Senior’s Retreat

OK, so what is the flower at the left? Do you recognize it? It was a big surprise when we arrived from our four day trip to find this flower on our kitchen cabinet. Does that give you a clue? Try another view. OK, it was blossoming on a plant that we bought to make tea because it lowers cholesterol. Still no guess? Well okay I’ll tell you. It’s an artichoke. Isn’t this wild?  I didn’t even know artichokes flowered, much less that one would flower after we brought it home. Still, it’s a beautiful flower, isn’t it? Really cool, I thought.

We were travelling because we were both conference leaders for a senior citizen spiritual retreat. There were about 360 seniors present, including João’s parents.  João spoke 3 times, I spoke once and also led a seminar. João’s messages were about joy in the Lord and were so very uplifting.  I shared about having good self-esteem as a result of obedience and submission to God, serving Him with joy even as you age.

Everyone was very responsive to the messages and we made a lot of new friends. I think we will getting a few more invitations for speaking engagements for senior events.

We did have some free time, but I had to finish speaking preparations since my message disappeared off my computer. Weird, but also when I got there my power point presentation had lost a couple of slide. I plan on making a really good virus check on my computer. We did enjoy swimming in the indoor heated pool, as well as doing a lot of “chatting” and visiting.

On the last day, João was honored since it was his 5th anniversary as pastor of First Church. It was such a cute skit with little sheep running all over the place and the guy playing João chasing after them.

It was a busy time and we are glad to be home, that’s for sure. I am definitely getting older, as I don’t enjoy being gone from my own home.

Semi Failure

I gave it the college try, in making bread according to a recipe for the slow cooker. It was an interesting recipe and sounded fairly easy. Here’s the recipe.

1 tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk or buttermilk
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 whole egg
1/4 cup millet
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

Maybe as you look at it, YOU can figure out to improve  the recipe. I figured that the slow cooker would be similar to a bread maker. So off I went. First I had to grind the flax seeds. (Photo to to the left). Now maybe I went wrong in that I substituted the millet for barley. Actually I ground the barley and made my own barley flour.  (Photo to the right.)

After mixing, I put it in the crock pot, as the recipe suggested. It said the bread would rise in the cooker. At about the half way mark, I turned the bread over so it would brown evenly. As you can see, it did rise.

And it did brown.

The problem is that it was just too dense for my taste. And the crust was hard. Itt was probably overcooked. Yet in the very middle it was still “doughy”.  

It is edible. My husband came back for seconds. And admittedly it’s a very filling kind of bread. But it’s just not right. Should I have kneaded it? Should I have let it rise? Put in more white flour?  (In fact I did substitute one cup of whole wheat flour for one cup of white flour so it would have more gluten.) Turn down the heat? Cook it for less time? Give up on bread making? Get a bread maker?  Keep trying to get it right? I don’t know!

Born to Serve or to Be Served

Saturday morning I woke very early with a headache. One of those headaches that can last for days. They seem to be weather related. It was oppressively hot and sure enough when the HUGE rainstorm hit on Sunday evening, the headache went away as if by magic. Since these headaches seem to be related to the air pressure, there isn’t much I can do about them, except try not to move too fast, take  showers (there is a limit to how many showers the body can take in one day), keep a cold compress on my forehead, or just go back to bed.
I chose to go back to bed and try to sleep off some of the discomfort. Since Mia was crying for me and had already heard my voice, I knew there would be no peace until I let her into my bedroom. She jumped up on my bed, and for a few moments I had hopes she would turn out to be my “nurse” cat.
My cat Baby, was a fabulous nurse. Anytime  anyone was sick and quietly in bed, he would gently and softly creep up and lie beside you with one paw on you, or even lie on you softly purring. Even people he disliked would get this treatment. It was amazing how he knew when we were sick.
Sadik also had this gift, at least with me. When I didn’t feel well and would be in bed, he would stay quietly right beside me. He didn’t bother me and his purring and company always helped me to feel better.
So you can see I had precedence for hoping that Mia would also make a good nurse cat like Baby and Sadik. Well, as my headline says, some are born to serve and others to be served.
She promptly jumped up on my chest and laid there purring. Ah-ha I thought. See, she really does care about me. Until she started kneading me with her needle sharp claws. I managed to get her stopped and then she began patting my mouth with her paws. Why? Who knows. I turned over on my side and she cuddled up against me. Ah… comfort at last. As she purred I went off to sleep. Obviously as I relaxed I quit petting her. That did not meet with her approval. She began meowing with her rusty hinge, ear-splitting meows. I petted her (thus, she gets served, not me). I relaxed and rested. She jumps over my semi-dead body and runs to the door. She stands expectantly and when I don’t jump to her bidding fast enough, she starts her caterwauling again.
I give up, get up and let her out. Of course once the door is shut, you know what happens. Mia is ALWAYS on the wrong side of the door. I put the pillow over my ears and put my dreams of a nurse cat to sleep. When I got up and short time later, there was Mia on the couch. Doing what? Sleeping quietly. Go figure.
I really get the Simon’s cat cartoons because of this. I think this one is my very favorite

