The Black Hole Where Socks Go

I bet you didn't know we also have a black hole where missing socks go, here in Brazil! I know we do in the US and in Canada. I attributed it to the use of dryers there, thinking that the dryers eat socks, but I don't use a dryer here. Occasionally João's socks go missing in action. Last time I was in the US I bought him an expensive pair of socks (dumb thing to do) to go with an odd colored suit he has. Of course that was one of the socks to go missing. He has one, but not the other one. I looked all over the house, behind the washing machine, in his other drawers, in my sock drawer, etc. But no olive green sock. Sunday he wore a new suit, that is about the same color and I lamented that we didn't have his nice, but missing, sock to wear. (By the way, isn't this fascinating reading all about my husband's wardrobe?)
Today, an odd thing happened as I pulled out a pair of pants to wear. I haven't had them on for a couple of months. As I was walking down the hall, I felt something swinging. I looked around and I had a tail. Yes, an olive green tail. Yes, this is the tale of a tail. But now I come to the tail-end of my tale of a tail. It was his missing SOCK stock to the velcro on the back pocket of my pants. Just had to share my discovery. A real miracle. A missing sock was found. I didn't throw a party, but I did laugh for a long time. The Black Hole where socks go lost out this time.

A Sunday to Remember

Sunday was a historic, memorable day in the life of our church. It was the installation (induction) of our youth minister. He is our second minister at our church, our music minister having come in February. You can see him seated to the left of João. I forgot to take pictures, or I was involved in the most moving parts of the service, so I didn't get many photos. This photo shows the president of the seminary, who preached at the service. There were many touching elements during the worship service. The whole service was based around the theme of God's sovereignty, which was important as a basis for ministry. It was a very worshipful experience, as contrasted with a mere formality. We sang contemporary, but beautiful music and one of our young adult groups sang. When we called all the youth up to the front for a commitment, there must have been about 300 or people. We commented that his flock of youth is bigger than many churches!
Two especially moving moments were when his father prayed, the whole church on their knees and Junior (yes, it does seem appropriate that a youth minister would be a "junior") slightly inclined is head on his father's shoulder. His father is also a pastor. His father's prayer was very moving. At the end of the service, Junior and his lovely wife, Juliana, spoke a few words and they were well thought out and I felt very appropriate when they both read their commitment to the ministry, based on God's word. It was very meaningful to us all and the church is very happy, as they already know and love Junior, who has been the chaplain of our school for about two years.
Just to add some fun into the mix, we had a baby presentation service. That is done a little differently here in Brazil. It usually happens the first time a baby comes to church, and there is no previous planning. It is just a spontaneous event. We give a Bible to the family, a letter for the child to read when she/he turns 12. João holds the baby and prays for the family. Sometimes there is one than one baby, so I get to hold one. Once we actually had TWO sets of twins on the same Sunday. Now we all had our hands full that day.
To close our service, João called up all our ministers and directors of departments, as well as the coordinators, to "install" them for another year of service. There are 12 in all, but only one was really new, as that was the new coordinator for Religious Education. His father also prayed for him in this task. The young man who accepted the position (volunteer) is a third year seminary student, and grew up in our church. I couldn't get everyone in the photo from where I was sitting, but you can see in the photo, from right to left Youth minister (Junior), Music Minister (Eduardo), Evangelism and Missions (Marcelo), Administration (Fauzita, full time position), Deacons (Mario), Religious Education (Felix).
You can imagine it was a rather long service... lasting almost two hours. (Good luck to our communications department that has to reduce the service down to one hour for our weekly radio program.) Still, we all left gloriously happy. It was, for sure, a Sunday to remember!

Chapter Seven of Cats are Cool

Baby Takes a Bath

Poor Baby! He was so little and underfed when he came to me. He had been abandoned by his mother when he was just 10 days old. He survived by nursing a dog. I knew I needed to take him to a vet to have him checked out. He wasn’t crazy about the experience. When we got home, he wouldn't even get near me. He was very upset.

Little did he know that worse was to come. The vet had given him a prescription for his ear infection and some pills for worms and some liquid vitamins. Twice a day I had to put Baby on my lap, open his mouth and put the medicine in. I also had to put a creme in his ears. Me oh my, how Baby hated that. He tried to run from me, he scratched me and even tried to bite me. He got smart and would hold the pill in his mouth and then spit it out when I put him down. Did he ever make trouble for me. I tried to explain to him that it was for his own good, but he just didn’t listen.

Still something more awful awaited the two of us. He needed a bath, not just to clean him up, but to help get rid of his fleas. Generally cats hate baths. Baby really hated baths. I put on a raincoat and gloves. I brought Baby into the bathroom and locked the door. I talked gently to him. I had the water just the right temperature and it was a nice hot day. What a disaster. You can’t believe how strong a kitten of 1 ½ pounds can really be. Baby got his bath (and so did I).

Now he was really put out with me. In fact, I thought he would never forgive me. He sought solace with my husband. That just shows how upset he was. He couldn’t understand that I did all that because I cared about him. He didn’t know that without all those things he would never really be healthy. To save his life, I had to suffer his scratches and growls and anger. I did it for his own good.

It’s really like that for us too. At times we have to take some medicine to help us get well, but we complain the whole time. We also get irritated when our parents make us go to bed early when we would like to stay up all night. We need to sleep for our health. Our teachers at school give us assignments and homework so that we can learn.

Even more than doctors, parents and teachers, God knows what is best for us. He gave us rules, in the Bible, to live by. We need to obey Him for own good. It really is for our own, in the same way all the things I did to Baby were for his own health. At times the things God wants us to do, like loving our enemy or being totally honest, are just as hard for us, as taking a bath was for Baby. While I might accidentally make a mistake in the treatment of Baby, but God never makes a mistake. We can always be sure that God is too good to be unkind and too wise to be mistaken.

