Count your blessings!

Before I left for BA, my mom gave me a book called "The Good and Beautiful God." I just finished a chapter about God being trustworthy. At the end of each chapter, the author (James Bryan Smith) gives a "soul training" exercise and this chapter's exercise was to make a list of blessings. I have countless things to be thankful for, but here are just a glimpse of my blessings here in BA:

my padre and madre
my hermanas
casa holden
our group
empanadas
agua sin gas
the park
when my little sisters play with my ipod
when Jesi and Eli hang out with me and my friends
convo dinners
asado
house church
bible studies
cheap food
EFT's
long weekends
laughter around the casa
dulce de leche
serving at Adulam
the overwhelming feeling of happiness when I am with my friends
skyping with my family back home
deep conversations
walking home listening to my ipod
our little dog Shaggy greeting me when I walk through the door
the feeling of being so incedibly BLESSED when I walk to and from school everyday!

Smith gives a quote from David Crowder that I just love:
"When good is found and we embrace it with abandon, we embrace the Giver of it... Every second is an opportunity to praise. There is choosing to be made. A choosing at each moment. This is the Praise Habit. Finding God moment by revelatory moment, in the sacred and the mundane, in the valley and on the hill, in triumph and tragedy, and living praise erupting because of it. That is what we are made for."



Besos xoxo

Humidity and no AC

After bawling in the airport with my mom, a 10 hour and 20 minute direct flight, almost losing my bags, and waiting in line for 45 minutes for customs, I am finally in Buenos Aires! My sweet padres came and picked me up from the airport and because I only got an hour of sleep on the plane, I slept the whole way back to the apartment. Walking inside and seeing all of my hermanas made me so happy and excited to be back. The plan for tonight is to SLEEP! But tomorrow we have asado and our first intensive spanish class.


Besos xoxo



*Couldn't leave America without these goodies...

Time to go back!

My last post was on Dec. 17, 2010. That seems like so long ago but at the same time, those five weeks flew by. Spending time at home with friends and family was the best thing I could have asked for. It was a time to recharge and focus on the people I love, and it was also a time to plan and set goals for what I want to accomplish this semester. However, all of that planning came to a screeching halt when Hannah told me she wasn't coming back to BA this semester. I had known it was going to be a possibility and we had talked about it a lot over the break, but I was still surprised when she made the final decision. Han was my best friend last semester. There are so many things that I couldn't have done without her and for the past few days, the thought of her not being there with me brought me to tears. Lots of them. Despite my sadness, I am confident that this break will be good for her and because I love our friendship so much, I am praying that this will be just what she needs. My first few weeks back will be hard without her and I know that it will take some getting used to. But I also know that God has so much in store for me this semester and that it may very well just be the best one yet.

I'm getting on a 767 tonight and getting to Buenos Aires in the morning! Please pray for a safe flight for all of us coming back tomorrow.



Besos xoxo


p.s. Nicole, I didn't forget about you! I know this semester off will be good for you too. I will miss having you around and getting to know you better, but I'm not sure that I will miss those crazy workouts that made me sore for days :) Love you, sweet girl. I'm praying for you.

Brasil: Day 7 and 8

Day 7 (Wednesday): 
Lauren and I woke up earlier than usual (6am!) to go with Bryan and Jacqueline to their old church near downtown Sao Paulo. Instead of driving and waiting in traffic, we took the subway and then a bus to the church. When we got there, there were 6 energetic Brazilian kids waiting for us. Lauren and I felt a little awkward considering the fact that we speak NO portuguese and we were supposed to teach the kids songs in english, but needed portuguese instructions to start off. Luckily, Jacqueline and Bryan took the reins and explained to the kids what we were doing. They seemed a little reluctant at first because, after all, we were two random Americans teaching them "Jesus loves me" in english and with sign language. After a few tries of learning the words, they warmed up to us and asked us to teach them more. So we whipped out that classic Church of Christ song, "Deep and Wide", and the kids loved it! Unfortunately, we only got to spend about 45 minutes with them before we had to leave but it was so much fun to be with them. Later that night, we had another one of our great discussions at the dinner table. Bryan and Jacqueline were asking us about what churches in the US were like and what people look for in a church. Since the haven't lived in the US for so long, they were sort of out of the loop with what American churches are like, so Lauren and I did our best to explain. Again, we talked a lot and for a long time and if I tried to type it all down, it just wouldn't make since. Nevertheless, it was another great night of talking.

