I’m happy, even if no one else is!

Today I was so excited to receive my copies of the book on women in ministry. I wrote two chapters of the book. The title of the book is “Fragility and Strength”. I wrote a chapter on women in the New Testament and also on being married to the pastor. I haven’t had a chance to read the other chapters, but they all look very interesting and I am anxious to have some time to sit down with the book. My name appears, with the other authors, on the back cover. (Good luck finding my name on the back cover, as for some reason they used my maiden name, although inside the book my name is correct) I’ve anticipated it so long, seeing it in print is thrilling. Actually witnessing the fruit of your labor is pretty exciting.

From the reaction I received today, I don’t suppose it will be a best seller! I was so happy when I arrived at church and the books were there. I tried to share with folks and show the book to people. No one cared at all. I couldn’t even get a warm enough reaction from people to even glance at the cover. That was a great disappointment. I guess I am too sensitive, but I was so happy, and no one seemed to care at all about what a big achievement this was for me.  I know people who don’t write, can’t realize what it means to see what you have written in print, but I would have hoped that some one might have shared just a little in my joy. I guess the 20 copies I received will languish away on a shelf somewhere, except for a couple of copies I’ll give to friends. I hope that the book will be a blessing to someone somewhere. Just not in my little corner of the world.

Despite that disappointment, I can’t help but want to do a little happy dance that my work was published. Dance with me…

Loosening UP

One of the criticisms of the method used by Betty Edward (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain) is that you don’t really learn to draw. You learn to copy. You learn to be a realist. Frankly,that’s what most people want. That is to say, they want to draw objects like they really are. It is a vital and important skill for all artists. It is really cool to be up and drawing stuff in just a couple of weeks with her course. I must say, however, the criticism is legitimate in terms of being able to really create. To have a style. To be able to draw what is in your mind, not just what you see.

To that end, I have acquired a couple of books that work on just that. Learning to be free. To let loose the creativity and make art your own. Being to to develop your own style of interpretation of what you see (in life or in your mind) I confess I don’t know how to just let loose and draw or paint. There is always some tension there, that what I have done isn’t “mine”, isn’t what I really want it to be. So I’ll be doing some abstract exercises and probably some goofy drawings (as in with your eyes closed). I did a watercolor bloom last night and it was fun. I just sort of dropped paint around on my wet page of my notebook. The paint just spread where it wanted, as it wanted and I was free to watch.

No great metaphors here, because I have no desire to just let my life “happen” like that. I don’t believe in such randomness. However, in art, there can be some lovely happy accidents. As I find these, I’ll share some of the happier ones with you. So let’s just loosen up and enjoy the art.

Cornerstone Worship Service

Saturday we had an interesting worship service at our church’s congregation. The congregation, called “Bread and the Word” is up on the “hill” behind the church. (These days they don’t much use the word “favela” anymore, but instead the word “community”). This service was to officially inaugurate the construction of their church building. It will be hard for my American and Canadian friends relate to the construction process in a “community”, but let’s just say it’s a challenge. They were meeting in a house which you can actually see if you look straight up (as I was doing) at the photo on the upper left. The pastor’s office is the open window. We have been able to buy a couple of houses and knock them down to build a 3 story building. It will be used for a worship center, classrooms and offices as well. The congregation is used not only for worship services, but many social programs as well. The pastor (you can see him in the photo to the left) was a raised in a community himself so he can really relate to people to whom he ministers. It is not an easy ministry, as the building is pock marked with bullet holes. There is one right in the pulpit of the church. When we arrived for the open air worship service, there were a couple of guys sitting across the street with AR-15 on their laps. Always interesting! The neat thing is that they put away the rifles and turned off the funk music so we could proceed with the worship service.

As part of the service, João preached. In addition, a box of memorabilia was placed in a hole and then we all took turns covering the hole, which is what you see in the video. It was a uplifting and unique ceremony. There were so many people present that there were more folks on the outside than the inside. The whole experience was very interesting so I thought you might enjoy my sharing with you.

