Dear Friends

Its been a very long time since I have written to you, and a number of things have happened. I must apologize for the delay, however a few months ago my computer was badly damaged in a power surge caused by a thunderstorm, and I was unable to access the internet for a long time. So its really nice to be able to write again and start to get back to hopefully a routine of sorts. (and of course unplug my new computer everytime there's a storm).

In the last few weeks I have worked very hard on building a new website and you are most welcome to visit it at http://www.davidsplace.info. I hope to use this website now rather than my old one www.breakingthedrought.com which you may have been used to. This new website also has copies of a lot of my old emails and a few other interesting things......but its basically just the beginning of what I hope will be a site that can be a blessing to you and many other people too.

One of the difficulties I have faced is the loss of a lot of my information, including a list of the people I used to email. I have gathered up a lot of email addresses, but I'm aware that some of these people may not want my emails and some do.......its a bit hard to tell who is who out of it all. So I'm going to have to ask you to opt in if you wish to continue receive my emails of encouragment. If you do wish to receive them, please reply to me and let me know by putting "YES" in the subject. If I don't get a reply then I will assume that you're not interested.

The last 3 months have certainly been full of challenges. I went to Sydney with my children for 2 weeks for my great grandmothers 100th birthday....that was a memorable experience. I have also been to Thailand, but it was before the disaster in Asia....however it was a little strange knowing that I had been in the country as I watched all the details on the news about it. My Mum and Dad accepted an invitation to a wedding in India.......and then the tsunami hit 2 weeks before the wedding and so Mum and Dad were able to take part in some aid work in Chennai. I have a short home video and some photos of this which are really interesting.

Christmas was great......the highlight was getting my son a toy rollercoaster which he absolutely loves. It took 6 hours to construct the tracks, but it was a huge amount of fun doing it.

Anyways........I will begin writing again in 2 weeks, once I have received a reply from you or any other interested people. I am aware that 2005 is a year of God's grace and that he wants to bless you and guide you into many good things.......somehow I hope I can be a part of helping that happen.

Cheers
David