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!

A Full Report on Paraná

I am feeling much better today and starting to get caught up in my life, so I decided to take some time to reflect and write about this past weekend. My writing for the blog is as much about me, as it is you, the readers. It helps me process events!

I had a great plane trip down to Foz on last Friday morning, although I arrived hungry and tired. Even though it was almost a 4 hour trip, we got the famous cookie and coke routine on the plane. When we landed, I was surprised by the intensely blue sky and HOT, HOT sunshine. Arriving at the hotel, our rooms weren’t ready, so we walked around town, grabbing some lunch and once again, surprised by the heat. You figure going south it will be cooler. WRONG! I can’t describe the heat, except to say it felt like the rays of the sun were a weight on your head. It was different, that’s all I know to say.

The congress got started that evening and I spoke Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning. I did three messages based on the life of Esther. The first was about the purification/sanctification based on her one year of preparation to become the queen. The second was about being a fragile flower, used by a mighty God (because her name meant “Myrtle”) and the third message was about Purim Party, or her spiritual legacy of celebration. It took a while to get the folks warmed up to my style, but gradually we made contact and soon we were all old friends.

One of the rewards of the weekend was travelling and rooming with my friend Elza. She and I worked together before I went to Canada, and I have always held her in the highest regard. I admire her and respect her, as much for her talent as her integrity and very pure heart. She spoke as well and on Saturday night she did one of her famous chalk drawings. I love to watch her as she draws while the music plays, telling the story without speaking. At the end, as you see by the photo on the left, she turns on a black light and having used fluorescent chalk, the whole picture lights up. But it was not just her message that was special to me, as we had lots of time to share and talk and that was so meaningful. We worked together for 6 years, but I don’t believe we ever had so much time to really share. She is a blessing!

Although we were given free time on Saturday afternoon, I felt I needed to use that time to prepare myself to preach that night, so I chose not to sightsee, although that was a painful decision. I figured I had Sunday afternoon, but suddenly on Saturday night, they asked me to preach in a local church on Sunday night AND I needed to “new” sermon. I panicked, until I realized Elza had brought along the magazine she edits and I had written a Bible study that I could use as a basis for the message.

Consequently I took a risk and she and I went to the Falls on Sunday aft. I could hardly bear to be so close to one of the world’s natural wonders and not go to see it. I had been there twice before, but you never get enough of seeing God’s beautiful world. Since we were at a downtown hotel, it was a long trip out to the falls, but I still didn’t want to pay the $80 for a taxi. We set out on the adventure of discovering the local busses and took one for $2. It was HOT (not air) and we had to stand (it was FULL), but we were happy to save all that money and the bus only took about 40 minutes. When we got to the park, we rode a another bus for about 20 minutes out to the Falls. Lo and behold, on that park bus were many of the women from the congress. So it was a riot having them with us. We even had an impromptu worship service and choir when we actually got to the Falls themselves. Typically, the Japanese tourist filmed it all.

Although the walk along the path of the falls was only 1.2 kilometers, it was up and down steps and it was very hot. My clothes looked like I had been in the shower because I sweat so much. Surprisingly I didn’t get sunburned. Maybe because there was shade a lot of the way. You have seen the videos and pictures and know that the falls are magnificent, even though they are in a semi-drought and there was very little water. I was so glad we made the effort to go. It was a close call to make the two bus rides home and get back in time to shower, grab a bite to eat and finish preparing to preach (all this in about 45 minutes), but we managed.

I had planned, on Monday morning, to do some more sightseeing, but I was just washed out and ended up sleeping later than I planned and needed to pack and all, so I just gave in to tiredness and didn’t do it. I did manage to get out and buy some of João’s green tea (chimarrão) that is locally produced. He was ecstatic about that. We left the hotel around noon and had a very uneventful trip home. Our husbands met us at the airport and we even managed to get home quickly without tangling in the rush hour traffic.

Now you have a semi-full report on my weekend. It was great to see the women, get to share, make new friends and enjoy God’s beautiful world. I am glad, however, I don’t do this on a regular basis like I used to. Yesterday, I was just so tired all day and had so much to do to get caught up. As Mom always says, the old grey mare just ain’t what she used to be.