Happy Birthday Dear Mia

Suco da Luz do Sol

Sunshine Juice! It's all the rage here in Brazil. After seeing it on a news program, we decided to get a juice extractor and try it out. If you haven't heard about it, or it's not all the popular in your area, here are all the details you need to make it yourself. First you need to "germinate" some kind of nut or seed. I used sunflower seeds. You can see how they are germinated on the right. Then you need to clean your fresh fruits and veggies. The recipe calls for an apple, a cucumber, fresh mint, a very green leafy veggie (I used kale and found it bitter, but found spinach very nice), a carrot (or another root like beets or ginger, but I found ginger a bit too pungent for me), a vegetable (I have used chayote-chocho, squash and broccoli) and the sprouted seeds. I have added a few slices of melon to make it slightly sweeter.
You blend them all together in your blender and then you have to use a sieve and cheesecloth, etc. to strain the pulp. Me, I prefer the juice extractor. You don't even have to core or peel the veggies. God bless the store clerk you suggested putting a plastic bag in the pulp collector, because otherwise you have a huge mess of nasty pulp that sticks to the sides of the collector cup. With the garbage bag on the side you just lift it out and throw away the pulp. Of course, that seems a waste and we are trying to figure out how to use it, since we can't very well compost up here. I am amazed at the quantity of juice that is comes out. And it is so green. Only the carrot throws in another color.
I expected the juice to be kind of thick and chunky. Since I am so sensitive to textures, I was afraid that I would be revolted by that, but surprisingly, it is not thick. It is like any other juice. The apple and carrot (and with a little bit of melon) make it quite sweet. They say not the refrigerate the ingredients, but I do, since I hate anything lukewarm. Both João and I were quite apprehensive about how it would taste and so we both kind of had to work up some courage to actually do a taste test. I don't think we are too used to drinking anything green, although I don't know why that is so. Frankly I wouldn't say it's the most delicious juice I have ever tasted, but in it's own unique way, it's kind of good. I have tweaked the recipe some and tried to make it more palatable for us. That may not meet up to the standards of the LifeFood people. This juice comes from the raw food movement, called Lifefood. Me, I like everything well cooked, but I do know it loses vitamins in cooking. I also know I am not very patient to make and eat salads. So I figure this juice is a way of getting a good portion of the fruits and vegetables we need each day. Surprisingly the health clinics here in Brazil are recommending this juice to lower cholesterol and blood pressure and to lose weight. I know nothing is a panacea, but this little drink actually is very filling. So much so, that I am not hungry for hours and hours afterwards. I sure would be happier if it did lower my cholesterol! My bp is fine, thank you very much. Still, it doesn't hurt to try something new once in a while. So now you know all about Sunshine Juice. If you try it out, let me know what you think of it. We drink it for breakfast. Try it! You'll like it.

Chapter Six of Cats are Cool

Baby, my Special Present

When I finally came back to Brazil, things had changed very much in my life.For one thing, I was married! My new husband didn’t much like cats and I was very worried about what would happen to Princess and Muffet. I went to see them right away. They were happy with Susan. I thought for a while about the whole situation and decided the best thing I could do for the cats, for Susan and for my husband, would be to let Susan keep both cats. They had been together for two years now and we couldn’t very well separate them now! Susan lived alone, except for the cats. Yes, the best thing would be for them to stay with her. So I got used to living without cats.

That is, until one day, I received a wonderful present. I was working upstairs when my husband arrived home saying he had something to give me. I came running downstairs. Who doesn’t love a present?

What a surprise! The present was a little kitten. He was in the arms of a friend, because my husband didn’t want to touch a cat. I was amazed. He was such a little fellow. He was shaking all over and cold and a bit dirty. I knew just what his name would be: “Baby”.

He and I didn’t take long to make friends when I held him in my arms and fed him some homemade food. He began to purr and quickly fell asleep. Even my husband thought he was rather cute.

Since I had just learned that I wouldn’t be able to have children, I was going through kind of a hard time. My husband thought a cat would help me. He was right! What a wonderful present. After all, he didn’t much like cats, but he knew I did. It was such an unselfish gift, because now he would have to put up with a cat underfoot day and night! I really was touched, because I hadn’t even asked him for a cat.

The neat thing about his present is that he didn’t give me the cat because I deserved it, or asked for it or so that I would love him better. He gave me the cat because he loved me and wanted me to be happy. All I had to do was to accept the gift.

That reminded me of another gift I once received. Even better than Baby. I also didn’t ask for or deserve such a present. It was also given with much love and affection. Do you know who gave me that gift? God did. The gift was his son Jesus Christ who saved me. I didn’t have to do anything, except accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. That really is the best gift I ever received. It’s a present that never stops giving to me, every day of my life. Even after I leave this earth, I will still be with Jesus in heaven.

I was glad when my husband gave me Baby. The reminder of how much God loves me and his wonderful gift was a bonus.

Chapter Five of Cats Are Cool

When Princess and Muffet Made Me Sad

Princess and Muffet usually made me very happy. There was one time, though, when they made me cry. You will recall that my friend traveled to China and I was keeping Muffet for her. When she came home, it was my turn to travel to the United States and for her to keep both of the cats.

Boy was that ever a sad, sad day for me. First I gathered up all of their things, like the feeding dishes, combs, pillows, etc. and took them over to Susan’s house. Then I put Muffet and Princess in their traveling cages and drove over to her house.

When I arrived, I opened up the cages and Muffet started for just a minute and all of the sudden came running out of her cage, as if to say: “Home, I’m finally home!” Princess wasn’t so sure. She had been to this house before, and even stayed here when I went on vacation. She didn’t seem to remember anything though.