Homemade bread and chicken soup

Ah, did you step in for a bite to eat? You’re welcome at my table anytime. Don’t promise anything fancy, but it will be healthy! (By the way, that’s creamed ricotta cheese that I put on my bread – not butter!)

This deceptively “simple”  lunch took more effort than it would seem. It’s no open a can or package meal, that’s for sure. I cooked, yesterday all the chicken bones and broth with the rice and vegetables for 8 hours to make the chicken and rice soup, that I only had to heat up today, adding in some scraps of meat, of course.

I spent several hours in the morning making the bread. It is oatmeal and flaxseed with whole wheat. It’s nice since it uses no oil or eggs and just enough honey to “feed” the yeast. I am frustrated on the bread score, because it never bakes quite right, since my oven is horrible. It never gets hot enough to really make it soft and done on the inside with a crunchy crust on the outside. Short of spend a couple thousand on a new oven, I can only think that my solution is to consider getting a bread machine, but I won’t rush it. I am going to try the bread in a slow cooker and see how that works out. I just don’t think the slow cooker will make a nice crust and that’s the best part!  A really big disappointment has been that my processor has a dough hook that is totally useless. It gets gummed up and stops running. I may try the other attachment and see if it works.

I also made green juice. Been on that kick for a couple of weeks now. Today it was spinach and carrot and apple and cucumber. João thought it was kind of bitter, but I didn’t think so. I find the kale or lettuce much more bitter. I’m a picky eater and I have grown to love this juice. I just really hate cleaning all the vegetables and then hate even more scrubbing the juicer.

Whether it’s from the juice or some other cause, I’ve lost weight lately, which is odd since I’ve stopped exercising to give my back a chance to heal. My back has quit hurting, so I could go back to exercise, but I have to work up my nerve to do so. Maybe I’ve been losing muscle mass. Trust me, I never just lose weight for no reason!  But then who is complaining?

Today is a holiday here, but I am doing some studying for my messages at the conference for senior citizens next week. João is the main speaker, but guess so I could come along, they asked me to give one message and do one workshop. I also hope to do a little painting. It’s definitely a nice day for a holiday.

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

Time for some culture here…

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils

---William Wordsworth

OK, guys you weren’t a lot of help on choosing my next art project .  Although I agree with the one person who suggested the daffodils in front of the window, I ended up using the single daffodil. This was for a very practical reason. I already had a printed copy of this picture, and my printer ran out of ink when I tried to print the other. It’s kind of hard for me to paint when I don’t have a reference photo in front of me. I spent my art class today working on a black and white reference drawing. I made a number of mistakes, but definitely learned a lot about the picture. The black and white drawing took a long time, much longer than I had anticipated, so I wasn’t able to do much with the color painting. In fact I was only able to determine the colors I will use, as well as put down my first layer of color.

As I always tell people, while a graphite drawing actually looks pretty good at any stage, as does a pastel drawing, watercolors have very ugly stages. They stay that way a while while you apply the various “glazes” (light transparent coatings of colors).  This particular painting is a wonderful example of working with negative space. That is to say, I didn’t paint in the stem and leaves, but did the dark background, and the actual picture emerged out of the background. The same happened with the center of the flower. I painted in the blue and yellow and there is the center stem. It’s a fascinating process.