Time for Ice Packs

I really do know you have better things to do than watch my homemade videos of my trip to the Falls. So you can skip it, especially if it loads really slowly. But for those who are interested and have fast internet, I thought you might enjoy another video. By the way, I did survive my dental surgery, but I feel pretty crummy right now. So off to bed with an ice pack on the face! It hurts a lot and the worse part is she only did 1/4 of the gums. I have 3 more sessions. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Video of the Falls

Today has been a rush of unpacking, cooking, doing laundry and in a bit dental surgery (bad gums) and an art class. So still no time to write about my Paraná trip. I put up photos yesterday and today I thought I'd let you look at one video I made of the falls. Hope you enjoy that! Oh and by the way, look at the poll on the left. I put it there a week or so ago and not many people responded! I gave you a couple of more days to respond, since it expired today!

Hot off the Computer

I had a great trip over the weekend to the Iguaçu Falls. The congress was just a great experience and I made a lot of new friends. I found a couple of hours to visit the waterfalls and thought I'd post a few photos. I just got in tonight and I am pretty tired, so I will share some of my thoughts on the experience, some more photos and also some videos of the waterfalls later this week. I thought, however, you might enjoy some of my photos.

Weirdness abounds around

Today my husband was declared an immortal. (I told you weirdness abounds). Let’s see if I can explain. He was inducted into the Brazilian Evangelical Academy of “Letters”, which is basically an honor for published writers. In this case, Christian writers. I have no idea if there is an equivalent in North America. The members are referred to as “immortals”, again I suppose since they are writers their words live on. But Sissy and I have been teasing him asking if we, by extension are also a little bit immortal. The certificate is too big for my scanner, but you get the idea.

I also finished a strange art project from my book on color theory. I thought I would enjoy the project, but turned out to kind of be a drudge and not all that pleased with the results, although I have to admit, I learned a lot. I know color is important and learning to match, blend and change hue and intensity is all important. So here is the weird project.  I bought a napkin and scanned it so it would be 8x10. then I painted it in 5 different sessions. I glued a strip of the original colors at the bottom right corner. Than I tried to match the colors. In the next section I painted the complimentary colors (according to a color wheel). That made me go a little bonkers, as I looked at the original and saw light violet and I painted it yellow green, light green and I painted it pinkish. Next I had to paint it in the opposite value, that it to say I painted the light blue, in navy blue, etc. Then I had to change the intensity. The light green became an olive green and lilac became a sickly purple. Finally I returned to the original colors. I suffered because I don’t have a tiny brush to use in the curves and leaves and so things got all goofy by the end. I have found a beautiful picture of a tulip in a vase and am thinking of doing a series of studies of it – graphite black and white, then with pastels and finally with acrylics and maybe watercolors. Hopefully they will all turn out nicely and I can do my wall in the dining room. I have class tomorrow and will make a consult with my teacher as to the sizes I should use as well as types of media. It is amazing how much there is to learn – even the kinds of materials you use make such a difference.

I actually won’t have too much time to paint as I am getting ready to preach at a women’s congress this weekend down on the border of Argentina and Paraguay, at the Iguaçu Falls. I have wrapped up two of the three messages, but have the challenge of the third ahead of me. I have outlined and put in my stories and Bible references. Now it is just drawing it all together, since I know where I am heading. I hope to have time to do some tourism and take some great photos while I am there. I think it is absolutely magnificent and you will enjoy the views if I get to take any photos.

Move Over Dewey

I suppose you have heard of the book “Dewey” that is a bestseller, about a library cat in Kansas. I haven’t read it, although I’ve given it as a gift. She (or is it he?) holds nothing over Mia. Ever since the severe heat wave of the month of February hit, she has gone into hibernation mode. She huddles behind the books. These are our “overflow” bookshelves of books not too frequently used. They are in the storage area of the apt. (what should be the maid’s miniscule bedroom). Her food and toys are kept in the room and she sleeps there at night. When it’s really hot, she sleeps behind the books on the shelves where no one can see her. When it cools down a little (today it’s 90 and we are thinking of breaking out hot chocolate), she functions as a very nice bookend. She will only come out if I take her in my arms and forcibly insist that she be sociable. She will sit with me and also play a while, but soon she stretches out as much as possible on the hardwood floors in the darkest, coolest place in the apt. She is definitely a “British” cat who suffers with the heat. She is also definitely our bibliophile. What else would you expect in a household with so many books. And we just keep buying books. Oh dear. Soon they will take over our lives.