I stayed a long time watching to see how the two of them would do in the “new” house, but finally it really was time for me to go. I had to catch a plane. I knew that Susan loved both cats and would take very good care of them. Still, my eyes filled with tears and my lips trembled when I hugged each cats. Princess had lived with me for three years and Muffet for a year. It was hard to leave my friends.

There are those who say that Christians should never be sad, but that just isn’t so. When certain things happen, we have every right to be sad. God made us to feel happiness and sadness as well. Did you know that even Jesus cried when his good friend Lazarus died?

I must admit, though, it doesn’t feel very good to be sad. It was not a wonderful moment in my life when I walked out the door of Susan’s house and left the cats behind.

I sort of felt ashamed, but Susan reminded me even Jesus cried. I knew then that I didn’t need to hide what I was feeling. It’s okay to be human and feel sad when sad things happen. When I could admit what was going on inside of me, then I could talk to God about it. That surely felt better than trying to swallow my tears. I told God that I would miss my cats and my other friends as well. I asked Him to help me to be able to stand so much sadness. As I prayed, I felt God’s love for me. I knew he cared and that he understood my sadness. Then I knew that I was going to make it. I was sad, but I was okay.

I knew that during the year that I was away from Brazil I would have a lot of sad moments. I also knew that God would help me over those rough times. Susan would take good care of Princess and Muffet and God would take good care of me.

Winter time and the living is windy

This week João had a speaking engagement in Cabo Frio, which is a beach town, so of course I made the supreme sacrifice to go with him. It is only a little over 2 hours from Rio, but you seem to be in another world entirely. The white sand dunes, blue sky, mountains in the background, the sound of the ocean, all of it makes you forget the noise and crowds and hectic life in Rio. It was a great overnight getaway.
We left a couple of hours early so we could have a very late lunch on the beach. When we arrived around 3PM, we were absoluely starved. As we parked on the beach, we saw them carrying up a large fish. That's where we want to eat lunch we thought! We had a crabcake appetizer with fresh coconut water to stave off the hunger pains and then we had wonderful fish and shrimp. All that for less than half of what we pay in Rio. In addition we were eating right on the beach, watching the wind surfers, being peppered with salt water and hearing the sea gulls. The only fly in the oinment is that we were cold. Yes, I know I am whimpy, but it was around 60 degrees and very very windy. I actually enjoyed feeling all shivery, for a while anyway. We walked for a few minutes after lunch and enjoyed the beautiful beach. Brazil is so blessed with so much beautiful scenery.
The worship service was to celebrate 30 years of ministry of a seminary colleague of João. There was a crowd at the church, that included around 40 pastors from neighboring churches. It was a wonderful celebratory experience. After the service there was dinner for all. Now get this, the service ended at 10PM! We ate supper around 11:30, since the dinner was elsewhere in town. I enjoyed the company and the chit-chat, but by midnight I was fading fast.
The church hosted us at a charming little beach hotel. The owners were so nice to us (even waited up for our late arrival). We had a really good night's sleep and then had to head home the next morning. What a great break from our usual routine, however. Isn't it great to have these little intervals in our life? I didn't know the pastor in Cabo Frio, but I was delighted to get to know him and his wife. They are lovely people. I saw a number of people I knew from years ago, as I used to travel so much and preach all over. I am still discovering the fruits from that work. That is so great and so much fun. People look at me... scratch their head and then you see the light dawn. Peggy Fonseca... ah, weren't you Peggy Smith? Guilty on all counts. I don't miss the constant travels, the perpetually open suitcase, stress of travel and all that, but I do miss making friends from all over Brazil. Everything, all decisions, come with a price tag. I am more than happy to remember those friends and retouch with them once in a while, and at the same time continue to invest in my very own eccelsiastical community. (How's that for some big words?)

A bump in the road

I haven't mentioned my drawing too much lately because I have hit a bump in the road. We recently entered into the arena of colors in our classes, and I was so excited to buy my colored pencils and pastels and just took them out to look at them. When it came to actually working with colors, I felt frustrated and lost. I just couldn't make it work. I think I bought cheap pencils, but they don't flow on the paper. They can't be erased (I am the eraser queen) and there is no blending to be had. ARGH!
The exercises did not go well and I was on the verge of just quitting, deciding that I had hit by "peak" and my "artistic" phase was over. To make matters worse, one of the classes involved drawing a cluttered room. If there is anything I hate, it's drawing furniture, walls, scenery. It's just boring to me.
This week, however, our teacher abandoned the book she is using, that has served us well up to this point, and took things into her hands. She bought fruits and let us pick them and draw them last week. Everyone was feeling a little like I was, that we had suddenly regressed and couldn't draw anymore.
We all began to draw, and suddenly there was silence as we all fell to work. Gabi gave us suggestions and, at first, we all felt strange building the layers of color. We couldn't see our fruits emerging. Near the end of the class, there they were. Live and in color. I used over 6 shades to work on the gourd. (Actually it's a kind of baby pumpkin or squash.) I finished up the tangerine (also with 5 or 6 shades of reds and yellows and oranges) at home and then added in the shadows. Unfortunately I had sketched in the shadows with an orange pencil (the table was orange, so that was the color of the shadow) and the line was too heavy making my shadows funny looking with the artificial lines. I still have to learn that you can't bear down with colored pencils, as the lines are uneraseable.
At least I felt there was something recognizable in the drawing, the shading is there, along with the right coloration. So maybe there is hope for using colors. First we have to master the colored pencils. Then on to pastels and watercolors. On my, there is so much to learn. So far, I am finding color theory the greatest challenge. I still don't look at something and see the light and all the colors that go into making the shades. Practice, practice, practice. (And buy some decent colored pencils!) Friday we will be drawing plants. How many shades of green do you think I will use then?