It’s been interesting to watch my fellow students, some of whom are just beginning watercolors and I see how much they are struggling and I realize how far I’ve come and how much I’ve learned. Every drawing and painting I do is giving me more confidence. It’s nice to feel like I am really beginning to get the hang of it. I mostly use my teacher as a resource person, to help me choose colors and add details and see where I have made mistakes. But in essence I choose what I want to do and how to go about doing it. I work better that way. I am very much an independent learner.

So what have you been learning lately? I hope something fun and interesting. I am seriously thinking about what I will work on learning next.

Moldavia

Quick, tell me three things you know about Moldavia. Outside the fact that it is part of the former USSR, do you know anything else? I confess I didn’t, but as of yesterday I can tell you a lot of things about the country. I even have a new friend from there! She is the President of the Women’s Department and lives in the capital of Moldavia.
It was a wonderful yesterday to meet and get to know both our missionary in Romania, and the Moldavian women’s leader. I suppose as you look at the photo you can figure out which one is which! She is here in Brazil to learn more about women’s work and visited our church to see our work with children and women.
It was so exciting to learn about life and work in Moldavia. I had no idea how hard life was there, in perhaps the poorest country in Europe. As I also had no idea how hard it is to be a woman there, at least by our standards. For instance, it was not possible for our missionary to invite her to study in Brazil. She had to speak to the man who leads the Baptists, who then communicated the invitation to her.
I was amazed at how well she has adapted in Brazilian culture, in just one week. She will only be here for 2 weeks, and most people wouldn’t bother. She is so soft spoken (as befits her culture) and quiet and retiring, and yet she hugged and kissed and didn’t flinch at the loud and simultaneous conversations taking place. She also commented that in Moldavia the women (I think she was referring to Christians) did not wear makeup or jewelry and revealing clothes, and at church wore a head covering.
I was most touched by her sharing about the suffering of her people. She comes from a Baptist family that has suffered generations of persecution.  I was struck by how easy life has been for us. I was convicted at how I have not held up my sisters who suffer in prayer.
It was a wonderful night for me and I was blessed. I was truly greeted by one of the saints in Christ Jesus.

Saturday

Since I finished by Bible Study for Sunday ahead of schedule (I’m usually a little frantic by Saturday afternoon), I had time for some different kind of things today. Early on, I asked João to take me to the organic market today. I was pleased to find the market and buy a couple of things, most especially apples. Honestly, I was disappointed that there wasn’t more selection. I also found the layout and display rather “down”. I like for food shopping to be a visual experience. But everything was dirty and in old wooden boxes and just kind of ugly and depressing. I always loved grocery shopping in Ottawa because of the nice grocery store near my house. I miss Loblaws. Nevertheless, I have to admit this market did do the job in terms of vegetables. I even got some organic yogurt. I really wish I could get organic milk somewhere, but they only had goat milk. YUK!
I was also able to finish my daffodil watercolor. I was very happy with the results. Now I am already thinking of my next daffodil. What is the deal? I don’t know, but maybe it’s that I’m missing spring. I’m  having a hard time deciding which daffodil I want to do. It’s between these three options. I’m definitely leaning toward the one with the window. I just love the colors. The cat is cute, but black is just terrible for watercolor. I think that would work better in pastels or acrylics.  What do you think?
I’ve also been artistic in the kitchen today. I’ve spent a lot of time in the kitchen. I made an organic lunch with stuff I bought at the market. In addition, I pre-prepared tomorrow’s lunch. I can’t wait to eat the barley, which I have always loved and haven’t eaten it in a blue moon. As I write this I am working in the kitchen, waiting for my bread to be ready. I am baking “real” yeast bread. I have always made quick breads, but today I want to see if I could make the real thing. I didn’t chose an easy recipe, that’s for sure. It’s a quinoa bread, and I had to cook the quinoa, and also the oats. I used whole wheat as well. Since I have no idea what bread flour would be called here, or if you can buy it, I just used regular flour. The dough rose nicely. Now I just have to figure out how to know when it’s done, since my oven is like totally and completely unreliable. It certainly smells good. In about 10 more minutes I’m going to stick a thermometer in it to see if it’s done.  So I’ll wait to post this when I finish the bread and let you know how it turns out.  OK, here we go. It seems to have reached 200 degrees and so I’ve taken it out of the oven and will wait another 15 minutes for it to cool, but it looks good and sounds right (sounds hollow). Can’t wait to have it for breakfast tomorrow morning. Oops... didn't wait. João and I sliced the bread and each ate a slice. It was good.

