May 30, 2006

• May 29

  
  

  Mondays a full. After teaching all day, I teach in the evening for whoever wants to come to the Alcance. I get into my teaching mode…and it seems to continue in my sleep. The past couple of Monday nights I’ve apparently been talking in my sleep, saying things like “no, that is now how you say it” or “how do you say “por favor” in English?” Ivana mentioned it, but it was not until last week when I sat up in bed (or so I am told) faced her bed and said “Ivana, say “How are you” in English! Again, again!” and then laid back down to leave my roommate awake and distressed. All I remember was dreaming about the vocabulary words for that day. Bleh.
  
  

  
  

  Ironic. That is what you could call last week. Ever heard of God being the “Divine Thwarter?” Check out “Journey of Desire” by John Eldredge. It seemed like every move I tried to do things my way would not work. Example: the bus did not come on Saturday. I waited for an hour…and then it started raining. When the bus did come, it was standing room only. The electricity blew up when I wanted to make a phone call…and so on and so forth.

  
  

   

  
  

  It was my dad’s birthday on Thursday, as well as Ricardo’s (pastor of Guadalajara), Joseman’s (pastor of Carpina), and John’s (my John here). We had a churrasco…which is another word for sitting, talking, and eating all this meat as soon as it came off the grill. Yum. Happy 59^th dad! It wasn’t really the smoothest birthday, as my mom spent Wednesday night in the hospital for some surgery thing that puts something up your vein to check out your heart (it starts with a “c”). It was a bit scary. I looked out the window and realized just how quickly my life could change. How everything I loved and cared about could be taken away or in a moment…one phone call telling me that the test has shown something bad. I’ve been alittle jumpy with phone calls lately. Grr.

  
  

   

  
  

  But I am glad to report that Mom does not have anything wrong with her heart, only that it is sweetJ, and she is recouperating, and said that hospital food is really very nice when I asked her how it went. She had some fish.

  
  

   

  
  

  I have come to realize my complete deficiency in dealing with pain. Especially in other people. About the best thing I could come up with lately was “so, it really hurts, huh?”

  
  

   

  
  

  I tried to hold it inside

  
  

  Pretend that everything

  
  

  Was alright

  
  

  Go on laughing

  
  

   

  
  

  But sorrows escaped

  
  

  Through the cracks in the window

  
  

  Until all the truth flooded through

  
  

  Blinding my perceptions

  
  

  Of life and living

  
  

   

  
  

  Let it in

  
  

  Let it hurt

  
  

  Let it show me

  
  

  The way

  
  

   

  
  

  To my heart

  
  

  To my soul

  
  

  To the life

  
  

  Hid with Him

  
  

  All that I was learning

  
  

  All that’s come to be

  
  

  Was it all just practice

  
  

  And only now I see?

  
  

   

  
  

  “Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. pursue life.” Mt. 8:22 The Message Remix version

  
  

   

  
  

  so a bunch of people died in Sao Paulo, Brasil (4 hour plane ride from me). My parents were asking me about it, and sad to say, I really had no clue what was going on. They didn’t seem to take it very seriously here in Brasil. We just found out the leader of the gang causing all of it…yeah, he was living next door to the best friend of the family living here with me. pretty shocking. Or not. Weird…no one else seems to find that ironic.

  
  

   

  
  

  Sunday’s have been neat. A couple weeks ago a drunk (and smelly) guy came in to join us for church. he ended up getting saved…at least we hoped, since he was not fully sober. Tele followed up with him and has been visiting him. Yesterday the same man came to church, clean inside and out. Half the people did not even recognize him, the transformation is so amazing. Praise God! Please pray that he would continue to grow in the Lord, stay sober, and be able to provide for his 5 kids. His wife has now started to drink, making it even harder. Yesterday another drunk came to join us (perhaps it is the location…we are close to quite a few bars) and was very interested in Christianity. Pray for these opportunities. Tele said maybe someone should always wait in the back for the not-so-sober people to wander in.

  
  

   

  
  

  Happy Memorial Day! Too bad we don’t celebrate it here. I could have used the extra sleep.

  
  

   

  
  

  We went to a castle. Yep. they had more signs than anything else, saying “do not step on the grass” or “do not touch” it was driving me insane. Not that I wanted to touch them…but just because they said not to it brought out my rebelliousness or something. But the guards with the guns squelched that pretty quickly.

  
  

   

  
  

   

  • 4:10 pm
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