Tulips, English and holidays

Yesterday was another holiday here in Rio, if you can believe it. St. George’s Day, as in St. George and the Dragon. It’s not like it’s a day millions celebrate. Only the St. George devotees. I was hoping to enjoy it, but had to teach. Since I am teaching missionaries they want them to learn they can’t always celebrate their holiday Brazilian holidays in other countries. But why did I, the teacher, have to suffer along side them????

I didn’t mind, really, but in compensation, I wanted to enjoy our official day off, Friday. However, I had accepted a very small speaking engagement at the International Christian School here in Rio. It was at 8:30AM, which isn’t bad, except it’s an hour away. My poor sweet (and very patient) hubby had to get up early to drive me over. Me I still haven’t renewed my license and am dragging my feet as long as I can. Who really wants to drive in Rio? I enjoyed getting speak in English, and I usually accept those kind of engagements readily. It is so strange to speak to such a silent group, as the discipline is pretty strict at this school. I am more used to the loose anything goes manner of classes here in Brazil. It was the chapel service for the high school and I tried to keep it short and sweet (12 minutes is a record for me!). I talked about how the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a great illustration of Ecclesiastes (Meaningless, meaningless. It is like chasing the wind!). Then I contrasted that with the life of my great heroine, Charlotte Diggs Moon. (For my non Southern Baptist friends, she was a missionary to China from 1873-1912, and our only “almost canonized”  saint!) I think it actually worked as I ended by sharing Philippians 1:21 – “For me to live is Jesus Christ and to die is gain” .

Afterwards, we went to the large nearby mall (Barra Shopping), and enjoyed cappuccino and books! We came home with more books (our personal addiction). This afternoon, I finally finished up my watercolor tulips. You may remember that I did them in graphite (See my April 8th entry) and now have finished them in watercolors, with an acrylic paint background, as I just couldn’t get the watercolor dark enough for the contrast I wanted. Did I show you the original? It’s on the right! (A little humor there!) I still haven’t been able to create the luminosity I would like with watercolors, but in my defense the original is brighter than the picture of it.

That, then, was my Friday. I think I really need to accomplish something serious, so guess I’ll wash the breakfast dishes that are still in the sink. Have a great weekend.

Me, Reading the Wall Street Journal?

I know, the Wall Street Journal isn't exactly my style, but the article "How the E-Book Will Change the Way We Read and Write" really caught my eye. That's because it deals with the "Kindle" by Amazon.  I've been reading about the Kindle and recently saw the Oprah Winfrey program where she gives them away. (We are slow in Brazil to get her shows). I have never been sold on electronic books since I don't really care about reading anything longish on the computer screen. I always print it off. However, everything I read about the Kindle says it really does "work" as a book, with the plus of being able to carry around tons of books all at once. I realize it speaks to my "techie" nature, in that I love the new and innovative. I also know it speaks to the "materialistic" me as it cries out for me to spend $300+. I also realize it's usefulness would be less on Brazil than in the US, as its wireless capacity would not function here and I would have to download the books to my computer. Still I can't help a kind of vague "longing" to check it out. Is it as nice as they say? Do I really want to read books on a "machine"? Wouldn't I miss the smell of a new or old book (very distinctive) or the touch of the pages? Wouldn't I miss being able to flip through the pages anywhere? Wouldn't I miss being able to underline and make notes out to the side (I know you can do that electronically, but trust me I wouldn't)? Wouldn't I miss being able to share my favorite book with friends (I mean, I would loan out a $10 book, but not a $359 Kindle)? Would the kind of books I read even be available? I am not into "best-sellers" at all. 

Still, I am curious about the critter. Is it really the "wave" of the future, or is something "better"coming along? Do I jump on the boat at the beginning (like I did with the internet) or do I wait cautiously (like I did with mp3 players)? 

I think until I can see one, handle one, use one, I won't be getting one. Surely is tempting, however! What do you think?

Speaking of "media", I just couldn't resist embedding the following video about a Kindness Café. It's such a nice story that's it is well worth spreading. Check it out if you like inspirational stories!