Old Dog Learning New Tricks

As I posted on Facebook, the day in which I really need to learn how to work with Photoshop has arrived. I need it for many things, not the least of which is to restore old photos. I look at the program and I am totally lost. I have books, I’ve looked at demos, but it’s all so complicated and so foreign to what I am used to that I give up in frustration.

Nevertheless, I’ve decided to give it the old country try again. And not just do exercises or try to do a few things, but really read the books and figure how the basics of the program. I think my frustration has been trying to do a few “tricks” and getting lost since I have no idea what to do with layers and how to overlay and work with masks and filters. So it’s time to buckle down and stop playing and study.  If I just follow a tutorial, I don’t really understand what I am doing and I am limited to following that tutorial every time, since I don’t know what I really did.

I think my sister’s suggestion of reading Photoshop for Dummies the best idea. I’ve started working through it and some things are beginning to make sense, starting with the names of the tools that are used.

Now why are there three copies of the same photo? Well it’s an old photo from around 1961 with faded colored and very blurry. The original scan and the improvements I tried to make on Picasa are the top photo. Then I worked on it in Photoshop with my very limited understanding (abandoning the idea of layers that up till now still escape my comprehension). I like the two versions I did. One is sharper and brighter, and the other more blurry. Which improved version do you prefer?

This is a very good discipline for me to have to learn something that is way out of my comfort zone. I hope eventually to buy a good DSLR and learn to take good photos of flowers, as well as portraits of dogs and cats so that I can have something to work with on painting. Gotta keep this old brain active so as not to lose my gray matter.

Speaking of gray matter, I am currently working on memorizing the Sermon on the Mount in Portuguese. Now that’s a challenge for me!

Rotten Bones versus a Peaceful Heart

As I was reading in Proverbs the other day, I underlined Proverbs 14:30 and wrote out to the side: “Blog this”. Now, frankly I don’t remember why I thought that verse stood out more than any other of the Proverbs, but it is rich in thought and content. Consequently I am going to blog about it.

To save you the trouble of opening your Bible, I’ll write it out, as found in the Amplified Bible (which in this case is an excellent translation): “A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones.”   Just as a bonus I give you the more traditional NIV: A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
OK, got it? I don’t need to say anything more do I? Probably not, but can’t resist the temptation to use some more words. Sometimes I feel like when I read a verse it makes about as much sense as the “word cloud” to the right of this paragraph. I love word clouds, as they take a group of words and simply arrange them artistically. Nice design, but where’s the sense?

So let’s look at the words and understand that when it says a heart at peace, it’s not referring to an absence of conflict. It’s talking about wholeness, about health. Typically this word is used when God “restores” his people after a time of sin and punishment.  So the peace is a right relationship with God. And heart is not our emotional life, but rather our very being, our inner man. It is that which makes us, us – our will, our mind, our appetites, our emotions. So the verse is saying that when we are totally focused on God, when our relationship to him is at the very center of our being, then…

Then what?  Well, then we will have LIFE.  Then we will be fully alive. We will be whole. On the other hand, if we are “off-center”, then what’s going on with us?

What’s going on is that our passions (envy, jealousy, rivalry, our desires and ambitions) will take over. And those things will NOT give us life. In fact, they “rot” our bones. By rotting our bones, he simply means that it spoils us, ruins us, makes us sick, eats away at us. You don’t need a doctor to tell you, that those who are dominated by their own desires (eat too much, drink too much, exercises too much,worries too much, stresses too much, works too much. etc.), are out of control and the body pays a high price.

Yeah, Paul was right. We must learn to make Christ the focus of our lives. Then we learn, like Paul did, the secret of “being content in any and every circumstance.” (paraphrase of Philippians 4:12).   Nice touch being able to relate Proverbs to Philippians, don’t you think?

Here’s to healthy bones and peaceful hearts!

