so much for blogging on a regular basis...but better late than never, right?....
so i won't even try to summarize a month's worth of activities. but lemme just say, i've never been happier. i'm so happy that i've chosen to stay here in brazil for an extra semester...that's right, until next december. i'm super happy with this decision. i feel as though God has a lot of sweet things in stores, and leaving in 4 1/2 months doesn't allow time for things to unfold as they should. for example, i've recently started a prayer/accountability/bible studying group with some of my american friends. we've had 3 weekly meetings thus far. last week i was talking to my "cousin" (my host brothers' cousin) who goes to my university. he was stoked because God's placed on his heart the desire to start a similar group at our school (called PUC.) so we're going to start this group together...exciting opportunity, as it's a Catholic university and there aren't any evangelical student groups. wahhh!!!!! it'll be great to get it up and running this semester, and continue next semester too.
i have so many awesome friends here. most of my brazilian friends are from the "academia" -the gym- i go to. i've quickly found that actually working out is my second priority when i go to the gym. my first is spending time with the people there. for example, i usually spend 2 (sometimes more) hours at the gym, and work out for about 50 minutes. my best friend there is a boy named Betinho...the most adorable person i've ever met in my entire life. he's 19, and is obsessed with learning english. in order to learn he reads old Charlie Brown comics during the afternoon, and when i come in asks me about words he doesn't understand. today, we were practicing his numbers. while i was doing crunches, he counted for me in english. not a very effective workout - i spent half of the time rolling on the floor laughing. i tried to tell him 38192038 times that fifteen is not "five-teen" and "thirty one - nine" is not "thirteen one - nine." also cool - today the owner of the gym, Gian, asked me to teach his five year old daughter english. i'm getting together with her wednesday morning! i'm sooo excited, it's bound to be fun =). a good opportunity to bless a little girl's life.
anywho, i'm tired. i'm going really try to update this regularly. just to share what God's been teaching me....
-spend time with people to show them that you love them
-meet and befriend people everywhere you go...ex. gym, PUC bookstore -the lady knows me as the Pretty Girl Who Doesn't Know Anything...referring to my lack of portuguese skills
-don't take yourself too seriously and have fun with challenges...God's especially shown my this through my difficulties with the language. for instance, i've gotten laughed at innumerable times by strangers because of my ridiculous accent. God's shown me to just go with the flow, and enjoy the process of learning
-being in another country and culture is no excuse for disobeying His rules...this has been a struggle for me, especially with the accessibility to alcohol and the lack of accountability i'd normally received from friends in the States. along with this, He's shown me that there's no "grey area"...meaning that if it's not "white" it's "black."
finally, if you think of it, please pray for my prayer group and for the opportunity for me to bless other people.
i'll update in a couple days!
love you and miss you, *ali*
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Blessings and Joy
Oi gente =)
Ok, so I'm alive. I meant to create this blog weeks ago, but better late than never, right?
If I were to sum up the last 3 weeks in one word, it would be TRIUMPH!!!! Triumph over the insecurities the enemy has been provoking me with over the last several months, triumph over temptations that I've already experienced thus far. This triumph has been enabled by the multitude of blessings God has bestowed on me.
I spent my first week here in Brazil at Lar Batista Biblico, the home for children I worked at over the summer. My time there was sweet...a real gift very much needed. Upon arrival I was attacked from all sides by kids. Interesting: My mission over the summer was to instill a sense of value into these kids, but within those moments it was they who made me feel a sense of value I've ever experienced. There's something different about a child's love for you. It's simple, pure, authentic, indiscriminate, and unending. Sounds like the love of someone else we know, right? =) We need to become more child-like in this respect.
After spending six days at Lar, I arrived at Sao Paulo. There's around 60 other American students, half of whom are going to study in another location in a month. Right now we're taking an intensive Portuguese class and one on Brazilian culture. The blessings since arriving in SP have been infinite.