A Virtual Sketchbook Attempt

Today is a holiday here in Brazil. Yipee! Therefore, I decided to do something I would enjoy, and since it was pouring down rain all day, I didn’t much want to venture outside. I had visited a website called “Virtual Sketchbook” and was fascinated by the idea. If you click on the link you’ll see what it is, but I’ll give you an idea of what it entails.

The concept of the blog is that every month a photo is submitted and anyone who wants can draw or paint part or all of the picture. Then the results are posted on Flicker and there is a link to each person’s blog who painted the picture. I loved looking at the photos. Then I thought, what the heck? Go for it. It’s not like I’m in the league with anyone else who has submitted their work, but it is a great exercise for me. So today I drew the part of the photo I liked and then painted it with acrylics on paper, since I can’t exactly afford to buy a canvas for all my exercises. It was great fun for a rainy day. It was a real first for me, since it was the first time I’ve tried to paint anything with acrylics all on my own. No step by step, or instructions on how to mix colors. This month I am off my art lessons, since I am busy teaching the class at the seminary. Can you believe that just one year ago I couldn’t draw a thing and now I am painting something that resembles something? I know it’s no great work of art, but it does show I have learned something in a year. The secret is to just keep working and learning, right? If you visit the Sketchbook site, you can see the original photograph and the links to other people’s drawings/paintings on their own blogs. If you just want to see the entire collection all at once, visit the Flicker page. The Flicker page, however, is only available to those who have a Flicker account.If you have a Yahoo account, then the sign in is the same as Yahoo. The entries all have to posted by Saturday, so if you really enjoy looking at them, you’ll want to return to the Flicker page and look at the new entries. Let’s hear it for teaching an old dog new tricks, right?

Guilty as Charged

When I first came to Brazil in 1983, I hated, no that’s just not strong enough, I despised coffee. I think the few times it ever entered my mouth I spewed it out. I courageously would sip slowly on a little cup when I visited folks in my first years in Brazil. I frankly didn’t even know how to make a cup, other than the instant stuff (and who says that is REAL coffee?).

Gradually, as the years passed, I learned to make a cup of coffee, Brazilian style, using a cloth filter. That is a a simple method that makes a decent cup of coffee if you don’t boil the water, just heat it to the right temp. I even got the point I would actually make a cup of coffee, now and then, for myself.

Fast forward some years to Canada, where I discovered that I only really liked Brazilian coffee! I also learned to roast and grind my own coffee. I discovered the use of a French press that makes a mild and mellow coffee and of the Italian coffee pot that makes a very strong cup of coffee. I also learned the art of making frapuccino, which is just cold coffee with milk that is shaken until foamy. The upshot of which was that I began drinking coffee regularly.

If anyone would accuse me of being addicted, I would always say that I just enjoy coffee. It’s a pleasure, but I can take it or leave. That was probably true until the last few years, since returning to Brazil. Here I have finally learned to drink my coffee with no sugar or sweetener, learning to really TASTE the  coffee. No flavors either. I will admit, I don’t much drink coffee outside my own home, since I am extremely picky. Today I decided not to make any coffee. Usually I make a small pot (about 3 very small cups) with milk and drink it while I study my Bible. Well it’s afternoon and I have a roaring headache and can’t keep my eyes open.  So I have just made myself one small cup of coffee and what a delicious treat that was. I am busted. I am really addicted. I am not really happy about that. So do I go cold turkey now, wait for vacation, or accept my addiction?

You SO Have to See This

In case you haven't seen this clip on TV, please watch it here. It is so incredible. I mean here is this ordinary looking 47 year old woman and out comes this voice, a la Paul Potts. I love everyone's reaction, proving once again you just can't judge someone by how they "look" to us. I guess everyone figured someone of her age wasn't entitled to dream. Her choice of song "I Dreamed a Dream" was just perfect in every sense. I just love that she is so "cheeky" to just get in there with kids and show them she too has a dream!  Watch and enjoy.

TRADITION!

As I have mentioned before, I do love the movie Fiddler on the Roof. There is a song called “Tradition” in which the importance of not changing traditions is celebrated, all the while the whole theme of the movie is about how things are changing. Oh the irony of it all.

