Show Up and Shine

Book Review: Jesus Calling

2011-03-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

My little book review is on a great little devotional book that I have been reading lately, by Sarah Young, entitled Jesus Calling. It is simple but to the heart. The entries are written as if Jesus were talking to the reader. There is an entry for every day and usually 2 or 3 scriptures references at the bottom of the page that go along with that day's devotional. The author, Sarah Young, has a really inspiring testimony, which is included in the book. I HIGHLY recommend it. I am almost certain you will be encouraged and inspired to stop more, to be still and listen to the LORD, and enjoy His presence and the words that HE has to say to you. Nothing impacts me more than His words to me. That can be through the Bible or through what other people write or say, just always remember to check what you read in devotionals or what is said, making sure that everything lines up with scripture. If you are looking for a solid sermon on the ways that God speaks, then follow this link:

http://www.fcsouthwest.com/messages ( then click on 2/20 God Speaks mp3 file on the right)

A great sermon from our church, Fellowship Church Southwest, on the ways that God speaks.

My life has been changed in countless ways for the better through listening to Jesus, here is to more listening and more changes for the better....

Joel, Joel, Joel!

2011-02-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

Oh Joel! Seriously, this child constantly surprises me. Today, we set out to make Valentine's Day cookies, and in the process, I couldn't get the vanilla open. I stood in the kitchen for a few minutes trying with all of my might to get the bottle open. Joel, standing by my side like any good assistant, watching and playing in the flour. I said, "Joel, we are going to have to open this with pliers, come on." When I finally found the pliers and got the bottle open, Joel said, "Mommy, I so proud of you." And gave me a big hug. I guess he could see that I was really trying to open that bottle of vanilla. :) That not to mention that he knows that you need to press down the brown sugar when you are measuring it. I guess he has had lots of practice helping make cookies! We do love homemade cookies! Then, when he got tired of helping me with the cookies, he decided to turn on the tv, and watch Nemo. He was loving it, just chuckling away. I started on dinner and then went back in to check on him, and tell him it was time to turn off the tv. He had turned the tv off, opened the Nemo dvd that we borrowed from my sister forever ago, ejected a different dvd out of the dvd drive in the computer, put in the Nemo dvd and was sitting at the computer trying to figure out how to get it come up on the screen when I walked in! He could hear it but couldn't see it. This from my 2 year old son, who is growing up Oh so fast. Happy Valentine's Day Joel. You are the cutest!

My recurring dream...

2011-01-18T12:28:00.001-08:00

I keep having this dream that I am getting ready for a soccer game in college and can't find anything I need. It is game time and somehow, everyone is already out playing in the game, and I am searching for my shinguards, my jersey, the right color socks and I can't find anything. Eventually I find some socks, but I know that they are not the right socks, they have stripes and my team does not wear striped socks. Then I eventually find a jersey, but it is the away jersey, and we are playing at home. I run around asking a few friends if they have some extra shin-guards or if I can borrow their jersey. The boys soccer team always played either right before us or right after us, so I keep thinking... if I can just find a friend, then I can borrow their jersey, socks, and shin-guards and get out there in the game. What am I doing in this locker room still getting ready when everyone else is already out there playing? There is this sense of urgency, which might sound funny, but if you are the Captain of the team, you definitely don't want to show up late to a game, without your uniform, and apparently totally unprepared. As I was thinking about this dream today, I realized that that is how I feel in some regards about my life right now. And I had this thought that I should write about the dream, because it seemed like God was trying to tell me something. Soccer is something that I LOVE. Very few things in my life do I say adamantly, that is for me. I can go back and forth on a lot of things, but I have always loved soccer. I don't play anymore, but I would if I could find somewhere to play and someone to babysit Joel. As I think back on the dream, I notice a few things..... I never see the faces or really zone in on the uniforms of the players that are already out there playing. I just know that I am not ready, and I feel that I should be. My coach has not come in to yell at me and tell me to hurry up. I am just frantically trying to get ready. Later on in the dream, I start finding the right pieces of equipment, slowly, one at a time. First, I finally find the right socks. White socks without stripes. Then, I somehow, come upon a jersey, the right one. Instead of thinking, ok, I am almost ready, I am so focused on the fact that I do not have any shinguards and I cannot possibly play a college soccer game without shinguards, you can't even play in soccer game without shin guards if you are 8 years old. Then I notice that I either don't have shoes or I can't seem to get them on quick enough. There is just this overwhelming pressure that if I don't hurry up, I am going to miss the game. Sometime later on that morning, I was struck by the fact that, in the terms of this dream, God had everything that I needed waiting for me, it just wasn't where I thought it would be or wasn't where I would normally put it. I played soccer for years, and never once showed up for a game without my uniform. In the dream, I just had to wait to find the right equipment and then I would be ready to play. If you hate soccer then stick with me.....

Do you ever feel like this in life? That you are missing the game. That you are ten steps behind everyone else. That you had your life all planned out and then someone came along, threw your things in the air and sent them flying in different directions. As you search frantically to find them you find yourself in a different position, one you thought you would never be in. You always have things organized and ready to go, people are counting on you, or rather, you were counting on yourself. My view of this dream has led me to really think about how I see my life and my role in it. Do I think that I am in charge? Often, I would really like to be. I know how I like things, organized, planned out. Everything organized in my soccer bag and ready to go. Not strewn all over the locker room or coming off of someone else's back. BUT, I AM NOT IN CHARGE OF MY LIFE. I am in charge of some parts of it, but ultimately God is in charge, and it is my job to be obedient to Him. Even if I am thinking, come on let's get things organized and go. Where are the socks, where is the home jersey? He says, the socks are here and while you get them you can learn that perseverance pays off, it will help prepare you for the game. The jersey, you found after looking for a really long time, it will help you learn patience. In the middle of all of that, you realized that you needed to change one more thing, go ahead, don't hurry, prepare well. You will be glad you did. When you think you are ready, you will remember that you don't have your shoes on, and have to borrow some, remember your friends and be thankful for the help and encouragement they are to you. As they give of themselves they help prepare you for the game, and you grow as you accept help and realize you can't do it on your own. Then when you step out on the field you will realize that you are more ready than you ever would have been had you packed your bag, showed up early, and done everything yourself without so much as a bump in the road. You will lead better as you understand the struggles of others, you will play harder being content that you are "Finally" in your own mind, IN THE GAME! You will leave your heart on the field and lean on those who play alongside of you, those running and moving the ball towards the same goal as you.

I have a strong sense that this unexpected period of rest in my life and the life of my family will be used for God's purposes. While in my flesh, I have wondered at the "slowness" of things coming together, even now, I see how it has been good. Thank you LORD that you are strong enough to lead someone as stubborn as me. Thank you that YOUR plans are the ones that prevail!

2 Great Meal ideas, that are EASY!

2011-01-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

Idea 1: Grilled Chicken on a bed of lettuce with pecans and berries!

Basically that is it.

What you need:

A head of romaine lettuce

strawberries

blueberries

pecans

chicken breasts (sauteed in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper)

Wash up the produce, chop it up, and then saute the chicken, and you are done!

The flavors of the berries blend SO well with the chicken, lettuce, and the pecans!

Idea 2:

Sprouts chicken with veggies

Sprouts Farmers Market, which is a store in various states (TX, CA, AZ and CO) has this amazing seasoned chicken at the meat counter called: pollo assado. It is seriously delicious!

So, all you need is a few pounds of the seasoned chicken, which on sale I believe is $1.99 a pound or maybe $2.50 a pound, I can't quite remember. Then just brown it for a few minutes and throw it in an oven safe pot with whatever veggies you like. We have done carrots, green beans, and new potatoes or regular potatoes. Cook it on low for a few hours in the oven with the top on and it makes an amazing chicken stew-like dish that hardly takes any work. You could also try it in a slow cooker, and put it on before you go to work or get your day started.

Both of these ideas are courtesy of my Dad. He discovered this chicken at Sprouts and loves the berry salad. Thanks for the great ideas Dad.

Lazy Saturday.....

2010-11-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

Today is going to be a lazy day, Joel has been down with a cold, and despite my efforts to take Vitamin C and continually wash my hands, I think I am getting it. Yesterday Jude was SO sweet to watch Joel and let me have some time to just read and rest. Today looks to be more of the same. I am reading a good book snuggled up under a blanket and thankful for the time to rest. Somtimes when life is going full speed ahead, I wish that I had more time to read, rest, and relax. Well, here it is, a lazy saturday, and the perfect opportunity for me to do those things. Off to get a cup of hot tea and read some more.

