Christmas 2017
Merry Christmas!
We've been enjoying some warm temperatures. It's been in the 30's for a
few weeks now, at least here in the hills. We do have our Christmas tree
up and we will have a white Christmas this year.
William will be coming home for Christmas again this year. We got to see
him briefly this last fall when he did a touch and go in Fairbanks after
his summer internship with Lockheed finished. He's in his 3rd year of college
work so it won't be long now before he's serving in the US Army.
Emme is still living at home and has a couple of jobs in town. She works
so much that we don't see much of her. I know she wants to get a place
of her own and is saving up for that.
Dayan is in his last year of high school and is taking his sweet time applying
to colleges he's interested in attending. He ran varsity cross country
again this year, his team came in 2nd at state while the girls from his
school took 1st place. His high school soccer team made it to the state
championship game for the first time in history, but lost after two overtime
periods and a PK shootout. Dayan made his PK shot... He'll start in the
center midfield position again for the varsity soccer team when next spring
rolls around.
Addeline is in her 4th year of college studies, and will do a 5th to pick
up two degrees, her bachelors and masters in Computer Science. She hopes
to get an internship this summer, but it's not as easy for her studying
up here as it is for William at MIT. She continues to stay active in Taekwondo
and has a couple of jobs she does for the local University. Like Emme,
she stays so busy that I hardly ever see her.
Andee still drives a school bus and is making banana bread as I type. I
think she's the only Fairbanks area school bus driver that can be on time
no matter the weather and road conditions. She's definitely mastered bus
driving. I've long wondered if she might ever try long haul truck driving.
I got to visit my sister Jane and her girls Heather and Jennifer last spring.
That was a treat for me. They live in North Carolina and I just absolutely
love Carolina BBQ. I visited her right after we'd had a catastrophic well
failure that left us without water for close to two weeks. Two really old
guys that originally dug and installed our well came out and worked a good
while before they were able to fish everything out of our well and then
reinstall all new stuff. $$$. All of the well hardware had collapsed in
to the well. The day I arrived at my sister Jane's she advised me that
their well had gone out and the well guy was supposed to come out and fix
it. I was so traumatized by our well failure experience that I just wasn't
sure I could take going without running water but by the time she got us
home from the airport the well guy had come by and got the well operating.
I guess that's the difference between a near surface well in the south
and one that is a few hundred feet deep in the arctic.
Last summer I also made a trip down to Oregon to visit family. I've gotten
used to seeing family in recent years due to soccer trips with Dayan. I'm
spoiled now and want to visit family even when I don't have any other reason
to travel. While I was in Oregon I got to see various Gilroys and Mitchells
and Dan and Jian came up from San Diego so I got to visit with them too.
The last few years I've been spending Thanksgiving in San Diego with Dan
and Jian, but this year I'm on call through the end of the year for jury
duty, so couldn't travel.
As I age I've discovered that there are more and more chores I'm no longer
able to do. Instead of giving up on accomplishing them, I'm working to
see if I can't build up my strength so I can manage some of it next summer.
I've given up on collecting firewood for our stove. That was a pretty big
job as I needed to process about 5 cords each year to keep up with it.
I'm gonna burn through what we have left and then maybe purchase a few
cords to have for emergencies like when we have extended power outages
in the winter.
I had a conversation with another about faith in Jesus Christ this summer.
The person doesn't believe in God, but interestingly studies some philosophies
that are clearly religious in nature. It always seems that mankind, individually
and collectively, seems to readily accept anything but Truth. I tell you
that every faith outside of Judaism and Christianity is a false religion,
a lie with satan in the driver's seat. The God of Israel says for anyone
with ears to hear: I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me
there is no God. Isaiah 45:5a
It is quite interesting that Russia, Iran, and Turkey are growing close
to each other. They have traditionally and for a very long time been enemies
of each other. In the Bible Ezekiel 38 and 39 speaks of an invasion of
Israel in the latter days by a coalition of nations led by a spiritual
being called Gog. Russia, Iran, and Turkey, along with some other nations
are part of that coalition that will attack Israel. The Bible tells us
this will happen in the latter days and that God himself will intervene
and not only destroy the invading forces, but additionally will pummel
the land of the nations involved in the coalition. Given that the countries
who will make up this invading force are now getting cozy with each other
and cooperating with each other militarily, it's quite possible that this
invasion could occur quite soon.
Given the above, time is running out for each of us to surrender our lives
to Jesus Christ, Son of the only God. It was His sacrifice on the cross
that makes possible the impossible: the justification of you and I, sinners
who simply are not worthy to be in the presence of God. Our accepting the
gift of life that is made possible through that sacrifice ensures us an
eternity in the presence of a loving God. Won't you accept Christ as your
Lord and Savior?
Merry Christmas!
Bill Mitchell & Family
PO Box 83751
Fairbanks AK 99708-3751
bill@goldstreamit.com
907-479-5666 hm
907-590-4981 cell
