Family Time

I´ve been having a grand time here in the US visiting family and generally just kicking back and taking life easy. On Easter all of us were able to be together. We even made Mom drag out her good china and it was fun. Here I am with my sisters and Mom (to the right) on the day after Easter. I´ve been eating and reading and doing lots of shopping. Today I spent a little time with Mom with her garden. Don´t you love this photo of us by her apple tree? It is so beautiful here. (The photo on the right below is a view from Mom´s deck out her back yard.) Everything has come out to full spring since we arrived three weeks ago. I love spring. I can hardly believe that I will be leaving spring behind in just three more days.
My bags are just about all packed and I am getting anxious to arrive in Brazil. We really are into the final countdown. It´s been so good to have this transition time. Soon, though, life will really be changing. But I know the plans God has for me. I know they are good ones. So I am full of hope for the future.

Back in the US

Don't you love this photo? It's me and Joao holding the quilt that the women of Eastview made and gave to us. We just love it. It is such a beauty. What a treasure. I still take it out periodically just to look at it.
It's hard to believe it's already been a week since we closed our ministry at Eastview. March 26th will be imprinted on my heart and mind for a very long time. It's hard to even try to put it all down on words. Its such a rich and meaningful recollection of so many sensations. My heart was very full of the love I felt so clearly expressed. In addition the level of Christian maturity that was so very transparent made a huge impact on my life.
For days I had been building up for the "Big Good-bye", but as is always the case, God's grace was ever so sufficient. From the testimonies, to the baptisms, to the music, to the personal words of people, to the VERY generous love offering and the quilt, I was overwhelmed with such a sense of blessedness. There was no room for regret or deep sorrowing, although that doesn't mean I didn't grieve deeply. There were certainly plenty of tears. For me, though, the day was what I wanted it to be - God honouring.
Monday, the next day, was much more adventuresome, as my sister and her husband arrived from Kentucky with their RV. A crowd, and I do mean a crowd, of people came to help us load up the RV and a job I thought would last forever was finished in short order. It was even fun. A precious memory will be that after we finished, everyone gathered in the living room where we sat and talked and then prayed together.
Tuesday morning there were many details to care for, so we didn't get away very early. In fact, it was nearly noon. We were a little tense until we crossed the border. But with everyone's prayers accompanying us, that went very smoothly. All we had to do was show our passports and documents and of course Joao had to be finger-printed, as that is protocol.
So Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we had the life of rich men. We sat on the RV and talked and read and slept, and sang (accompanied by the guitar that would only fit into the shower along with a lot of other luggage) and ate. We had a grand time travelling. We were even able to stop in Pennsylvania and visit an Amish community. We rolled into my mom's house on Thursday night. We spent Friday recovering. On Saturday my nephew and a friend came over to help us unload. So here we are in Kentucky trying to get a grasp on where we are and where we are going. But it's all GOOD!