Fall

2010-10-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

I am waiting for fall. I haven't been in Texas in the Fall in 4 or 5 years. I am so excited!!! The leaves are already changing and the beginning of crisp cool days here in Texas is on it's way. I am still waiting for the full onset of fall but I will take a cool day here and there. My husband and I are going away for the weekend for our anniversary and I hope to have some wonderful fall days then. (We did get some great fall days! I even got to use a shawl (did I spell that right??) that I bought in Mexico and love!) Fall leads up to an obvious change and period of stillness in the winter as far as nature. Some animals take a break and hibernate in the winter. Plants loose their leaves or die. I am struggling with the aspects in my life that seem to be in hibernation or winter mode. I do not like to wait and lately I feel like so many things in my life are in the winter season. I believe that we all probably have something that we are waiting on. In my life right now, it is a number of things, but what am I going to do about my time to wait? Am I going to tap my foot every instant begging and pleading for God to hurry things up so that I can get on with my life the way that I have it planned out? Am I going to let it put me in a bad mood? I have to confess that is what I have been tempted to do..... I know it isn't the right thing to do, but that is where I have been struggling. Yesterday evening while reading Joel his bedtime stories, I opened his children's Bible to the story of Jesus telling about the birds and the flowers of the field and how they don't need to store up food or clothing. (Matthew 6:25-34) and I was so convicted. That is what I have been doing. I have been worrying about the future and not trusting in God. I think this may be one of those battles where I need to put scriptures on notecards all over the house and carry them in my purse. Not knowing what the future looks like for us is hard for me. I am a planner, so when I am completely taken out of the game as far as planning, it is hard. I am convicted to even write this as I know so many who are in much more difficult situations than being unemployed and starting over in a new place. I have a great place to stay, I have food and clothing that are far beyond what I genuinely need not to mention a great husband, a wonderful son, a great family, a new church that I am growing to love more and more, a new small group - which has already proven to be such a blessing, and I could on.... So, I will put my pride aside and publish this post. Don't we all need a reminder to be humble and thankful for the things that God has continued to say yes to in our lives time and time again... instead of focusing on the unknowns, or worrying, or whatever it is that you are tempted to do when you don't know what is coming or when things don't fit into your plan. Get out your Bible and start copying some truth. Write it down and read it, again, and again, until you are reminded, blessed and convinced! Put it up in your bathroom, in the dash of your car, on your screensaver, anywhere you may be reminded to trust in the Lord.

John 14:1

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me." -Jesus speaking to his disciples.

Psalm 20:7

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

okay, obviously this is 2010 we probably aren't going to put our trust in a chariot or a horse, but do you put your trust in your transportation? "I have a new car, so I don't have to worry about getting where I need to go." " I have a safe car, so I don't need to worry about getting hurt." God is the only One who can protect us or take us anywhere and if we are tempted to put trust in things of this world then I believe that we are robbing ourselves of a joy that comes in knowing and trusting the One who is in charge of EVERYTHING.

Proverbs 3:5

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; "

I wrote this post a few days ago, and now when I read it, I am so excited thinking about the winter time. Things are slower and it is a time with more "waiting" I guess but that is a good thing. Think about all that God is doing under the cold surface to bring about new life in the Spring. So, as long as I am in the winter, whatever area of my life it may be, I hope that I can remember that God has something planted deep down ready to spring into life come the right time. Enjoy your snuggly blankets and be reminded of God's goodness to you today. I know this post is preachy, but hey, it is mostly for me. That is also why the illustrations are "corny", corny just works for me, what can I say!

Here's to Joel!

2010-09-16T12:27:00.001-07:00

This morning Joel woke up early as he does on many days. We ate breakfast, watched some cartoons (waking up at 5:50, Mommy needs a few cartoons some coffee and prayer before she can start the day Joel speed ahead!) We started our day with a walk to the park, as we do most days. We played, ran, walked under the bridge by the park to shout and hear the echo. Then it happened, Joel picked up a dead bird at the park. Come on, say it with me, YUCK!!!!!! I walked quickly over and carried him to the diaper bag so that I could clean his hands with a wipie, then we actually played a few more minutes and left to go home. What has happened to me that I did not go home right that second and give him a hot bath, yuck, really, a dead bird. I have a SON, that is what happened to me, I am getting used to that kind of thing, despite my femininity! As I saw him with it in his hand, I wanted to run home and take a shower. But I didn't, I just walked over grabbed his hands so he didn't touch his clothes, and cleaned him off. That is SO not me! Oh the life of a mother. Here's to you Joel, you are ALL boy and Mommy loves it.

We love the library!

2010-08-30T11:46:00.001-07:00

We love going to the library and just thought I would share the title of a book we recently checked out, that is SO cute, holds my son's attention and gets him laughing out loud!

TOOT TOOT ZOOM, by Phyllis Root, is an adorable story about Pierre, a lonely little fox, who drives his little red car over the mountain to find a friend. On the way over the mountain, he meets several animals who agree to go with him on his search for a friend .... It is very entertaining, has great concepts about friendship and a great ending! Next time you are at the library, see if you can find it! I will definitely be looking for more titles by Phyllis Root. The pictures are also very well done, by illustrator, Matthew Cordell! That was our favorite book this week but we always enjoy picking up whatever we can find within a two year old's attention span and ability to be library "quiet". Usually that isn't very long, but we scan the shelves, pick what we like, and then go home to enjoy our books where there is no problem with making loud comments and laughing at the turn of every page.

Everything is changing.

2010-08-17T12:15:00.001-07:00

I guess you could say that everything is changing. We have moved from Brazil to Austin, and we are starting all over. Our time in Brazil and Mexico will forever be with us in the people we met and the lessons that we learned, and the depth with which we had to trust Jesus. Some amazing friends and some deep lessons, I am still processing most of them. :) I guess we need to change the name of our Blog too, like I said, everything is changing. I am considering tutoring part time, and Jude is taking some classes so that he can go back to Nursing. It is weird, and a lot to process. One of the things that I am most excited about, in these changes, is our proximity to family. We went on vacation with Jude's family and they came in for Joel's birthday party, and we live with my parents, so we are just closer to our families. It has been SO good for us and for Joel. On our trips to the US over Christmas break, we had great times together, but the days were always numbered, and busy. Now, we can just enjoy. We don't have to say, Goodbye, I will see you next year.... We can say, oh, yeah, let's get together next week, or tomorrow. Something in my soul was longing for that. So, I might not have life figured out yet (who does really??), and I am definitely still processing a lot of things, but I am so grateful for our time with family these days! What a blessing.

Coming off of the foreign mission field...

2010-06-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

A lot is changing around here. It seems that every week brings with it, something coming to a close. I have full confidence that this is God's timing for our lives and for our work here in Brazil to come to a close, but it has been really weird. I guess I haven't posted on our blog yet.... We are finishing up things here in Niteroi, Brazil and will be moving back to Texas. I haven't posted about it yet, because I have still been processing. I think the change is hard for me, because we didn't "finish" something that I can see. We are leaving a work that will continue to go on, and we are leaving in the middle of the school year here. We are leaving something that God gave us a passion for over 5 years ago, enough of a passion and a calling, that we up and sold everything, went to missionary training school, and then moved here. It has been a challenging 3 and 1/2 years here in Brazil. We have been blessed beyond belief here, but more than I would like to admit, things have been hard. Hence, the no blogging. I don't like to blog about things that I don't understand, or don't have figured out. I haven't had much figured out lately..... A few things have really spoken to me over the last 2 months or so,

- A comment from a friend about how she decided not to go to the mission field. She is such a sweet friend, and she pulled me aside in the middle of a crowd, and said, " I have been wanting to tell you that you need to have full confidence and peace in your decision and rest fully in the fact that you are doing the right thing, doing what the Lord has led you to do. " She went on to explain just a bit of how she had struggled in her thoughts to come to a peace when she prayerfully decided not to go. And then, just reminded me that I will be serving the Lord wherever I am, and that that is what counts. This is something that touched me profoundly, because I needed to hear it, again. My mom commented during our time of prayer/deliberating about what to do, just that sometimes the foreign mission field is glorified, in that when you come off or are not a foreign missionary, you are somehow less. This is not said out loud, but is somehow in the undertones of things. Maybe that is part of why I haven't wanted to talk too much about it also. I mean, it isn't as glorified..... going off of the mission field. My life is not for anyone to be impressed with anything that I am doing, but to look to the Lord. And, I know that I am being obedient to the Lord. I am as certain of our going back, as I was of our coming. Which is a testimony to the Lord of His faithfulness to answer our prayers for a clear direction for our future. We have felt many confirmations in this decision. I wouldn't think less of someone else coming off of the field, but I somehow did of myself in some aspects. Let me just say for my own benefit and for everyone else's. God is fully trustworthy to lead us where we need to go even when it doesn't make total sense. So what that we are more settled in Brazil than we have ever been. So what that with human logic we are past the learning curve and we "understand more" of Brazilian culture and Portuguese, which was not easy . If God says move, then I need to say, Okay, to where? When?

-The bottom line is that I feel released from the work here. Why, I don't know. Especially, after having such a great burden for the Project, and all the classes we took about the importance of foreign missions.... It will always remain in my heart, But, I do, I feel released. The need for help, English classes, and a director is still there, but even now God is supplying that need. It looks like there is already someone interested in teaching English and also someone ready to help out as Director part time. Both very sweet people from our church. My last English classes will be this week. Wheeww, I am not sure if I will cry, or just hug all of my kids, or what. I have gotten some of the sweetest notes the past few weeks. I do know that God will get me through it all, and I will never forget the journey.

James 4:13-15

' Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." '

I am to have the attitude of a servant, a servant to my God who has done everything for me, given me a way to eternal life in heaven, so I will say, Yes. Yes, Lord! You are my God and I want to always serve you.

I am reminded of another verse.....

a portion of 1 Samuel 15:22 says,

"To obey is better than sacrifice,"

I am just now finishing this post, 2 months after being in the US. I guess I just felt nervous, trying to put our actions into words, when even I didn't understand everything. I still don't but I continue to feel confirmation from the Lord and I am so grateful.....

Craziness in slow motion...