Enjoying the Family

I haven’t written for a few days, because I have been busy entertaining João’s parents. Having “guests”, albeit family, in your home changes your whole schedule. It really makes a difference in your daily routine. We very much enjoyed having them here, but I didn’t find time to write on my blog or do any artwork.

Sunday we especially enjoyed family time as we all went out for lunch at Outback. It was a fun and delicious experience. It was nice to have this time all together, for usually Sundays are so hectic we hardly get any time to talk.

This morning they got away safely after their longest visit ever with us. Usually they are anxious to get away after about 2 days and this time they stayed a whole week. It has been stiflingly hot (a real challenge to my no complaining attempt), and I think they were happy to be in the air conditioning most of the time. Me too!

After they left, I got us moved back into our bedroom and bathroom, scrubbed down the bathrooms, did 4 loads of laundry and vacuumed the house. I am now sitting down in the air conditioned study and let the perspiration dry off a little before thinking of making lunch. Today it may not be rice and beans, etc. It may just be cold salad. We’ll enjoy it, whatever it is. Have a good week!

Sunflowers

It’s sort of a toss-up to say whether tulips or sunflowers are my very favorites. I do love them both. And neither lend themselves to having bouquets of them around the house. Although I told myself, yesterday, I just had to do something useful like scrub the refrigerator or clean drawers or vacuum or even write a sermon, I found it difficult to keep moving yesterday. I suspect the heat got to me. I turned on the air and that helped some, but I was still uncomfortable. Must have been a great day for the beach-goers!

I did manage to finish my ironing (I had let it go for months), while I watched a couple of movies. So that was at least productive. I re-read a book I love “Scent of Water” while listening to Diane Krall jazz with Mia cuddled on my lap. That was wonderful. I also painted. That finally brings me around to Sunflowers. I did a painting of Sunflowers from a book called “Acrylic Painting for Beginners”.  I found, however,  that I couldn’t stand to follow his suggestions and went off working on my own. I realized that all the practice mixing colors had made it possible for me to do my own color work without following his suggestions. I liked the final result. So much so that I put it in a frame and hung in on the wall. I just happened to have a frame for that size of canvas, so I wanted to see how it looked and then I just stuck it up on the wall. I like it. It’s small, so it wasn’t ambitious, and not all that hard.

In just a while João will arrive home together with his parents who are coming for a visit. A couple of people reacted with horror when they heard I was spending carnival alone. I was looking forward to it, for basically I am an introvert. When, however, everyone was finally gone on Friday morning (João left on Thursday) I had a brief sinking moment of “what will I do with myself?” That didn’t last long. I did whatever I wanted and it was a wonderful respite for me. I just did what I wanted when I wanted. It’s not like I was out of contact with people, as I talked on the cell phone, Skype and other chat groups every single day. But I especially liked my mornings, just sitting out on the veranda, reading and meditating with my cup of coffee. I thought I would do so many things, and the days rushed by while I crawled around. Now suddenly my alone time has evaporated and soon I will have a full house. It’s amazing how we adapt to our circumstances, isn’t it?

The Oscars

Were you shocked by the tone of the speeches at the Oscars last night? I felt deeply uncomfortable, almost sickened, with a sense of “wrongness”.  It was such a feeling of “no” as I heard those who would justify sin by pointing to God’s love and acceptance. God’s love does not imply acceptance of sin. He does not wink at wrongdoings, thinking they are kind of cute, like some cuddly little grandfather. I know we all long to be right, to be accepted just as we are. It just doesn’t work that way. God’s love does not cancel out his righteousness and as such all sin is disgustingly filthy to Him. Because I think we instinctively know that, we seek to “downgrade” sin and say the times have changed and what we thought was sin isn’t sin. Or we try to justify sin, saying that we were just made that way and there is nothing we can do about it. I see a consistent trend in our times to blame it all on DNA. I overeat because I have a thrifty gene. I am promiscuous because I have too many hormones. I drink too much because of my genetic structure and so forth and so on. The truth be told, all of us would like to be reassured we are basically good and in God’s eyes no matter how we are, we are “all okay”.

That just doesn’t match up with what I read in the Bible. Even if we have a proclivity to sin because of our physical make-up (we do live in a fallen world after all), that does not excuse us. Does that make the world seem unfair? Well welcome to a sinful world. Those are the consequences. Easy for me to say, right?

