Beautiful Mountains in Mae Taeng!

Greetings from Thailand friends and family!  

We miss you all more than you know.  Normally, June/July is our time to visit America and have some extended vacation.  With Covid, we weren't able to travel and we are feeling more run down than usual.  

But that doesn't mean good things aren't happening or that we don't find a lot of joy in our day to day life.  

It does mean we have to be more deliberate in the decisions we make each day.  

Strengthening Families!

Asthma medication makes a difference.

Dinner with the college kids!

I turn 35 next month and I cannot believe how life accelerates with age.  

High school was an eternity.  College too. 
Then you get a job (speed increases 10 mph).
Then you get married (speed increases another 10 mph).
Then you have kids (speed increases 50 mph).

Suddenly, your back hurts, you are tired all the time, and you say stuff your grandparents used to say ("when did they get so big?" "He can't be married yet, he is just a kid!" etc.).

Because life goes so fast and because we are often pulled in a thousand different directions, it is vital we take time to think about the decisions we are making every day.  

Your life today is the result of thousands of small decisions you made in the past 10 years.  

And now, especially as parents, I feel that weight.  Now the decisions we are making is effecting other lives too.  

Paula and May got baptized!

Beautiful inside and out!

Audrey handing out art prizes at Sunday School.

Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed in our work here. We have about 25 kids in our full time care.  Caring for them is a huge endeavor that takes tremendous resources of energy, time, and money.  

But sometimes we get so caught up in the care (keeping them alive) we don't think about how the decisions we are making today will affect their future.  

How are they doing in school?
What are they interested in studying and learning? 
What are their gifts, skills, and talents?
Are they learning to be independent and self-reliant?
How are they feeling?  Do they feel loved, valued?
Are they growing more confident in themselves?

From our experience here, one of the best things you can do for your children is help them learn about decision making as soon as possible.  

We see this more clearly, especially now that many of our kids at Faithful Heart are teenagers.  

Part of our job is to empower them by helping them see they have a say in their own life.  For an orphan, this can be hard to believe.  Most of their lives have been the result of other people's decisions.  

We try hard to change that.

Little Buddy!

Yawsii's dad killed one of his chickens and cooked it for us.

New Friends.

Once our kids reach high school, we meet with them often to help them create a map for their own lives, and help them understand what it will take to build the life they desire.  

If you have never done something like that, I highly recommend it.  Sit down with some paper and a pencil, and ask yourself some questions:

1. What makes life a good thing?
2. What interests, gifts, talents, skills, and experience has God given me?
3. How can my life benefit others and bring me joy?
4. How do I get from here (where I am) to there (where I want to be)?  
5. What are the next 5 decisions I need to make?

My late mentor, Joel Tardy, was gifted at helping people through this process.  When we would talk on Tuesday mornings, he would always make me refocus on the big picture and where we were going (me personally, and Faithful Heart as an organization).  

We are working with Home of the Swallow to try to provide more Daycare for Single Moms.

Road work in the mountains.

My great crew!

None of us wants to wake up one morning to a life we dislike, and feel like we never chose.  And we wonder, "How did I get here?".

And it can feel like an inescapable trap.  I think this is one of the chief causes of depression.  When we feel stuck in a life that doesn't give us purpose or joy and can't see a way out.  

Right now, our fastest growing work is among single mom's struggling to care for their children.  

Talk about feeling trapped.  Imagine this: You are a young woman with a 9th grade education (your hometown didn't have a high school and your family was poor).  No one ever talked to you about sex and you got pregnant from a guy who quickly left.  Now you have two kids and you work 6 days a week to make $300 per month.  What about your decisions?

These women need to be empowered too.  They need to have the opportunity to create a map for their own lives.  This helps them and their children.  

Part of the vision of Faithful Heart is to rescue children and build strong families.  In order to accomplish that, we need to help children and parents learn to build their own lives, one decision at a time.  

Because that is how we all build a life.  

No, that's not Thailand.  My parents moved to Florida! We are so proud of them.

Health Checkups!

We choose, then we choose, we think we aren't choosing (but that is a choice too), we choose, and then all of a sudden, we have built a life.  Whether it is a good or bad one depends largely on those choices you made.  

Building a life you love, that benefits others and brings you joy is not easy.  

It is costly.  Jesus came to give people this kind of life and he invited them to come learn how to live it.  But he also warned them: to have the best things, you will have to sacrifice many less good things.  

Even in these days, with so much chaos in the world and all around us, so many of our plans altered or ruined, we have to continue to do the things which we lead us into a fuller life.  There are 10,000 things you cannot control.  Start with the ones you can.  

So glad we can have BBQ again.

These girls love maala!

A day out to give house parents respite!

So today, halfway around the world, in stifling humidity and pouring rain, with my travel plans altered, with Covid virus, with political unrest and division, I will decide to be grateful for my life.  And I will continue to examine it and ask, "Where am I going? Who am I helping? Where can I do better?"  And I will try to help the people around me pursue their dreams too.  

And in everything I will pray and ask for help.  Because everything is beyond me, but that doesn't mean it is impossible.  Only that I will need help.  

Thank you to every one of you who help us, encourage us, and love us.  We love having you as part of our lives. 

Remember that this is still our Father's world.  Rest in that thought.  You are loved.  They are loved.  We are loved.  Then go work for good in all you do.  

Lots of love from Thailand!  

Matt, Audrey, Ezra, and Sienna

Tired and happy.

Little Golfer.

Thank You Prosperous Youth Foundation for taking our kids put put golfing!