Merry Christmas from the Browns!

Today Croatians celebrate Saint Nicholas’ day and most children woke up to find chocolates and other small gifts in their boots. Saint Nicholas is not thought of the same as Santa Claus, but is a saint in the Catholic Church. It’s quite common to celebrate saints here, this tradition just happens to have some commonalities with Christmas traditions. Saint Nicholas is said to be a protector of children, sailors, and others. Today is the first of many Advent festivities to come. 

As we are preparing to celebrate our first Christmas in Europe, it's easy to enjoy the Christmas markets, lights all over the city, and abundance of chocolate, but it’s also hard. I’ll likely cook our only holiday meal, we won’t be able to travel and see family, and unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll get any snow. We are halfway into our semester in language school and preparing for an exam, the night sky arrives before 5pm, and new viruses are introducing themselves to our immune systems. 

I was telling the Lord about these struggles of mine, and in His loving kindness, He reminded me of Jeremiah 29, which I’ve just read in my Bible Study. God had Jeremiah write a letter to the Jewish exiles which He had sent to Babylon. God reminds His people that He has sent them to Babylon and that He wants them to carry on with their lives there. He tells them to build houses, plant gardens, marry and have children. God goes on to reassure His people that He has a plan for them, for wellbeing, hope, and a future. 

God used this passage to remind me that He has called us to Croatia and that He will sustain us. He has a plan for our family, He knows that we will face challenges, but we just have to hold on and trust the Lord.  

We pray that each of you will be reminded of the Goodness of God and His mercy on us as we celebrate the coming of our Savior. Thank you for your continued prayers and support for our family, and please continue to pray for the people of Croatia and across the world that do not know Jesus as their Savior and King.