Enjoying the Process

As I mentioned on Saturday, I am now showing what I  did in my art class today. It looks like I did a lot in just three hours, doesn’t it? It does to me, anyway. Although the truth be told, a watercolor like this (without too many details or colors) tends to go more quickly.
On the other hand, it was not like I just sat down today and started to paint. Before I began  studying art, I had no idea of all that was involved in producing a painting.
I began the process in looking for something I wanted to paint. That is fun and interesting. The next step is to study the painting and do a sketch. After I did the sketch, then I was ready to transfer that to the watercolor paper. Watercolor paper is delicate and can’t take erasures, so the “dirty secret” is that I use graphite paper to “transfer” my design to the watercolor paper. But even doing that, I go over the drawing with light pencil markings and correcting the drawing.
Then I have to choose which paints I will use. Because blue tends to be a high coverage color, I had to chose carefully to find a transparent blue. I only recently have come to understand that not all watercolors are created equally. Some are opaque and other transparent. So it was a matter of testing my paints and finding the more transparent blue. I was able to find a cobalt blue and mix it with a neutral gray and it turned out perfectly. The yellow was another problem, as I only had one transparent yellow and as it turns out, way too lemony in color. So I am working on adding some transparent red on top to “warm” up the yellow.
So you can see I spent some 5-6 hours getting “ready” to paint.  I am not the most patient person in the world so this requires a lot out of me to work slowly and methodically. But the results are so worth it. I will probably finish the painting in another sessions of 3-5 hours. That will be a quick painting for me. It’s hard to believe how much I have learned over the last three years. And just to remind you, here is one of my first drawings.
I just discovered this quote, after making my post, and I thought it so apropos. It is by James Ellis (whoever he is)"The mind paints before the brush."

Water for Elephants

     Over the last few days, I have been reading the book "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. With some exceptions (I do not accept the adultery as a wonderful love story - hope that's not a spoiler...), I enjoyed the book. I was quickly fascinated with the story and I wanted to read more. It is well written (at least at lot more readable than most popular books) and the whole plot line very well done (which is really something for a New York Times Bestseller, which I usually find kind trashy or over my head). It's a totally fictional kind of "memoir" with a 93 (or 90, since he can't remember) old man remembering his time working for a circus.
     One particular part of the book really set me to thinking. The main character, Jacob, who is a nursing home, looks in the mirror and tries to "see beyond the sagging flesh", and he claims: "It's no good....I can't find myself anymore. When did I stop being me? "  (p. 111).
     I am currently preparing to speak about self-esteem for weekend retreat for seniors. I am right on the cusp of being considered a senior myself. Not so much when I look in the mirror, but definitely when I see a picture of myself, I don't really see "me" anymore. Gravity has begun to take a toll and things are moving downward. So I know my body is changing. But I just can't accept that my body is me. It's the house where I live and so of course it's important. Short of mutilating my body with surgeries and chemicals, I can't much change the process of aging, so what real difference does it make what it looks like? I don't lose me in wrinkles and sags. I only lose " me" , if I am defined by what I look like. Now I know my culture wants me to do that so I buy more stuff so I look younger. But what in the world has made us think that it's all that good being young?
     Do people who want to " look"  young remember all the anguish we suffered when we were 20, 25, or 30? All those years made me who I am now, but no thanks to turning the clock back. I am happy with who I have become, and I am not through becoming me either. I like what I have learned about the world and about God and about me. If aches and pains and wrinkles are the price to pay, so be it.
    For years I carried the banner of the value of children. I guess it's time to change my colors and my design and carry a new flag. I want to tell the world that it's okay to grow weaker physically. I am not defined by what I can do. It's okay to have white hair and wrinkles, I do not lose me when my body changes. When David proclaimed he was " fearfully and wonderfully made" ,  it is not just for the Gisele Bundchen's of this world, it's for all of us. And the truth be told, my real me is as Paul proclaimed "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galations 2:20), and the longer I live, hopefully the closer I arrive at that goal. So long live growing old and becoming the true ME. 

