Greetings from Thailand!  

I want to take a break from my blog series on building a better life to give an update on all that is happening at Faithful Heart Foundation.  It has been a busy, exciting season of ministry for us here and we want to do better at sharing with all of you who partner with us.

Numbers

I will start with some fun numbers.  Numbers are not everything, but they are a helpful way to give a snapshot of what Faithful Heart is doing at present. 

98

This is the number of children we are impacting each month thanks to many of you! 

We support around 35 families with 70 children each month with food, clothing, school fees, medical assistance---whatever it takes to help keep children with their families.  

We operate three of our children's homes caring for another 12 children full time. 

We are providing scholarships to 12 college students (soon to be close to 20!).  

We support 3 foster families caring for another 4 children (we need more Thai foster families, please pray for this).  

This is exciting because we are able to have a larger impact on our community.  Thanks to the efforts of our social work team, it is also very efficient and cost effective.  

We are reaching more children than any other time before, and we are doing it using less resources.  

11

This is the number of Thai staff who are employed at Faithful Heart.  We expect this number to grow in the next year.  We are hoping to expand our Family Strengthening project and hire an additional social worker to help manage that program.  We are also very excited to welcome our new volunteer teammates Jacob and Marcie Cantleberry in July.  

300

This is the number of emergency food bags we distributed last month.  Covid has wiped out a lot of jobs in Chiang Mai due to a loss of tourism.  We continue to try to make sure vulnerable families have enough to eat during this difficult time.  We have now distributed over 1,000 bags of food to families in need in the past 2 years,  

30

This is the number of Thai government officers we hosted at Faithful Heart last month, who came to learn about the new ways we are trying to care for children and support struggling families.  We were honored to be a part of this important discussion, and hope that we can continue to support family-based care in Thailand in the future.  

6

This is the number of interns currently staying at Faithful Heart.  5 are from Wheaton University and 1 is coming this week from Moody Bible Institute.  It is a special joy to have these energetic, fun college students spend time with our Thai college students and kids at Faithful Heart.  It is also special to be able to talk with them about missions work, and encourage them to follow God's calling in their own lives.

4

This is the number of college seniors at Faithful Heart who will graduate this year.  It is a new record for us!  For some, they will be the first in their families to complete a college degree.  We are proud of these young men and women and excited to see all that God has for them in the future.  

1

This is the number of foundations in Northern Thailand who have their own pontoon boat
(Ok, just kidding, but really!)

Confession:

I have to confess it is easy to get so wrapped up in the work we are doing each day, that it is easy to forget to share with all of you who make this possible what is happening.  Thank you for your patience with us, and thank you for your consistent, faithful support of this ministry.  

Invitation:

I hope we have given you a picture of the work happening at Faithful Heart, but of course the best way is still to come and see for yourself :-).  We just had family come visit for 6 days and it was so much fun to have visitors again after Covid.  Let this be your open invitation to come visit Faithful Heart in Thailand sometime soon.  

Thanks:

We feel tremendously blessed to be here, and to share in the good work that God is doing through Faithful Heart Foundation.  Thank you to all of you who make that possible.  I hope you are encouraged to hear how your gifts are changing lives here in Thailand.  

Take a minute to celebrate all that good work we mentioned above and to give thanks to God, who is doing far more than we would dare ask or imagine.  

Thank you for partnering in this work with us.  May you also enjoy the fruit of work of your hands.  

In hoping unfailing, 

Matt, Audrey, Ezra, Sienna, and all the Faithful Heart Family

Thailand has lifted Covid restrictions.  Who's coming for a visit?

We are so happy to have outdoor markets back

Thank you to everyone who made it possible for us

Sienna is always ready to roll

Dad rolls a little too fast sometimes

So fun to reconnect with Tiida, one of our college graduates

It takes work.  It is something we build, not something that happens to us or not.  

We may not have control of everything in our lives, but the only way to know what we can control or change is to begin trying.  

These blogs are me working backwards, to try and discover how I got to the point where I can say that I love my life, and I hope my life is making other’s lives better too.

Try it first, and if it works, ask me about the details.   

Ezra and I decided to crash the same week

Every once and a while I have to make a little more effort to look professional---it doesn't always work

Audrey and her friends developing their creative skills in pottery

Building a Better Life Part 1:  Open Not Closed

My own journey has been so strange, and so full of mistakes, it’s hard to know where to start.  But this seems like the best place.  

