December 26, 2006 (January 9 following)

 Dear Friends,

 Hello! and a Merry Christmas to all of you!

 As I reflect on the season, and where we are at with things here, I would
 request your prayers for us. We need it here.

 A brief rundown of things happening since the last newsletter..... And yes,
 someone (actually several someone's) have accused me of writing newsletters
 that are too scattered (or too long), and all I can say is that our lives
are anything but
 boring here, and there IS lots of stuff happening! *chuckle*.

 Funding still hasn't happened..... Not sure why, but we keep getting
 reassured that the paperwork is in process and will eventually get
 here....... Likewise, the diesel tank issue has not been resolved
either.... pray.

 I (Tim) am working on the 501-c3 paperwork again, and I tell you what, we
 wrestle not against flesh and blood.... Every single time that I have
 blocked out time in the last several weeks to work on it, SOMETHING has
 happened to pull me away from it. One time, it was a burst water pipe on
the
 other side of the subdivision (and as president of the local water board,
it
 fell to me to help fix it). One time it was part of our battery bank
 freezing up and 4 of our big 50lb batteries bursting and leaking sulfuric
 acid all over things. I ruined a good pair of pants rescuing the remaining
 batteries, thawing them out, and resurrecting them. One time it was me
 having another "medical attack" of something that I can only describe as
"no
 fun"(extreme sudden nausea, vertigo, chills, splitting headache, sweats,
 shakes, and just general nastiness. This has happened twice now, and both
 times it hit within about 30 seconds, and persisted about a half hour
before
 subsiding, and then lingered for about a day). Other times, it has been
 family distractions, etc. Once it was a daughter going "extreme sledding"
 and gashing her head and getting 5 staples put in. I am a little concerned
 about the medical thing happening to me, and I know Karen is very concerned
 too, and we can't put a finger on what might have triggered each attack
 *shrug*. I know God knows though, so I'll just keep plugging along, and
 eventually I'll get the paperwork done! Pray that I can do so.

 For Christmas eve, we all went over to a neighbor's house and had fireworks
 in the snow. It was BEAUTIFUL. We sang Christmas carols and had tea and
 cider and cookies, and it was great fun.

 The kids are all doing very well. They are enjoying the homeschooling that
 "uncle" Josh is having for them. He is in Portland right now with family
for
 the holidays.

 Marty and MaryBeth are getting settled into the prayer cabin, and it is
 almost what I would call comfortable. Pray for them. Todd (board member) is
 up here today helping on some final projects to make it ready for the deep
 of winter coming.

 Winter has been overall, extremely mild up here so far this year. It is
above
 freezing out there right now, something very unusual for this time of year.
 We only have about 8 inches of snow or so on the ground (last year was
about 2 feet at this point), and it is all very beautiful.

 There is so much work to be done here still this winter..... Please pray
 that this diesel tank issue is resolved soon so that we can procure the
property.

 Each one of us adults/staff here have had days of extreme discouragement
 fall over us recently. This includes myself. With serious prayer, it
usually lifts,
 but it's no fun dealing with it.

 January 9

 Wow. Another new year :-) We had good holidays, good company, ate lots,
enjoyed family, and overall had a lot of fun together. God is good.

 Still waiting on the funding to come through though..... *whew!*

 We beefed up our hot water system a while back, and it works almost too
good
 now. It heats our water through our wood stove heat, and it has blown the
 pressure relief valve on the tank several times now.... What a problem to
 have... Too much hot water... *chuckle*

 I discovered why God was allowing the slowdowns on the 501-c3.... *rueful
 grin*. I had screwed up several of the financial spreadsheets in the
 business plan, from where I was taking the 501-c3 info, and it could have
 been disaster to send it in as I had it before. I discovered the problem
 late one night as I was looking things over, and I was instantly
 overwhelmed. I sat there and studied it for several hours, and just wasn't
 making sense of it (accounting is NOT my forte'). Finally in despair
 *chuckle*, I asked God to help me. And suddenly it started making sense. It
 still took me 2 weeks to fix it all and get it ready again, but I think
 we're back on track to file the paperwork this week. Which is okay, because
 the funding hasn't happened yet either. I suspect it will all fall into
 place about the same time. Pray that it happens. But having that paperwork
 filed will open up all kinds of doors for us in the funding and staffing
 arena.

 We were pursuing the idea of hiring a grant writing firm to help us get
 grants, a company that had contacted us after I responded to one of their
 emails. Turns out that they had a number of business complaints on file
 against them. We immediately dropped that idea with them. I do know about
 another company though that I have worked with in the past that I am going
 to contact again and explore grant writing options. Pray about that for us
 please. Thanks.

 I spent Sunday afternoon outfitting most of my kids with boots and skis,
 (from thrift stores, donations, my old collection, etc) and in between
 schoolwork each day, they are now having a blast learning to ski and
 snowboard.

 So here's a quick summary of our kids so that you know who they are and can
 pray for them more intelligently. We love them all.

 Sergei, 14, likes skateboarding, snowboarding, and getting into fun he-man
 testosterone competitions with me. He is raising pet rats to sell to pet
 stores in Boise, and helps the family pull its weight to survive. In
school,
 he's a math guy.

 Josiah, 13, helps us learn patience, loves comics, video games, is pretty
 smart, and has a flair for the dramatic. We never know quite what to expect
 when Joey is around, and he keeps life interesting.

