March 20, 2006

• March 18

  
  

  My computer is possessed. I think ants crawled in and attacked the mouse or something, because the little pointer thing is erratic and keeps closing everything down on me. Anyone know how to fix that?

  
  

  So I have been here a month already. Time sure goes fast when you are working hard. I woke up at 5:30 and looked at the clock, scared that my alarm had not gone off. Then, past the shock came the honey-sweet thought of ¡§oh, it is Saturday.¡¨ Ahhh.

  
  

  I¡¦ve got a pretty good routine down now, using the curriculum for classes. God has opened up all the opportunities I was hoping for¡Xand more. Thursday nights I am teaching English at the seminary for whoever comes, and Fridays I am teaching at the church in Timbauba. Heather has asked me to sing on most Sundays at the new church plant (which will also encourage me to learn more songs in Portuguese) and Ricardo set it up where I can go with him a couple times a month to Laoga De Itaenga and help with the children¡¦s program. How amazing.

  
  

  ¡§Sacrifice in its essence is the exuberant, passionate love-gift of the best I have to the one I love best.¡¨ ¡VOswald Chambers

  
  

  I¡¦ve gotten more familiar with the bus system too. They never let me see them, but I think they are laughing at me behind my back. I always manage to catch the faster busses, meaning that by the time I can flag them down, they have stopped quite a distance down the road¡XI¡¦ve learned to just wave frantically and start running before they pull over. And they never charge me the same amount. I wonder if they are thinking ¡§hmm, how much can we get out of her today?¡¨

  
  

  There are wonderful things about having a door that opens to a small porch in your room¡Kand then there are the side effects. Like the lizard that resides in the top corner of the room, seeing how close he can get without endangering his existence. Or the mosquitoes. They have delighted in the ¡§fresh blood¡¨ but I have valiantly fought back, becoming fearless in my swatting and smacking, even if I know all it will do is leave bug remains on my hands. My bed sheet looks like a warrior graveyard or something, where I¡¦ve smacked down the buggers¡Xor rolled over them in my sleep, and they¡¦ve left the blood of their victims (namely, me). I have got to wash it.

  
  

  We will either have dryers in heaven or not have to wear clothes. Because dryers are gifts from God. Tele got their washing machine and dryer set up, and so after three weeks, I got to wash my clothes. A three-week-old towel is not pleasant¡Xand I¡¦d tried to hand wash it, but towel material STILL STINKS no matter what you do to it. I¡¦d finally resorted to ironing and spraying perfume on it (David called me French). There must be some unknown secret to surviving without modern conveniences that people refuse to share with me.

  
  

  Blast Your light into the darkness
  Let it shine and blind the evil
  Let it bring out every secret
  And make every jewel shine

  
  

  I feel like I have my own humming bird. I haven¡¦t decided what to name him. After teaching all day I go for a walk around the Alcance around the beautiful flowers and trees and wind and sunshine. And there is a humming bird I see in one area all the time. So small and fast and beautiful. I made a theory of beauty. I think everyone has their daily quota of beauty that they need. That is why God made the world the way He did. Don¡¦t put beauty in a box¡Xyou can find it anywhere¡Kin the humming bird, in the wind, (nature does seem to be the most obvious), stars, sun¡Kbut also in a kind word, a moment alone, a deep thought, a hammock, Bible verse, prayer¡KI think it is important to find ways to put beauty into your life. So often we push through day after day after day with the ¡§nose to the grindstone¡¨ (which is not wrong and hard work is part of life and actually very satisfying, but) not stopping to use that nose to ¡§smell the roses¡¨ or take time for beauty¡XBeauty in true essence being God Himself. When I take moments to stop my life and enjoy beauty, I open myself up to the still small voice of God. Those are the times when prayer becomes real.

  
  

  ¡§Joy means the perfect fulfillment of that for which I was created and regenerated, not the successful doing of a thing¡Kwe have all to find out niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive our ministry from the Lord. In order to do this we must have companied with Jesus¡KThe call is loyalty to the ministry you received when you were in real touch with Him¡K¡¨ –Oswald Chambers

  
  

  From that quote I figured this:

  
  

  Joy (peace¡Kany of the fruit of the Spirit)  =
  Doing what you were created for  =
  Purpose in life  =
  Specific ministry from God  =
  Knowing God intimately

  
  

  Each one of these things relates together with the rest of them: Joy is knowing God intimately, joy is having purpose in life, joy is a specific ministry from God¡Kpretty neat, even if Karine pointed out that although it might work spiritually, it would not work mathematicallyƒº.

  
  

  And how do we know God intimately? I return to the old answers of reading your Bible, praying, and time. You have to set aside time away to actually get down past the shallow world we live in. Sometimes you can start praying or reading after a couple minutes and sometimes it takes a couple hours. Mostly you gotta get through all the dirt and masks you¡¦ve picked up in day-to-day living. Then you talk to God (prayer) and He talks to you (Bible). (Personally, I also have to write it down before my brain can digest what I am learning) Then you let that time take over your life. Those are the moments when you really live. Not when you are out and about, laughing loudly or smiling widely.

  
  

  Hey…in case you wanted to know…my snail mail addy is:

  
  

  Rachel WInzeler
  Alcance Brasil
  Cx Postal 29
  CEP 55819-970
  Brasil

  • 3:34 pm
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