Wrong! Was I sickened by looking at the public display and self-seeking justification for their sins last night? I was. But the harder question is, am I equally sickened by my own sin and consequent justifications? Are not my sins in the same category? When I read Galatians 5:19-21 I feel sick when I see that sexual immorality is listed right next to idolatry (read my post on anger) and just shortlly before things like jealousy, selfishness, and envy. So while debauchery is condemned, so is hatred.

If I do not repent of my “pet” sins and yet find it easy to condemn others for those sins that don’t tempt me, there is something wrong. So, yes, the speeches at the Oscars bothered me a lot, not just because of the effort to make a wrong a right, but because I saw a reflection of myself in their attitudes. Strange that their darkness shone a light on my own sin. My prayer is that my disgust, nausea, sickness over sin, will continue to grow and lead me to constant repentance. 

Just Gotta Share This

After days of doing exercises in mixing paints, doing color wheels, learning how to make the color of mud (when you mix incorrectly that’s what you get!), and reading and reading about paints, techniques and colors, I decided I just wanted to get my feet wet (or in this case, my fingers dirty) and do a painting with acrylics. It resembles watercolors, but yet is very different. The paint doesn’t flow on water. It’s sticky. It also dries quickly. Like pastels you can easily correct mistakes. In fact, it is closer to the process of pastels than watercolors. The true challenge is mixing colors to get the right tones. As always, the real problem comes in drawing the picture to be painted. I followed the process of a book on painting. It’s called ten easy lessons. HA! Nothing easy about it. This painting was just part of lesson two. At any rate, after two days, I have finished my first still life in acrylics. In fact it’s sort of my only still life. It didn’t turn out too badly and I wasn’t terribly frustrated in the process. I am just glad no one else was home to see the mess I made! Just so you can compare, the original I painted from is on the right. Yes my colors are brighter. That’s because the scan of the book on slick paper didn’t come out the same as a the scan of the painted picture. It was fun anyway.

The bad news is that I didn’t make it through the day today without complaining! As I walked through the school yard on the way to church today, I was shocked at all the trash thrown on the ground. Not just a little. I mean tons of coke cans, potato chip packages, etc. When I finally met up with someone, I commented on the little “pigs” at the school. Oops! As soon as it was out of my mouth, I remembered: “No complaining”. So the rubber band goes on the other hand. I start over tomorrow. How are you doing?

WYSIWYG

Don’t sweat if you don’t get those letters. Back in the “old” days when the web was getting started, doing a web page was a real pain in the neck. You had to understand html and that meant writing the codes for everything. Every font, color, formating had it’s own code. When you tried to read what you wrote it was so full of code it was hard to make sense of it. Then there were the “WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET” programs. You just typed things as you wished and the program put in the “hidden” code. My blogspot is like that. I see the underlines, photos, colors, etc. as I type. It’s great. So those programs are abbreviated with the first letter of that phrase, thus WYSIWYG. Clever, eh?

Over the past couple of days, I have been thinking that abbreviation would be a great description of our spiritual life, except with a slight twist. Same letters, just different words. WHAT YOU SAY IS WHAT YOU’VE GOT (INSIDE). Since I am always struggling with the issue of “tongue control” , when I read Luke 6:45 – “ Out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” , I was stopped dead in my tracks. I mean, most of the time I can put on a veneer of “christianity” and play nice, but when things get hard, or irritating then what’s inside comes out!

I read a “ Webzine”  the other day (if you are interested the address is: http://www.boundless.org) and the article on anger hit home. It’s called “Anger: the Image of Satan” , where he deals with the problem of sinful anger that transforms us into the image of Satan. It really hit home when he talked about anger expressed as complaining,  grumpiness, cutting remarks and ranting. Oops! I remembered my loud complaining in the grocery store about how slow the line moved. I remembered my muttering under my breath about the guy who cut us off in traffic. I remember WAY too many things. I was convicted. The author, Jonathan Dodson, attributed that to idolatry. Yip. I just plain love good ole me. I want things to go my way, on my time schedule. Yes, I am a control freak. When I grumble about how hot it is, I am, in fact saying, that I want to be comfortable and that God doesn’t know what He is doing as he controls the weather. I don’t really want God to be sovereign, but I want to the boss of the world. And that makes me into the image of Satan who fell from heaven for that very same reason.