While I like to tout that I am not a creature of tradition, open to change and not just a product of my culture, it just isn’t (at least entirely) so. Yesterday, as we celebrated Easter, I missed some of my childhood traditions. Happily that didn’t include stuff like Easter egg hunts and chocolate bunnies.

I remembered and missed the anticipation of SPRING – the warmer weather and the flowers and GREEN I always associated with Easter. I can remember freezing to death in my frilly little dress on a chilly, even snowy Easter, but no way I wasn’t wearing my pretty little dress, with patent leather shoes and my cute little hat (and even white gloves although they don’t appear to be in use in this photo). I missed wearing a totally new outfit that no one had ever seen before, as an expression of change/newness (and hopefully not just to show off my new clothes).

I missed the church being packed out and everyone joyful to be there, even “long-lost” families and members. I missed the anticipation of a special cantata or drama as a way of celebrating the joy of the event. I even missed the mournful singing of “Lo in the Grave he Lay”, bursting into the joyful refrain of “Up from the grave he arose!” I missed lots of Easter lillies and special flowers decorating the church, filling my eyes with their beauty to remind me of the beauty of the day.

I confess I even missed a big ham dinner marking the fact that we no longer live under the pact of the Old Testament laws, but are free, really free.

I know all the reasons that Easter is not much celebrated in the evangelical churches of Brazil, but even after all these years I miss the traditions. Tradition! Tradition, tradition.

Mildew and Saddleback

Over the past few days I have been reading some news stories that have disturbed me and I haven’t known exactly what to think. This morning, however, as I was reading Leviticus I had an unusual thought and I am going to try to share my opinion. It may not be correct. I hope it is not judgmental or in a critical spirit. You see, when someone in the evangelical midst becomes famous and succeeds beyond expectation, there are some who wish him “badly”, who root for his fall or failure.

That is not my case. I have respected Rick Warren’s work, even though I do not agree with his style. I wish him well in his desire to see God’s Kingdom grow, even if I am unsure about his methodology. When, however, I read this interview, I was disturbed. “Saddleback has baptized over 20,000 new believers. We are, without a doubt, the most evangelistic church in America. There are churches that are bigger than Saddleback, but there are no churches that reach more people for Christ than Saddleback. There are no churches that send as many people into the missions field. There's not a church that has sent 8,000 people into the missions field.” (If you want to read the entire interview it can be found at: Christianity Today).

I hope in my heart of hearts, this was not said out of pride, like it sounds. Often we are quoted out of context or when it is written, the words don’t sound the same as when spoken. As, however, I read more on the Saddleback site, I continued to be disturbed by the hype and promotion surrounding the baptisms and the motivation behind the “numbers” game. That bothers me a lot. It seems too much like pharisee’s words and attitudes as he called attention to his “spirituality”. Whatever the reason for the interview, it struck me as a kind of spiritual “mildew”. (See the church's blog for the hype I am referring to).

Ok, I’ll explain. As I read the regulations about the treatment for mildew in Leviticus, I realized how quickly mildew can spread and how important it is to destroy it before it destroys you. The same goes for skin diseases. It is important to separate the infected victim before his diseases spreads to others. In Leviticus, it says a house where mildew cannot be controlled must be torn down.

On the Saddleback site there is a comparison between the church and Pentecost trying to baptize so many at one time. (By the way they baptized 800, not the 3,000 they hoped for). There was a video calling folks to be baptized, because they would gain a picture of themselves with the pastor, a magazine, and in addition they could attend the discipleship class that Pr. Warren would be teaching for the 1st time in 10 years.

I see a problem with Saddleback, if all of this really does reflect pride and a banalization of true discipleship. I do wish Pastor Warren and his church well, and so I would call them to root out the mildew of pride and self-promotion. It’s not like they need to engage in some kind of mea-culpa, but I do think they need to do some serious house cleaning. Yes, they should continue to spread God’s Word to all corners, but do they really need a marketing department to publicize it? Is it important to be able to say that they have done as great a work as Pentecost in baptizing so many? João and I are committed to praying for Pr. Warren. I am sure many wish to see him fall, but we do not, but I am not sure so many are praying for his spiritual life. I pray his house is soon cleaned of all mildew and his life of all skin disease. Join with me in this prayer.