2010-06-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

I really don't know how to explain the last few weeks. It seems that we are preparing things for our move, little by little, but that after we do a few things, then we just find a few more things that need to be sorted through, given away, packed, thrown away, etc. Yesterday, Joel ate a tiny bite of salad. I have a nutritionist friend, who says that you have to offer something 10 times before you really know if someone (ie. your child) likes it. I had sort of given up on giving Joel salad, and then yesterday, he ate some. Okay, so I put a lot of carrots and some raisins, to help him like it, but he ate some. All that to say, my thoughts recently have been on persevering and finishing the race well. I don't know about you, but moving isn't my favorite thing to do. I have a complete peace about us moving back to Texas. We prayed about it, put it before the Lord, and we feel that it is going a good move for our family. That said, still moving just isn't my thing. Come one, messing up everything that I have organized and carefully put into place. And it isn't going into boxes... it is going into suitcases, being sold, or being given away. On one hand it is very freeing to move and get rid of excess "stuff", but it is a lot of work to go through everything and figure out what to do with it. Several thought are coming to a point here I promise..... It is just that, all of these little efforts are hopefully going to accomplish the big task of moving cross country. All those times, I gave salad to Joel and he spit it out and made a horrible face, and now he ate some. All those items we sorted through, and soon we will get to pack the last item. In a few weeks, all the sorting and packing will be done and we can enjoy our arrival in Texas. Also, doing it slowly a little at a time, allows us to enjoy the last bit of our time here. We so desperately want to finish well, and enjoy each day that God has given us here in Brazil. We love so many people here, and have come to enjoy many of God's creations here as well. There is a giant rock by our apt. that I would love to hike before we leave. I will probably want to take about a thousand more walks along the beach, and play soccer with the kids, and go out to eat with friends, or enjoy watching the Brazil soccer game with everyone at church. It is SO hard to describe how my heart feels right now. While I know without a doubt that God wants us to go back to Texas, and I am excited about that, there are so many good things coming to an end.

God is SO good

2010-05-24T03:22:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to put this up for a while. It is a prayer that I found in a great book on parenting. When I found it, we were in the beginnings of the "terrible two's" I think, and I was just so overwhelmed. This prayer made such a difference, and I would even say that right after I started praying this prayer, things changed. Not that the temper tantrum's disappeared or stopped, but I was just better prepared to deal with them. I realized that I didn't have to deal with everything perfectly and that God would take care of my mistakes in parenting, or Joel's mistakes as far as behavior. What a relief! So here is the prayer, taken from James Dobson's book, "The Strong Willed Child"

“Dear Lord, You know my inadequacies. You know my weaknesses, not only in parenting, but in every area of my life. I’m doing the best that I can to raise Joel properly, but it may not be good enough. As you provided the fish and the loaves to feed the five thousand hungry people, now take my meager effort and use it to bless my family. Make up for the things I do wrong. Satisfy the needs that I have not met. Compensate for my blunders and mistakes. Wrap Your great arms around Joel, and draw him close to You. And be there when he stand’s at the great crossroads between right and wrong. All I can give him is my best, and I will continue to do that. I submit him to You now and rededicate myself to the task You have placed before me. The outcome rests securely in Your hands.”

3 John 4

“I have no greater joy than

to hear that my children are

walking in the truth.”

Obviously, I inserted Joel's name, but I just thought it was such a great prayer, so much so that I printed it up and put up in my bathroom. It is good to see it, as a reminder that God is in control of how Joel turns out. I have a lot of responsibility as far as being Joel's mom, and I want to do my best always in that area, but ultimately God is in control of Joel. He is the perfect Father. He can give us wisdom, when we think we have tried everything we know to do. He can and will give us patience when there are too many tantrums to count, or when brushing teeth becomes a national crisis, or when leaving the playscape is just too much to handle.... Thank You Lord for giving us such a giant task, one that is even more rewarding than it is difficult, but Thank You even more for not leaving us alone in that task. For walking us through every step!

Hope, no matter what....

2010-04-14T09:53:00.000-07:00

Sadness. That is the feeling that I get when I talk to people about what happened. (the rain/flooding in the Rio area, see previous post for some pictures of what it caused) As I process and pray about it, I know that sadness is not the final word. Hope is.....It is very sad for many reasons.... Today, I saw some of my English students as I took Jude to work this morning and let Joel run around and play with the kids at church. The project is meeting at the church right until the safety of the building that we normally meet in can be guaranteed. It has been over 2 weeks and there is still no word. My heart aches for them every time I think of what they lost, but I pray that they would have hope for even better things. I pray that they would trust God in this instead of blame Him. I hope and know deep down in my heart that if they look for Him, they will find the Lord right there by their sides in the thick of this muddy mess that they are still trying to make sense out of, or just trying to forget about. They (my students) don't seem to talk much about it unless asked, but I guess that makes sense, English class or whatever activities we have for them are a nice break from thinking about it. Our church served as a donation center for the flood victims up until last week, as well as hosting the kids from the project until the building at our normal location can be used again. You can imagine it is a little chaotic, our Pastor gave up his office for the Project staff to use and work out of, and the tiny church kitchen is now producing meals..... Sadness is not the final word in all of this. That was really in the air initially, but Hope is alive in Jesus, and here. There are numerous posts around the city that are accepting donations, everyone seems concerned about what happened, and it has forced the politicians here to look at some serious issues involving housing in lower income neighborhoods. I believe it has also awakened people to God. Disasters break down our pride and self sufficiency and help us look beyond ourselves. Patricia Paranhos, our Pastor's wife and one of the teachers at the Project, always talks to the students about not being content with less than they know they can achieve when it comes to their futures and what they dream about for their lives. Dream big, look beyond what you know, let God show you what He can do. Persevering is happening right now, persevering and hoping in our amazing Lord to see what He has in store for these precious children and families. He loves them perfectly. I know we will never go wrong, trusting in God. Wherever you are, trust in Him. Cling to His Word, The Bible, and call out to Him in prayer. For your family, for your country, for your children and their future, for Brazil, for more to come to know Jesus, we don't have to look far to find a reason to pray....

Well, this has gotten very long, but I just can't end this post without saying that Jesus is the only way to heaven. I think that most of my readers are already christians, but in ministering to the people here, Jesus is the biggest and most wonderful hope that I have to offer to them or anyone in the midst of difficulty. Romans 10:9-10 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord, "and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Read what the Bible speaks of earlier in Romans 8:35,37-39 , "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Jesus is Lord over everything. He is our hope daily, and He is the hope that we offer to all those that we interact with.

Mudslides near the Project

2010-04-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from the houses of some of our kids that were affected by the mudslides.

The picture above shows where the roof caved it at Luan's house. He is below with his mom and stepdad who are about to leave to try and buy cement so they can make some repairs in between rain showers. The picture below is of Gustavo. He is standing in his bedroom. He was asleep here last night when mud came crashing in at about 2:00 am. His little brother was almost crushed by the mudslide.

I am standing on the front porch of Mateus' house, one of our students. He and his family had to leave because of mudslides. This house could come down at any minute, especially if the rains continue.

The picture below shows how the back of the house has already caved in. This photo shows just how far the house could fall. I took this picture from my office window at the project. Mateus' house sits directly behind the project. The building in the center of the picture is home to the projects classrooms and on the right is our cafeteria.

Health

2010-03-10T10:57:00.000-08:00

Well, again, I have failed to blog weekly, what is new? :) I have been researching the past few weeks on eating healthier. What I have found out is that I am farther from eating healthy than I would like to believe. I have often thought, "I need to care of my family as best as I can" or, "What can I make tonight that will be a good/healthy lunch/dinner." Especially since we have a family history of diabetes this has been more at the forefront of my thoughts. With that said, here is what I have found out. The reason that people don't do it is because it takes work and discipline and time. All things that our society does not really value when it comes to preparing healthy food. We value speed, convenience, and taste much more. The little that I have learned over the past few months has really helped us to make some simple changes to be healthier. We still have some things to work on, one of mine being that I love sweets and chocolate a little too much, but even there we are getting much better. Yesterday for instance, I was running some errands and picked up a small chocolate bar to snack on. After a couple bites I realized that it just didn't taste good.... I guess because of all the sugar (it was milk chocolate) and I found myself craving instead just a square (okay, a couple of squares) of dark chocolate, it has a much richer flavor and it satisfies my hunger for "something chocolate". Some of our new favorite more healthy choices are apple and banana smoothies, homemade granola, soaked whole wheat pancakes, veggie and chicken pizza, veggie and chicken or beef stir fry with rice pasta or whole grain rice, rice pasta with cream sauce and steamed veggies or a salad, I could go on, and maybe I should post a few recipes, but for right now I am not that organized, still getting used to soaking grains and thinking ahead of time for what we are going to have. Keeping healthy snacks on hand has been a challenge, but again, we are taking baby steps. As I work on this area of our lives and try to create healthy habits for our family, I think of this verse, Micah 6:8 " He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." I know that God sees that I am trying and I can rejoice in the steps that we take, because they are in His strength but also fall back and enjoy the grace of God as I walk humbly in Him. I can know that I don't have to get it all right or become a gourmet/all natural cook overnight, but that I can keep trying daily to get better!

