Sara,

Thanks for the nice notes. Glad we will be able to communicate more regularly. I didn't get home until 9:30 and between reading your notes, eating dinner, and responding to business e-mails it is already 11:00. Hopefully I can send a more thought out response before I leave for China.

However, I want to be the first one to tell you Roice and Sarah are officially engaged, as of yesterday, in case you havn't got the package from Roice, or heard from someone else. He sounds very excited.

Regarding your heartfelt comments, a couple of quick thoughts. There are eternal principles, and whether we accept them or not, there are consequences tied to these principles. It hurts to see you learning things that I thought I had taught, a harder way than is necessary. I am very pleased to see you understanding better than any of the other kids the destructive nature of entitlements. It sounds like you also see the value of morality and respect for other people. Just maybe you will come to see me as the opposite of abusive and controling and trying to ruin all of the fun my kids wanted to have. My parental role models were not the best in terms of demonstrating love and motivating others to make the right choices for the right reasons. For what it is worth, my heart has always been in the right place, and I have absolutely done the best I know how to in order to give each of you kids the best start possible in your individual lives. I sense you are seeing through the things that have been said about me, and it sounds like you now have an actual comparison as to what folks who abuse others are really like.

It breaks my heart to see someone I love struggle and hurt. However, you are like me, and we can do anything placed in front of us for a few months or years or decades. You will learn good lessons from these experiences. Hopefully you will learn that we are never alone. I look forward to the day you have your first real prayer, the one I tried to predict by having Ken paint you on your knees beneath a bristlecone pine tree, when you learn how thin the veil is and realize you are not alone, even in Save', Benin, West Africa.

Speaking of church stuff, Andrea got the name of the regional representative for Benin. It is Brother Sheldon F. Child and he is in Guinea (?). I've called several times (011.233.21.503.212) and have never got an answer. Maybe you can call at a time not close to lunch and get someone to pick up, so you can find out what resources are available in your area that could help you with your Peace Corps assignment.

Good night. I love you and you (and each of your siblings) are in my prayers each day.

Love,

Dad