{"id":627,"date":"2026-01-02T19:03:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T01:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/?p=627"},"modified":"2026-01-02T19:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T01:03:20","slug":"neat-little-bows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/2026\/01\/02\/neat-little-bows\/","title":{"rendered":"Neat Little Bows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Supporting Tribal Church Planting in Papua New Guinea<\/td><\/tr>
We made it safely back to PNG! I’ll send more details soon. This was supposed to be last month’s update. I didn’t get it sent out because, well, we were a little busy.

“We’re not making gingerbread houses this year.”

That’s something I decided as I shuffled through Aldi’s crowded aisle, trying to buy just enough groceries to get us through until we left.

The tree was up, the gifts were ordered, and last year’s wrinkled wrapping paper was spilling out of the should-be-emptied-by-now storage closet, but the gingerbread houses, I thought, I just can’t. Between packing up our house, packing for PNG, going to last minute appointments, buying last minute stuff, and saying last minute goodbyes, something had to give.

It’s not just Christmas I wish I could do perfectly. One of the reasons transitions are so hard for me is because I want to do it perfectly. I want to have one last hangout with everyone, have all the important conversations I need to with people, and make sure everyone knows how much I love them. I want everything in my life to be wrapped up in a neat little bow before I leave, but I can’t. Relationships are hard. And I really needed to pack.

Recently I watched one of those Hallmark-type movies where the main character wanted to project this image of a perfect family gathering with flawless decorations, handmade gifts, and a whimsical snowball fight. Christmas can be a stressful time of year, and I think that part of the reason for that is our desire for everything (not just our presents) to be wrapped up in a neat little bow.

I think this desire comes from a good place. This is what we were made for- love and peace and joy and happy endings. But- families fight, the money runs out to buy the perfect gifts, the kids whine about what’s supposed to be a memory making moment, loved ones are absent, and the world refuses to cooperate with our well-intentioned plans. Our good desire for perfection will be fulfilled one day- but not this day. But today we have a Savior who has this all in His hands.

Isaiah 9:6 says, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

He guides. He acts. He loves. He reigns.

So for now, I’m resting in a good enough transition, and a good enough Christmas, knowing that one day perfection will come, but for now, I’m resting in my Father’s perfect plan.

Till all know,
Matt, Karissa, Ty, and Wyck<\/td><\/tr>
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Snowy MN the day we left

Praise God:
– Wyck made enough progress and we were able to get his braces off
– Karissa had a minor surgery that all went well
– We’ve had some sweet last hangouts with friends and family
– We were able to get needed dental work done
– All the details for our move came together

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Airport #2 of 5
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Sunny PNG the day we arrived

Please Pray:
– Karissa’s mom was recently diagnosed with cancer, and has surgery later this month
– For Matt’s mom and Karissa’s grandma, who also have cancer
– For a loved one to be drawn near to Jesus
– That our 3 lost bags will be found and sent to us soon
– That we can get settled into our house and ready for school on Tuesday<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Supporting Tribal Church Planting in Papua New Guinea We made it safely back to PNG! I’ll send more details soon. This was supposed to be last month’s update. I didn’t get it sent out because, well, we were a little busy. “We’re not making gingerbread houses this year.” That’s something I decided as I shuffled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1074,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1074"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}