I have one quick story for you before I get to the real news.  It actually started during our visit to the lower forty-eight in 2009.  I don't remember who it was or where we were, but someone said to me, "Wow!  I expected you to come back from Alaska all gaunt and haggard looking, but you're morbidly, grotesquely obese!"  (Actually, he might not have used those exact words, but the sentiment was definitely there-- but I'm not bitter or anything)  At another church, a guy said to me, "Wow! You're morbidly, grotesquely obese!"  (Okay, okay, his exact words were, "Wow!  You're getting fat!")  I do remember who said that, by the way, and I'll never, ever forget it-- not that I'm bitter or holding a grudge or anything.  Shortly after we got back to Fort Yukon, I made an appointment with the diabetic counselor at the clinic, and he said, "Wow! You're morbidly, grotesquely obese!  You're not even on the chart!"  You know, it's not like I was blind or anything; I could see exactly what I looked like in the mirror; I knew that I needed to lose some serious weight, but I still wasn't especially thrilled to hear folks say it out loud-- we full-figured guys can be kind of sensitive that way sometimes.  I finally started seriously working on my umm . . . challenge a few months ago, and so far I've lost about seventy pounds-- please hold your applause-- I still have about thirty to go, but I'm getting there.  People have been asking me what my secret is, and it's very simple:  Give up food, and exercise like crazy-- anyone can do it.   I've had to buy new clothes a couple of times, and I didn't mind that too badly, but then my wedding ring started falling off, and that was a real problem.  Obviously, I didn't want to lose it, but I didn't want to have it resized until I lost the rest of the weight either.  I didn't like not having it with me, and I didn't want to leave it at home in a drawer, so I bought a chain and began to wear it around my neck.   Another problem immediately arose.  You see, I've always considered myself to be a manly kind of guy . . . I've heard folks talk about men getting in touch with their "feminine side," but I'm here to tell you I don't have a "feminine side."  Never had it; never will.  But every time I put on that necklace, I felt a little less like a man.  I also couldn't help thinking of all those old, pot-bellied, retired bald guys who live in Florida wearing those half-unbuttoned flowery Hawaiian shirts with a bunch of gold chains around their necks-- and that was an image that gave me chills.  It just wasn't me.  I had a thought:  How hard could it be to resize my wedding ring myself?  I mean, all I would need would be a piece of gold solder and a butane torch, right?  I could cut a strip of solder that would fit the inside of the ring, and then heat it until the solder melted, and voila!  a resized ring!  I figured later, after I lost the rest of the weight, I could just add another layer of solder, and my problem would be solved.  Without another thought-- that seems to be a recurring theme in my life-- I bought the stuff (Amazon.com is great), and went to work on the ring. 

I learned something interesting.  The melting point of gold solder and the melting point of a gold ring are remarkably close to one another-- I guess that kind of makes sense when you think about it.  I also discovered that a glob of molten gold can leave a really nasty mark on one's dining room table, and that one's wife will probably be more concerned about the table than the wedding ring.   I really don't understand Heidi sometimes.  Women can be so irrational . . .

We had a great turnout for our Harvest Party.  We had well over a hundred people attend, and even had a few folks from town show up just to help us run the games for the kids.  It was nice to have a few extra hands to handle that many kids, and it also gave us an opportunity to spend some time with some people who don't normally come to our services.  We also had a great crowd for our Christmas program.  I think we counted 123 people, and we were able to give a clear presentation of the Gospel.  We had scheduled our first Candlelight Christmas Eve service, but Heidi and I had been down in Anchorage a couple of days to see Andrew and Taya, and to pick up Rachael and Stephen for their Christmas break, and when we got back to Fort Yukon on Christmas Eve morning, we found the water pipes frozen in the church.  When I finally got things thawed, I discovered that the lines had separated in one place, and the church flooded while I was at the house waiting for it to warm up.  Anyway, it was a mess, and we had to postpone our Christmas Eve service until the following Sunday-- which of course rendered it a non-Christmas Eve service, but we had a good time anyway.  Please pray that we will continue to have opportunities to follow up with some of the folks who visited.

I haven't been able to get the logs for the new fellowship hall off of the island yet.   It's been cold (we've had several weeks of -40 or -50), but we also have a lot of snow this year, and it seems to be insulating the river (at least that's my guess), and though it's mostly frozen, there's still a lot of open water, and I'm afraid to go out there by myself.  I'm pretty sure there must be a safe route to our logs, but I'm not sure where it is, and I need someone to guide me the first trip.  I have a serious aversion to falling through the ice and drowning.  A thing like that could ruin your whole day.  As it turns out, it may be unnecessary to haul the whole logs back to town anyway.  One of our churches is investigating the possibility of buying a portable sawmill for us that we could set up on the island.  If that happens, we will be able to mill the logs out there, and then haul them to the building site here.  The logs would be much easier to handle-- it would be a lot safer, too.   The mill would also be wonderful when we finally begin work on cabins, lodge, etc. for the camp.  Please pray that the Lord will work out the details if that is the direction He would have us go.

I suppose I should wrap this up, but before I get to the rest of our prayer requests, I wanted to share one more thing with you.  I was reading George Muller's autobiography recently,  and I was impressed (convicted) by his attitude toward the Lord's work.  He believed that very often, when we share "prayer requests,"  what we're really doing is relying upon the "arm of flesh" instead of relying on God.  I have often felt that "sharing our needs" in our prayer letters is really not much more than glorified Christian panhandling, and it has always bothered me.  I guess George Muller's thoughts helped me crystallize my own thinking on the subject.  For what they're worth, here are my conclusions:  1)  The Lord knows our needs, and He is perfectly capable of meeting them without my publishing them in the Craig Chronicles.   I am confident the the Lord will lay it on your hearts to send gifts, etc. when we have special physical needs.  God has done that for us many times in the past, and I know He will continue to do so in the future.   2)  It also seems to me that the Lord will receive greater glory if we are able to share how He meets needs that have never been expressed, and frankly, I'm convinced that most of the folks in our churches nowadays have a very small view of God, and they need to be reminded of what a great God we serve.   Because of those things, I'm going to make some changes in the prayer request portion of our letters.  I'm going to do my best to focus on the spiritual needs of our family, our church, and our community.  I'm not going to mention physical needs except to give thanks and praise to the Lord when he uses you, our brothers and sisters in Christ, to meet those needs.