage of Figero next spring. He spent the summer singing with Light Opera Oklahoma and won the Young Singer Recognition Award from the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, and he’s been hired by the Tulsa Opera to sing in the chorus next spring. Between school and performing he stays busy traveling between OKC to Boston to see his girlfriend, Courtney.

And as always, I save myself until last. I am still working at the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of North Texas doing college ministry. Between investing in the students’ lives, teaching, playing ping-pong, cooking lunch for 250 students and other ministry opportunities, I stay quite busy. I love that God continues to open doors for me to lead worship and I plan on serving on one of the worship leading teams at my church next year.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours,

Steve, Paula, Stephanie, Scott and Jeffrey Gates