As we enter Advent, this season of celebrating the first coming of Jesus Christ, and waiting and anticipating His promised second coming, I am experiencing another kind of waiting. I am bracing myself for December 27, two days after Christmas, and the first-year anniversary of my father’s death.

The last time I saw Dad outside of a hospital room was on Thanksgiving Day 2013, at my Uncle Paul’s and Aunt Barb’s house. A week later, his leg went numb and he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Three weeks after that, he died from complications following surgery.

My brother, Vern, hosted us this year for Thanksgiving—John, Cindy, Katy, and I traveled over the rivers and through the snowy woods to eat turkey together and experience New York City through the eyes of my sister-in-law, Cindy, who had never been there before. The amazing photo below was taken by my niece, the 19-year-old Selfie Master, Katy, as we traveled across the New York Harbor on the Staten Island Ferry.

It was good to be together, to remember our parents, and to thank God that we still have one another. God is good—all the time.

I also thank God for you, friends and family members who have carried me through this difficult year. I thank God for the meaningful work He has given me to do here at the CCO, calling college students to serve Jesus Christ with their entire lives. One of my biggest anxieties in the wake of losing Dad was wondering how my support-raising needs would be met now that my most generous supporter is gone. Thank all of you who have so generously helped to close that gap. There is still work to be done for me to be fully funded, but I am humbled and more grateful than you know.

I need to raise a significant amount of my monthly salary in order to work for the CCO. Are you interested in joining my support team? Donate online, or find out other ways to give. Thank you!