Hello Baby Judah!  We love you already!

Fun in the sun!  Phillip turns 19!

The pond is full again

Greetings from Thailand!

We have two young children, so we are always having moments that go something like this:

Child:  "Daddy, what is that?"

Adult (sort of):  "That is a gecko."

Child:  "Oh.  What is a jecko?"

Adult: "Its like a little lizard" (adult does not really know what a gecko is either)

Child:  "Oh.  That's really neat"

Adult:  "Yes, it is.  (suddenly thinking about how cool a gecko really is and how remarkable our world in general really is to have things like geckos).

Two lovely ladies!

Ezra got a new bike and learned to ride overnight

About half way through quarantine...

Children live in the present, and we need to learn how to do the same. 
Their focus is squarely on the thing in front of them.

This gives them a great advantage over most of us.
I am a planner.  I want to know what is coming and when,
That can be a positive thing, or a negative thing.

I often miss the good things in front of me because I am either looking ahead to tomorrow or dwelling in the past of yesterday.

I also fail to give my best to the task at hand, because I am over-analyzing the tasks of yesterday or over-anticipating the tasks of tomorrow. (Anyone else?)

I had a good crew!

Pii Nice can do just about anything

Ez and I call it the first pop-up camper in Thailand...more pictures to come!

George MacDonald said:

"To the foundation of yesterday's work well done, the work of  tomorrow will be sure to fit."

The best way to prepare for tomorrow is to make sure the work of today is done well---whatever it may be.

And to do that, we need to stop all the worrying about the future, or the analyzing of the past, and find the work God has given us today, and do it well.

One of our new families we are helping at Faithful Heart!

And another....

And another....

And some more...

Like many of you, we are more than ready to have our normal lives back.
We miss our friends, our favorite restaurants, and the habits and rhythms of everyday life.
We also have compassion and catastrophe fatigue kicking in.

It is hard to keep getting worked up about every new crisis or statistic, and it is hard to keep responding compassionately to the ever flowing needs around us.

Here our children come to rescue us. 

The world may be burning, but if there is no fire within your reach, then fill your buckets, pray, and play corn hole with your kids.

We lost a dear friend, and mentor Joel Tardy.  Well done my friend.  We will miss you.

Some good friends moved back to Sweden after completing the adoption of their daughter, and we were sad to see them go.

These two lovely ladies are sisters, who hardly knew each other.  Now, Mii (right) will begin taking care of her sister May (left). We love these moments!

Take responsibility for what you can do.
Release responsibility for what you can't.
Pray about everything.

Prayer is not a passive way to avoid acting, but a way to discern how and where to act---and where not to act. 

The same goes with our compassion.

We are not capable of fixing all the worlds problems.
We are not even capable of caring about all the worlds problems.
One God can carry that load.

If we try, we will only burn out, and end up numb---hardly caring or feeling at all.
But every one of us has been given responsibility for some of the world's problems.

Our newest college student, Yawsii!

Cute baby Judah!

So, what is the thing in front of you?

Is it a neighbor in need?
Is it a lonely sibling?
Is it a game of corn hole with your children?

Don't go too far ahead.

That will overwhelm us and we will end up eating Cheetos on the couch watching Netflix, feeling mildly guilty.

Don't go too far back.

You are more than your mistakes.  You couldn't have known the future.  You have the gift of today.  Receive it with arms wide open.

Our foster family came over to use the yard for games one night

Be careful of the noodles with "special herbs"

Kindergarten in the Lahu village

Other bikers!

So when you stretch to help your neighbors during this crisis, and are making sacrifices to help others, and your landlord announces she is increasing your rent by 40%, you could panic.

Or get angry, and bitter.

Or, you could talk about geckos with your kids and get some perspective. (Best answer)

Or, if you are like me, you spend the next few days going through all of those options, and then settling down again saying:

"Ok, God.  What do you want me to do today?  I can't control most things.  What can I control?  Where can I bring a little more good into the world?  What is my work today?"

Sadly, there are 4 churches in this tiny village, and they don't support each other

We love Pii Moey!  Our new social worker is doing a great job.

Thankful for these two good friends!

So take a jog, bake cookies, talk about geckos, play corn hole.

Share some of those cookies with your neighbors.

Give some money away to a good cause no matter how little you have (one great way to disarm fear, is to be generous).

Spend more time with the people you love (not reading the news or on your phones, do something fun together).

The thing in front of you may be a lot of fun.  Don't miss it.

Learning with you, with lots of love,

Matt, Audrey, Ezra, & Sienna

Andy giving the college kids driving lessons, we will miss him when he moves back to America in June!

Men at work!