Thank you!

I sent this email to the group that we were camping with:

You will get to hear the full rundown of our adventure some time - there are many stories to tell and angles to explore. Mary is jotting down notes and gathering side-stores from others involved and will certainly share this once it's done. We're still trying to unpack and clean up from camping so a brief note won't do the story justice. In the meantime, talk to anyone involved and you'll hear a tale of God's faithfulness and His work through His people.

I wanted to express my public gratitude to God for:

Giving Mary peace while she was out in the dark for six hours with only the light of a small iPod.
Keeping her safe from harm during her slide down an embankment and into a tree.
Keep her warm even though she only had on a light shirt, vest and jeans in 40 degree damp weather.
Giving her the "idea" to use the iPod to light her path.
Keeping the "almost dead" iPod battery working for 6+ hours of darkness so she could cautiously follow the trail and path to camp.
Giving me and the kids peace while she was missing.

I'd also like to thank so many for their involvement. I realize all of these people would rather serve in obscurity but I think their work, no matter how small, deserves recognition. Remember all those folks listed who worked on the wall in Nehemiah? God had their names recorded for history!

Unfortunately, like any list of names we put together this one is bound to be missing one or two. I'll send out an addendum once I know who's missing.

Thanks to:

C_____ for organizing the initial search parties and later providing a welcome buffer between the authorities and myself.
Bill, Jonathan, Matt, JD, Stephen, Tim, Preston, Daniel, Mike, Kevin, Anna, Jennifer, Dennis, Emily, Stephen, Danny, Aaron, Chris, Ashley, Sean and John for their tireless running around the woods, up and down hills, and driving many roads in the middle of a freezing night.
Sean and Yvonne for sending communications to civilization since we didn't have a ready phone.
Ted and Beth Ann for making sure I ate something even though I didn't think I wanted to.
John and Katie for providing food, drink and warmth for the many searchers.
Dennis for forcing me to use his gloves to stay warm. Ahhhh.
Andy for leading a prayer and worship time during the search. While I didn't spend much time with the group, the little I did was a great comfort.
Steve and Mike for sending out email updates.
All those who stayed at camp and prayed for Mary, the searchers, and me.
Dave for driving up to help in the search.
The MULTITUDE on HBClist (and Facebook) who prayed and sent notes of encouragement.

We serve an awesome God and are members of a great local body! May He be glorified by all of this.

Thank you all.

- Doug Valkenaar