Day 8 (Thursday): 
We woke up to lots of rain but decided to go downtown to go to the top of the tallest building in the city. Jacqueline said the view was really cool, so we hopped on a subway and went to what I think is the prettiest part of Sao Paulo. Downtown is really beautiful. The buildings look very fancy and European and all around them are lots of green trees! We get to the building, which is the Banco do Sao Paulo (I think...) and we ask them if we can go to the top. The lady at the front desk said that because it was raining, that all the tours were closed. We were disappointed but decided to walk around a little bit so Lauren and I could find some Brasil t-shirts. While we were walking, the rain stopped so after a little shopping, we went back to the building to ask if the tours has resumed. The lady responded with, "The weather up there may be different from down here." I'm serious. It may be dry and  sunny on the ground but it could very well be a hurricane on the 34th floor. Jacqueline laughed and said that was very typical of Brazilians to respond with an answer like that. We got a good laugh out of it too and then headed back home.


Today (Friday), Lauren and I left Sao Paulo and got back to BA this afternoon.
Bryan and Jacqueline, I cannot thank you enough for being so hospitable and teaching us so much. We not only got to see the sites of Brasil,  but we learned so much about what it means to be a disciple of Christ and that was by far the greatest part of the trip. Lauren and I feel so blessed to know you and we know that you both will continue to do amazing things for the Kingdom. We love you!



2 DAYS until I'm on a plane to America and the blog posts end for 5 weeks! :)


Besos xoxo

Brasil: Day 5 and 6

Day 5 (Monday)

On Monday morning, Jacqueline woke us up and said, “We’re going to the beach in Santos!” I was excited about this for two reasons: 1) It’s the beach,  2) My grandmother grew up in Santos and this was my chance to see where she lived! We drove about an hour and a half out of the city and the drive there was absolutely beautiful. Instead of the crowded and polluted city, we saw huge green mountains and tropical forest with clouds sweeping over the mountains. We got to Santos and parked near the beach and decided to take a walk on the sand. What I thought was going to be a nice stroll on the beach turned into an olympic-style walkathon! Let me tell you something: Jacqueline and Bryan may be in their sixties but they sure can walk fast. Coming from me, a naturally fast walker (thanks, Mom), that says a lot. Lauren decided to try to keep up with them while I opted to stroll and stay dry instead of sprint and perspire. Despite the gloomy weather, the beach was really nice and the city of Santos is actually quite charming. Although there aren’t any cute little beach cottages and little boutiques lined up, the tall buildings overlooking the water fit perfectly with the atmosphere of the city. After my stroll and their “walk”, we went to the local shopping center and ate Subway! In Brazil, it is pretty common for people to go to the food courts in malls for lunch but we didn’t complain; it was the first time we’d had true American food in months! Being able to go to Santos and see the area where my grandmother lived was a huge blessing for me and I know that if she were alive today, she would be so happy to know that I was there. 

 leaving the city

 heading into the rainforest!

 Santos!

The have leaning buildings.

Day 6 (Tuesday): 

Tuesday morning we woke up, had breakfast, then went to the local street market. For those of you who have been to any type of farmers market, picture that plus dozens of Brazilians shouting things in portuguese. It was absolute madness! All of the vendors were shouting to each other and to customers and it was so frustrating not knowing what they were saying. Since Brazil is a tropical country, their fruit selection was incredible and they had some of the biggest melons I had ever seen. And instead of bananas coming in groups of 4 or 5, the bananas they had came in bunches of 10-12! Bryan brought 25 bananas for less than 50 cents! While we were walking around, I spotted a place where you could buy a giant coconut and they would cut the top off and stick a straw in it. Of course, I had to buy it and although the coconut milk didn’t taste at all how I had expected, I was holding a giant coconut and that was all I needed. With all the wonderful food we bought, we cooked up a wonderful lunch that even carried over into dinner. After dinner, Bryan continued with another lesson about churches and the mission strategy. This was a very interesting and important lesson/conversation but I can’t seem to type it all down in detail that would make sense to you all. If you would like to know more about what we talked about (*cough* Mom and Dad *cough), I would love to tell you about it in person... when I get back to the states :)

my coconut!

