November 2024 Newsletter
Fall is officially passing us by, and we are entering into the winter season (whether formally on the calendar or not). I don’t know about you, but where we are in Tennessee, it is getting a little too cold for my tastes, as we go into December.
Atlanta Trip
One of the highlights of this past month was our trip down to Atlanta. We rented an AirBNB in Midtown, and spent time with Liz’s brothers, her sister and brother-in-law, as well as their kids (Mary Ella and Theo’s cousins). We didn’t have a ton of time, but we did get to go to the Georgia Aquarium, visit a Thai restaurant, and see the condo where Liz’s brother (the older of the two youngests) lives there in the ATL.
On our way down, we stopped at a nice little mall in Tupelo, MS. I was surprised at how active and family-friendly the mall was. Mary Ella rode on a ferris wheel, played in a kids’ area, and I got the chance to walk around a giant Barnes & Nobles, a privilege I have missed over the years. Liz and Mary Ella even made friends with a mom who had moved to Mississippi from Seattle and is half Laotian!
We also got to visit some of Liz’s family in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and then on our way back from Atlanta, we stopped in Chattanooga and happened to run into a mall Santa who was falling asleep waiting for some kids to come, so I think he was happy to see Mary Ella!
Visiting with Partners
While we’ve been here, we’ve also had the chance to visit with many of our ministry partners. My goal is to connect with everyone by the end of the year or at least by the end of January. I love keeping in touch with our partners and hearing about their lives.
Speaking of partners, would you consider giving a one-time gift to Transformation Ministries as the year comes to a close? Your donation goes towards ministry work and proclamation of the good news of Jesus in Thailand and beyond. In the coming year, we are hoping to designate 50%-80% of all donation money coming in towards ministry work, and away from our own personal finances. If you’d like to become a regular monthly partner and help us give generously to work happening in Thailand, you can do so here.
Friendsgiving
Not only did we have two excellent family Thanksgiving meals here in Adamsville (my family’s hometown in Tennessee), but some of our friends from Chaing Rai– who are taking a sabbatical in South Carolina– drove all the way over to West Tennessee to visit with us.
Their son has been growing up in the same neighborhood as Mary Ella for 2-3 years now (which is most of their lives if you’re doing the math), and they haven’t seen each other in 6 months, so they were excited to get to spend several days playing together. In fact, our friends said that their son, on the way to Tennessee, told strangers at gas stations that he was “going to see Mary Ella!”
Faith Marriages in Action
I am still recruiting for the marriage enrichment research study program. That is a mouthful, but it’s a really cool opportunity if you’re an active Christian married couple who has thoughts and experiences to share. The program is a five month commitment and you will be paid a monthly stipend for participating if you qualify. We are also accepting referrals and paying for those, and you don’t even have to be in the program to qualify for that added bonus.
Prayer Requests:
We have been praying consistently for a little girl we heard about on Facebook through a college friend, who is Mary Ella’s age and has been battling with cancer this year. If I understand correctly, this month should be her last month of chemo. Pray with us for that precious soul.
I also heard from a friend and MP this month that his adopted stepson (age 7) has something which is probably a tumor, has already had surgery, and they are praying he doesn’t have to do chemo.
Pray for God to continue to bless our work. I have been moving more towards a “tent making” model and have felt more of a call into business this year, with some even more creative work coming in the future. I have made some money and the future looks promising, but we are still behind in terms of debt and making up for how far we’ve fallen behind in that area.
Pray for God’s continued guidance as we think about and pray over our plans for 2025.
We have a friend who has had 5 miscarriages, the most recent being in the last month or so. Pray the doctors can figure out what is happening with her body.
I have a family member who is getting married on January 4th. He and his fiance asked me to officiate the wedding. We will be leaving on January 7th after that, staying in Hawaii for a few days to rest in-between flights, and then finishing our trip to Thailand.
We have less to do this year for Christmas than we normally do in Thailand during a typical December, but Mary Ella has a children's choir performance AND a ballet dance during our town's Christmas parade, which are both coming soon!
Currently Reading:
Sacred Marriage: What if God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy? - Gary Thomas
Thoughts: This is a really good book on Christian marriage. We are reading it for our marriage enrichment cohort. The stories he shares and way he writes has often had my dad heart feeling quite emotional. It's not perfect, and at times he reveals a potential bias towards soft feminism (often treating the sins of women with kid gloves while being more passionate about the sins of men) but I wouldn't say this bias is so obvious that it ruins the book. (He certainly does call out some of the negative habits that wives can exhibit as well. And, to be fair, this is a very hard needle to thread.)
Overall, there's a ton to appreciate about this book.
The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative - Christopher J.H. Wright
Thoughts: This is a long and more exhaustive work (my favorite) on the idea of reading the Bible with a missional hermeneutic. It had been on my list for almost a decade, and I decided to read this one and then read The Mission of God by Joseph Boot (a book with a similar title and theme) in order to compare the two. I appreciate the tone and and the level of detail of this book. He has a way of writing about difficult subjects, even those of idol worship and false gods, in a way that is not overly abrasive. (I had to stop reading through a book on the cults this year because the tone was so pessimistic that it started to give me bad "vibes." I appreciate when authors can write about difficult truth without all of the negative emotion.)
Other People's Money: The Real Business of Finance - John Kay
Thoughts: This book has not been what I expected at all. I thought it would be a book about how to raise capital for investments such as real estate, or ventures such as new business startups. However, it turned out to be more of a history and overview of the industry of finance in the West, including Wall Street and the banking world. There is a lot in this book that I do not understand, but it's fascinating to me for that very reason. Also, I love the voice of the narrator in the audiobook, so that helps in getting through it.
Faith and Reason: Three Views - Alan G. Padgett, Craig A. Boyd, Carl Raschke
Thoughts: One of the topics I have wanted to study more is how Christians have thought about the relationship between faith and reason over the years. I have heard Christians make comments disparaging reason or intellect, which didn't seem to square well with what I know about Scripture and Philosophy. I'm learning more about the nuances here, which is helpful and practical in understanding the presuppositions that some Christians hold, that sadly keep them limited in their development and sanctification. This book has no audio version, so I'm reading through it a bit more slowly on Kindle.
Bonus: I don't do a lot of podcasts these days, but I thought this conversation about the relationship between the Reformation (ie., Protestantism) and economics was fascinating:
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