Kathy,
Did you ever see your message?  It came through loud and clear here.  He 
will shoose the good, he is just taking the sceenic route to get there. 
Huggs and blessings,
Virgie and Hoshi
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kathy Du Bois" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 1:44 PM
Subject: Re: The Latest from Maine


> Wow Virgie,
> You've received my message and I haven't.  Strange.  At least I know that 
> it got through.
> Thank you for your prayers.  Yes, there is a lot of good in Chris, but he 
> has to choose to let it shine through.
> Kathy
>
> At 01:37 PM 5/20/2006, you wrote:
>>Hello Kathy,
>>I thank you for the update on Chris, it is a good start and I think you 
>>and Greg are wise not to make decisions for him.  As a parent I know how 
>>hard that can be especially when you see your child struggling and making 
>>some wrong decisions but it is the best thing to do for Chris.  Wewill 
>>keep praying for the Lord's will to be done for Chris and that he will 
>>repent and change his ways.  There is obviously a lot of good in him and 
>>he is just a little mixed up right now.  I have faith that he will 
>>understand the error of his ways and I do believe he will make the 
>>necessary changes in his life. Feel free to share with us at any time we 
>>are all here for you.
>>Virgie and Hoshi
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathy Du Bois" <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 1:25 PM
>>Subject: The Latest from Maine
>>
>>
>>>Hi Guys,
>>>         Well, It looks as though Eudora and Microsoft have declared
>>>a truce for the moment, allowing me to get a message to you from
>>>behind enemy lines concerning the state of affairs, better known as,
>>>life in Maine, at present.  All troops are present and accounted for
>>>and conditions appear favorable.
>>>         We had all the kids home for Mother's day last Sunday.  Greg
>>>and I stayed at church for adult Sunday school, which happens after
>>>worship at our church, and Liz and Matt went to Bangor to pick Chris
>>>up and bring him home for the afternoon.  After dropping Chris and
>>>Liz off at home, Matt came back to church to pick Caleb, and us up
>>>and take us home as well.
>>>         By the way, in case you're wondering, we are back down to
>>>one car because that little fender bender that Matt got in to at the
>>>beginning of the month resulted in having the car declared "totaled,"
>>>by the insurance company.  Oh well, easy come, easy go.  Too bad too
>>>because we had just invested in a tune up and new tires.  Ouch!  I'm
>>>sure glad that our Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills cause it
>>>looks like we may need to sell a few, but that's another story.  Back
>>>to family matters.
>>>         When we arrived home, Chris had taken it upon himself to
>>>vacuum our living room and sweep our kitchen floor.  I had made a pot
>>>of chili for dinner, but I hadn't had a chance to clean up completely
>>>before church, so he had also cleaned the counter and stove tops.  It
>>>was really sweet.
>>>         Chris has often complained, in the past about what a lousy
>>>driver Matt is, so Matt and I were both dreading what Chris would say
>>>when he learned about the car, but Chris didn't say anything nasty or
>>>critical at all.  That in itself was a relief.  In fact, the whole
>>>meal was pleasant and Chris is hoping that he can come out to be with
>>>us again some time during Memorial day weekend to have one more
>>>family gathering before Matt goes to Michigan for his summer job.
>>>         Chris was open to talking about himself.  He shared with
>>>Greg and me, privately, about all his confusing feelings about his
>>>relationship with Nicki.  I asked him if he would be willing to read
>>>Doctor Laura's book, "The Ten Stupid Things Men Do To Mess Up their
>>>Lives."  He said that he would be willing. We purchased it for him on
>>>Wednesday and Greg dropped it off Thursday morning.  I talked to
>>>Chris for a bit Friday morning and he had already been reading it
>>>some and told me that he's seeing himself on the pages.
>>>         He also asked Greg and I if we would be willing to help him
>>>study the bible.  He said that he knows that we know a lot and he
>>>wants to learn.  He also said that he would be willing to do whatever
>>>we asked, but we told him that he is an adult now and he needs to
>>>make his own decisions.  I think that he was hoping that we would
>>>order him to break up with Nicki, but we won't.  He needs to end the
>>>relationship because he knows it's the right thing to do, not because
>>>we want him too.  It's kind of like getting to the point where you
>>>need to believe in Jesus because it's right, not because your parents
>>>told you too.  We just keep respecting him as an adult and making him
>>>face the consequences of his decisions even though it is very hard to
>>>resist the impulse to reach in and rescue.
>>>         He is being forced, by the life program that he is involved
>>>with, to go to the learning center at least twice a week to work
>>>toward his G., E.D. The program is  putting pressure on him to look
>>>for full time work as well.  He can get kicked out of this program if
>>>he doesn't cooperate.  He knows this because his roommate is getting
>>>kicked out this week for continuing to keep a girlfriend and baby in
>>>the apartment that the program is providing, so I think that Chris is
>>>deciding to take the threat seriously and begin to get his life in order.
>>>         Chris is also still interested in the military so the
>>>program is also arranging for him to talk with a recruiter as soon as
>>>possible.  Now, for another interesting twist, Greg's youngest
>>>brother is already in the military and has been for 21 years.  David,
>>>Greg's brother, called me this past Monday and pretty much ordered me
>>>to tell Chris not to sign anything until Chris talks to him
>>>first.  David is stationed in Korea right now, but that doesn't
>>>matter because he uses phonage and is linked through his home phone
>>>in Missouri.  So, I gave David Chris's number and I gave Chris
>>>David's number and I think Chris knows that David means
>>>business.  We'll just have to see how this plays out.  Chris has told
>>>us that his main interest in the military is to gain
>>>self-discipline.  That is an interesting commentary on what he thinks
>>>of himself right there.
>>>One other thing that surprised us last Sunday was Chris's reaction to
>>>the fact that we are sending Liz to Florida for a music camp at a
>>>Christian college there,  in July.  At first, he sounded incredulous,
>>>but when I said that Liz has shown real self discipline by sitting
>>>down at the piano for the past nine years and practicing on an almost
>>>daily basis and how  we had spent a lot of money on Him during his
>>>teen years, he backed down right away and agreed that Liz deserved
>>>this reward.  I think that he knew that I was referring to all the
>>>time and money that we had spent on counseling for him and trying to
>>>help him chase his dreams when he was in high-school.  This time
>>>though, instead of complaining that we had been stupid to spend the
>>>money, especially on counseling, which he had declared at the time
>>>that he didn't need, he just backed down and agreed with me and
>>>dropped the matter altogether.
>>>         Wow!  This has really gotten long.  Sorry about that.  I am
>>>just so grateful to the Lord that our relationship is beginning to be
>>>restored.  I had to share it all with you guys because you have so
>>>faithfully prayed for my family.  I appreciate that so much.  I don't
>>>for a moment think that we are out of the woods completely.  There is
>>>still the matter of Nicki and Chris is still hanging around
>>>questionable people, but I think that he is glad that things are
>>>better between us as well.  He's always glad to hear from me when I
>>>call and that, at least, is a start.
>>>Kathy
>>
>