3 months ago today…

Three months ago today we arrived in Porto Alegre, Brazil…our new home. I still remember as the plane hit the runway turning to Lucas and saying, “We’re home???”. We both had looks of exhaustion, relief, and sheer terror on our faces as the words “we’re home” sank in. Never in a million years did we ever think that we would be living in Brazil!!! Yet, here we are.

The last three months have been filled with so many adventures. We’ve had many bus adventures. We’ve had many mini-bus, I mean, Kombi adventures. (BTW, I think I could be a bus driver when we come home on furlough in a few years…) We’ve had many, many language barrier adventures. Even going to the grocery store has been an adventure!

We’ve experienced some serious bugs and lizards. The really uneasy part about that statement is…we ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

We became students…again.

We experienced christmas in shorts and new years at the beach.

We’ve experienced the realities of being more than a quick plane ride away from those we love…but I won’t get into that.

We’ve watched our children make friends without the ability to communicate with words.

We’ve watched God use our children to build bridges between us and our neighbors in a way that we couldn’t.

We’ve worshipped with Brazilians in their churches and in their language. Its beautiful.

There have been days when we have asked ourselves, “What are we doing here?!?!?!”. God continually reminds us the He brought us here. He has a reason for us being here. We just need to patiently wait and let Him reveal everything. He will do it in His time. He’s already done so much!!

So, when our break from language school is over, we will return to being students. We will continue to study this new language. We will wait and listen to God and let Him lead us. We will wait and let Him do His work and try not to get in the way.

We will continue to have more adventures, of that I am certain…