To make any change in our life, we have to be open to new ideas.  

Otherwise, we just end up doing the same things over and over again.  

Clenched fists can’t hold new gifts.  

I still remember when my friend Oscar explained to me that everything we do, every day is the result of assumptions we make about life.  It was a mind-blowing moment (thanks Oscar!)

From sitting on a chair (assuming it will hold us) to washing our hands before eating (assuming it will protect us from germs) to who we choose to date (assuming we know our type).  

Consciously or unconsciously, we all have beliefs or assumptions about life, that impact the decisions and choices we make.    

Sunday School at KOG

He is getting big, but he is still our cute little guy

Easter Eggs

So one of the first tasks to building a better life is to examine those beliefs and assumptions.  

And to do that, we need to be willing to critique ourselves.  

If you are from a strict religious background, this might mean you need to get exposure to other ideas and beliefs, even if they make you uncomfortable, to compare them with your own.  

If you are from a non-religious background, this might mean to need to consider the beliefs of religious groups for yourself.  

Open, not closed.  

Truth is never afraid of a challenge.  

Most of us are just not smart enough to solve the great theoretical, metaphysical questions of existence.  

Thankfully, we don’t have to do that in order to enjoy a good life.  

We just have to figure out what produces that kind of life in us, through trial and error.

Buddies

So happy to reconnect with Pring too!

Celebrating our March Birthdays

Just think about your parents.  Now I am a parent, and it is so hard to resist trying to tell my kids everything and not let them learn from their own experience.  

But that isn’t good parenting, and (spoiler) they won’t listen anyway :-) 

This is scary, and it's hard to do, to examine our own beliefs and be willing to change them if we find something better.  

It is far easier to just stick with what you know.  Life may not be great, but it could be worse.  

But it could also be better.  

Open is not the same as naïve.  

Some are better than others for two simple reasons.  

So if you aren’t happy with yourself or your life, ask yourself, what do I believe about life?

Lovely lady in a lovely place

We didn't end up eating him, but we had some delicious seafood

Handsome guys with handsome barbers

Here is the working definition I use for a good life:

The first step to building a better life is to discover what beliefs produce the best lives.  

In my experience, this can only really come through our own experience. 

You can’t just take someone else’s word for this stuff.  We can’t really believe anything is true just because someone else says it is.  We have to see it, feel it.    

If I am honest, I would say most of my beliefs came from two places when I was in high school.

One, my family.

Two, my friends and tv.  

But getting our beliefs from others, and especially tv or the internet, is just crazy—especially if the people espousing them are miserable and unhappy (thanks Hollywood).  

At some point, you need to try and see for yourself.  

In my experience, it takes time to realize that, and even more to really do it.   

The pontoon boat has been a huge success so far, and a lot of fun!

We love Thai Noodles

Such a great group of people

Remember that definition of insanity---doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?  

For me, what had to happen first was to realize some of the dumb stuff I kept repeating was because I still believed the same things would make me happy, even though they were making me miserable.  

Anyone else?  

Beliefs are like water that gets sucked up in a sponge.  We sort of unconsciously collect them as we go through life.  

Some of us have sucked up some nasty garbage water, that’s messing up our lives.  

It is a turning point in life when we become aware of that fact and take a serious look at what we believe and begin to search in earnest for better ideas.  

So that’s part 1 of building a better life.  

Or are they making life worse?  

Tom and I got in an early morning run, which has me seriously concerned about my Triathlon next week

Pontoon life is good!

It may not always be obvious.  

Both need to change for you to have a happy, healthy relationship.  

It is true for every area of your life.  

I am convinced this process has (and is) transforming my life.  

So open up.  Stop closing down.

Yes, we might be discover we have been wrong, and that is scary. 

Step 1:   Be open to the possibility that you might be wrong.  

Step 2:   Consider other beliefs, ideas, and instructions about life carefully

Step 3:   Try out those new ideas and see for yourself

Step 4:   Evaluate if your life is growing better or worse.

Step 5:   Repeat Steps 1-4

Sienna capturing the moment

We are constantly meeting brave, struggling families doing their best

It was a loooong trip

Greetings from Thailand!

It is good to be home.  It took a lot to get here, but now that we are, it is so, so good.  It was also really good getting to see friends and family back in the US.  This is more and more of this back-and-forth in our lives now.  

