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Dear Friend,
I was reminded this past Sunday, Mary's "Magnificat" was nothing less than a Christmas song of conspiracy, a reminder for all time that God's power doesn't come the way we think it will come, a testament to the true rebellion He set in motion on that starry night long ago. Christmas is about a baby rebel who ended up turning the whole world upside down because he didn't lead through power but through humblness and service. My hope is that what you read below is a testament to the rebellion Jesus set into motion over 2,000 years ago.
Tis' the Season...
 The families of The Restoration House have seen an unbelievable amount of support over the last year and even more so over the last month. There have been two new volunteer teams trained, whole churches and foundations coming into partnership to provide space to work with even more single mother families, people donating professional services, volunteers helping to raise crucial funds, board members stategizing for the future, and so much more!
We want to say a special thanks to Crossings, Farragut Christian Church, Grace Baptist Church, West Towne Christian Church, and Woodlawn Christian Church for all they blessed our families with this holiday season through things like The Family Christmas Shop, The Big Give, and the Christmas Tea. To read more about those blessings click here to catch the whole story.
Two New Families begin the Journey...
This past month we had the amazing priveledge to begin journeying with two more families at The Restoration House. These single mothers and their children have amazing stories of sacrafice and percevierence and are ready to take on a new life with all that they have. Just in the short month they have been here they have really impressed us with their willingness to go the distance. And now with the mentors, staff, and financial supporters of The Restoration House coming along side of them nothing can get in their way. Thank you all for helping families like this experience the same community of support and success that Rebekah, our first graduate used to catipult herself to things she never thought possible. If you have not had a chance yet we encourage you to take a look at her story in this short video by clicking here.
Also we want to say special thanks to Anita Ambrose and her Sunday school class, along with others in the community for supplying so much great furniture to help these families get started.
Restoring Hope Breakfast Update...
 In November we had our 2nd Annual Restoring Hope Breakfast at the Cokesbury Center on Kingston Pike. It was an amazing hour of reflection, celebration, and looking forward to the future. Two of our mothers shared their stories of desparation and new found hope. They were nothing short of inspirational and it was such an honor to have all or our guests there to celebrate with use. We can't thank our many hosts enough for inviting their friends to come and join in all that God is doing through this amazing work. We also announced our new building plans in partnership with Central Baptist of Bearden and other chuches in the community. To get the latest on those plans please visit our website on the coming weeks.
There was also a time to give if people choose and the response blew us away. With only 135 guests at the breakfast over $57,000 was given which more than doubled our orignal goal. We also had 8 new donors join the Restoring Hope Society - two at $5,000 a year for three years and six others at $1,000 a year for three year. Thank you so much for these incredibly generous new donors! All of this greatly affirms for us the direction we are heading and we look forward to helping to change the future for even more single mothers and their children in our community this coming year.
Join with Us...
As we look to triple our capacity of the next year by building 15 units we will also be doubling our annual budget. The good news it we are acutally reducing our cost per family per year by a little more than $6,000. This is the perfect time to join us in the amazing work that is not just impacting today for the families we work with but it is literally changing their futures. It's not too late to make your end of the year gift to The Restoration House and still receive a tax deduction for 2009. Please click below to make you gift before January 1st. Thank you in advance for continuing your partnership with us or for joining us for the first time.
Thank you so much for your support of single mothers and their children. May we all be people of "rebellion"!
Journeying toward Restoration,
Daniel Watson
The Restoration House of East TN
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