Loopdy Loop

Today I had another deep scale gum treatment and it was as pleasant as I remembered it from the last time (did you note my sarcasm there?). Last week I had smashed up my upper lip and nose on my marble dresser (and nothing was broken thankfully) in the middle of the night, so now I get to have pain in the top and bottom of my mouth. I took something for the pain and have slept some off and on and am feeling slightly loopy. I did, however, work some on my black and white tulip drawing and have pretty well decided to call it quits. I will have my prof take a look-see and correct anything she thinks is major. I like it a lot, but then the important thing is the composition and I stole that from a picture I found on the internet. I don’t know what I did before the internet when I needed to research things.

Speaking of pictures and research, I recently ordered about nine new books from Amazon.com (yeah internet again!) to take on vacation. Yip, the month of May is arriving and around the 20th or so our vacation starts. We are planning on vacationing in Curitiba, about 12 hours south of here. The photo to the left is of the cystal palace in Curitiba. It's a greenhouse. We both have always liked the city and as we begin to think of retiring, we want to explore places where we might like to live. Definitely not Rio de Janeiro! Too many people, too much traffic, too much crime, too much heat and not enough quality of life. Through friends we have found a nice house just outside of Curitiba, where we can read and write and I can paint to my heart’s content. There will be a lot of churches we can visit and even friends to see. Fun, fun, fun vacation is coming!!! I love having some time with my husband just for “me” and being able to just be quiet. I know that’s not most people’s idea of fun, but it is for us.

Well I hope I made sense and tomorrow I don’t have to edit out this entry. Have a good night and I hope tomorrow I can open my mouth and talk and most importantly eat again.

Just for fun

I am going to assume that you, my readers, are, for the most part, not under the age of 20, so perhaps you haven't seen this YouTube Video. The guy in it is just hysterical in his use of "beatboxing". My kids in Canada did beat boxing with such talent. It is making percussions sounds with your mouth or voice. It's surprisingly hard. Anyway, take a break and have a laugh while you watch this video. Just couldn't resist sharing it with you.

Just Stuff

First of all Mia says she wants to say something so here goes her “say-so”:

See how tired I be? I have to be workin’ hard to take care of Mommy while Daddy is away. Is really tiring. I have to sleep on Daddy’s side of the bed so Mommy doesn’t miss him so much. BIG SACRIFICE for me. But I do it for love. I be so glad he come home early tonight instead of tomorrow morning. I think he do it ‘cause he miss me SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much.

So as you read from her, João has been away for a couple of days preaching in Espírito Santo. He left on Friday and is due in this evening. I have missed him, but Mia kept me good company. She has really “stuck” to my side. In addition she has had several litter box accidents, so I suspect that although she is very much my cat she has missed João as much as I have.

Sunday morning I preached at our church, for the first time since we have been here. I preached at the church many many years ago, but I don’t think most folks would remember that. Our church is a challenging church for preachers, as not only are our members demanding (and not afraid to criticize or tell you exactly what they think about your message or the way you delivered it), but we also have a huge radio and internet audience. Makes even the most experienced of pastors shiver in their boots. I worked really hard on my message content and practiced a lot, trying to keep the time down, as I tend to like to preach about 45 minutes. I felt like it was pretty simple and maybe not enough content, but since we also had the Lord’s supper, I didn’t want the service to go on forever. Anyway I did manage to keep it down to about 15 minutes (a small miracle for me) and people were nice enough to tell me they liked it (and those who didn’t were nice enough to keep quiet). The funny thing was how surprised everyone was. Being at this church has been a good experience for me as I have learned about being less instead of more, meaning I have been no “shining” star and in the background as much as possible. So when I do something, like teach or preach it is always a surprise to the members that I can! I know so many were praying because I was so at ease. I do love to preach/teach, although I  wouldn’t want to preach twice every Sunday. I am thoroughly enjoying my Bible study group in English on Sunday morning. I have a pretty steady group of 7, but sometimes there are 10 or so. I have a couple of more people who tell me they are going to attend soon.