Chapter Four - Cat's Are Cool

Princess, the Beauty Queen

When people come to my house, Princess usually comes sauntering into the room and everyone stops to look at her. “What a beautiful cat” everyone says. They want to pet her and hold her in their laps. Of course, Princess knows just how to play them for lots of attention. She is charming and elegant and everyone notices her. Even her name sets her apart. She is royalty.

You will recall, however, that another cat, by the name of Muffet, came to live with Princess. She, unlike Princess, is timid. When visitors arrive, she hides, trembling, beneath the covers until they leave. She doesn’t do cute little things to get people to notice her. She doesn’t have long silky fur like Princess. She is rather chubby around the middle, but has skinny legs, tiny ears and a short, thin tail. Everyone notices, right away the difference between the two cats. More than one person has commented, “I would like to have a cat like Princess, she is so beautiful. But I wouldn’t want a cat like Muffet.”

That always makes me a little sad, because it seems as though people have judged Muffet’s value, based on her appearance. I guess I relate more to Muffet than to Princess on that score. I am short and fat and no one would call me a beauty queen. It has always made me sad when people made fun of me or when they don’t want to be around me because I’m not beautiful.

That whole experience of the comparison between Princess and Muffet set me thinking about a verse in the Bible. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 - NIV). That verse is really true. God cares about our attitudes, how we act, about our thoughts. Those are things we can control. I can’t much control the way I look. I know for sure that God loves those who are short, tall, thin or fat. He really doesn’t care what I look like, because what I look like doesn’t determine what kind of person I am. That’s a nice feeling. Sure has changed how I think about myself.

Try taking a mirror and looking at yourself. Then think about how God sees you. What you look like isn’t that important. It’s what’s inside that counts.

That has made such a big difference for me. It makes me feel good about myself. And it makes me treat others differently. I try not to base my friendship on what people look like on the outside. God is helping me to learn to love people like he does.

Sometimes I give just a little extra love to Muffet. I want her to know that I think she is special and I like her just the way she is. That’s the way God loves me!

My Empty Savings Account

Are you as tired as I am of advice on how to save time? Today I decided to take out some of that time I have been saving all these years by multi-tasking and guess what? There was nothing there! My time savings account is totally broke. Seems there is an expiration date and "saved" time only lasts about 60 seconds. I also tried to put time in a bottle and that didn't work either. It just evaporated in the air.
So as of today I quit! No more saving time for me. I am going to quit obsessing about everything I can do (my efficiency), stop trying to do three things at the same time (unless that includes eat, talk, and watch TV all together), and cease and desist from feeling guilty for not trying to do everything other people think I need to be doing.
Today, for example, I walked to the fish market, wasting 15 minutes there and 20 minutes back (there was about 6 lbs of groceries to carry). I got exercise, fresh air (as fresh as it ever gets in Rio), and some fresh salmon that was deboned and skinned for me at the market. To fix it I stopped at the fresh market for lemons, cilantro, peppers, garlic and parsley. Came home, chopped all the herbs and now the fish is marinating. It would be a lot quicker to buy a frozen meal. Or even to go out to eat. But just think how much more we will enjoy sitting in our kitchen and chatting while eating fresh salad with baked salmon. What more could want?
I am just going to accept the fact that it really does take an entire morning to prepare a meal, if you make it fresh. Right now my raspberries are soaking so I can "mush" them and put them in my homemade yogurt. Lots better than the starchy, sugary mess they sell at the supermarket. Of course that mean I had to stay in babysitting the fermenting yogurt.
Life takes time. And I don't want to hurry through it anymore. I figure my life is more than half over (what are the odds I'll live longer than 112 years?) and so I really have decided it's true "slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morning last". I might as well do what I like for the last half and not get in any hurry about it. If I don't get something done, so be it. I doubt the world comes to an end if I am late to someplace.
My "time" savings account may be empty (always was even when I saved all that time), but my life is full and that's what counts.

Chapter Three of Cats are Cool

Princess, the Green-Eyed Monster

The truth is, Princess is a really beautiful cat, with soft grey fur and big round green eyes. Her eyes are so big that some people say she looks like an owl. That’s not why I called her a green-eyed monster, however! You may not know what a green eyed monster is either, but Princess will teach you all about it.

After Princess had lived with me for about two years and the two of us were very happy together, a friend of mine (yes I finally made friends in Rio de Janeiro!) had to travel to China for about a year. She had a cat named Muffet. Muffet couldn’t go to China, so she came to live with me for a year. I was happy to have a new friend in my house. Princess was NOT! Princess, who was so gentle and loving, suddenly began a real monster. She growled at Muffet. She fought with her. She ate her food. If I even tried to pet Muffet, Princess came running and smacked Muffet really hard. Poor Muffet! She was a timid little cat and she soon became afraid of Princess and of me.

Still, I understand how Princess felt. After all, she had had all my affection and attention to herself and now she had to share it. I remember once when and my cousin came to stay at my house. I hid all my toys and made my mother promise she wouldn’t let my cousin touch anything. Putting it simply, I was jealous. Just plain jealous that Sally, my cousin, would get something I wouldn’t. Frankly, I haven’t changed much. When I hear about how someone I know is a big success or has lots of money, I get that same kind of feeling. My stomach kind of twists up, my lips get tight, and my heart grows very small. There is a nasty feeling inside of me. I wish that person’s life hadn’t turned out so well. Or that those things had happened to me. I am JEALOUS. I have been attacked by the green-eyed monster called jealousy! I’m no different than my cat. Oh my goodness!

