Come on in and visit with us

I don't suppose I even need to comment that I remain busy getting things normalized in our home. Thus, no time for my blog. I keep meaning to add something here and there, but somehow as my friend says "the day just takes me away". There is much to do just to settle into a new home. Imagine an empty one. Now imagine all the government red tape to resettle into a country. Even to open a bank account it's been hard, not to say impossible. We got word today, however, our financial situation has been "regularized" and we can now open a bank account. Yipee. That will facilitate life here a lot. And I was also able to access my "unemployment" insurance that had been waiting for me since 2004! That was another victory. In addition I have been able to put the house bills in our name and get internet installed and cable TV working. In between I have shopped for furniture and arranged to have drapes installed. I do lots of walking, which is so good for my health, but means things take a little longer. I have a grocery store that´s fairly close and it delivers my groceries, which is nice when I buy cases of things like milk and toilet paper, etc. In fact everything is convenient to where we live. I really do love the location.
What I really wanted to do was to invite you for a short visit to part of my new home. Remember, I still have furniture to buy and drapes to be installed, but at least we can have a virtual visit to some of my home. So step into the front door, just off the elevator. (Photo to the left). This is what you will see first. Now you understand when I say the apt. is large. Look at that window! It's huge. The room will look so much better when the drapes are installed. Now let's take a look at the dining area - this photo taken from the left corner of the room, just under the air conditioner. (photo to the right) There are controversies about the accent wall. I just love it, but João isn't crazy about it. When I get some artwork on the wall, I think it will look better. I really like the new sofas, which are not white at all, as I think you will see in the third photo (on the left).
Now we will take a little peek at the kitchen, which is to the left of the living room, as you enter the apt. Aren't the painted tiles above the sink just great? By the way, behind the door is my famous refrigerator. By the way, the doors you see on the left are the maids quarters (two rooms and a bathroom) - not that I have a maid or anything. But they are great for storage, etc. Now walk down the middle of the kitchen (as you can see it is long and narrow) about to the sink and then turn back and look at my kitchen table and chairs. Isn´t the cutest thing? I think it's my favourite thing I've adquired so far. I just love it.
Now we will walk down the hallway and visit a couple more rooms, One room is totally empty, so we'll skip it. The study/office is a mess right now, so we will walk past it as well. I can show you the guest bedroom/TV room. I love it's brightness. The curtains are going to be the same shade as the couch (which is two twin beds).
We will also skip my bedroom, as it's hard to get an angle on it to take a photo at night. But for your entertainment I want to show you my guest bathroom - also hard to photograph (on the right). But I wanted you to see the clear glass blocks that form the shower stall. It is the lightest room in the house. Everything is pure white. In contrast, my bathroom is all in tones of brown! Maybe you can see through the clear glass doors the size of my marble bathtub. I think I could swim in there. Takes forever to fill it. But I love my bathtub.
Hope you've enjoyed our little visit. In the near future I hope to show you how much better things look with some more furniture. But everything in it's own time.
That's my motto these days. That and patience, patience, patience. Hope you come and we can have a real visit on my sofa.

Arrivals and Departures

Alone at last! That is to say, finally I have a few minutes in which I can sit down and try to share some of what has been going on lately. On Sunday, April 23rd, João and I were at the Cincinnati airport to take off from parts unknown (oops - for Brazil!). We got there plenty early to deal with our 9 pieces of luggage. It's an interesting process to reduce your entire worldly goods into 9 pieces of luggage. By the end I was so sick of packing and sorting, I think I would have left everything behind. Mom and Sis waited with us, until we had to go through security (an interesting process with so many cameras and computers in our hand luggage). We flew to Dallas and then Miami and then Rio. Thankfully all the flights were on time and very uneventful. Something interesting is that on the flight to Rio I had ordered a special meal (gluten-free) and to my surprise, it actually worked and my food was actually decent.
Not only did the plane arrive on time, ours was the first luggage off the conveyer belt. There was no line in customs, nor did we have to open a single piece of luggage (miracle!). When we came out, there was the beautiful group of people from First (PIB) Baptist awaiting us. What an emotional moment, knowing that we had really arrived. There were lots of hugs and kisses and much joy. Even Elly was able to be there to greet us. When we arrived at our apt., there was an entirely different crowd awaiting us with a wonderful reception. It was a moving experience. After everyone left, we had our luggage to unpack and also an entire room filled with gifts. We received everything we might need or want to set up housekeeping. If I were to begin to list all the gifts, I would use up all the bandwidth for my blog! I'm serious. I have never seen such generousity or experienced such an outpouring of "giving". Everything useful and beautiful was given to us. We even had a terribly comfortable ( and beautiful) bed awaiting us. Believe you me, it looked pretty good to us by nightfall.
We are appreciating so much our beautiful 16th floor apt. There are balconies off 3 bedrooms and also off the living room. I bought a patio table and chairs so that we can have breakfast, not at Tiffany's, but at the Fonsecas on the balcony. And what a view. We feel so privileged to live here. In addition it's very quiet and easy to sleep at night. There is a marvelous breeze (at times a wind tunnel) in the house. The apt. is quite large, with 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. We are getting our exercise just walking around the place! In addition, it seems we are close to everything - banks, stores, restaurants, etc.
After some days to get things in order, the pace really picked up around here. Our family began to arrive and suddenly it was Saturday and João's induction service. I hope you understand why I've said it was his induction service, as things are very different here than in Canada where I was very much a part of his ministry. What I mean is that here I will have an entirely different role than in Canada - kind of doing my own thing instead of serving as a sort of assistent pastor. I have already received 6 invitations for speaking engagements. Right now I am not accepting anything, since I need some time to get myself in gear.
The induction service was beautiful and meaningful. No photos, for I was so into the worship, it never crossed my mind. The music, the sermon, all the messages were just tremendous. 45 people came down from Vila Velha (about 8 hours north of Rio), some part of João's family and friends as well, to participate. There was also a group from his very first pastorate, as well as a large contingent from Cascadura (our church before going to Canada). What a night. My feet may never be the same, as the reception line afterwards went on for just forever!
João's parents and Sissy and her boyfriend were here at the house for the weekend, so we had to rush home and try to get some rest before Sunday. Sunday was a spectacular day for us. The church was full. Everyone received us with such warmth and love. It was so meaningful. Sunday night the orquestra played and I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. It was just so beautiful. The letter from Eastview that was read at the end of the service was just the icing on the cake. Wow, wow and more wow!
After Sunday, I guess my feet finally touched the ground again, as reality set in. So much to do. Transfer phone, gas, light and cable. Install internet. Renew documents. Still so much to do - see to my visa, open bank account, renew driver's license, etc. Everything seems so complicated and difficult. I realized this week, while I was coming home to Brazil, I also need to give myself time to re-adapt. Either I am going deaf (and I suspect I do have some serious hearing loss that needs to be checked out) or forgot a lot of Portuguese because most of the time I don't understand or can't figure out what is going on around me. The telephone is just agony for me. I feel so very lost and confused at times. If it's rusty portuguese, then I think time will resolve that. If it's hearing loss, well a hearing aid will help that.
So we departed and we have arrived. We are happy and all is well. I know all the things that need to be done will be resolved in due time. This is a time to live in the Spirit and manifest his fruit. Count it all JOY!