We have a home in two places.  

When we are in Thailand, we miss America.  When we are in America, we miss Thailand.  It is not a bad thing.  It means we are blessed to have many incredible people in our lives who we love, and who love us, in different places.  

Audrey wrote a Facebook post describing our long journey back to Thailand.  As I reflected on her words, and our experience, I thought it made a good analogy for all of life.  

One cute baby

Boys

Riding...

Life is a journey, and more to the point, it is a journey home.  

We are looking for something we haven't yet found, hungering for something we haven't yet tasted, longing for something we haven't yet felt.  

Until then, we experience lots of these back-and-forth moments.  The past few months, as I was struggling with anxiety and stress, life seemed hard and joy was hard to find.  But these few weeks back in Thailand have been full of joy.  Riding my motorbike full throttle down the road, the sun shining and warming me, the mountains green and lush,  the wind whipping past my skin.  The taste of curry, the reuniting with friends and coworkers, at least for now, it all seems so good.  Joy is easy to find.  

I have had the same experience in opposite places too, joy in America, stress in Thailand.  

Ploy having fun with our boys

Feeding the animals

Our social work team is the best

In my moments of deepest joy, or heaviest sorrow, I have still felt a longing for more---a nagging sense of incompleteness.  

In a sense, we need to learn to be content with discontent, or life will be exhausting.  But there is also such a thing as a holy discontent.  It is not always wrong to hunger for more.  

There are two mistakes I have made in this regard.  I have been too content with life.  So long as things were going well for me, I was cheerfully indifferent to the circumstances of others.  On the opposite side, I have been so discontent with life, I couldn't enjoy anything.  The knowledge of suffering anywhere, destroyed my hope of happiness everywhere.  

The past few years, living much closer to poverty, pain, and need, than I had previously have forced me to find a way to "weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice."  

I am afraid of sorrow and indifference.  

Its the season for bike riding

So nice to be outside

College Crew!

What I am coming to realize is that both sorrow and joy are on the road home. 

The sorrow reminds that things are not yet right, not as they ought to be. 
The joy reminds us that good exists, and helps us hope. 

The sorrow drives us on.  The joy allows us to rest. 

The sorrow pushes us to change.  The joy enables us to be where we are and appreciate how far we have come. 

The sorrow cries out for help.  The joy cries out in thanks.  

They are both our helpers and guides.  I would be concerned for any one who lacked one or the other.  To live well now, where we are, when we are; we need both.  

Show me a man or woman with all joy and no sorrow, and there will be something wrong.  Even if we have no sorrow of our own, how can we care nothing for the sorrows of others?  

But show me a man or woman who is all sorrow, and no joy, and there also will be something amiss.  Often those I encounter who have suffered the most, also posses an almost impossible gratitude.  No man has more joy in food than the man who formerly was starving.  No woman rejoices more in health, than she who has suffered from disease.  

This is life, this is the journey home.  The strange dance of joy and sorrow, as we rejoice in the good that is, and hope for the good that is still yet to come.  

Friends of mine call this the "Already-but-not-yet Kingdom."

One cute little guy

Our Swedish friends came back for a visit

Friends!

As followers of Jesus, we celebrate every good thing, and we work for the undoing of every evil thing.  We rejoice in the good world God made, and we work to fix all that we have helped break.  

It is a journey home---not to another place, but to the place this place was meant to be.  

So as we return to life in Thailand and to our work with vulnerable children; we know there will be both joy and sorrow, days of laughter, and days of  loss.  

We are not home yet, but our journeys are linked together.  We walk this road together.  We are thankful that we have the privilege to walk it with all of you.  

Good friends make life better!

Much better!

We finally have the proper title to our dorm!

A Prayer for the Journey Home:

Father, may we discover how wonderful you really are for ourselves.
May your kingdom come here, so that all shall be well for all, as you wish it to be.
Today, give to all enough and let it be enough for all of us.
Forgive us for all the harm we have caused. 
Forgive others all the harm they have caused us, so that we may all be healed and whole.
Lead us home, not to false fulfillment that fades so fast.
Deliver us from the evil inside of us, and outside of us.  

Thank you for your love and support, and friendship.  

Love Matt, Audrey, Ezra, & Sienna

Family time

This girl has no limits

My girls :-)

Jet lag is real