Have you ever had that feeling? Maybe someone at school made a better grade than you. Or a friend got a new toy, just like what you wanted, but don’t have. Or your mother gives extra special attention to your brother or sister. Can you remember sometime when the “green-eyed monster” attacked you?

The problem is that jealousy is a terrible thing. It doesn’t make us happy, nor does it help the person we are jealous of. God certainly understands that we sometimes feel that way. He doesn’t want us be jealous, however. He told us that we should NOT desire ANYTHING for ourselves that belongs to another person. That’s not easy.

To help out Princess, I decided to give her some extra love. I gave her a new food dish, just for her. When I gave attention to Muffet, I did it for from Princess. Gradually Princess began to feel I still loved her and having Muffet wasn’t going to change anything.

When you feel jealous, you can’t very well ask for a new food dish! There is something you can do, however. You can try to remember all the good things God has already given you. You can remember what a wonderful friend he is. You can recall that no matter what happens or what you do, God loves you in a special way. Each time you start to feel like the “green-eyed monster” of jealousy is getting close to you, say to yourself: “I am very special. God loves me. He cares for me.” If it helps, you can even say the words aloud. You can also ask God to take away that ugly feeling of jealousy, to learn to be content with who you are and what you have. He really will help you. You will also want to confess to God that you know jealousy is a sin and that you need His help not to feel that way anymore.

By the way, Princess and Muffet finally did learn to be friends. It took a while for Princess to get over her jealousy and Muffet to get over her timidity, but they did and the three of us lived peacefully together. I bet you can learn to live in peace without a green-eyed monster around, too!

But I LIKE Worm Theology

There is a grand old hymn, that I just love "Alas and Did My Savior Bleed" by Isaac Watts. If you don't remember it, you can listen in at the CYBERHYMNAL page.
As a child, the first verse was sung with the phrase "Would he devote that sacred head, for such a worm as I?" When I was a young woman, there was a movement to change the words to "For sinners such as I?" It was so adopted in our Baptist churches, with the very strong argument that this represents "worm theology". In the 70's there was a current of thought that all that was wrong with people could be cured by increasing their self-esteem. People just needed to believe that they were special in God's eyes and all would be okay. We certainly could not lower people's self-image by calling them worms. That is very bad theology. I bought into it hook, line, and sinker. (Ok, for you who are not Americans, that is a fishing image that means that I believed it totally.) As a teacher, and Christian educator I taught, for many years, that we have to avoid anything in our classrooms that will make our little angels believe they anything less than wonderful. I touted the line I heard my own preacher say from the people "I ain't junk because God don't make no junk". I was suspicious that anyone too humble really had an issue with self-esteem. I was sure that God made no one to be a worm.
And in a way I was right. God didn't create people to be worms. Nevertheless, we CHOSE to become worms. Yip, I have come to the conclusion that "we is worms", nasty, ugly, little dirt loving, slimy (sorry, I know worms aren't really slimy), disgusting creatures.
You know how I came to that conclusion? I threw my psychology/pedagogy books out the window and started paying more attention to the Word of GOD.
Isaiah 41:14 - Fear not, you worm Jacob,you men of Israel!I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord;your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Job 25: 4-6 - How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!”
Oops! Turns out, compared to God, we really are worms. And that is the simple truth. We are so far removed from God's sanctity, we really are disgusting. Of course in a world that's allergic to the word sin, no one wants to hear that truth. We go to church to feel good, right? Not to be condemned.
Well it's about time we felt condemned by our sinful nature. That we feel revulsion when we see who we are and what we have done to a righteous God. That we enter into his presence with trembling. That we fall on our knees in contrition over our sins and call out with Isaiah: "Woe is me, for I am a sinner".
Mostly what we like to say is "Oh boy, how I love Jesus. How he loves me. I feel so good. I am so good. Goody, goody, goody. I am friends with God. Wow. Aren't I special?" To paraphrase some of the theology of our current songs and liturgy.
Me, I've had enough of feeling good about myself. When it's dark and I am all alone, I know it is all a pretense, a show. I have to agree with Paul's words in 1Timothy 1:15 - "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the worst." I am a sinner - the worst in the world. Sinner #1.
Ah, but it was for that reason that Jesus Christ came into the world. Paul says it better in verse 16 - "But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."
Friends, I think we have let the world's wisdom lead us down a garden path, into a place where our theology really stinks. (By that I mean it's rotten.)
I am tired of listening to the WORLD'S voice on how to be a leader, how to live your life, how to be happy, how to get rich, how to do anything. I want to hear God's voice on the subject. Yes, I am still reading lots of books, but trust me, I am not buying anything until I really analyze it in the light of Word of God.
Am I a worm? Yes I am. I am a sinner. A disgusting sinner. A slimy sinner. A nasty sinner. I don't know how the Sovereign God, the Ruler of the Universe can stand to look at me. BUT the Good News is that He does. Through his Son, Jesus Christ I have been redeemed. I have received his grace. By his favor I can lift my head from the dirt. And that's why I can sing with Isaac Watts, "but drops of grief can ne'er repay, the debt of love I owe." If I was already wonderful, then why did Jesus need to die? Why should I be grateful?
It is so much better to recognize that I am a worm, than to suspect others think I might be and then try to prove otherwise. That makes for a lot of conflict and pride. I have to work twice as hard to prove I really am a butterfly inside. Me, I know I am a worm. I don't have to prove anything. I can live in joy because Jesus freed from that. I agree with Isaac: "Dissolve my heart in thankfulness and melt mine eyes to tears ...Here Lord I give myself away, tis all that I can do".
So, don't you think it's pretty wonderful receiving God's umerited grace/favor, than trying to be good enough to deserve it?
Me, I kinda like worm theology. Crazy, eh?

