To our dear friends, Merry Christmas! We truly hope this is a blessed season to every one of you and your families!
At the beginning of 2020 we had just come back from our trip to Brazil and we were so thankful for having spent some necessary family time there, been able to attend my brother’s wedding and even gone out on a cruise, just Dan and I. When we were still in Brazil Dan had his first phone interview with the Houston Methodist and while we have been wanting to go back to Texas for some time already, we were patiently just praying for this opportunity and God’s will for our family.
After we came back to our home in Georgia, Dan was called for an in person interview and he thought it went pretty well. Shortly after he was offered a job and right on my birthday, February 10th, he accepted and signed the job offer. I had previously promised myself I wasn’t going to move again in less than five years from a previous move and specially that I wasn’t going to take my kids out in the middle of the school ever again. So here we are! =)
Dan went house searching on his own while I stayed in GA taking care of the kids and schooling. He found a great rental house on which we are staying until March, 2021. It is a little far out from Houston but that’s basically the only downside. We been incredibly blessed living in this property. We have 3 playgrounds nearby, lake trails, a nice yard and beautiful sunsets.
Just when the lockdowns started nationwide, we were able to move just in time in the final week of March. I felt like Moses crossing God’s people towards the open sea and the waves closing in immediately after. For a good while we saw no one and kept to ourselves, finishing the school year as homeschoolers. We had Dan working from home entirely from April to October. Since then and now he goes in to his office two or three times a week.
I am sure the pandemic brought many challenges to all families, ours included, but I hope we were also able to grab every silver lining we could find and to us, having Dan every day at home, especially during summer was really something we were grateful for. Having lunch together, not waiting until very late for him to come back and being able to take our kids outside or go for walks before work or throughout the day were surely huge blessings. While we knew this wouldn’t last forever, we enjoyed all we could.
Another amazing blessing of 2020 was St Theresa Catholic School and Church. Thanks to the gentle urgings of my friend Renee (we met while we lived in Kingwood from 2012-2015) we enrolled Rebecca and Nicholas at this incredible school – 4th and 1st grades respectively. Both Dan and I are so pleased with the school and our kids seem to love it as well. They have the best teachers they are thriving academically and growing spiritually! It is more than we expected it to be, to be honest. Vicky just turned 4 years old in December and she’s still home with me. Hopefully she will be able to attend school (prek) next year and I’ll have to keep busy, one way or the other.
This year proved to us that we indeed love Texas the most. We are surely happy to be back but looking at our fridge with Christmas Cards from our friends all over the US and the world we noticed how blessed with friendship we have always been! We are thankful to have met you all throughout the many places we lived and each place was special and good because of friends like you! And we would love your visit in the near or far future.
I was hesitant if I should write or not our traditional Christmas letter in this year of 2020, but I couldn’t refrain from doing it, so here we are. It has been a very different year for all of us and we respect everyone’s personal takes and decisions. We understand these are trying times. We know and love all of you. Please know we pray for you daily (the kids do it too) in our morning prayer.
Again, we wish you and your loved ones a very Merry and Holy Christmas and a blessed 2021 – or at least that we are able to find its blessings!
The Kota Family
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