Swimming on the Balcony

2010-02-25T08:18:00.001-08:00

Here are some pics of Joel swimming on the Balcony! We are loving his new little baby pool! He plays with his toys, and even counts, 1,2,3, woo-hoo for his little squirter animals to jump in. His version is ___, two, tree, wooo... it is adorable! The swimming pool fits perfectly on our balcony, which has recently become one of my favorite places in our apt. Besides hanging out at the baby pool, we now have a daily routine which has really helped us enjoy our days more. If you are a stay at home mom or a parent, then you can probably identify with little pockets of time where you just aren't sure what to do. The toys have been played with, you have gone swimming or to the playground already, you have already read numerous books, and repeated every nursery rhyme that you know, now what? Let me just say, that I have thought about writing out a schedule for us before, but I really resisted it, thinking that it would be a pain and annoying to follow. We do not follow it exactly all the time and it is definitely NOT annoying to think, hmmm, you seem to be tired of playing with your toys, lets go see what is on the schedule for right now, "ohhh, let's play play-dough", or "let's go downstairs and water the plants, or run around and get some energy out" it is amazing and takes the stress off when you can't think of what to do. I left built in times where we could either do one activity or we could run errands when I need to get something done. All that to say, the schedule is going great and I highly recommend it. Back to the balcony, one of my favorite times of the day now on our schedule is our hammock time. After dinner we set up the hammock and enjoy the marvelous view and play as a family. It is so wonderful to just sit and enjoy the view ( I will try and post a picture soon) and play with Joel and relax, okay, maybe we can't relax too much or Joel will throw an elbow or knee us as he gets into or out of the hammock, but still it is wonderful!

The $1.99 Store!

2010-02-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

So, this week we went to the $1.99 store, much like the $1 store in the U.S. and may I just say it is my new favorite store. I know that sounds silly, but finding anything in Brazil at a good price is so rare. I don't say that to complain, I just think that everything is really expensive. God always provides for us so well, so I don't have to worry about buying things, but it is so rare, that I think, wow, I got such a good deal on that. I love being a smart shopper and doing that here has been challenging. If you remember my post about the cheap grocery store, sometimes getting things cheaper has it's down sides. Anyway, I love the $1.99 store. I went to look for a watering can for Joel since he loved watering plants with my Mom when we were back at Christmas. Not only did we find that but we found several other useful items and all for a grand total of $16.95, if I remember right. Ahhhhhhhh, what a great feeling the feeling of getting a lot for your money, I had almost forgotten what it felt like. I got 2 buckets, a lighter to the light our gas stove, a battery, the watering can for Joel and a pizza cutter. (We love having homemade pizza, I make a killer whole wheat crust for anyone who wants to come over and eat pizza with us, but anyhow, our other pizza cutter broke a while back and I just kept forgetting to get a new one.) They had several other things that I almost bought, a tambourine for Joel and a little sand shovel/bucket for Joel to play with at the beach $3.95), which by the way I later saw at another store in the mall for $19.99. All these prices are in "real" by the way, which is the monetary unit in Brazil. One dollar right now is worth about 1.80 reais. So, I just had to share all about our successful trip. Joel was even quiet in the stroller! That sounds like a great trip all the way around to me! Not to mention that it did wonders for the bargain hunter in me. :)

Hot, hot, hot!

2010-02-08T08:16:00.000-08:00

So, how hot is it in Niteroi? Let's me see if I can explain in my terms. I am horrible at guessing the temperature and while I know that it has been about 40 degrees Celsius, not sure how to spell that word, but anyhow that is about 104 or 105 Fahrenheit I think, but don't go by that, because numbers are so hard to imagine in terms of what they feel like..... Go by this.....

It is so hot that at 1:40 in the afternoon after I quickly swept up the house and wanted to take a shower to cool off I was unable to stand under the water because it was so hot. Our water tank is on top of our apartment building and so the sun heats it up so much that it is too hot to take a shower. It does cool off around 6:30 or so, so we get to take showers, don't worry!

It is so hot that yesterday when Joel got up from his afternoon, I took him to the mall, because it was the only activity that I could think of that involved getting out of the house and air conditioning.

It is so hot that all I wanted to eat today for lunch was a popsicle.

It is so hot that our 16 month old son has learned what the air conditioner does and the other day he coaxed me into his room and stood right under the air conditioner just looking at it, as if to say, come on mom turn it on, it is too hot. When a busy little boy says it is too hot, then it is!

That is my weather report for today. I am sure that all the math lovers out there hated my assessment of numbers and their lack of meaning for me, I actually don't mind math, but come one, my stories paint the picture much more vividly.

news

2010-01-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

10 things that I am enjoying this visit back to the U.S.- 1. Family – it is such a wonderful thing. People who always love you, even when you decide to up and move to another continent. 2. Using a dryer. Drying clothes in the dryer is infinitely easier, and they come out all warm and toasty. Although, on a hot day in Brazil, they are warm and toasty as well, they just take longer than 50 minutes. 3. Having time with Jude and Joel, all of us together. Jude is at work during the week, like most, and I am so enjoying all the time we have to do family things or just relax together. 4. Starbucks. I don’t really need to elaborate on this, but I will say that we did try to take Joel to McDonalds to play on the playscape, and got a coffee just to buy something while we were there, big mistake. It was really gross, and reinforces the fact that I do not like McDonalds. So, Starbucks, yes, amazing. Peppermint Mocha.....mmmmmmmmmm. 5. The grocery store. Grocery stores in the U.S. are so luxurious. The grocery store by our apt. in Brazil is very clean, but it is small and being able to buy diapers, wipies, and all the grocery items at one place, plus a random item or two, is amazing. 6. Catching up with friends. We went to our “old” church, old in the sense that we went there when we lived in Kerrville, and it was so fun. That plus my college roommate lives down the street from Jude’s parents, so walking out the front door to visit with her is awesome. Jude got to catch up with some buddies as well, which I know he really enjoyed. 7. Seeing Joel say more words in English. He now answers the phone in Portuguese, which he did before we left, but now he says bye in English. It is really cute, and perfectly bi-cultural! 8. Times reading the Bible. As anyone would, in a time away from work/regular life…. You just tend to analyze and look at your life from a different perspective. God has encouraged me again and again, in His calling on my life, and how He is always faithful. I just need to have faith. I am challenged that I need to have more faith for God to take care of things when we go back to brazil….. where to live (the contract on our apt. is up in March), and a babysitter for Joel, among other things. 9. Different food.....Mexican food, and my dad’s brisket! That doesn’t really need an explanation either. Brazilian food is REALLY good, but it is definitely not spicy, and everyone knows that Texans make the best brisket! 10. The cold weather and being able to bundle up. I love the change in the seasons and cold weather is something that Rio does not get. The most we get is a cool front with rain, but it isn’t cold it is just cool. I love that we are bundling up and sitting in front of the fireplace and drinking hot chocolate and eating soup to stay warm. Something about sleeping in cozy pajamas, fuzzy socks, and lots of warm blankets just feels good. Happy New Year. I know that God has amazing things in store for this year. Now it is up to us to follow after Him with all that we have, and trust Him to show up, which He always does. "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

The Wedding!

2009-12-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

So, this weekend a very sweet friend of ours here in Brazil got married. Jude wasn't feeling very well, so I decided to go the wedding alone. Huh, rookie mistake. Let's remember I am taking Joel with me. All in all I am so glad I went and took Joel (there really wasn't another option: Note to self, find a backup babysitter..... my babysitter was in the wedding.) I guess I could have left him with Jude, but I wanted him to be able to rest. Anyhow, so there we went, off to the wedding. Weddings in Brazil are very fancy and even the people attending the wedding need to dress up. I wore the nicest dress that I have, high heels and some basic earrings since I can't wear dangly earrings due to Joel's need to pull on them. Why create one more situation where I have to say "no" to him. There are already so many things that he can't do. I was one of the least dressed up people there. The wedding started about an hour late, which was good since I was running late getting ready as was my friend who caught a ride with us. I went really prepared, raisins, corn flakes, milk, an extra jar of baby food just in case, the stroller, and toys/books that don't make noise. As I said before, all in all I am really glad that I went, but let me just say that I came home exhausted. I think that I walked/scurried about 2 miles in my high heels. Joel did pretty well for a little guy. He ran around and played, ate almost everything that I brought with us, except for the cookie that I ate to have energy to keep running after him! :) After the cerimony, Joel was the hit. He threw himself into the bride"s arms as well as all of the beautiful bridesmaids' arms. My son is smart! He charmed the photographer, ate some cake, almost touched one of the candle's romantically lighting the cake table and ran some extra laps around the reception area. We had a great time and Joel fell asleep on the ride home.

Blogging blahs & 3 things that I am excited about....

2009-12-04T04:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I am definitely not among the best bloggers, I guess because I always want it to be just right, or I think, Oh, I can't write about that, everyone knows I am a missionary. Missionaries need to have everything figured out right. Haha, not sure where we get that idea. A missionary is just someone who has heard God's call, and has been obedient to go where the Lord leads and serve in His name, living out His love, sharing how Jesus is the only way to heaven, and how he changes lives and gives hope. A task we can only do in His grace and strength, not by our own brilliance or in knowing it all. Please don't read that as a theological definition!!! Anyhow, there is a lot to catch up on, since in my blogging blahs has passed 2 months. Right now, I am excited about several things, one being that I am planning a cooking making day for my English class. Our last class will be at our apartment and we will make Christmas cookies and just hang out. They were so excited when I told them! One of the kids even said that he wanted to live at my house. Seriously, these kids are so precious. God has put them on my heart in a way that constantly confirms our calling here. They live in such a hard reality, that something as small as a cookie party, can be a big deal. I can't wait! I will definitely have to take pictures and post them. We are getting ready for Christmas here, with some shopping for the kids at the project (Christmas presents) and organizing things somewhat for our trip to the states in 2 weeks. We can't get anything too organized since Joel would love nothing more than to play in a suitcase filled with presents. :) I am also SO excited about our trip, it is only not #1 on my excitement list, because it is farther away, and I don't want to miss out on what God has for us here before we visit, by focusing to much on our trip. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love and miss my family, so that is not easy, but we have a pretty full schedule before we leave so that is good. I am also so excited about my women's prayer group. It has been such a blessing in my life. It has been some time since I have had a group of women to pray consistantly with and really just share life with. I have amazing friends/family in Texas that I love to pray with, but the distance being what it is, a weekly prayer meeting is not doable. Anyway, so I was really praying about that and just asking God to provide that, and He did in a major way. We meet every wednesday night to visit, share prayer requests, talk, and pray. From the first week I just felt so happy. We have been meeting for about a month, and I already feel that the friendships have deepened, and we have already seen God answer several of the requests put forth! Well, that is all for now, more to come, my new goal may be to blog once a week, we'll see if that is doable. :)

Happy 8th Birthday Projeto Crescer!