Chapter Two of "Cats are Cool"

I am so happy some of you have written to say you are enjoying some of my "cat devotionals". I enjoyed writing them, originally in Portuguese. I have done some revising and have added some stories for clarity and I have an outline of new ones to write about my cat in Canada and also Mia. Since I am trying to put the stories in chronological order, those will have to wait a while. I have over 20 stories, so this will be long process of gradually posting these devotionals. Today I post my second devotional. By the way, the illnesses Princess suffered from were a very severe case of ringworm (which I also caught), a weakening of her immunities and a very low blood count.

One Very Sick Little Kitty

By now you know that Princess was a very special kitten to me. She was very young and small when she came to live with me. After just a short time with me, I noticed she didn’t seem very well. So I took her to the veterinarian so he could check her out. Sure enough, she was very ill. She had to take several kinds of medicine. The worst part was that she had a terrible skin disease that might cause her to lose all her beautiful fur. I bought all her medicine and began to give it to her.

All that medicine for such a little kitty, was just too much medicine. She began to grow sicker and sicker. She was throwing up nonstop and I stayed up all night trying to help her. Finally I called the vet and he met me at his office very early in the morning and we had to put Princess in the hospital. He said she could even die. I was overcome with sadness. I didn’t know what to do. There was nothing I could do to save her. Could I possibly pray to God? Could it be that I could bother God with such a small thing? There are so many terrible things happening in the world. Surely one little cat couldn’t be important, could she?

Do you sometimes feel like that? Your little problems aren’t worthy of God’s attention? That God doesn’t care about the small things? That was what I was feeling. But then I remembered something about God caring about the birds. I thought for a minute and remembered the words of Jesus:

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows". – Matthew 10:29-31 (NIV)

I was so glad that I had memorized Bible verses once upon a time! They helped me right then, when I was in doubt. I began to think: “God cares about the sparrows. He knows how many hairs are on my head. He surely cares about Princess. I can certainly pray to Him about her. I don’t know what his answer will be. But I know I can talk to Him and He will hear my prayers and do just right thing for me.”

I felt better right away. I didn’t have to worry. I could count on God! The next day Princess was still quite ill, but at least she could come home. She was ill for a long time. No one could come near her and I had a lot of trouble cleaning all my clothes and house because her illness was contagious, even to people. I was teaching children at my church and they were all interested in Princess, too. Soon they began to pray with me about her health.

Princess did lose most of her fur, but at the same time, her health began to get better. Soon her fur grew back and she no longer had to take any medicine. One day I looked at her and she was beautiful and healthy again and I knew that she was going to be okay. I thanked God that He had said yes to my prayers. I also thanked Him because I had learned that I could turn to Him no matter how big or small my worry was.

Is there anything that is worrying you? Is there something that makes you sad? It doesn't matter what it is, whether it’s a huge thing or just a small issue, you CAN talk to God about it. He really does care.

You know, that just might be the most important thing I ever learned from Princess!

God's Plans, Our Priority

Happy Birthday, Dear Church, Happy Birthday to you. Sunday, the 24th, was the 124th anniversary of our church. Since Brazilians love and cherish big blowout birthday celebrations, (and sometimes it is hard for me to remember HOW very important birthdays are to almost all Brazilians), our church was no exception. All month we've been celebrating. Our theme verse was Jeremiah 29:11, "God's Plans, Our Priority".
Saturday, the 23rd, we had an all day prayer meeting, from 6AM-6PM. It was a wonderful day of prayer. I really loved the day, although I missed a couple of hours, since I came home to do lunch and rest some. Every 30 minutes a different person leads the prayer/Bible reading/devotional/music. So it was very different every 30 minutes, as were the types of prayer and the prayer requests. I loved the whole day.
Sunday morning the church was packed, so the singing was inspired. We had a guest preacher who did a great job. There were a lot of decisions for re-dedication of lives.
Sunday night was the representation of the musical "Experience with God". The invites we used are the figure to the left. We had a goal of 200 visitors. There were many more. Very literally it was Standing Room Only at the church. We had a guest choir singing with our choir. The presentation was much more smooth this time than at Easter. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The message was very spiritual and meaningful. The multi-media presentation that accompanied it, added so very much. The children's choir also had a part and they, as usual, made everyone cry with the sweetness of the message. There were a number of decisions, and the church was well prepared to counsel the people. Afterwards it seems no one wanted to leave, although the service was quite long. I know we didn't get home until 10:30 and there were still people at church.
I am grateful to William Buck and Anna Bagby, who started this church with just themselves and two English ladies on August 24th, 1884. It must have been quite a battle for them. But their sacrifices were quite blessed.
Our anniversary offering was designated for the construction of the sanctuary of our congregation. Our goal is R$60,000 and I hope we reach that goal. We are about half-way there, I think. What a great birthday present! We also have the goal of sponsoring two more congregations over the next year or so. Right now we support our congregation, paying part of the pastor's salary. We also support, financially, another congregation not too far away.
Next year will be 125, so it should be quite a celebration. I'll let you know. Today I need to rest up from all the partying!

Princess, Peggy's cat

Hey, thanks guys for your interest. I told you if got a couple of yeses, I would carry on. And I did get 4 yeses, so here is my first story about my cat Princess.
Someone asked, so I'll mention the fact that I was thinking of 9 year olds for my audience, give or take a few years. I think a child of this age could read the stories - one a day - or a younger child could have their parents read the stories to them. If I could draw from my imagination, I would love to be able to sketch these stories. The best I can do is include a photo now and then.

