The Last Couple of Weeks

Dear Rebekah and children,

I want to thank you all for being so gracious during the past couple of weeks. I have been so busy with work and the local outreach that it has meant a lot of extra work for all of you.

Working for both the Bigfork Eagle and the West Shore News has placed a lot of demands on my time, doing investigative work, interviews and following up on leads. I know that has taken me away from home more than usual, and that has been a definite adjustment for you.

I want you to know how very much I love each one of you. Coming home to you is the highlight of every day. Seeing what Elijah has done in school, hearing your mother's stories about what Alana, Josiah and Moriah have been up to and seeing your faces light up because Daddy has come home. Together with your mom's embrace, these are the things that I love and look forward to.

Although it has meant a lot of additional work, I have managed to get our website online and functioning. It even looks pretty nice. It still needs some work, but it is already pretty efficient. I have posted three mp3 sermons for download, so far, so that we can reach out to our members, friends and family members who are not able to be in service with us, and I will continue to post these messages weekly.

That has been a goal of mine for several months, so I feel a tremendous relief to have actually gotten it done. Now, I can continue to feed our sheep who do not reside in Columbia Falls, which gives me a lot of comfort, since I had previously been very troubled by my inability to reach out to them on a regular basis.

Last week, Elijah lost his tooth. I can remember him showing everybody who would listen, when we went to Holidayfest in Lakeside. It was a lot of fun to take both Elijah and Alana with me to work that day, since I was covering a Christmas event. I don't usually get to take any of you along with me, since I do a lot of interviewing and meetings. We sure had a lot of fun together.



After Holidayfest, we went to a tree lighting ceremony and the Bigfork parade, which was woefully short due to the incredibly cold temperatures. As soon as the parade had ended, we found ourselves a warm building to hang out in until the blood was circulating in our extremities again. Finding no hot chocolate, as we had in previous years, we returned to our van.

I tried to teach the two of you how to slide on the icy snow on our way to the van and almost lost control on a hill. You both thought it was pretty neat.

Today, I am going to take your Elijah, Alana, Tim and Dan and your mother all to a Christmas play at the Christian Center in Kalispell, for which you are all very excited. Sister Melissa is going to watch Josiah and Moriah while we're at the play. After a busy week, which is not entirely over yet, I look forward to spending some quality time with each of you.

Tabitha has been a lot of fun these last couple of weeks, as well. She is smiling and laughing a lot more, and she loves to spend time with Daddy. She talks to me quite a bit, although I have no idea what she is saying. I've learned that I have a knack for two things: putting her to sleep and making her spit up on me.

I know that there are times when I have to discipline you for disobeying or fighting with one another, but I love you more than words alone can express. I couldn't imagine not having even one of you in my life.