There is nothing that puts a smile on my face like talking with my family:). They are doing good and that makes me happy, even if I did miss the State Fair:(.
Saturday Renaldo (the policeman guy from English camp) asked me to go to English class with him. Like often happens, I turned out to be the main attraction at this English class…but I didn’t mind.:) The teacher was the father of another guy I knew, and was a really neat guy. he spent most of the class time telling me things or asking me things, like advice on how to learn English quickly. my advice was to listen to music and movies with English words. I should probably follow my own advice, ya think? Then in the middle of class he started telling me about how a couple of years ago he had a unique experience where three Baptist pastors came to Brasil and needed a translator. he was not a believer, but spoke English, so translated for them. As he was translating (he specifically spoke about John 14:6 “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father but by Me”) all this stuff about having a personal relationship with Christ, he realized his need and was miraculously saved himself. He then sang “Because He Lives” for me in English and then translated everything for the rest of the class. I just thought it was so incredible how I was sitting there, talking about my God and His great work in people. there are so many beautiful stories about God working and they are all around us! how many of them are still unspoken?
One of the families from the church in Tracunhaem celebrated their 25th Anniversary at the Alconce. they went ALL OUT. my goodness. the party officially started at 8, but the family was not all there until 9 (I guess this is common…Heather said that Kattia was an hour and a half late to show up at her wedding last Christmas). You should have seen the cake…I’ll try to put a picture on my weblog…wowee.
Heather’s birthday was the 22nd (the kids cannot agree on if she is turning 27,28,or 30, respectively), and to celebrate, we all left Sunday for their beach house. now Heather’s parents have an apartment near the beach in Candeias (that I wrote about in the past), but this is Tele’s parents house ON the beach…like watch out, you step off the porch and you get your feet wet kind of thing (okay, slight exaggeration, but it is seriously right past the back yard.) which is in Camboinha (about 2 hours north near Joan Pessoa). They normally spend the whole month of January here. I told them American’s don’t know how to vacation longer than a week, let alone a month ever year! I like this tradition.
The beach house is beautiful, with high ceilings and an old-fashioned feel. the windows are all open to the sea so you hear the tide come in as you wake up in the morning. there was no fear of sharks here, as it has a natural reef that keeps them out, but I have discovered my own phobia…mushy or prickly stuff around my feet. seriously. I think I watched one horror movie in my life and it was about an attack alligator living in a lake…ever since then when I swim in something where I cannot see the bottom I get very weary and images of things swimming around my feet or that I can step on swarm through my head. I freak myself out everytime there is a rock or piece of seawead coming by. and just my luck, during this season there is ALOT of seaweed around. When the tied went out we were able to walk a far ways out and explore, but the fact that we had just found these prickly things and a washed up sting ray (YEP!) on the beach only added to my jumpiness. yep, I admit, I was quite a wimp.
but wow, was it incredible. we got to watch the tide come in, and the stars come out. So many stars. before the moon came up, we saw some supernovas blink red and white (they laughed when I told them that in Indiana the only thing that blinks in the sky is airplanes) and we saw one explosion where the star got SUPER bright, brighter, brighter, and then flew across the sky as it dimmed to oblivion. oh the secrets of the universe! the moon came up later, almost full, and we spread out a blanket on the sand and sat for a couple hours seeing the moon path and interpreting what shapes the clouds were. it was just…good.
Monday morning we built a sand castle and I ended up getting burnt (too super bad) because I did not put on sunscreen until 10:30 (I was like, COME on, get burn before 11?) I was walking back to the beach when I suddenly see a cow. yep, a cow. twice a day they have a group of cows walk down the beach:). funny stuff.
We made a picnic and went to “Alligator beach” (they never did tell me if there really were any alligators…) we enjoyed an exceptional Passion fruit cake (my favorite) since Heather shared her day with me and we celebrated together, and watched the sunset while a guy in a boat played the sax. cool.
Tele’s leaving today to spend a week in Sao Paulo. Please pray for his trip, that the Lord would provide alot of contacts. he is visiting a “school of tomorrow” which is how they are hoping to set up our school here. There is also someone interested in partnering with us and starting another church down there! (if you don’t know Brasil, it is huge. going to Sao Paulo is like Indiana to California). He also has to see about a tent for us to use that somehow got stuck in shipping issues. Please pray for Heather as she (as long as I have known her) has problems sleeping. lately it seems to be getting worse. and you know, a bad night’s sleep can affect everything.
Thanks. I feel the prayers.