Princess, my friend

I enjoy having friends around me. I don’t especially enjoy being alone. When I moved to Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, I didn’t know very many people. I was pretty lonely. I didn’t have anyone to talk to at night when I got home from work. Everyone was so busy coming and going, I hardly ever saw my neighbors.

When I adopted Princess, my beautiful long-haired cat, things began to change. She was my very first friend in Rio. When I came home at the end of the day, she was at the door, meowing. She walked around my ankles, so I couldn’t walk until I reached down to pet her. When I sat down, she jumped up in my lap and began to purr. When I went to bed, she slept on the far corner, just close enough to be company, but far enough away not to disturb my sleep. When I was sick, she would lie with her paw on my arm, not moving until I moved. When I was sad, she seemed to know it and she would play with her toys and make me play with her, until I cheered up. When I was tense, just touching her long silky fur made me feel calm again. She came to live with me, just when I needed her most. Princess became an important friend to me.

Not only was she my friend, I was her friend. I gave her lots of attention. I talked to her. I gave her food and water everyday. I took her with me to work and on my trips. I combed her long fur to keep away the knots. During the long hot days of the summer in Rio de Janeiro, I kept the air conditioning on, just so she wouldn’t get over heated. I tried to take care of all her needs. She was my friend and I was her friend.

That’s what friendship is all about. Spending time together. Enjoying being together. Thinking about what the other person needs. My friendship with Princess made me think about other friends and what kind of friend I really was. Most importantly, my friendship with Princess made me think about one special friend. Not just any friend, but my very best friend. My friend that always loves to be with me. My friend who always understands me. My friend that makes me happy. My friend who enjoys me and makes me feel special like no one else can.

You know who that is? He’s Jesus. He is a perfect friend. He cares for me in a way no one, anywhere else, ever has or ever will. It’s nice being friends with Princess. It’s fantastic, it’s wonderful, it’s fabulous (can you think of any other great words?) being friends with Jesus. He really is the bestest of the best friends.

Thanks, Princess, for reminding me that my best friend is Jesus!

Wouldn't You Like to Read the Book I'm Writing?

Well, would you? Or maybe you wouldn't... This week I had an idea. Many years ago I wrote a small story about my cats, for a children's magazine in Brazil. I started writing it each quarter. It was actually a devotional for young children. Lots of people, even adults, liked the stories. While in Canada, I began translating them into English and putting them into book form. So this week, I got to thinking, how about if I begin to publish the book on my blog? You could read the chapters and begin to offer your feed back on them. You must remember, however, that the audience is children. Even so, I think most adults will also enjoy reading the stories. So here goes the introduction to the book. If you think I should post more entries with the actual stories, make a comment and let me know if it is a good idea. If I get a few yeses, I will try to add another story every couple of days or so. If no one makes a comment, then I'll get let it drop.

My Cats are Cool… or
My Cat School

Is there anything you have ever wanted, but couldn’t have? I always wanted a cat. I couldn’t have one. My mom wouldn’t let me. As I walked home from school everyday, I played with every stray cat in the neighborhood. I tried to bribe them to stay in my garage by putting out saucers of milk. It never worked. They seemed to know that my mother had absolutely forbidden any cats in our family.
When my sister grew up, got married and left home, she adopted a cat. In fact she adopted four cats. I sort of felt like their aunt. Whenever I went to her house, I pretended the cats were mine. They weren’t. It just wasn’t the same as having a cat of my own.
Some time later I went off to live in Korea, far from home and guess what I got? A cat. I was teaching school and I let my students give him a name. They decided to spell my last name, Smith, backwards and somehow came up with the name of Thims. We didn’t realize until a couple of weeks later that we had made a mistake in spelling. Error and all the name stuck. Unfortunately, the cat didn’t, since the girl that lived with me was not fond of cats. It just didn’t work out for us to keep a cat, when my roommate felt the same thing for cats that my mother did. My experience with Thims did convince me that I REALLY, REALLY did want a cat of my own.
Unfortunately, I had to wait a long time. It seems there are a lot of people in this world like my mother. They don’t like cats. Especially people who rent apartments. I moved to a lot of places, but no one would allow me to have my own cat. I just kept on being an “aunt” to my sister’s cats.
When I moved to the city of Rio de Janeiro, in the country of Brazil, I noticed people in my building had dogs and birds for pets. No one had a cat. But pets were allowed. No one had a cat, because cats weren’t all that common as pets. I suppose you figured out that it didn’t take me long to change that. I finally got my cat. Her name was Princess because I thought she was the MOST special cat in the whole wide world. I loved having a cat and I loved Princess.
Now I have had several cats, besides Princess. I have loved them all. They changed my life and taught me a lot of things. Yes, my cats taught me! They made me think and feel new things. I felt rather selfish keeping all the things they had taught me to myself, so I thought I would share them with you.
I know that cats are cool, I just didn’t know that one day I would be enrolled in a very special cat school. My teachers, at the cat school, were excellent. I invite you to come learn with me at our very own Cat School. Your teachers will be Princess, Muffet, Baby, Dolly Sadik, and Mia, my cats over the last 20 years. You will meet all of them along the way. I warn you, though, they will make you think. They will make you feel new things. If you aren’t ready to be changed, just a little bit, stop reading right now!

Have a laugh on me

Have a laugh on me! A friend of mine sent this joke to me today and I just couldn't resist passing it along as it really is a good one! (Thanks Marilois)
By the way, if you want a good laugh over cats and photos you can visit the blog "I Can Has Cheeseburger" (The first blog on the left in my bloglist.) I will warn you, though, it is an addictive site.

THE FOUR CATS

Four men were bragging about how smart their cats were.
The first man was an Engineer,
the second man was an Accountant,
the third man was a Chemist, and
the fourth man was a Government Employee.