That is a very tough lesson. But true. What comes out of my mouth, reveals what’s really in my heart. It’s not a pretty site, nor is it pretty listening. I have repented, I am repenting of my murmurs, grumbling and general negative attitudes and asking God to deal with my idolatry of ME!

I am even going to try the complaint-free challenge. Have you heard of it? It’s one the site http://www.acomplaintfreeworld.org. The idea is to stay complaint-free for 21 days. They have a bracelet you wear on either wrist. When you catch yourself complaining, gossiping or criticizing, you move the bracelet to the other arm and begin again. I don’t have the bracelet, but I figure a rubber band will do the job. Wanna join me????

Happy Valentine’s Day

For some reason, I got a chuckle this morning out of the name of the program I use to do my blog entries. It’s called “Live Writer”. I thought to myself, how good it is not to be a dead writer… dumb I know, but then I think the name of the program is pretty lame.

That is neither here nor there. I just wanted to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day and thank you for reading my blog. I know there are lot of legends associated with today, but one thing that is certain, it is a day for writing notes expressing your affection or love for friends and family. Although we have often turned the day into a time of expressions of “eros” or erotic love, I have the impression that the day was more a time of “philia”, or fraternal love. We seemed to have lost that connotation  and that’s too bad, for the eroticizing of our culture is sick. They have taken Abraham Lincoln’s beautiful correspondence with his friends and said it is proof he was a homosexual. We can no longer say we love our friends or express this affection physically without someone pointing a finger of suspicion. I wish we could still buy our little punch out valentine’s and innocently distribute them among those we care for, just to say you are special!

On Valentine’s Day, we think of people
who have cheered and encouraged us,
who go out of their way
to be kind and caring,
who have enriched our lives
just by being themselves.
You are such a person.
I’m so happy you’re my friend
Happy Valentine’s Day!

By Joanna Fuchs

Since our weather has cooled down some (I actually was able to turn off the air conditioning), I have felt more like working on the pastel portrait of my favorite valentine, who is taking me out to the Outback for lunch today. I made some progress over the last two days, but still have a long way to go. Man, is this time consuming. Whatever any artist charges is not enough, trust me. It’s hard work! Enduring the critics is hard too. My “model” says he looks too old, his nose is too big (is not – I measured), his eyes are wrong (which is true, but I give up after 4 attempts to get them right), and his hair is the wrong color (haven’t finished yet). He did like his beard. Wow! Fortunately I don’t have to make my living doing portraits. I need to finish him up, as soon we are starting painting lessons, with acrylics, so I need to put my pastel “studio” away. Who knows, some day I may have a room just to be my studio. Wouldn’t that be great?

Far From the Home I Love

One of my favorite musicals is Fiddler on the Roof. One very hauntingly sad song that has always spoken to my heart is “Far From the Home I Love”, when one of the daughters leaves home in order to be with her husband, who has been exiled to Siberia. The melody and lyrics echo the anguish of one who wanted to be physically home, but also wanted to be close to the one she chose to love. I first heard the song while in high school and it spoke to my heart. I cried the first time and in fact every time I hear the song, or even read the lyrics. When I was 16, I had no idea that the song would be my heart’s cry!

Sunday, during our worship, I was suddenly flooded with a sense of “belonging” like I have not felt in almost three years. I had the deafening realization that I felt like I was “physically” home at my church, in my town. I was happy. I was joyful. I was at peace. Since we are studying the fruit of the Spirit in my Sunday School class and I have been praying over the fruit of the Spirit, I was very keenly attuned to the sensations of joy and peace. Not in the ephemeral way of a temporary happiness and feeling of calmness, but in a deep down soul kind of way. It was in a deep down in my bones sense of being where I wanted to be. If anyone saw the tears on my face, I am sure they didn’t understand, but I couldn’t stop the tears of joy as I finally saw the completion of three years of prayer.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I didn’t want to leave Canada in 2006. I was as  happy as I have ever been in my life and was returning to the one place on planet earth where I had suffered the most and had the least desire to live – Rio de Janeiro. (God does have a good sense of humor, doesn’t He? I have lived in this city longer than anywhere else). I was rather like the little girl who told her daddy she would sit down since he told her to, but that she was still standing up in her “heart”. So I came out of obedience, and prayed for joy and peace in my surroundings to eventually follow.  I felt a lot like the lyrics to the Neil Diamond song: “The road is long with many a winding turn; That lead us to who knows where, But I'm strong”.

