Today, December 19, marks 101 days since Jack’s disappearance from Frisco, Colorado, on September 19. Jack’s status remains unchanged – missing. The website www.findjackmcatee.com is now approaching 31,000 hits due to the gracious help of our core friends and colleagues, who have helped by drilling down the information on their Facebook pages or sharing the link via email with their friends and directing traffic as instructed by periodic updates. Our efforts to make sure we unturn each stone in our search for Jack remain in full force and unabated. The states of Colorado, Utah, and California have been absolutely saturated by the efforts of this website. We feel adequately covered in all places there and beyond. Our optimism that Jack is still alive remains vitally strong. We have one more assignment for you listed below, as we request you to repost a link to the website www.findjackmcatee.com.
The other night after dinner, my oldest brother, Jack, for whom I have great respect and after whom our son is named, said son Jack would be calling us on Christmas Day. Brother Jack went on to conclude, not surprisingly with a smile on his face, that he was never wrong. We thanked him for the hopeful thought, as it was exactly what we needed. As Ellen and I drove off, in my heart I said to God, “In my darkest night You brighten up the sky.” You see, we have the hope and knowledge that God is up to something, and the best is yet to come.
I love my son’s heart! I recently came across an incredible picture of him streaking across the Alaskan skies as copilot in formation with a group of fighter pilots passing closely by the midsection of Mount McKinley at approximately 11,000 feet on a perfectly clear day in a diamond formation of high-speed experimental aircraft. This has been a biennial sport aviation expedition led by my brother Tucker and accompanied by a storied group of ex-fighter pilots for the past eight years. The picture showed him passing right in front of Mount McKinley on a perfectly clear day, and staring at that picture, I realized how much I love the heart of my son, Jack, known for his quest for adventure and fearless expedition.
There’s no one I have ever met in my life who has a more tender heart for God than our Jack. A couple of years ago during this Christmas season in December, Jack was in the midst of a 30-day stint volunteering at a homeless shelter downtown. Living there 24 /7. He loved being there, helping and encouraging the homeless, making them feel better about themselves. Giving them a feeling of self-worth and light at the end of the tunnel. Hope. That is the kind of heart he has. Always holding out hope for others. Perhaps, at times, so much so to the negation of his own hope. Gregarious, lovable, brilliant: all words commonly used to describe Jack by those who have known him.
So here is the assignment and our humble request for our friends and colleagues: If history repeats itself, as it so often does, it is quite possible that Jack was drawn back into a shelter for this very experience once again during this Christmas season. A homeless shelter is a great place to remain anonymous. Accordingly, we are asking that you post links to the website on your Facebook page and/or just share this email with as many people as you know in the following cities, with the instructions to repost the link on their Facebook pages as well as to any and all institutions that happen either to be related to or are shelters for the homeless. The cities include Denver, Salt Lake City, Houston, Dallas, Santa Fe, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Reno, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, San Diego, Kansas City, and St. Louis. We are targeting all homeless shelters in those cities. And Jack, if you’re reading this, we want you to know that your story has had such a huge impact on thousands of people in the past 100 days. You are loved beyond what words can describe. I ask myself, “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts?” Day after day, with sorrow in my heart, wondering where you are. Wondering if you’re even alive. Longing for that call, as we remember the incredibly relished times we have spent together over the last several decades, your family is reaching out to you with an indescribable love, with full appreciation of just how valuable you are to us. We long for the moment to gather and remember what God has done. Worshipping Him in the middle of this storm, same as we worship Him on a cloudless day. He is up to something, and His timing is perfect. Looking at this through the eyes of infinity, this Christmas we celebrate with eager expectation the advent of Christ. And we anticipate that whatever is broken within you will be repaired and that God has made a way back. For Jesus was born as a light into a backdrop of darkness. Christmas is God lighting a candle, and the darkness cannot overcome the light. God can’t stop thinking about the day you’re going to come home. Nor can we. Give us a call on Christmas Day and keep Uncle Jack’s track record 100%.
To all of our friends and colleagues: Love from our family goes out to each and every one of you at this incredibly special time of the year. We cannot adequately express how grateful we are for all of you uniting behind us in this effort to find Jack. And WHATEVER HAPPENS, we know that God will bring beauty out of the ashes.
Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah.
With much love,
The McAtee Family