“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” Hebrews 12:2
April 10.1996
Hi!
I can’t believe it’s not Christmas and I’m actually writing a form letter…I don’t think I’ve ever done this before! However, I want to say hello to so many friends and I know I won’t get around to it unless I use this rather remarkable method of mass communication via computer, photocopier and the trusty old mailman. One day soon I’m hoping that Ron will somehow link me up with the world of E-Mail, so please let us know if you also possess such a machine and we can communicate even more effectively.
Well, we’ve been home for just over a month and it’s been wonderful to be back. WE spent 3 weeks in Hawaii before coming home so our “re-entry” must have been accomplished there to a large degree. We felt very welcomed home – the neighbour kids had put up a big “Welcome Back Patrice & Daniel” sign in their front yard and they even had a party for them! Ron and I also felt loved and appreciated even though nobody put up a big sign in our front yard.
I got Daniel back into school as soon as I could (homeschooling does not seem to be our “thing”) and he seemed happy to be back. A few days after getting home, I was asked to be the school “missionary of the month” so I gave presentations of our time away to six different classes at Daniel’s school. It was fun and Daniel and Bradley Ultich were even able to help out with the presentations to their age group. During my talk to one of the youngest classes I got quite teary eyed and could have started balling as I spoke of our Outreach and the people we were able to minister to. Nothing like a happy missionary!
Patrice has done so well since getting home. Even my Dad has noticed the change in her which really means something! She is so much easier to reason with and more at peace. I sit amazed! I think that the time in Hawaii and during the outreach was a bonding time for us as family and it build a security into her somehow. God is so faithful! “Pray and keep on praying, Ask and keep on Asking…” She is registered to go to Kindergarten at the Christian school next fall and is looking forward to that. Meanwhile she and I have fun at home and she often runs down the street to my Mom’s place or she plays with the neighbour kids. She celebrated her 5thbirthday in March with three separate parties and fireworks. Somehow that suits her personality.
Ron has done very well since getting home. He has been very busy out at our apple orchard cutting down trees. (Soon we’ll have to buy a new orchard when we run out of trees on ours haha!) Actually he’s preparing to plant some young high density trees in place of the big old trees that he cut down. We will hopefully be able to get a much better fruit yield from these trees. Ron is also preparing to begin coaching Daniel’s baseball team. We have lots of fun during the baseball season. Ron has had very positive feedback in the past from his interaction with the kids he coaches.
Ron, Daniel, Steve and Bradley all went camping this past weekend up at a little cabin and they were actually able to snow mobile. So I guess Daniel can’t complain that he missed winter and snow! It has been a very cold spring here and we are only now starting to get some warm days. I have been so cold and am tempted to wear a hot water bottle strapped to my head along with fur lined underwear. I can hardly wait for our beautiful hot summer weather. Maybe I do feel called to go back to Hawaii now that I think of it… at least between the months of November and March!
I have thoroughly enjoyed being home in my own kitchen with my worship music blasting and my comfortable bed never far away. We can even drink the water straight from the tap here and the showers are consistently hot! Ah, the blessings of life in the frozen north. Barb & Steve live just down the road from us so barb and I see each other fairly often and love to pray together. They are doing well and are soaking in all that God invested in their lives during their Crossroads experience. We had a little reunion with other YWAM friends in March, enjoying a little pizza party as we shared our hearts and what we’ve all been going through since getting home. It was fun and having everyone sleep all over the house was no problem after all we’ve been through on outreach.
I haven’t been eager to get too involved in church activities for the present time, although I’ll probably be teaching Sunday School soon. Recently I’ve been asked to be on a short program our local TV station is putting on about accessibility and educating the public in that regard. I didn’t know whether or not to participate, but I’ll take the plunge and do it! Another opportunity to be salt and light…and to use my knowledge in the world of “disability” to help others.