2009-10-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Projeto Crescer! (The Growing Project) This weekend, we celebrated the 8th year of the project! (if you want to learn more about the project, keep your eyes out for an update in the next few weeks about the new website! It is coming soon and looking great.) After doing a unit focused on Brazil and it's 5 major regions, each class picked a region and the respective teachers made a booth and foods from their regions of Brazil. It was an awesome party and a huge testimony to what is God is doing and continues to do in Cafuba! There was pizza from Sao Paulo, bar-b-q from the south of Brazil, and fish from the North-east. The cake was bigger than any cake I have ever seen and there were also items for sale that the kids made ie. vases, bookmarks, placemats, various painted boxes, etc. Everyone turned out for the celebration. There were vollunteers from our church and students from years back. We count it a privilidge to be a part of such a great organization and to see how far God has brought things. Pictures from before it ever existed reveal an empty lot, which now holds classrooms, and so much more for 80 kids Monday through Friday. A big hit at the party were the prizes that were raffled off. Everyone sat anxiously looking at their numbers waiting to see if they had won. I will brag on my husband a bit, and say that the raffle was his idea! He is such an amazing director. He has poured his all into things this past year and it was a blessed day to get to see everyone celebrate the continuation, growth, and hope for even more in the future! God is SO good! MMMMMMM, this cake was soooo yummy! Thank you Deisy! She is the cook at the Project and she did a great job on the cake! Anxiously awaiting cake!

I know that this picture is a bit blurry, but I just had to put it on here..... Near the end of the party, Pastor Claudio gave a word of encouragement and incentive, to look for healing for whatever is hurting us physically, spiritually, or emotionally, in Jesus. After that he prayed for the community, everyone present, and the project! It was such a precious moment and one that I believe states strongly why the project exists and what God hopes for in this community. People healed by the power of Jesus! To God be the glory!

Joel is 1!

2009-10-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

I am a little late with this post but I couldn't go without posting a few pics from Joel's 1st Birthday! We had a frog birthday party with my parents, and some friends from church and the Project (the before and after school program that we work with....FYI a new website will be up and running soon with lots of info on "Projeto Crescer" and we will update you on that when it is good to go! ) Anyhow, here are some pics.

Everyone says, "I can't believe that my child is _____ years old." I am not sure if I can believe that Joel is 1 but enough has happened in the past year to make me feel like he is one. He has changed SO much, as have I. I think that I have learned more as a mom than in any other role ever in my life. It is such a huge responsibility and one that in my opinion requires such humility, a servant's heart, a selfless spirit constantly (all of this I am still working on by the way) and a love that is beyond ourselves-thank You Jesus for providing this in my life without limit! I owe my life to you, yet you are the One that gives me life daily. I love Joel more each day, if that is even possible, and I wouldn't trade the adventure for anything!

So, here is to my son, Joel Deron Geroy.

Congratulations Son, I love you and am so proud of you!

Oh well.....

2009-08-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

I think that I need to learn how to say, Oh well, much more often. Today I went to the grocery store. We are trying to eat all together as a family with Joel every night around 6 or 6:30, yes I know that might be late for a one year old, but Jude gets home around 5:30 or so, so sometimes it can't be before then. Anyway..... I have been really homesick today and was a little extra emotional. I tried a different grocery store because all my friends have been telling me that the grocery store that I go to is really expensive. (Oh well, much more to come.) So, with good intentions, I thought well I can at least give another grocery store a try and see how it goes. On my way, Joel was in the back seat very peaceful and I was listening to my Watermark cd, very peaceful..... The peace ended there. Out in front of my little car, pulls this lady with giant sunglasses in her giant fancy black car, talking on her cell phone, I honked like any good brazilian, and she gave me a dirty look (which I of course like any good missionary, did not give back, hahaha, ya right) then she pulled in front of me more and turned right on her happy fancy way. (Oh well) Go ahead lady! Then I missed the turn to the cheap grocery store parking lot. (Oh well.) Then I went to turn around at the next street. when I was turning around, two bikers biked in front of my car on a very busy street. I have nothing against bikers by the way...... (Oh well.) then I found the parking lot , of the cheap grocery store, what seemed like an abandoned dirt lot behind the grocery store. I entered with Joel, wiped down the cart because of swine flu among other things, which Joel then proceeded to chew on, (Oh, well, at least I wiped it down first.) I found a few things, then moved on through thinking, it is dirtier than our grocery store. (Oh well.) then when I went to check out, I discovered that Joel's diaper had leaked..... (Oh well.) I wiped down the seat where his diaper had leaked, checked out and thankfully an angel of a lady pushed the cart out to my car where I changed Joel etc. then I came home unloaded the groceries and cleaned Joel off better, fed him his snack, put him down for a nap, and washed and put away the groceries. We had a great dinner, and have really been enjoying Joel sitting down with us and eating and being content to just be with us and eat and all be together. He is quite the mover and the shaker, so to find something that works for us has been great. Not to mention that he likes eating some of what we are eating. Since I started typing this update, I have killed 4 or 5 mosquitos with our mosquito racket, and taken out the trash because the ants, who love our apartment almost as much as we do, were eating a few strands of spaghetti in the trash bag.(Oh well.) I am thankful for today and for all that God has given me in, Joel, Jude, family, friends, and mostly in my relationship with Him. He has saved me from so much, sin, death..... and even beyond that He has shown me His amazing love in more ways than I could have ever dreamed of. Not only am I saved, I am loved. Thank you Lord. No matter how many oh wells happen in my day, at the end of it all I have SO much to be thankful for. Somehow it just helps to get things out there, so there you go.

Plunger Anyone?

2009-07-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

Funny story. So, my parents and niece came to visit us a couple of weeks ago. The project was going on a two week winter break and we were holding our annual Vacation Bible School so it was a good time for my folks to visit seeing as how Jane and I were going to have some down time. Their journey from Texas to Rio was a long one...San Antonio to Dallas, Dallas to Miami, and then a 1o hour overnight flight from Miami to Rio, not to mention the hour long car ride from the airport to our apartment. So, when we got home they were in need of a little rest...and a bathroom. Well, in my excitement to have my family making their first visit to Brasil, I failed to mention a few basic house rules: don't leave the windows open at night (mosquitos), don't drink the tap water..oh yeah, and don't put toilet paper in the toilet!! OOPS...too late. Does anyone have a plunger? You would think that Jane and I would have a plunger considering the size and frequency in which I make a deposit, but as hard as it may be to believe, we don't. So, I make a quick trip downstairs to talk to the maintenance guy from our building. He doesn't have one either. However, being a typical Brasilian, he is certain he can find a way to fulfill our plunging needs. The picture below was his solution...a broom handle and a coke bottle. Don't laugh...it worked!!!!

Mom, Dad, and Trinity at Camboinhas Beach.

Trinty trying coconut water.

Blogging Behind

2009-06-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

Well, after 4 months who knows where to start. We are feeling more at home in Brazil than we have since we got here. I remember reading that missionaries have to really be in a place for 3 years before they know how it will be. As this is our third year here I see how true that really is. Just now do I feel as if we are getting used to some things, and figuring out other cultural things, and realizing that other things will never change, we just have to get used to them. The last months have been good, but we are glad to have some things behind us..... such as the process of getting a drivers' liscense, and the months of nightime feedings. Joel is sleeping through the night better than he ever has, praise God. Who knew that I needed sleep SO much. We are looking for a car, and I believe that when God opens that door, it will be a weight lifted off of us. Waiting for the bus and counting on public transportation with a baby (and all of his belongings that come with us in the baby bag) is not as easy as it was when it was just Jude and I, not to mention that there are some places, relatively close by car, that we can't get to because the bus doesn't go there, or we would have to take 2 buses and walk a long ways just to get somewhere 15 minutes away or less by car. Side note- the bus is a $1.10 each way, so that adds up and I am always amazed that the bus is so much in a place where the majority of the people make so little. So, that is in God's hands, and for the mean time, we are thankful that Niteroi has a great bus system and that we have friends who don't get tired of giving us rides. Praise God! As always, we enjoy seeing how Joel is growing up, and here are some pics of him at 7+ months, the more recent ones are still on the camera. He is almost 9 months! More to come later. Joel loves bath time, and I love playing with his Alfalfa hair, which sadly I just got the courage to cut off, now he looks like a little boy. Picture time with Mommy....

Back In Brasil

2009-02-14T14:07:00.000-08:00

We had two new bathrooms installed at the Project while we were on Christmas break.

