2025 letteer December 24, 2025 Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year to you all! I apologize, first of all, for not keeping up with all of this. I (Helen/Penny) collapsed with toxic shock last April 1. I was in an ICU for a month and then in a care facility for another month. I was finally home June 5, very weak, but alive. Barry carried everything during that time, which was really incredible. We also had amazing help from many friends who watched Chris for hours and hours so Barry could be with me. I remember very little about the first weeks, as I was unconscious most of the time….I think. I remember screaming with pain. I remember a big clock on the wall. I remember my daughter, who flew up from Texas, getting me a popsicle. It tasted so good! I remember one nurse with twinkly eyes that I always looked forward to. Our son and his wonderful wife and beautiful daughters flew up from California. They stayed with me part time and cleaned house and froze meals for Barry. It has taken a long time to come back, but it’s happening. I still nap every day, but I can walk normally again (wheelchair to walker to being on my own), which I love. One thing we both want to share is the way God has taken care of us through all this. In July our well pump went out. God made sure we had enough money for a new one. A couple of months later our hot water heater gave it up, and God provided the money for that to be replaced, too. Then the refrigerator went (everything was about 20 years old) and, again, God provided the money we needed. He is amazing! While I was in the hospital, a friend loaned me Corrie ten Boom’s “Tramp for the Lord.” I had read “The Hiding Place” before but not “Tramp.” She wrote simply enough that even through the pain medications I was able to appreciate it. One thing she said really helped. She questioned why Psalms would refer to us dwelling under the shadow of His wings. Shadow? Isn’t He supposed to be light? Then the Lord helped her realize that when He was so close, as though hovering over her, it only seemed like shadow. That really helped me – I remember my only prayer in the hospital sometimes was along the lines of “God, where are you? What is happening?” He was right there, so close. There was something else from another book that really helped. The book was “God in the ICU” by Dr. Dave Walker. After seeing so much suffering and death, and also seeing so many unexpected miracles, he writes that when we can’t understand what God’s hand is doing, we can still trust His heart. I wanted to share that. In the meantime, Barry and I are working on a three-part You Tube series involving history and the prophecies in Daniel 8 and 11. It is way too much for one video, so we split it up. I am still homeschooling children of friends – I have four fifth-graders this year. They are doing amazingly well. Barry is back with “Barry’s Beacon,” a regular series of articles for an online newspaper out of Australia. He also spends enormous amounts of time answering emails. Chris, our profoundly retarded son, is 41 now. He is doing very well. Gives great hugs and loves to laugh. Omar, who lives in our guest flat, is an incredible help with the yard especially – but also with just about anything we need help with. He is a manager at a large cabinet manufacturing plant downtown, but he still manages to help out with so much. We are very grateful for him. He is spending three weeks with his family in Mexico right now, and we really miss him. I think that is everything. We are so grateful for everything friends have done, and continue to do. And we are especially grateful for all the prayers from so many – some we have never met. We are even more grateful for the love and care God Himself has lavished upon us. We feel richer than Musk and totally blessed. We pray for the same for all of you. With love in Christ Jesus,
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