Daffodils

OK, I admit it, I’m on a daffodil kick. First tulips and cats and now daffodils. What can I say?  After finishing my last daffodil painting, I found a picture of a single large daffodil in a blue and white pitcher and I just fell in love with it. I have to really like a picture to want to paint it, for painting or drawing has to express a certain passion.
Following what my fellow students are doing, I first did a black and white sketch of the picture. What is the purpose of that? To work out issues in the design and also learn to see the “values”, which means the lightness and darkness of the design. So I did a sketch in (where else?) my sketch book. I worked on it while waiting for the dentist and also as I watched a video last night. Since it was basically a “throw away” project (that means it was only a “study” and not a complete work), I decided to try out some carbon pencils I bought a while back. They are slightly unforgiving, in that they are hard to erase, so that was good practice for preparing for a watercolor (you can’t really erase watercolors either, so a mistake is forever with them). I like how quickly they apply and yet are much less messy than charcoal (that I decidedly do not like).
I am not going to show you the colored picture I worked from. You will just have to wait until I start the water color at my next class on Tuesday. But it is such a gorgeous contrast between a very “dead” or muted blue and the lemony yellow that the whole picture just pops with life. I can’t wait to get started.  My teacher says blue is the hardest color to work with to get the transparency right, so this will be a big challenge. That’s part of the reason why I wanted to work about the design and value issues before starting the painting. I just constantly have to learn that you cannot skip steps, skip the hard parts in order to get to the good parts. You cannot hurry success. So let’s just wait and see what happens with this picture okay?

Believe it or not!

We seem to be back to being healthy these days. João is feeling like his old self, except for the fact that he has  given up chimarrão, so as not to take in so much caffeine. All his exams look good except for his fat levels in his blood.  My mouth flew open when I saw his results and I was glad we had the tests run. Although the tests were good news in knowing he has nothing wrong with him to cause the nose bleeds (probably the result of dry air or allergies), I was so glad he had them since they revealed this problem. I don’t know anyone who has a healthier lifestyle than he does. He exercises, doesn’t eat red meat, avoids all sugar and eats lots of grains and vegetables. So how does he have a problem with cholesterol and triglycerides? I mean, look at me and you expect a problem, but my numbers are better than his. We can only figure it’s in the DNA, as his mom has high numbers as well.

So now we’ve on to redouble our efforts to eat right. That means quinoa for breakfast (he’s suddenly fallen in love with the stuff) with homemade yogurt (low fat of course!).  Later in the morning I make a “green juice” for our “snack”.  The quinoa is virtually no work, but the juice involves going to the market to get fresh ingredients, cleaning and then extracting and finally the dreaded task of cleaning the extractor. I’ve been using spinach and cilantro and eggplant and carrots and apples, beets, etc. for the juice.  It actually tastes pretty good, if you can get over the concept of it being green! I find if I strain it and put in ice cubes it’s better for me since I am all neurotic about slimy things.

I’ve been fixing organic chicken for quite a while now because of my own health issues, so I will continue with that. Today, however I went to the market near our house and got some fresh fish. It is such a beautiful filet, it almost seems a shame to cook it. I just have to decide what to do with it. João loves fish.  I have learned to like it. I prefer it grilled, but he likes it “stewed” not my favorite, since it involves using tomatoes and cooked tomatoes give me heartburn to the end of the word! I may have to get a big George Foreman grill to do the fish on, since frying is definitely out!

In addition, I’ve added in a more deliberate attempt to eat both Brazil nuts and walnuts everyday. I really love nuts and they help stabilize my blood sugar. I have to be careful not to overdo. And believe it or not they are expensive here.  João is not so much a fan, but he doesn’t mind, so periodically I offer him one and he eats it.

João has always like to eat oats (homemade granola) at night. Me not so much, unless it has about four cups of brown sugar . Just kidding, well sort of. He doesn’t mind it without anything sweet. Not me. So he eats his granola and I usually eat ricotta cheese or yogurt with a piece of toast and fruit.  In addition, I make green tea for lunch and homemade fruit juices, since we aren’t so good about eating fruits, which would be better. I always eat an apple a day and sometimes a banana. I love strawberries and blueberries, but ever since I read about all the chemicals used in their production and have been unable to find organic ones, I have given them up. I promise I am not neurotic about organics, but as mentioned I had some health issues traced back to the use of chemicals and hormones in our food, so I try to be limit their consumption where I can.

Eating like this is time consuming and expensive, although less expensive than eating out. For instance whole grain rice is twice the price of white rice takes 40 minutes, not 15 to cook. We had already decided, before this, to limit eating out to special occasions and celebrations so it will be more special and meaningful.