 Ruthie 11, is our resident chef-in-training. She seems to thrive in the
 kitchen, and has a very highly developed sense of justice and fairness that
 keeps everyone on their toes. Her favorite thing in the whole world is
owls,
 and wants to go to Australia with Teen Missions this summer.

 Viktoria 11, has a gentle heart towards animals, and is our resident
 vet-in-training. She likes the outdoors, is pretty sensitive, and helps out
 around the house in lots of ways. She also wants to go to Australia with
 Teen Missions this summer.

 Hannah 9, is a natural when is comes to things like snowboarding and
skiing.
 She also likes the more feminine things like dress-up, dolls, and taking
 care of her little sisters Vanya and Isabella. She's interested in Teen
Missions too,
 but is too young for most of their programs.

 Vera 9, has no fear it sometimes seems. Whether it's extreme sledding,
 skiing, making friends with all sorts of people, or doing whatever, she
just has no fear.
 She's learning boundaries and healthy respect for things and situations,
but
 it's a process. She, Hannah, and Vanya all have pet rats of their own as
 well that they take daily care of. She spends lots of time tagging along
 with her older brothers too, and trying to do everything that they do. Vera
also
 wishes she could go on Teen Missions, but again, options are limited right
 now.

 Vanya 7, is only here part-time, spending most of her time with my ex down
 in Boise. She loves it here though, and loves having lots of brothers and
sisters
 to play with. She loves horses and stuffed animals. She and Hannah in
 particular seem to enjoy playing house and
 other things together. I get to spend some time with her, but it's hard to
 give her what she needs and make up for her time away from the family.

 Isabella 2, is talking up a storm, is pottie training, and in general
brings
 lots of joy to our lives.

 And the adults.

 Karen, my wife of 5 months, is working in Idaho City 4 days a week at both
the post
 office and the library. It's giving her awesome inroads into the community,
 but it wears her out to constantly be giving of herself to people that so
 desperately need the touch of God in their lives. She's more than once just
 come to me almost in tears, with her heart broken over some situation in
the
 community that she has become aware of, where people are hurting (among
 other things, we've had several suicides in the community over the
 holidays). She brings joy to our lives here. Pray for strength for her.

 (Uncle) Josh. Josh is teaching the kids homechool everyday, and is doing a
 fine job of it. He definitely helps things run more smoothly around here.
 His help and friendship have been invaluable. He's also, incidentally,
 dating Karen's sister. But pray for wisdom and direction for him, and
patience in
 dealing with the kids' schooling everyday.

 Marty and MaryBeth, living in the prayer cabin, have also brought
 encouragement to us, and I think we have been able to encourage them in
like manner.
 They have definitely been a catalyst for several projects getting done, and
 that's been pretty cool. We are really enjoying knowing them. MaryBeth is
 working part time in Idaho City, and Marty is computer database program
 freelancing in his spare time in order to help make their own ends meet. He
 plans to help set up some of the programs for this summer, once the
 paperwork is filed, the land is bought, and their support level comes up.
He is
 SOO chomping at the bit to
 get started... (as are most of the rest of us too).

 Todd (in Boise) has been slammed by work, and this has limited his ability
 to help out up here. Pray for him. His presence is always enjoyed here.

 Suzanne (in Boise) has been pretty busy too, and getting used to married
 life. She has also been an encouragement. Pray for her as well, just that
 she can accomplish everything that she has set out to do in her various
 ministry roles.

 As our paperwork comes together, one of the next steps in our plan is to
 start making the circuit, making presentations and whatnot in Boise and the
 Treasure Valley, raising prayer and financial support, and general
awareness
 that we exist here to meet needs. Hence, as well as finishing up the 501-c3
 paperwork, I am starting work on several presentations (PowerPoint, video,
 etc) in order to share the vision with people. I will be posting some of
 them on our website eventually, along with more pics of the place. Care to
 hear more? Would your church or civic or business group care to hear more
or
 help out? Give me a call and let's set something up( and pray that we can
do
 a good job with the presentations.)

Somewhere in all this, I still have to finish building a chicken coop/
rabbit shelter
out back, and 2 more bedrooms for us here in the house, as well as make
things
outside presentable for videotaping for the presentations.... This on top of
my
manuscript job which is necessary just to help make ends meet, and all the
continuing
ranch paperwork (conditional use permit and sewer plans are next, along with
the
presentations)... *whew!*

Oh! Something cool. There is a man that recently came across our website
that is
developing a full camping/scouting program that will be adaptable to our use
here. We
are seriously exploring this with him. His goal and passion, among other
things, is to help
train up boys/kids into men and women that are true Christian leaders. We've
been having some good
conversation and are looking forward to meeting him soon when he comes up to
visit
(pray for him).

 Thanks so much for praying, and listening, and for those of you that read
 the whole letter each time *wink* (I know they tend to get long), thanks
for
 caring.  I hope that we encourage you as well. God is good. And I enjoy
 serving Him.

*Deep Breath*

 Pray for the growing number of people that still want to move here but that
are just waiting
 on the land sale contract and funding to come through. Once things start
happening,
 they will have to move very fast if we are to meet our goal of being
 operational for camps this summer.

 Just pray for us. We need it.

January 12

Still no progress to report on the tanks or the funding, though I expect
some soon. Just keep praying...

It was 1 degree here this morning! Brrrrrrrrrrr........ I think winter is
finally
here.

 Sincerely,
www.bighouseministries.com
 Tim Benedict
 Thorn Creek Conference Center & Youth Ranch
 21 Yellowpine Lane
 Boise, Idaho 83716
 208-392-6723
timbenedict@peoplepc.com
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