Besos xoxo

Brasil: Day 4

The four of us drove about 45 minutes into an area of Sao Paulo that we hadn't seen yet to do a Sunday morning house worship. This area was a very run down and poverty stricken area and I wasn't expecting that many people to show up, but God surprised me and 10 people showed up for worship! Even though it was all in Portuguese, it was awesome to see these people who have so little worshipping the Lord with all that they have. At the end, they took up an offering and Brian told me later on that people gave over $100 and one of the guys in the group was going to give it to someone in the building who was having a hard time and needed the money. It was so great to see God working through them.

After we got home and had some lunch, Lauren and I went for a walk/run in this cool jungle type park nearby. When we finished with that, we came back, took a nap, then got started for the next house worship. About 8 people came tonight and among them was this adorable couple, Mary Jane and Romo. Mary Jean is from Wisconsin but graduated college and moved to Chile for a year where she met Romo, who is actually a Brazilian but was in Chile at the time with some friends. They fell in love and although it took her awhile to get her visa to come to Brazil, she finally did and they got married. Three months after they got married, when they were living in Mendoza, Argentina, she unexpectedly got pregnant and 10 months ago had a beautiful baby boy named Caleb. They were so sweet and invited me and Lauren to go to a juice bar and treated us to some amazing Acai and Passionfruit smoothies. It was awesome being able to talk with them and hear all about their incredible adventures.

Lauren tasting the acai smoothie.

I think one of the coolest things about today was being able to see God work in two different types of house churches. The first one this morning was with very poor people but they were so happy and were so willing to give their money to other people in need. Then the house worship tonight was wonderful too because even though the people there were more wealthy, they still had the same cheerful attitude and gave so much back to God. Lauren and I have loved seeing how God has worked through Jacqueline and Bryan and getting to meet all of the people whose lives they have impacted.


7 days until America :)


Besos xoxo

Brasil: Day 2 and 3

Day 2 (Friday)

We started off the day by having another session with Bryan and Jacqueline about church and how church is all about the people in it, which was a great reminder for us to know that Jesus called the church not as an actual building, but a group of people coming together to worship him. After the session, we drove about 20 or 30 miles into the city, which took us about an hour and a half with some traffic, and saw their daughter in law, Ana, and her children. It was great to see them because I had known Ana when she and her husband, Brent, lived in Los Angeles but I never got to see her kids because we moved to Texas. After a nice lunch with them, we made our way back to Jacqueline and Bryan's apartment. Instead of the hour and a half drive that it took us to get there, 3 HOURS later, we finally arrived at the apartment. Oh, Sao Paulo.

Day 3 (Saturday)

This mornings session was all about "spiritual multiplication." I especially loved this lesson because it was all about how to share the gospel with other people and how it is impossible to do so without the help of Jesus. Jacqueline and Bryan shared some incredible stories about people they have come into contact with over the years and how they introduced them to the gospel. After that lesson, Jacqueline, Lauren, and I headed to a ladies luncheon with the group of women that Jacqueline usually does bible studies with. Surprisingly, a lot of the women spoke english and they were precious! It was so neat being able to see how God has impacted their lives through coming into contact with Jacqueline. That was a real inspiration for me and Lauren. We drove back to the apartment with no traffic (thankfully), but the power went off as soon as we got back and Lauren and I experienced first hand what it feels like to be without a fan to keep us cool! We've been used to having no air conditioning but no fan?! Luckily, that only lasted about 30 minutes. We then had a wonderful time sitting at the dinner table and talking with Bryan and Jacqueline for 2 hours about their time in Brasil and their marriage. They have been married for 42 years and are an amazing couple whose relationship is build completely around the Lord. Talking with them was so great for me and Lauren because we both learned so much about what we want our future marriages to look like.


*It may not seem like we are doing a lot of "mission" work and maybe we aren't, but we are learning so much on what it means to be followers of Christ and how we can teach others to do the same! :)


Besos xoxo