Now for the good news… since starting to prepare food like this, beginning last week, I’ve lost several pounds. Now I’ll admit that some of that was probably because I lost my appetite in concern about João’s health, but that only accounts for about two days. I haven’t been to the gym this week, because I was involved in running to doctors, and labs, among other things, so I was very surprised. I do recall that when I was drinking green juice everyday I lost about 10 lbs., so I guess it does something to my metabolism, since I didn’t change anything else.  Who’s to complain? Not me.  I guess we both just needed a wake-up call to remind us to be good stewards of our body.

God is Good

       I learned, as a child, that God is Great, God is Good. And I hear a lot of people saying “God is good all the time” when God gives them what they want. Today, however, I want to echo Job’s words  “God gives and God takes way, blessed be the name of the Lord”.
      I had just read some words of Corrie Ten Boom that seem to apply the situation we are living as we continue to think about all the recent suffering brought about by the massacre in the school here in Rio. These are the words: “Often I have heard people say, ‘How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic, and look at the lovely weather!’ Yes, God is good when He sends good weather. But God was also good when He allowed my sister, Betsie, to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there. Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart. I remember telling Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. ‘No, Corrie,’ said Betsie, ‘He has not forgotten us. Remember His Word: “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.”  Corrie concludes, “There is an ocean of God’s love available—there is plenty for everyone. May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love—whatever the circumstance.”
      Our circumstances do not change God’s nature. And I cling to that truth in a world where Japan is hit with two earthquakes in a matter of weeks, in a world where 13 young people are murdered, in a world where children are enslaved, where there is so much suffering and pain. Having a sovereign, great, good and gracious God puts all of this in place.  Even with all these horrible things happening around us, God is still God. In Him I trust. I really am having to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.
      In one of my favorite books “Polishing God’s Monuments”,  I learned how important it is to continue to look at how God has acted in the past, thus polishing his “monuments” in order that I can look forward to trust how he will act in the future. And as my new best friend, Paul, says “But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press forward to the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phillippians 3:13-14)

Violence in Brazil

Such evil and malice lurks in the heart of men. Today was such a sad day for me. This morning I heard the news that there had been a shooting, an execution really, at an school here in Rio. 11 young people were shot and killed. I am not sure of all the whys, but I do know it reminds me again of the evil that abides in men’s hearts. It reminds me of the power of sin. It reminds me, again, of the brevity of life.

I confess that I’ve been down all day about this, imagining the fear of the children who saw this, the teachers who will have to return to their classrooms soon, and most of all the family members of the victims. Besides the 11 dead, there are many injured and in critical condition in the hospitals. The shooter killed himself and left a note that is strange, making almost no sense, but making it clear that this was a premeditated event. He was 23 years old and so another young person was dead.

Certainly we know weapons like he used should not be available to anyone. Certainly we know it should be that easy for anyone to walk into a public school and enter a classroom like that.  Working on improving safety is not a bad idea and is, in fact, fundamental. But I don’t think we should ever delude ourselves in thinking our world is a safe place. It isn’t. We live in a world after the fall, full of pain, illness, suffering and violence. As Romans 8:22 says: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”  Creation groans. We groan. We eagerly await the new creation where there will be no more tears. Maranatha! (Come, Oh Lord!)

Done!

It’s been a while, but today I finally put the finishing touches on my daffodil watercolor. I usually sign my name as the very last thing, so that once I sign it, I quit working. I am never totally satisfied with a painting and my tendency is to just keep going back and overworking a painting. With watercolors, that is fatal. The paper is sensitive and easily ruined.  There are even a couple of areas that are rather opaque and the whole purpose of watercolors is to be transparent.

Nevertheless, I am happy with the final result. Also I am just plain glad to be finished. I like finalizations. I like completion. I am not much for ambiguities. I dislike books that don’t really end. I really dislike choruses in church that don’t really end (where you just sort of fade out repeating the last part).

But now that I am done, I am itching to start something new. Just haven’t decided what. There are so many options!  So have a look at the month long progress of the painting.