We also had 6 new sinks put in for the kids to be able to use to wash their hands and brush their teeth.

Here's Big Boy enjoying his walker that we brought back with us from the States.

Bia is one of Jane's former students that she has been discipling. She stayed over one night and she and Joel had a blast together.

We've been back in Brasil about three weeks now and already so much has happened. I have started full time as director at the Project and there is ALOT to be done. Jane has been taking care of Joel at home and will go back to teaching English classes at the Project twice a week here in the next couple of weeks.

Bath Time!

2009-02-14T13:56:00.000-08:00

While we were back in Texas, bath time turned out to be one of the most anticipated events of the day. This is Jane's mom and sister, Michelle, taking turns cleaning up Big Boy.

Texas Trip 2

2009-02-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

My sister Ginny with her new baby girl Kendal.

Jane's Aunt Nancy and sister Julie with Joel.

My aunt, uncle, cousins and grandmother came in from Louisiana.

My sister has the cutest kids doesn't she?

Date Night! Our first night out without Joel!

Texas Trip 1

2009-02-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

Cousins!

Checking out the Sports page with RP.

Great Grandma

Hangin with Mama on Christmas day

Chattin' it up with Papa

Our trip to Texas was just what we needed...time to relax, time with family and friends, and the chance to show off our little (ok, not so little) Joel.

Pics of my boys!

2008-10-29T07:23:00.001-07:00

God's Provision

2008-10-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to post for some time now just how amazing God has been in his provision for us with the coming of Joel. We have heard how much a baby costs, and about all the extra things that you need to buy, etc. As we were preparing for Joel to arrive, we bought the major stuff, the crib, the stroller, etc, and then almost as if a rain shower from heaven, God has provided everything. We bought Joel a dresser with 5 drawers and some shelves..... all I can say is that his dresser is filled with clothes, blankets, cloth diapers, sheets, shoes, and hats, none of which we purchased... I am being serious, we did not have to buy anything!!! I have thought so many times..... huh, I have not bought even one outfit for my son, and he is clothed like a king. This can only be the Lord. All praise, honor, and glory be to Him, and Him alone. He has used many of you, to bless us in this way, for that we thank you! We have received care packages in the mail with clothes and gifts, that have been SUCH a blessing. I mean, who doesn't like getting packages in the mail! The Soul Cafe team that came brought gifts from friends and family, and delivered our stroller among other things... my mom came and brought gifts from our sweet family and she and Jude's mom came up with lots of great gifts (from the Grandpas also) and hand-me-downs from friends. It must be ingrained in the word "Grandma/Grandpa" to provide and bless right from the start... Friends and folks we consider family here in Brazil have showered us with gifts and hand-me-downs so much so that I am in awe. There is no other explanation but the Lord. My prayer is that you may be encouraged and led to praise God with us in this. He deserves sooo much more praise than we give Him. Revelation 7:10-12 "And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!""

Eat, Sleep & Poop

2008-09-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been 2 weeks now and our little family is starting to settle into a routine...kind of. Joel's eating well, pooping like there's no tomorrow, and sleeping in between! Like father, like son. Jane's still moving a little slow, but she's feeling better and better each day. She went on a walk yesterday and was really glad to get out of the house for a bit.

Jane's mom flies back to the States on Thursday. I'm thinking I'm going to lose some weight when she leaves. There won't be anybody here to cook! Yikes! With all the new laundry I had to break down and buy a new dryer. We now have TWO clotheslines! Jane's mom said that Joel has so many clothes that we could just throw them away as they get dirty. That way we wouldn't have to do laundry. I'm really starting to like the idea!

Joel Deron Geroy

2008-09-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Joel Deron Geroy was born on Sunday, September 14th at 11:23 am. The official numbers on this litte fella were 8 lbs. 12 oz and 21" long. After passing his due date by over a week, Jane's doctor decided it was best to go ahead and induce labor. The indcution started at 9:00 am, and 2 hours and 23 miutes later, out popped our little boy. Jane and I were thrilled that she did not have to have a c-section, but even more, that Joel arrived safe and sound. The Lord answered alot of prayers and we are so thankful for His outpouring of grace on us and for this special gift He has given us in Joel.

Enjoying Rio!

2008-07-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Taylor had sooooooooooo much fun playing in the water at Camboinhas beach near our apartment. We all had a great time just talking, enjoying the breeze, and walking around before the week got started.

One of the teams last days here we got to go to Rio and see one of the wonders of the world... The Christ the Redeemer Statue. We took the scenic route to get there, but once we got to the top the view was great! Another thing that everyone liked while they were here were the sweets. Mmmmm Mmmmm. I think the group favorite was Brigadeiro, a yummy chocolate candy they make here.

Fun Stuff in Niterói: Climbing the Costão

2008-07-24T15:25:00.001-07:00

Jude took the girls to climb a "hill" close to our house and it proved to be quite an adventure. No pregnant climbers allowed, but here are some pics. They even got to feed a monkey!

Team Activities at the Project

2008-07-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of the team in action at the project during the VBS and doing some home visits. They poured out lots of love on the kiddos and the staff... Jude and I were especially encouraged. Thanks for everything guys!!! The group picture is tiny, but just to give you an idea of the group involved in the VBS.

Soul Cafe Short Term Missions Team

2008-07-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

A group of 4 lovely ladies from Soul Cafe made the trip to see us in Brazil and help out with a Vacation Bible School and some home visits for the Project! It was a blast and we thought that we would show you some pics from their time here. From left to right, Kim, Taylor, Kerri, and Sheila and of course my handsome husband, Jude. They made it, after a long trip and some luggage issues, but they were all still smiles!!!

Pastor Claudio and Jude went to pick up the team. This pic is the team with our Pastor, Pastor Claudio, who has an amazing heart for missions and loves when teams come in... he gets to use his English!

Here is Kim, with what became her favorite outfit before all of the luggage arrived! The airline delivered it the afternoon after their flight arrived. Yeah!

Taylor made quite the appearance at a " Country Party" that one of the lifegroups at our church had. We were all invited and had a great time. Taylor even joined in on a dance the youth performed! I also had to throw in a picture with my belly, Joel is growing strong..... and should arrive in a little over a month.

Waiting

2008-07-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

Well, since we are updating our blog, I thought I would add my two cents. The past months seem to have flown by in one sense and dragged by super slowly in another. Sometimes I find myself thinking, am I still only 7 months pregnant, am I not at 8 yet????? I think that I have thought that every month, except the first one, since I didn´t even know that I was pregnant. :) Good things come to those who wait, so I know that this little blessing to come, here in about 2 months, will be amazing. It seems that we have been waiting on lots of things lately. Getting internet in our house, getting the leaky window in the babies room fixed. Waiting in Brazil, means at least 4 months. :) In these cases, we have been "waiting" for over 6 months I believe. David writes in the Psalms about waiting... I wonder if he ever found the secret for waiting. Some of the verses talk about waiting patiently, others about wait, accompanied by hope in the Lord. Other times, you can almost hear the distress in the Psalms... How long will I have to wait? Praise God that David was honest with the Lord. When I think about what I want, I get impatient and don´t like to wait. When I think about the greatness of my God, I dont mind the waiting so much. Even as I write this, I am frustrated in the waiting, but my God is still the same God, just as marvelous and just as capable of holding me in His mighty arms and comforting me, even if it is over something that I know is small and realitively unimportant in the big scheme of things. Yet He still cares. I am thankful that I serve that kind of a God. When I remember to put my wants aside, even then He fills me with hope not in my daily situations, but in Him who is over and above all.

Psalm 130:5

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,

and in his word I put my hope.

It´s Madness I Tell You!

2008-07-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

Pastor Beto, director at the project, took me to Maracaná Stadium to watch his favorite team play a soccer match. This is the second time we have gone, and it´s the second time his team came out winless. I´m not sure that he is going to take me again!

Pencils, Lifegroup and That Pregnant Teacher!

2008-07-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

The picture at the top is of the kids showing off the pencils we brought back for them from the US. They thought they were too cool. Then there´s Jane with some of her students. The littlest one is Daisy and she is actually in another class. She is toooooo cute! Then there is me with some of the girls from the project that have been coming to the Thursday night lifegroup that we attend. We´ve been praying that the Lord would use this time to really speak to them. And lastly is Jane and I in Rio. Some friends of ours took us on a tour of Rio since we haven´t really spent much time there and we don´t have a car. This was taken about 6 weeks ago in a national park that overlooks Rio.

My First Bible

2008-07-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

We held a special service for some of the kids at the project earlier this year. Once a child turns 10 years of age, they are given a bible as a birthday present. This is a picture of Larissa (one of Jane´s students from last year) and her mom with Jane after the service.

Pics from the Spring Semester

2008-07-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

These are some of the kids that we are working with this spring.

Baby Shower!

2008-07-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

Our church family held a baby shower for us back in June. It was such a blessing and we were even more blessed that Jane´s mom was able to be a part of it while she was visiting here in Niterói. We aren´t the only ones at church that are expecting a baby. Two of Jane´s girlfriends, Francine & Sabrina, are expecting as well.