First, I've been placed with hands-down the best Brazilian family EVER. It's a family of two boys (21 and 24), a mom and dad. They're kind, funny, hard working, and have provided me with place a feel at home in. Between their English and my Portuguese (well, mostly their English), we're able to communicate just fine. We have great conversations and lots of laughs. I thought the transition into another family would be far more awkward, but immediately upon arrival I felt at home. When filling out my host-family request form I had stressed I'd wanted a family that granted me independence, but I've found that I enjoy being around them so much that I oftentimes prefer to stay at home with them than go out. For example, on Tuesday I opted to stay in to make a salty fish pie with my brother over going out. Awesome, I know.
Second, I've made friends with a lot of good people from the group of Americans I'm studying with. They're smart, energetic, nice and have many of the same interests as me.
Thirdly, and most important, God has blessed me by holding me with his everyday dialogue. He's encouraged me in times of insecurity, rebuked me in times of temptation, and has been gracious enough to give me so much joy I think I might pop. My family and friends here have made comments like "you're a really happy person," and "you're smiling all the time," etc. This makes me happy because it shows that I'm being an effective representative of the joy God's love provides. I'm truly blessed to be a blessing.
Alrighty, I'm getting restless so that's all for now.
Reminder: I'll be in Brazil until July. I'll be doing updates a couple of times a week.
Prayer is always appreciated: wisdom in terms of self-control, patience with learning the language, and a deeper capacity for love (especially with people who make it hard to do so.) Thanks, miss you and love you.
Tchau for now...haha it rhymes.
Ok, so I'm alive. I meant to create this blog weeks ago, but better late than never, right?
If I were to sum up the last 3 weeks in one word, it would be TRIUMPH!!!! Triumph over the insecurities the enemy has been provoking me with over the last several months, triumph over temptations that I've already experienced thus far. This triumph has been enabled by the multitude of blessings God has bestowed on me.
I spent my first week here in Brazil at Lar Batista Biblico, the home for children I worked at over the summer. My time there was sweet...a real gift very much needed. Upon arrival I was attacked from all sides by kids. Interesting: My mission over the summer was to instill a sense of value into these kids, but within those moments it was they who made me feel a sense of value I've ever experienced. There's something different about a child's love for you. It's simple, pure, authentic, indiscriminate, and unending. Sounds like the love of someone else we know, right? =) We need to become more child-like in this respect.
After spending six days at Lar, I arrived at Sao Paulo. There's around 60 other American students, half of whom are going to study in another location in a month. Right now we're taking an intensive Portuguese class and one on Brazilian culture. The blessings since arriving in SP have been infinite.
First, I've been placed with hands-down the best Brazilian family EVER. It's a family of two boys (21 and 24), a mom and dad. They're kind, funny, hard working, and have provided me with place a feel at home in. Between their English and my Portuguese (well, mostly their English), we're able to communicate just fine. We have great conversations and lots of laughs. I thought the transition into another family would be far more awkward, but immediately upon arrival I felt at home. When filling out my host-family request form I had stressed I'd wanted a family that granted me independence, but I've found that I enjoy being around them so much that I oftentimes prefer to stay at home with them than go out. For example, on Tuesday I opted to stay in to make a salty fish pie with my brother over going out. Awesome, I know.
Second, I've made friends with a lot of good people from the group of Americans I'm studying with. They're smart, energetic, nice and have many of the same interests as me.
Thirdly, and most important, God has blessed me by holding me with his everyday dialogue. He's encouraged me in times of insecurity, rebuked me in times of temptation, and has been gracious enough to give me so much joy I think I might pop. My family and friends here have made comments like "you're a really happy person," and "you're smiling all the time," etc. This makes me happy because it shows that I'm being an effective representative of the joy God's love provides. I'm truly blessed to be a blessing.
Alrighty, I'm getting restless so that's all for now.
Reminder: I'll be in Brazil until July. I'll be doing updates a couple of times a week.
Prayer is always appreciated: wisdom in terms of self-control, patience with learning the language, and a deeper capacity for love (especially with people who make it hard to do so.) Thanks, miss you and love you.
Tchau for now...haha it rhymes.
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