I am also enjoying my storytelling/oral culture class with missionaries. Last week I told a relatively obscure Bible story 3 times and then they had to retell it then retell again from another point of view. Suddenly they were very into the story and its meaning and we all realized how very effective story telling can be. I intend to do more of that. Sunday night during the children’s message, I told a story from my childhood and you should have seen how the kids had their ears glued to every word. I just have to get better at my expression and work harder at being “good” , not just natural at story telling.

Speaking of stories, I saw an HBO movie this week called “Taking Chance”. You won’t see me do this often, but I highly recommend that you find a way to see this. It is one of the best and most moving stories I have seen in just forever. Whatever you think about the war in Iraq, this story will move you. It is about honor and dignity and caring about life. Now you will cry probably, but they are “redeeming” tears. Do yourself a favor, find it and see it because no matter what you politics, you will be a richer person for having seen this.

So that is my this, that and the other for today.

No April’s Fool

The repercussions from last year were not positive, so this year there will be no April Fool’s joke. I am just finally getting around to adding something to my blog. I have been busy and tired, plus my tendonitis kicked in on my right hand, so I just haven’t felt like writing. I broke down and bought a keyboard and mouse for my laptop and within days I can report that my pain in my hand is gone. I am impressed. I am still not back to drawing, however, but today may be the day, if I can find a couple of hours. I haven’t even gone to class lately, so that lets you know a generalized lethargy has set in. But I am glad we are back and can share a virtual cup of coffee. (By the way, isn’t that a great looking cup of coffee I had with some friends? I just couldn’t resist taking a cell phone photo. It tasted as good as it looked).

One of our big events recently as been shopping for a wedding dress. Although we took lots of photos, you’ll see none here, as that is not MY story to tell. But it has been fun. The selection has been made and the dress ordered. Since it comes from Spain, it will take 6 months and I will pick it up in the US to save more than half the price. That was very much a “girl” event. “No boys allowed”.

I have begun teaching my oral cultures class for the missionary “radicals”. These young people go and live among the culture in places where there are no Christians, in a radical lifestyle to reach the unreached. I have had two classes and tomorrow I begin to really work on the practical part of learning to tell the Bible stories, not analyze/preach. They seem a pretty agreeable group, but still I hope to see more fire from them.

On the art scene, I have been watching the most interesting BBC documentaries on the private lives of masterpieces. I am just mesmerized. It is just so fascinating. If you ever get to see these documentaries, don’t miss them. I am showing you a couple of my current projects, that I hope to get back to and even finish. The Green Lady is in colored pencil and has oh so many details, but is actually fun to work on. It’s a picture my sister asked me to do. I am still struggling to master colored pencils. They are a slow, exacting and unforgiving medium. I have also returned to graphite (pencil) and am working on these tulips, as a part of a series. I am planning to also do two other versions of the tulips. Probably water color and pastel, perhaps acrylic and frame them all together. I have been working quite some time on the graphite version, but it will serve as my study for the others, so it is time well spent.

This weekend, João is leaving me to preach about 10 hours north of here, back in Espírito Santo (Colatina). I was also invited to go, but just couldn’t find the energy or will to travel that far especially by car, although now he is planning on going by bus. I don’t like travelling and my LEAST favorite mode is by car. I would enjoy accompanying him, but I still prefer to stay in my little corner of the world. I was going to attend a conference later this month for pastor’s wives, but also opted out of that as I hated the prospect of bus trip – and having to make a transfer and move about in unknown territory. I am getting old and fearful I suppose. I am certainly not adventuresome anymore. This Sunday morning I will be preaching, for the first time, in our church, so I am studying hard for that. It’s a great responsibility.

So there you have it. A couple of weeks wrapped up in a couple of paragraphs. It’s nice that things are fairly calm and I plan on keeping them that way!