It’s the Little Things that Count

Today, as I was walking to the grocery store, I heard someone playing the piano. I’ve heard them once in a while, and I’m never sure if it is student or a professional pianist, for the music is always divine. Today I didn’t want to stop in the street just to listen, thinking I would hear it on the way back. The notes echoed in my mind as I moved down the street, such a welcome relief from the usual shrieking parrot just across the street.  Unfortunately, there was no more music when I passed by on the way home. It made me sad, and reminded me of how much I love hearing the piano well played. One of my few regrets I have in my life (for I really love my life) is not having continued studying the piano. I never overflowed with talent, but I do know that with continual study I could have arrived at a certain level of competence. I well know that it’s never too late to study again, but for one thing a piano is not in my budget and is terribly expensive. For another, the real window of learning has long since past, and while I might still learn some, I know I would never get very good.

As I continued walking, I looked up the street where my eyes had met with such a tragic site this morning. As João and I left the house early, we saw lots of police cars, ambulance and a conglomeration of  people. We saw a car with a broken windshield and thought, of course, that undoubtably there had been a hold-up, all things being considered. That’s typical here in Rio, but we asked around and they pointed out to us a pool of blood and body covered by a tarp. We discovered a gentlemen who lives just a couple of blocks away, was crossing the street and a car was coming out of the garage and turning into the street at full speed. You understand the rest. It was such a sad site.  I couldn’t help thinking of the family… their father and husband left his house to buy some bread probably, and they receive the news that he is killed in a car accident.

Life is short. And this weekend I was also reminded of what is really important. João had a couple of really bad nosebleeds that were very scary, although as it turns out not really that serious. It’s not like I don’t know I love him, but I was reminded again that how very precious he is to me. Sometimes we are not as careful as we should be to treat our loved ones with the tenderness they deserve. It is so easy to be inconsiderate in words and actions. I have been trying to care for João in big and little things so he will get better soon. We think, by the way, that he is  better because today he finally had no nosebleeds.

Everyday, every minute counts. I don’t want to waste my life. There are so many small joys that are easily missed. There are so many small gestures of love everyday. And it really is the small things that count. So this evening, when I heard João talking to Mia, I grabbed the camera and filmed him playing with her. It was only about a minute, but it was one of those small things, small moments. Certainly Mia’s use of the tape measure as an “enemy snake” is a lot better than the reason it was out.  We had been measuring our waist size to see if we were in the healthy range (do I need to add that I am not?).  So enjoy Mia playing around. And make the little things count.

Memories

The other day, a dear friend wrote to tell me she would be appointed as a missionary (hey, Sherrill!). She and I were originally appointed as missionary journeyman back in 1974 and we served two years in Korea as missionary teachers. She was excited about participating in the appointment service as a “masters” missionary (sorry, Sherrill but I have to tell people that this program is for those 50 years old or older and are available to make a two or three year commitment to serve overseas utilizing the maturity, skills, and experience they have gained over their lifetime).
I was thrilled for her and of course my mind turned to my appointment services. I well remember December 7, 1982 (yeah that’s me kneeling at the prayer upon my appointment), when along with over 100 (see my group below… I wonder how many are still in missions?) others I was appointed in Charlottesville, Virginia. Few people are as fortunate as I was to be in my “almost” home town. I had worked in Richmond, and also directed the GA camp in Charlottesville. A large group from Virginia came to share the event with me, as well as a vanload from Mom and Dad’s church from North Carolina. I felt like the hostess at a big party. I had about 2 minutes to share my testimony, but I still remember what I said and it still holds true. I talked about being in Lottie Moon’s home church, and being surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. I said I wanted to make the kind of impact Lottie Moon made, in that the Chinese wrote, on her memorial “Oh how she loved us.”  I’ve been in Brazil many years and I am still learning the culture and language. I no longer am a missionary – I feel I am one with the Brazilians. I love Brazil and I love Brazilians. I hope they feel my love, but more important I hope I show them Christ’s love. I hope that, as Paul said that they see an example in me. That’s what I hope…
Earlier, in 1974, I was also appointed as a missionary journeyman and I recall almost nothing about the event. I know I had family members present. I think it was in Richmond, Virginia. But I do remember what one of my great heroes of the faith, Dr. Baker James Cauthen (Mr. Missions) said to us. He used the nursery rhyme: “Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been?
"I've been to London to look at the queen."
Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there?
"I frightened a little mouse under the chair."
And I remember the application. Don’t go to the field and see the sites and forget the whole point of your mission. The poor pussy cat went to see the queen and chased a little mouse. I hope I haven’t chased mice in my life!