Greetings from Thailand!  Have you ever found yourself easy to please, but hard to satisfy?  I heard that recently and I cannot remember where, but it continues to come into my mind.  I am grateful we have transitioned back into life in Thailand so smoothly, that my wife and baby are healthy, that we have enough to eat and a home (check out our new place!---the first time in over three years we will have a place of our own), for a job I enjoy working with people I respect, and great friends and family that I love.  

I am pleased, just not satisfied (at least not entirely).  A good friend and mentor told me that I ask for a lot from life.  And he is right.  I think most of us do; we can be grateful and still long for more.

The question we are faced with is what makes life good, purposeful and happy?  How do we have that life and how do we help others find it?
It is a large question that all of us struggle to answer in our own lives and in the lives of our children. In our own lives, Audrey and I believe the answer lies in Jesus and His way of seeking life in the welfare of others, rather than at their expense.  The result of such a life philosophy is to be both very grateful and very troubled.  Before, our welfare was enough.  Now we have tied our welfare to the welfare of others.  Their suffering becomes our suffering.  But so do their joys!  It is, I think, a Christian idea to be content and dissatisfied at the same time.

 I thank God for big thoughts and simple joys.   I  participated in my first scooter tow last week.  You can just see the orange flip flop on the foot pushing the scooter on the right above.  I was riding behind the young man who commandeered my scooter while his friend steered the one we pushed.  An easy and fun Good Samaritan moment.  Salt and Light.