The Reality of it All

2008-03-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

So, four months without updating the blog. That´s just sad huh? It´s about time for an update don´t you think? I usually post pictures of the kids or of new places we have recently visited, but today I think I´m just going to open up and share a little bit of what is going on around us here. Pictures are much more fun. What I´m sharing today isn´t. Jane and I made it back to Brasil in mid-January. We were anxious to hear about all we had missed while we were back in the States. Unfortunately, not all news we received were things that we wanted to hear. Two months ago, one of the moms that has two girls at the project overdosed and almost died. She had left the house so she could go get high. She didn´t have any place to leave her kids, so she locked them in the bathroom at home. She just got out of the hospital this week. About 6 weeks ago, the house across the street from where our cell group meets on Tuesday nights was robbed. The housekeeper left the house at 7:30 in the morning to go by groceries. Three guys held her up at gunpoint and told her to let them in the house. The owners were still there. They held the family and housekeeper at gunpoint for three hours while they collected all that they wanted to take. When they were done, they forced the owner of the house to drive them into Rio (about an 45 minute drive), along with everything they had stolen, and drop them off!! Who says you have to have a get-away car? Three weeks ago, Pastor Claudio was driving us home to our apartment. As we pulled up to our apartment building, we saw a motorcycle accident happen right in front of us. There was a teenage girl riding along with her boyfriend. They had been at the beach and were both drunk. He lost control of the bike and they both fell off. She got run over by a van that was behind them. I went to give first aid and was thankful that it wasn´t as bad as I had thought it was going to be. She had a deep cut about 4 inches long on her right knee and I could see down to the bone. There were severed ligaments and tendons, but she was not bleeding profusely. I found out later that her femur had been severly fractured. I have seen three other motorcycle accidents in the last week alone. Two weeks ago, a man who lives two houses down from the Project was shot 5 times in a drug deal that went bad. He didn´t die, but he is still in the hospital and is now septic due to an infection he received from the gunshot wounds. He will proably not live. 10 days ago on Friday morning, a teenage boy was shot and killed during a robbery at his home on. This was 2 blocks from the Project. Three guys had entered the home and held the parents at gunpoint demanding them to hand over their valuables. They went to wake up the boy because he was still asleep. When they did, he tried to jump out of the bed and they shot him. He was a relative of one of the teachers who works at the Project. We arrived at the Project today to find out that the lady who lives next door was arrested for drug trafficking...marijuana and cocaine. It was no suprise to us. You can smell marijuana smoke coming from their house EVERY day. I´m not trying to sensationalize anything. This is just the reality of where we live. This is what is happening right around us. Sorry that you didn´t get to see any pictures of smiling kids today. Hope to have some for you next time.

Christmas Stockings

2007-11-29T15:46:00.001-08:00

So I have to brag on my class a little bit. They did a great job making these little stockings. The art teacher at the project gave me the idea and the materials and I thought that my kids did a wonderful job, especially considering the fact that for many of them it was their first time sewing. I had to laugh when one of my boys was absolutely shocked that not everyone in the class knew how to sew. Way to go David! I am loving each one of my students more and more, and growing to appreciate all of their little personalities. Our first sewing class was a success and they absolutely loved it!!! My favorite stocking was Yuri's as he was the most practical and sewed several stitches at the end about 2 inches long to make up for lost time. It was adorable.

Pumpkin Pie

2007-11-29T15:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I have never been much of a pumpkin pie "fan" persay, but this year, I was loving it. After my longest stretch ever out of the states, I was really missing home. As I was trying to figure out what to do for Thanksgiving to help me feel a bit more at home, I decided to make a pumpkin pie. On Thanksgiving day we were going to a fellowship lunch for the staff at the Project. I figured that they might like to try a traditional Thanksgiving dessert and I knew that we would want to have something familiar on Thanksgiving. I had so much fun! I did everything from cooking the pumpkin and blending it

and then making the pie crust/filling to making toasted pumpkin seeds, which turned out great too. By far the best part was when I tasted the filling. It was such a taste of home. It took me pretty much all day, but it was so worth it. So, here is to the familiar, and to all the traditions that we grew up with. This year God used pumpkin pie to give me a taste of home even when we couldn't be there for Thanksgiving and I am so thankful.

Happy Birthday Projeto Crescer

2007-10-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

Projeto Crescer celebrated its' 6th birthday a few weeks ago. We had a big party at the Project and enough chocolate cake for 80 people! Danilo and Vitor gave the party a big "thumbs up"!

Our New Home

2007-10-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Lord's graciousness, and alot of help from our new friends, Jane and I are finally getting settled into our new apartment. We did alot of searching and finally found the perfect place. Our friends from the church have been such a huge help and such a blessing. They donated all kinds of kitchen stuff, a couch, bed, desk, kitchen cabinets...they even pitched in and bought us a new stove!! As you can see, the kitchen is coming along nicely and is now sufficiently equipped for Jane to bake some of her famous cookies. I know...lucky me!! Our sofa is the only furniture we have in our living room right now...unless you count my still-packed suitcases as "furniture". Perhaps my favorite thing about our new place is the view. The picture at top shows the lagoon that sits right behind our place, and in the distance is the sun setting over Rio de Janeiro. It's even more breath taking at night when the city is all lit up.

The Maracaná Experience

2007-10-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

I got my first true taste of Brasilian futebol a few weeks ago in the most famous soccer stadium in all Brasil: Maracaná. Located in Rio, Maracaná has hosted it's share of historical soccer matches. The stadium has been recently renovated and seats approximately 80,000 people. This particular match was between Fluminense and Corinthians. I went with Pastor Beto, director of Projeto Crescer, and his son Mateus. Pastor Beto is a die hard Fluminense fan.

Futebol Anyone?

2007-09-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

Finally. After nearly 2 months of shopping for the best deals, purchasing equipment, and arranging transportation, we have officially started the Physical Education program at Projeto Crescer. Last week was our first week to start transporting the kids to a local sports club. We have been playing a lot of futebol (soccer)...hard to beleive I know. I had planned on teaching the kids all kinds of games and other sports, but I learned very quickly that if it's not soccer, they're not interested. So, I'm having to readjust some things, but that's OK. We're all learning from one another and I think the kids are having a great time. It's a great opportunity to get the kids out of the favela for a little while and give them a chance to play in a safe place away from the drugs and violence. Even if I never get a chance to teach them how to set a volleyball, it's already been worth it.

Pearly Whites

2007-09-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

When we first arrived at the Project, one of the health issues we wanted to address was the fact that all the kids toothbrushes were mixed together in a tupperware container...and they didn't have toothbrush covers!!! Yuck!!! I don't even want to know what kinds of bacteria were being passed around in that thing! Resolution? A little grandmotherly intervention. Toothbrush covers are hard to come by down here, and when you do can find them they aren't cheap. My Grandmother took it upon herself to nip this problem in the bud by making a trip to one of the greatest establishments known to mankind...WALMART! At least I think that's where she went. Anyway, a special delivery of toothbrush covers arrived a few weeks ago. We now have one less major health crisis in the world today. Way to go Mama Billie!! Your next mission...global warming.

My Wonderful Husband!!!

2007-09-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Besides the fact that God has given me a wonderful family, and lots of new family in Christ here in Brasil, I have the best husband ever. We got the key to our apartment last friday, after quite some time waiting,filling out paperwork, etc. Jude has been such a blessing to me through all of this. He has been painting the place and putting up showerheads and putting on toilet seats, whatever needs to be done so that we can move in on Friday. (Side note: For those of you wondering, toilet seats and shower heads???.... Here in Brasil, when you move out of a place, you take with you EVERYTHING that you can and more.... toilet seats, shower heads, toilet paper roll holders, etc. Praise God we got a place where the people didn't take the light fixtures or we would have had wires just hanging out of the ceiling, which would be totally normal!) He started teaching PE class this week at the project and he has still managed to almost get everything painted and ready for us to move in, not to mention being really patient and doing everything he possible can to take good care of me. I am praising God for my husband and thought he could use a little on-line bragging for all that he has been working on. We will post pictures and write more when we can!!! We might be offline for a little while until we get the internet and phone hooked up at our place, which quite possibly could take a while. Later, later, Jane

Wedding Shower?

2007-09-05T14:19:00.001-07:00

Our church family held a "shower of presents" for us Monday night and we received all kinds of new household items to go into the new apartment that we are still looking for. We have been so blessed to be a part of this body of believers.

Missions Conference

2007-09-05T14:06:00.001-07:00

Jane and I attended a missions conference a couple of weeks ago. It was a great opportunity to see what the Lord is doing not only in the Rio area, but throughout Brasil as well.

Hugs and Rides

2007-07-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

Hugs and piggy-back rides are popular requests. We give out as many as we can! At top is Jane with Natalia. Below, Karolayne is attempting to squeeze my brains out through my ears.

Meet the Kids

2007-07-17T13:43:00.001-07:00

The boy at the top is Thiago. He was enrolled at the Project when we were here in 2004. Below is Danhilo. The "horns" speak volumes as to what his personality is like.

Meet the Kids

2007-07-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

Meet Yuri . This is David. Patricia and Natalia

Meet the Kids

2007-07-17T13:26:00.001-07:00

At top is Daniel and Danhilo. Below are girls from the morning session having breakfast.

Meet The Staff

2007-07-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

These are some of the folks we will be working alongside of at the Project.

Fortaleza Santa Cruz

2007-07-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

Jane and I took a tour of the city with our friends Claudio and Sabrina and we visited Fortaleza Santa Cruz. This fort was constructed in the 1500's and was utilized to guard the entrance of Guanabara Bay which seperates Niteroi from Rio de Janeiro. This last picture was taken from Parque da Cidade (City Park) in Niteroi. The city situated in the distance is Rio.

Country Fest

2007-07-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

The church held a Country Fest last Saturday. Fortunately, no one here knows who Billy Ray Cyrus is!

