These two sisters are spunky, smart, and we are so proud of them.

Welcome sweet Addy!  We love you already.

All of us right now....

Greetings from Thailand!  

It could have been the ride in the back of the pick-up with 10 other people heading to the hot springs, or the nice weave through traffic on the motorbike, or eating that strange meat dish I didn't recognize, or maybe just building my 4 year old son a go-kart, but somewhere in there I realized many of us have traded our sense of adventure for a perceived safety and we got a bad deal.  

Safety is over rated.

(Especially for people who believe we will live forever).  

If you have ever visited Thailand, you know it is a lot like traveling back in time.  Kids ride in the back of pickups, grandma's ride motorcycles, very few safety warnings, and generally your safety is your own responsibility.  Life may be more dangerous here, but it is a lot more fun too.

Right now, our grandparents are looking at us and shaking their heads. 
Our lives are too safe and too boring.

One of the greatest things about social work is seeing the resilience of families.

Plus, we get to meet lots of cute babies.

This is our newest college graduate and staff member!  Ploy is incredible!

 

One of the great things about living in another culture, is that it helps you see yourself and your own culture from an outsider's perspective.  

There are certainly a lot of good advances in safety we have made and I am not advocating throwing all those out.  But there is also a lot we have lost in our pursuit of a "safe" life.  

What has struck me recently, especially during the pandemic, is that depending on your where you are standing and your approach to life, life is either a grand adventure, a terrible drudgery, or a terrifying danger.

It is true that religion can be a kind of opium for people, dulling them to the harsh realities of life. 
But it is also true that fear can paralyze our lives draining them of meaning, purpose, and yes, adventure.  

The pandemic revealed a truth about human nature: we are afraid to die.  

But it revealed something else too: many of us are afraid to live.  

Ploy and Ben working hard :)

Benjamin graduated middle school and now is on dialysis, please pray for him.

David graduated middle school too!

We need to recapture our sense of adventure in life. 
Because life is not measured in length, but breadth and depth.  

Philosophy might be a strange place to start in a search for adventure, but how you view and think about life (and death) determines whether life is a burden or an adventure.  

What do you think about life?  

Is it a commodity running out?
Is it a scarcity, something to be selfishly hoarded and guarded so you don't lose out?
Is it to be preserved (like taxidermy) or spent (like money on a vacation)?

The answers that have changed my life are from Jesus.

Yes seize the day, but also relax.

We are an artistic family...sort of.

Sienna loves the murphy bed, mainly for jumping.

No shoes, no shirt, no pants, no problem.

  

Point # 1:  Life is not running out, it is running on.  

Part of the Christian influence on how we live has been an insistence in life beyond death. 
Death is not an end, but a transition to more life; a new beginning of a new kind of life.  

Even if you aren't sure about that, it is worth hoping for and thinking about.  

Yes, people can talk about an afterlife so much they neglect to live this life. 
But people can also be so afraid of death, they are afraid to live this life.  

These girls worked hard helping out, so we got ice cream.

Our first Staff Meeting led by our new Assistant Director Joy, she did great!

I am really glad we added group games to our staff meeting schedule.

 

A man who has spent much of his life for others.

Point # 2:  Life is not meant to be preserved but spent.  

The best life is not a preserved life, but a well spent life.  

We all know people who prove this truth.  There are people who selfishly took such good care of themselves and never spent their time, money, or energy on others, that they lived long lives, but certainly not full or very meaningful lives.  

But we also know people who were always pouring themselves out for others.  Moms, Dads, best friends, etc.  People who would do anything for you, who loved nothing more than to help people and bring people happiness.  Being a parent makes me realize how incredible my parents were.  These people chose to sideline their own lives to invest in and enrich mine.

And that is the great paradox of life:

You experience your best life by spending your life for others. 

Sienna makes friends everywhere she goes.

Our road warriors.

Valentine's Day fun!

Maybe you need a motorbike, seriously it makes life so much more fun (or a go-kart)!

And that is the adventure.  

When we are caught up in something greater than ourselves, invested in more lives than our just our own, enriched by other personalities other than our own, life becomes something more than passing time or accumulating more.  

It becomes an adventure.  

In forgetting ourselves (and yes, sometimes even our safety or welfare) we discover a better life. 

I am not advocating reckless abandon (what I did in my teens---sorry Mom), but deliberate pursuit (what I am trying to do now).

Pursue a life worth living, and it will be an adventure.

Did I mention cute babies?

One of the biggest needs is baby formula.

This little guy is allergic to normal formula, and his family struggled to afford the special kind he needed.  We are trying to help!

There are so many heroic, invisible people caring for others with incredible compassion.

 
Whether you are a parent, a nurse, a social worker, or a carpenter; live a life for others. 
Invest in them, cheer for them, celebrate their achievements, help them when they are in need. 
And guess what?  You will find that life is the best life for you too.  

Don't let fear or perceived safety determine how you live your life.  Those are not worthy of your life.  

Recapture your sense of adventure. 
Life is a dangerous, but wonderful thing. 
Death is a not a question, but a certainty. 

And none of us knows the time we have. 
The real question is not will I die, but how will I live? 
What makes life a good thing for me?  And what makes your life a source of good for others?

A cool opportunity to work with local government officials to protect a vulnerable child.

Two lovely ladies born in March.

Dad is lazy, so we drill holes in our coconuts and drink them.

Swimming!

Our friend Pring and the girl she is sharing Jesus with came to hang out.

 Dear friends, life is too short and too wonderful to spend scared or angry.  

And if you are living consumed by anger or fear, don't be surprised if other people are not interested in your religion or life philosophy.  

Jesus said he came to give us life.  It is a valid question for any of us.  

Yes you are alive, but do you have life?  Is it a life worth living?  A life worth sharing with others?  

You can have that life.

There was a man who had it, who lived it, and came to show us how to have it too.  

And one of the first steps on that road is to recapture your sense of adventure.  

We love you.  We are with you.  

Matt, Audrey, Ezra, & Sienna

Markets!

No caption needed.

Bed time is story time