I truly believed that the day would come when I would at peace again, but somehow I thought that would not delay so very long. I won’t linger on the details, but confess that the wait was long and not easy for me. I knew all would be okay someday, but was anxious for the day to come when waking up in the morning, feeling tropical heat,  knowing I was in Rio, wouldn’t be quite so painful. That pain of being “far from home” is what little “Hodel” sings about:

Once I was happily content to be
As I was, where I was,
Close to the people who are close to me,
Here in the home I love. …
Oh, what a melancholy choice this is,
Wanting home, wanting him,
Closing my heart to ev'ry hope but his,
Leaving the home I love,
There where my heart has settled long ago
I must go, I must go, I must go,
Who could imagine I'd be wand'ring so
Far from the home I love

So now you understand the tears of joy on Sunday morning when I realized that I AM home, as completely home as I will ever be in this lifetime. It has never taken me so long to adjust to a new home before. I realize some of that is my age, some of it is stubbornness, and some of it is circumstance. It’s been exciting to see how God has worked in my heart, giving me the faith to wait and the hope of knowing the day would come when everything would be all right. It has always been well with my soul, just hasn’t been so good with my heart. It is wonderful to feel my soul reunited with my heart and be at peace. I am still far from the ones I love. I still live in a very hot place. I still am part of a very large church community. I still have to speak my non-fluent Portuguese. None of that has changed. It just doesn’t matter anymore. I love where I am and what I do. I am not just being obedient, but I am joyful in where I am and what I am doing. That is victory!

Finished!

Just wanted to quickly post the photo of the pastel of Degas’ “Green Dancers”. I finished it tonight. I enjoyed working on the picture a lot, but I realized somewhere along the way that I bit off a little more than I wanted to chew. Surprisingly there were a lot more details than I realized. The tiny orange ballerinas were a lot harder to do and took a lot more time than the two skirts and the dancer in the foreground. The little details on the tutu were murderous as well.

We had a lovely day off today, entertaining Dione e Fausto (the pastor and his wife who preceeded us at First Baptist. They work at the Baptist World Alliance in DC, but were here for a wedding) for a brunch. It was nice to talk and share. So much to talk about!!!

I decided totally take the rest of the day off and finish the picture, so that’s just what a did. Some four hours later I was able to finish it.

Now I am reading “COLORS”, a book on color theory, in order to prepare myself for mixing colors and working in acrylic paints. That will come in March and I am excited about learning something new. My task for the rest of this month is finishing João’s portrait. I do love pastels. They just feel wonderful in your hands and the colors come off on the paper just like they look in your hand. It is such a sensation to see those vibrant, luminous colors flowing onto the paper. They are very forgiving as well, as you can just paint right over any mistake.

While I feel confident that I am learning to deal with pastels and watercolors, I realize more and more that my drawing skills are very limited and I need to concentrate on improving in that area. There are only so many hours available for art, so I’ll just have to be patient and take any small improvements that I can.

FEVER!

I didn’t abandon you, but for two days I was kind of punk, with a fever. It has been really hot here in Rio, but my fever was from the inside not outside. I don’t know what it was, but I was miserable on Monday and recovering on Tuesday, and fine on Wednesday. One of those 24 hour virus’, I guess. It surely laid me low, as I didn’t even feel like lifting my head to drink water. My two favorite nurses took care of me. Mia stayed by my side for 8 hours straight and João waited on me hand and foot.

Today, Thursday, I took some time to work on my copy of Degas’ “Green Dancers”. It’s one of my favorites (which is saying something since I love most all of his work) and thought it would be interesting to see if I could reproduce a pastel. Well it’s been fun, but the short answer is that I can’t reproduce someone else’s art. I can imitate or make my own version of his work. I seem unable to bend my will to someone else, and I just have to interpret things my way.

I can tell you it is hot under that mask when it’s over 90 degrees, but it does cut down on the coughing and breathing difficulties. There comes a time, however, when I just have to take it off. It has been SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hot. Even I, of the unlimited appetite, just don’t feel like eating. Yesterday I cooked a full lunch, but I ignored most of it to eat salad and fruit. I see the midwest caught up in snow and ice and I am not sure if I should feel sorry for them or envy them. Ah the ambivalence!

While I was drawing (or is the correct term painting) with the pastels today, João videoed me and I have put in the video link to you tube if you want to see the video. Thought you might want to see some live action.