Endings & Beginnings

2007-07-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

Our time in Bauru ended with a weekend trip to the largest city in Brasil....São Paulo. Our host dad from Bauru (Gôdo) drove us to São Paulo and we spent a couple of days seeing the sites before taking a bus to Niterói. These are some photos from our time in São Paulo and our first week in Niterói at Projeto Crescer.

This is Avenida Paulista, perhaps the most famous street in all of Brasil. Most of the nation´s largest banking institutions are headquartered on this avenue. One could consider this the Wall Street of Brasil.

This is the view from the top of our hotel in São Paulo. The funny thing is that it looks exactly like this no matter what direction you look. There are buildings everywhere. I guess that shouldn´t be a surprise in a city that inhabits about 16 million people.

Catedral da Sé is located in downtown São Paulo.

This is the inside of one of the four classrooms at the Project.

These are two of the boys that spend half of there day at the Project.

This is the only open area the kids presently have for outdoor recreation.

There is still work to be done. Their are hopes to construct additional classrooms.

Thinking....

2007-06-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have those moments where you are thinking so many things, your mind is full, and then when you go to express yourself, you know that if you say what you are feeling, even though you really want to, you will regret it later. Like God, graciously, doesn't give you the freedom to talk to others because He knows that in a few days or possibly even a few hours, you will look back, seeing more of Him and what He is up to, and not understand what you, the little human, were thinking. I am there right now, not understanding, not seeing, wanting to question so many things. But I know that it is better to keep my mouth shut and wait and trust. God is good and He knows what He is doing even when I can't see. Praise be to our God. At all times. 2 Samuel 10:12 "Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what is good in His sight."

Adeus Bauru

2007-06-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

We are saying goodbye to our friends in Bauru. These are some pics from our last few weeks: This is Jane with our professora Livia. Jane made some of her famous chocolate chip cookies for all our professors. They were a big hit!

I took a trip to the "kartodromo" (go-kart racetrack) with John Pedro and Godo a couple of weeks ago. They might think twice about inviting me in the future. It didn't take me but 15 seconds into the race to cause a 3 car pile-up and blow out a tire!

Formula 1 driver wanna-be's!

Our host family surprised Janie on her birthday with these flowers, note and breakfast basket.

Our primary means of transportation these last 4 months! This is a picture inside Comunidade Batista, the church where we have been worshiping the last several weeks. The church is lead by a group of missionaries from Michigan. They have been so welcoming and we have been so blessed to be a part of there community of believers. This is the worship team: Jean, Adam, Ryan, and Val. This is Shelly, daughter of one of the missionary couples (Dave and Val Smallman), and our friend Carol. We came to find out about Comunidade Batista through Carol.

Feijoada

2007-06-09T15:08:00.000-07:00

For all of you don't know what Feijoada is, it is a great bean and meat soup/stew with historical roots in Brasil going back many years. It is served with couve(collard greens), and rice, and sometimes oranges, and farofa (A common side dish in Brasil, which is a flour made from different types of bread crumbs-wheat, corn or mandioc). If you ever get a chance to get eat some, go for it, it is wonderful. We just had a delicious lunch at the home of one our Portugese professors. Watch out for the pig's skin, ear, and foot. They mighty get you! Nowadays everyone just adds what they like but originally the soup was made of the left over parts of the pig along with black beans. That is all for our history lesson today kids. Hope you enjoyed it!

Glory to God!

2007-06-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have those moments where you just realize in the midst of life happening how much grace and provision that God has for us? A few weeks ago we were running around trying to get some money into our bank account here. .. Much more complicated than we thought. At some point in the middle of it all, we finally were able to get the money and pay for school and it was like I just had a relevation, "Wow, God paid for all of our school." Even if everything continues to go wrong with the whole process and it is really complicated, blah, blah, blah.... The bottom line is that God totally provided for us. We made our last payment for our intensive language study in Bauru about 2 weeks ago. That is just amazing to me. Without going into the details of the cost of it all, lets just say, God provided big. Praying that this update will help you to think of something in your life that you totally couldn't have done without God's amazing provision and grace. Even if things are or were rocky along the way God's provision is always perfect. Give Him the glory for all that He does. Praising God right now just for who He is and for how He encourages us in this life. Revelation 7:9-12 "After this, I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!" '

April Happenings

2007-05-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

So what's been happening down here in Brasil since our last blog post? Well, we can sum that up in one word...Portuguese! Most of our time is consumed with classes and homework, but it has been paying off. I actually heard Jane dreaming in Portuguese the other night! I don't know what she said, but I know it was Portuguese. In spite of our grueling schedule, we have managed to find some time for a few extracurricular activities. Check out the pics from my birthday party and the pro soccer game we went to:

Jane and I decided to treat our host family to some Texas size burgers.

These are some of my most favorite things: Jane, Jane's famous homeade chocolate cake, Guarana (a Brasilian soda), Jane's famous homeade chocolate cake...

John Pedro and his friend Eduardo on our way to the soccer game.

This is Estadio Alfredo de Castilho, home stadium of Bauru's professional soccer team Noroeste. This was the championship game for all the teams within the state of Sao Paulo. Noroeste was playing Guaratingueta (say that 3 times fast) but ended up losing 1-0. It was still alot of fun!

This is Neto, the director of our language school.

Weeks 3 & 4 in Bauru

2007-03-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

Jane's been teaching Stella how to bake all kinds of things in the kitchen. Here we have Jane and Stella making some of Jane's famous Chocolate Chip Cookies. They made some awesome homemade pancakes this weekend.

OK. Here's an interesting story. The Bauru Tennis Club, of which Godo is the Executive Sports Director, held a 12k run. Godo said that he and Maria Clara were going and suggested that Jane and I participate. I tried to politely explain that I didn't think that was such a good idea and that I could probably only make it about half that distance (12k is about 8 miles). He said not to worry, that there was an option to run only 6k. Jane and I thought, "Great", we can probably handle that. It sounds like a leisurely, informal, everyone-is-invited type of event. So, we show up at the starting point about 9:25 am on Saturday morning. The race starts at 9:30. As we pull up, we notice about 70-80 runners. And I mean RUNNERS. The people who only have about 0.5% body fat. Everyone is stretching and jogging in place. They all have there running gear, sun glasses, and visors. There are groups with team uniforms and sponsors. There are city officials, reporters, and paramedics standing by. I'm already not liking this. So, Jane and I go to register and...there is not an option to run the 6k. Oh my. Now what do we do. The spots have been paid for, this has already been planned. OK. We'll try to do the whole thing. But I'm not gonna like it I can tell you this much already. Now, you should know that Jane and I OCCASIONALLY run 3-4 miles for exercise. I can't remember the last time I voluntarily ran 8 miles. Have I ever run 8 miles? I told Jane before the start of the race that she could count on me finishing dead last. BANG. Off we go. OK...off THEY went, and we watched as the pack sailed off into the horizon. The first 2 miles weren't too bad. One big hill that I walked aways, but things evened out for the most part after that. Jane and I stayed pretty close the first 6k or so. Right up to the point where we turned off the pavement and into the sugar cane fields. Yes. You heard me correctly. The second half of the course led us through someone's cane fields, literally, in between two rows of sugar cane. The funny part was that it had rained the night before, and lo and behold, it was raining once again. God does have a sense of humor. Trying to run a "race" in 6 inches of mud can be a bit of a challenge. However, the good thing about running through the cane fields is that no one can see you when you have to stop to go to the bathroom. Jane and I actually finished the race together, and as it turns out, we didn't finish last. Godo and Maria Clara showed up about 10 minutes behind us. The lesson in this story...I need to learn Portuguese!!

These are our muddy sneakers after the race!

On to Bauru

2007-03-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

This is Luis Carlos, but everybody calls him Godo. He is our host dad and this is his pet arara (macaw) whose name is Tete. .............The lady at the far right of the table is Maria Clara, Godo's wife and our host mom. .............John Pedro is 12 years old and likes to play futebol (soccer), ride bikes, and go swimming. He's been pretty impressed that I can dunk on their 8' basketball rim. The indoor pool with retractable roof! Makes for a great place to cool off after the bikeride back from school. Our bedroom: Cable TV, Air Conditioning, Surround Sound Stereo, Wireless Internet, Private Bath. Ahh, the sacrifices we make! ..........This is the outside dining area. Jane and I like to study here. .............Our professor, Agnaldo. He is a Christian and has been a real blessing. Part of our homework every night is to memorize a bible verse in Portuguese. ...This is a picture of the front of the language school we are attending. ............Our classroom. This is where we spend the 6-8 hours of our day Monday-Friday.

Godo's team playing a futebol match at the club. They are in the semi-final round. Here's Jude with Tete, the oldest of Godo's two araras.

Welcome to Niteroi

2007-03-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from our first couple of weeks in Brasil. Hope you enjoy them!

This was taken from Jane's window seat the morning we flew into Rio.

This is Pastor Claudio with missionaries Berto and his wife Josani. They are Brasilian missionaires who are helping at the project as well. We will be working alongside them when we head back to Niteroi after language school........... This is the view from our balcony at Pastor Claudio's house.......... These are our friends Fernanda and Anna. We met them on our first trip to Brasil and they help at both the church and project.

This is Andres and Eduardo. Andres is married to Fernanda and Eduardo is married to Anna. Andres works as a manager for a local automotive company and Eduardo is a computer analyst. They are both attending seminary.