Fur Balls, a Harp, Easter, Esther and a Flood

I think about adding entries to my blog frequently, but then life gets in the way and it just doesn’t happen. Easter Sunday night I had to leave church suddenly as I was sick as I looked somewhat like a cat getting rid of a fur ball. It took a while to be relieved of my fur ball! I was extremely grateful to the wonderful church administrator who missed a good part of evening worship to bring me home and risked having his brand new car being baptized with human fur balls (but I managed to hold on until stepping into my own kitchen). I wasn’t really sick or anything and after Sunday evening, it was just a matter of getting back on real food again. Whatever it was, I am glad it left as quickly as it came. Consequently, that little monkey wrench, put me a day behind in everything, as I spent Monday recuperating.

In addition, my magazine editor wrote reminding me the third study on the book of Esther was due. ARGH! I had forgotten. I am publishing four Bible studies on the life of Esther for our women’s magazine. Studies one, two and four are basically written, as they are based on messages I shared at a conference last year. Number three is not. So I have had to stop everything else and work on that. I finally have it outlined and will finish today. The first study was “In the Spa with God”, the second was “I Am Jesus’ Flower” and the last is “Purim Parade” (to give you a loose translation). The response has been amazing. I have been writing articles and Bible studies for years for “Visão Missionária” (try 20 years or more), but I have never had so much positive feedback. Charles Swindoll inspired me for the third study I am writing and it is about God’s Surprising Sovereignty.

You may be wondering about the title for this entry… or perhaps not. At any rate, I want to mention the “harp” part. Our music ministry has monthly concerts for the community. Last Thursday it was a harp concert. The harpist was accompanied by a violist and a flautist, in both duets and trios. I love the harp. Who doesn’t? (Well I can’t imagine my nephew the rock band guitarist liking a harp, but who knows? Hey, sis, ask him what he thinks of harps!) The real show, however, was the violist. He put so much emotion and feeling into his music. The harpist was Scottish and reserved. The violist was a passionate Brazilian. She was technically great and loved watching her. He, however, made music and I loved hearing him. I want to live my life for Christ in the duet of the both of them. Passionately in love with Christ and doctrinally prepared to love Him as He really is! What a treat these concerts are for my ears and my heart.

Easter was a treat. Here in Brazil it isn’t much celebrated in evangelical churches and I have always missed that. This year, our celebration was terrific. We began celebrating Jesus’ resurrection with the baptism of 12 believers who symbolically reenacted the resurrection through their baptism. That was followed by the Lord’s Supper in which we recalled Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. The choir sang a portion of the Messiah (an Easter piece) and the sermon that ended with the refrain “It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming”, led us to rejoice in the victory over death and sin. No chocolates, but pure joy!

Monday, after Easter, the city of Rio paid the price for our extremely hot and humid summer we have experienced. Two cold fronts double headed the heat that built up over these last few months and we had the worst rainfall of the last 40 years. The city that is fragile at best, showed the results of a poor sewage system, precarious construction on shacks on rocks barely covered by earth, and an accumulation of litter and dirt on the streets. In other words, the city flooded. Unfortunately the rains didn’t stop, continuing on Tuesday all day, and off and on Wednesday and even as I write we are having scattered showers. Monday night João was trapped at church, but was able to leave his car there and take the subway home at 11:30PM. Tuesday the city shut down. I’ve never seen anything like it. You couldn’t get anywhere. We began to have mudslides. There are thousands of people homeless (and I mean tens of thousands) and over 100 deaths. It is sad and depressing. It just shows, again, that you just can’t keep go on doing whatever you want (read: government officials robbing money meant for caring for the city; people invading mountains to build homes in areas of risk; citizens throwing their trash wherever they want, etc.) and not pay a price. The Bible tells us that the salary for sin is death. Rio has received her full wage this week.