Hanging out with the girls.

Cute little Gear, one of the new babies at FHF!

Sad Goodbyes!

Greetings from Thailand! 

Sometimes the greatest thing about life is that it goes on.
And sometimes the most wearisome part of life is that it goes on.

This unprecedented time in our lives has us disoriented and weary, but hopeful too.

Faithful Heart is experiencing a tremendous amount of change and growth and so are we.

One of the greatest life lessons Thailand has and continues to teach me is to accept change graciously as a part of my daily life.

Control is not peace.  Trust is peace.  

In the past few months, not only have we faced a global pandemic, but the death of a great mentor and friend and now the loss of some great friends and team mates.

Last week, we took my good friend and coworker at Faithful Heart, Andy Parker, to the airport with his family to move back to the US full time.

Ice Cream helps with sadness

Friends help too!

Visiting a Karen Village to see Taxi

I have been trying to learn to process my emotions better, so I don't end up taking out my feelings on undeserving people later.  (Men:  Most of us are very bad at processing our emotions, just FYI)

So, this week I took a few hours to go to a retreat center here in Chiang Mai.  Ironically, it was pouring rain that morning which made my motorbike ride somewhat difficult and left me soggy.

It is surprising how a few hours of silence can help you better understand all the stuff happening inside of you (or at least become aware of it).

I heard someone once say that God always speaks to us, but he never shouts.  I think that is true.

For me this past week, I took some time to try to name all the things I was feeling: sadness, fear, loneliness, insecurity, disappointment.

For me, and maybe for you, this is an unprecedented time.  And that can leave us feeling very uncertain about the future.

And if we have come to equate feeling sure of the future with peace and well being, it is a blow to see all our carefully laid plans vanish.

About 80 years of experience living overseas at this table

This friend I will miss a ton.

Motorcycles also help with sadness.

But Life stubbornly refuses to stop for us until we feel ready to face it.  

So here we are in this unprecedented present, moving relentlessly into an unknown future.

Our kids are preparing to return to school.
Bills are due.
New families need help.
Our house parents need support.
Visa's need to be renewed for another year.
We need a new accountant.
We need to find new tenants.
The sink is full of dishes and I think my daughter pooped in her diaper.

Death and taxes, diapers and dishes.  Some things are more certain than we think.

It wasn't long ago, I was really uncertain about what the future held for us and for Faithful Heart.
So much was changing so fast.

And here we are again, kind of post-Covid, wondering about the future, trying to live in the present and do our work today.

Fish!

We miss this sweet family already.

Driving to the hot springs with friends in the back of the pickup! (Don't worry Mom, very short trip)

I don't know what you all are going through or facing.

Maybe it is the loss of someone you love too or the lonely feeling of having a friend move on to a new work somewhere else.

It's ok to be there (wherever you are right now).

God is there too.

It's ok to not know what to expect next.
Just don't let yourself become cynical.

Life is better than the shows on Netflix and how the news makes it seem.  
(It might be a good idea to unplug for a bit and go be with people).

Throwing kids in pools.

Dad's relaxing.

This is new ground for all of us.

Those old prophets, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers once sang:

"Destruction leads to a very rough road but it also breeds creation"

New ground is new opportunity too.  Unprecedented times breed unprecedented innovation.

May God delight us in the new things He will do in the midst of hard times.

Tunnel Vision

Always arms wide open

Bom's new shop!