December 5, 2024
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Dear Friends,
December seems to be bringing this year to a frosty close around the country. We were reading the other day that the Great Lakes area has just received 5 feet of snow! I couldn’t help but wonder with some eagerness what it would be like to wake up to that much snow outside. Some of us love snow and others, not so much, but you have to admit, it is a natural wonder to see it fall from the sky.
We recently took a drive up into the Cascade Range and were delighted to see snow at the top of the pass. Millions of evergreen trees tipped in snowy white. It is mesmerizing to see such vastness! And it is stunningly quiet- a wonderful experience most of us in the city do not have often. We enjoyed our time in the mountains immensely!
For Dan and I, 2024 blew in a very difficult year. We are saddened to announce that Bill Anspach, the chairman of the board of Ceaseless Love Ministries died suddenly on April 16th. We are deeply thankful for the many ways Bill encouraged and supported us in the very first days of Ceaseless Love Ministries till today. He so generously gave us the office where we have met with many, and he consistently urged us forward when things were difficult. Bill rejoiced with us as he saw lives change and prayed for the salvation of those he spoke with and many he brought to us for pastoral care. We honor him and his family for all they have freely given over the course of these 16 years for Ceaseless Love Ministries and for Dan and I and our family. Please pray for God’s comfort and peace to surround Bill’s wife and family this Christmas. We all miss him dearly, treasure his memory and friendship, and rejoice that he is in glory experiencing life to the fullest with Christ.
This year began with moving Dan’s father to a retirement community, selling his parent’s home and then one month later admitting him to the hospital due to infection from which he never recovered. He spent 90 days in the hospital and nursing facility, and finally the last week in the hospice center. He passed into the presence of Jesus on July 5th. We are so deeply touched by the nurses of the Evergreen Hospice Center, who cared for him and us that last week of his life here on earth. Dan’s father was an incredible man, who knew how to love well and live well. We thank God for him and for the example he has been to all of us. His death has hit the entire family hard, and he is missed every day. We miss his liveliness and his happy spirit, and most of all his loving care and fatherly watchfulness for all of us. We rest in the joy that he is with the Lord Jesus and with his beloved wife, and with his parents. A veteran of the Korean War and a highly experienced businessman, he lived his life with courage and tenacity.
Along our journey through this year, Dan and I have both had multiple surgeries and have had to slow down some after caring for Dan’s parents for the past five years. It has been an honor and our joy to do so and now we are taking time to rest and be renewed physically and spiritually. We find taking short trips in the beautiful nature to be very refreshing. While it has been a hard year, we are amazed at the care the Lord Jesus has communicated to us and for us. We have received so many blessings and encouragement from all of you. We thank you for your prayers, which God has heard and answered in mighty ways. Daily we are reminded of God’s intense and personal love for each one of us. This is true comfort! This is real security!
The soon arrival of Christmas has me meditating on John 8:12.
“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, I am the Light of the World: he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (NASB)
It is a striking thought that Jesus, the Creator and King of the universe, the Source of life, came into this little world we call our home, this beautiful green and blue globe, yet- but a marble in the grandness of the universe. He came personally, He came humbly so that we could see Him and hear Him. He wanted to be with us and to tell us Himself that He is the Light we have been longing for. He is the Light we need to see the way back to God. He came to show us what God is like – that God is Love. His Love is to us Life, Protection, Nurturance, Deliverance, Healing, Keeping, and Security. He came to restore us to God through His death on the cross.
Only by coming as a baby- a man – could He live out His love for us in taking our burdens and our sin, giving His life for ours in His redeeming death. “There was never a moment when Jesus was relieved of being our burden-bearer. Jesus loved us to death…literally.” -Sinclair Ferguson
The Bible tells us that when we receive Jesus’ gift of forgiveness for sin, He restores us to God, our Heavenly Father. To have the “light of life” is to enjoy continuous fellowship with God. All that God is He gives to you for you to fully enjoy the benefits of. There is nothing that pleases God more than for you to enjoy Him, to talk with Him and to invite Him to share every part of you and your life. He delights when we come to know Him well enough to trust Him completely so that we are willing to obey and follow His perfect path for our life. He knows this takes time to build this trust and He will love us all the way there. Will you follow Him, dear Christian? Be assured, that as you do, you will not walk in darkness (confusion and sin), but you will have and experience the light of a redeemed and righteous life!
Dan and I pray for you and thank God for your precious friendship. We thank you for your support and faithful encouragement! May God keep you in that blessed place of fellowship with Him. May He fill your heart with His joy and His peace this Christmas season and in the year to come. “For God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all!” (1 John 1:5). We say with the Apostle John –“We write these things to you, that your joy may be full!”
Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year,
Dan & Marie
Ceaseless Love Ministries