After 2 weeks and two days

Dear Prayer Partners,

I've been here two weeks and two days now. I have started two of my three treatments. The pill I take have still not all come from pharmacy. I hope it comes today. That's the one the doctor has the most hope for. If it works I will break out in rash, or pimples, or something. He said that will be a good sign if I do, that's what we want. If I don't break out, on the 29th of this month we will discontinue it. I hope to be coming home early in May.

Jan and Tom are coming today. Tom is driving her up in her car and then he will fly home on Monday. It's going to be so good to see them. I miss Jan so much. At least when she is home she email's me a lot. On the road of course she can't do that. It's interesting how I don't realize the value of something until its gone. I guess that's our nature.

Please pray for Kathy Keller as she is helping organize the book. Also pray for me. Writing about the good parts really energizes me, but getting into the sad parts is very hard. Yet, I think they need to be in there. Without those parts of the story, it might seem fabricated. I really strive for honesty in my writing. Sometimes I'd rather not be honest. Honesty is painful some times. Pray for wisdom and understanding for us as we work on this book project. Pray that God will direct us, guide us to do this for his praise and glory.

I am really busy now with the writing. I realize the significance of the precious time I have left and I can't do some of the things I want to do. I have four men now who are gladly waiting to hear the gospel. I just don't have time to get to them. I am finding that if I just learn how to think and relate with people, they do want to know the gospel. There isn't the resistance to it that I thought was there most of my life. I don't think people have changed, I think I've changed. My time in Duluth was so good for that. I learned so much by it. I would love to practice it and teach what I've learned. Now writing the book, it all comes together and makes so much sense. I just wonder what kind of a world our grandchildren will live in. I think there is going to become a lot of fertile soil for planting the seeds of faith. God is so good and he really is still calling his people to himself. He is making himself known. We need to be ready to know how to read the signs.

I've heard that there are some struggles in Duluth with the classes. It seems there might be a type of power struggle going on, not with the guys so much, but this is always what happens in prison when people move on. The mindset is not who is the most capable, it's who has been here the longest and it creates turf wars. It's disappointing, but true. Pray for the guys there. I think the classes have stopped for the moment.

The family members are all planning their visits here. I will be well visited. Doug Shiplett is also coming on the 21st. He has a meeting here and is including me in his schedule. I have such great friends and I appreciate every one. I appreciate all my prayer partners, too. The encouragement I've gotten from you is incredible. Also my extended family seems more drawn together as well. I am receiving so much support from my sisters. My sister Gloria has been cleaning up my PP email's since I started. Now she is typing all my book writing in. I just write it long hand now on paper and mail it to her. She is an author herself and is a great advisor for me. Kathy Keller, inAmes is taking all the material and throwing out the junk, keeping the rest, and blending it all together. Kathy has written me a lot, passed on a lot of good articles to me while I'm in prison, she really knows how I think and what I enjoy.

There are women also (I don't know if I should mention names) that have and are such a great help to Jan. It's amazing to me. To me it is signs and wonders. I think the miraculous thought of the goodness in people's hearts who just seem to show up at the right time is so amazing. I can't say enough about some very special women who just seem to know what Jan needs. I wonder sometimes, how they even know. They are like angels that just show up. To me, I see it simply as God's glory and goodness shining through the lives of his people. I'm learning so much about mercy and grace, being on the receiving end of it. I know I would never be the same if I could live through this. If I don't, I guess I won't be the same either. I guess it's good either way.

Thank you Lord for all the good people in my life,
Bob