Back for the third time

Esther and her new friend P’ Salma

We have been back in Thailand for almost 2 months now. It has been awesome to be back in the country and to see the kids! It has been really fun to hang out with them and go do fun stuff—not so much homeschooling again, though. I don’t look forward to the work as much as I do to the fun. I do enjoy the work, but there are a lot of hard situations that arise from it. I deal with the problems, I hit them head-on, and I know they need to be addressed, but I don’t like dealing with them. If I could have a problem-free life, I would—but we all know that’s not possible.

Psalm 128:1-4 (NIV)
"Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord."

We have been to some football (soccer) games, some road trips, a wedding, the observatory, and a birthday party or two since we’ve been back. We’ve seen family and friends and have even had the opportunity to make some new ones and show hospitality to a few travelers. It has been fun, but it has been busy, and after all the traveling and visiting we had in the States—hosting cooking classes in four different states and seeing family and friends—I just want to be home with the kids.

Still haven’t been able to see Chiang Mai win

While we were gone, the kids got a little crazy. We had to advise our daughter Preaw to have the police come and talk—or “scare straight”—one of our daughters who would not quit stealing. This was advice from our Child Protection Officer, Courtney Khron. It worked! She hasn’t stolen since. The teenage boys have a hard time listening or taking a 20-something girl seriously, so I had to come back and give them a reality check. There was a lot of crying and fighting and not as much work done as we would like, but that’s what happens when the parents leave. It’s expected because, no matter how hard Preaw and Ice try, they just don’t care as much as we do.

We came back to a Proverbs situation:

Proverbs 29:15
"The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother."

Or maybe it’s a Judges situation:

Judges 21:25
"In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit."

The great thing, though, is that it doesn’t take much time to get everything back in order. A few tears, a few laughs, and a few football games, and everything is back on track.

Sleeping with Grandma on the road

When everything goes back to normal, our time becomes very limited—which is why we were super excited to have our first volunteer in six years: my niece, Salma Bauder. She has wanted to be a missionary for a very long time, so when she was old enough, she went to France, Nepal, and India with YWAM. Now she has decided to come and help teach English and music with us for a few months before she starts nursing school. We are very grateful to have her here because now my wife and I have time to do things like write blogs and exercise. It has also been nice to get to know her as an adult. I left for Thailand when she was 8 or 9 and have only seen her briefly since then. So having her live in our house and teach the kids with us has been pretty cool!

Another thing that has been cool to see is Win and Sarah asking about baptism and what it means. Please pray for them as they contemplate what it means to be baptized and what that commitment to God entails. We will see what decision they make and what it will mean for their lives.

Enjoying the Christmas display with some of the kids

Evangeleen has struggled a bit. She is turning 6 next month and has been sick a few times since we’ve been back. Right now, since the smoke has started a little, quite a few of our kids are sick, which is always a hassle for us. But we have to praise God that the smoke in Chiang Mai is about the best in Thailand right now. The sky train was free for a week, and schools were closed because the AQI was over 250 in Bangkok. We praise God, but we are already making plans to go to Hua Hin again this year.

We also went and visited our property in Khon Kaen and prayed over it. We are excited to start making plans to build a house there and excited to see how God provides everything we need for it. Everything has been falling into place to do what sometimes feels impossible, and we thank God for providing everything we need—including courage.

It was a very hot day!!!

Matthew 19:26 (NIV)
"Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’"