To show off, the Engineer called his cat, 'T-square, do your stuff.'
T-square pranced over to the desk, took out some paper and pen and promptly drew a circle, a square, and a triangle.
Everyone agreed that was pretty smart.

But the Accountant said his cat could do better. He called his cat and said,
'Spreadsheet, do your stuff.'
Spreadsheet went out to the kitchen and returned with a dozen cookies. He divided them into 4 equal piles of 3 cookies.
Everyone agreed that was good.

But the Chemist said his cat could do better. He called his cat and said, 'Measure, do your stuff.'
Measure got up, walked to the fridge, took out a quart of milk, got a 10 ounce glass from the cupboard and poured exactly 8 ounces without spilling a drop into the glass.
Everyone agreed that was pretty good.

Then the three men turned to the Government Employee and said, 'What can your cat do?'
The Government Employee called his cat and said, 'Coffee Break, do your stuff.'
Coffee Break jumped to his feet.......

Ate the cookies...... ..
Drank the milk.......
Then fell sick…
Filed a grievance report for Food poisioning.......

Put in papers for Workers Compensation. .......... ....and
went home for the rest of the day on Sick leave....... .....

Happy Birthday Dear Blog

During the month of August I am comemorating the 4th aniversary of my blog. Yes, can you believe it? I actually stuck with something for longer than 2 months. You know most people abandon their blog rather quickly. I almost quit about 2 years ago. But here I am still boring you. While I am on the subject of boring you... on to my two favorite subjects - drawing and my cat! I actually did finish Mia's portrait today. I learned a lot about shading while doing a black cat. I didn't realize there are so many shades of black. I got pretty good at manipulating an eraser, I can tell you. At any rate, Happy Birthday to my BLOG.

A woman with an identity

I am no longer documentless. Do you like that word? I do because it means that I am now the proud owner of an identity card (for foreigners) in Brazil. I have been waiting and waiting for ever so long for my new card. Well, actually it's been only 18 months, since it took some months for my actual permanent residence to be approved. I had lost my permanent resident status after my 5 years out of the country. I periodically check online to see if the card was ready, but always got an instant no. When a new screen flashed up yesterday, I was in a state of shock, I was so surprised. Today we went out to the airport, headquarters of the immigration police, and picked up my card. There had been a big bru-ha-ha when I did my application back in 2006 that there was a discrepency between the application and my marriage certificate in the spelling of Dad's name. They had William with an "N" on the certificate and they went round and round with me and I finally told them to spell it however they wanted. Then they said that if it wasn't right I would have all kinds of problems later. I told them I would fix that later. So I fully expected to have his name spelled wrong and have to pay a correction fee and then wait another 18 months for a corrected card. But what do you know? It was spelled correctly, just like on my previous card, before I went to Canada. I even had the same number. One less thing to remember. That means all I have to do is go and get another copy of my marriage certificate, as we were able to verify that in the original register it is actually spelled correctly - back in 1993 (surely sounds weird to think of 1993 as "back then"), they actually hand typed the certificate copies and someone made a small typing mistake that turned out to be a big pain in the neck for me. The bureaucracy here drives me nuts sometimes, but today I am happy.
On that note, however, I must add that something that concerns me is that I am seeing the USA turn into a bureaucratic state. I have been shocked at how complicated things have become there. There is talk of a national identity card. I HATE that idea and consider it very anti-democratic as well as repressive on the part of the government. I am frustrated by the fact that a few years ago I could renew my driver's license based on my Brazilian license with no red tape whatsoever and recently I was refused to renew that license (in the same state of Kentucky in the same Boone County) because I didn't have a birth certificate (but I did have a passport, the idiots) and a current Social Security Card (I do have one, but it was in Brazil at the time). What has happened to the days when a man's word was his bond. I now hate entering the US via airports as everyone is treated not only as a terrorist suspect, but with outright rudeness and disrespect. I miss smiles, politeness and common courtesy. I know that makes me sound old and stodgy. I love change, innovation, gadgets, gimmicks, electronics and new things in general. Really I do. But I hate change for the worse and that's what I think is happening. So if your candidate is proposing or supporting a national identity card, think twice about voting for him. Trust me, additional paperwork is NEVER a good thing.

No way... I'm much better looking

People, I just couldn't resist these photos! When I saw that Mia had jumped up on my desk and was looking at her portrait, I had to show her reaction. At first it looks like she is just horrified. I can almost hear her saying: "No way! That "thing" isn't me. I protest. I am much better looking!"

Then Miss Mia asks for some time to think about it. She squintches (is that a word, by the way?) her eyes closed tight so she doesn't have to look at that horrible thing. She tries to express her deep indignation at the inability of the artist to capture her marvelous beauty. Of course, the artist protests: "But I haven't finished yet. Wait until I am done."

In complacency, Mia gives the artwork one more look, shakes her head in disgust and then takes a beautiful pose as if to say "Well, if you really want to draw me, why don't you try again using this lovely pose?"

What's the News, What's the Buzz?

I really haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I was out of town last week, which made it hard to do an entry in my blog. Then, when I returned, I was playing catch up. So now let me catch you up a little on all that is happening around here. Saturday, the 2nd, we had a "Country" party at church. It was a lot of fun. We had and accordion player, country dancing, a mechanical bull, and lots of other entertainment and great food. It really was a lot of fun for us all and a surprising success, as a kickoff to our 124th anniversary at the church. I was ever so cute in my cowboy hat. I did enjoy the evening. On the following Monday we went out of town, together with our minister of music, to a national music minister's retreat, where João was the keynote speaker. It was like crazy getting everything ready for that and leaving everything ready for the next week at church. We didn't return until Thursday morning, so four days away is a lot. It was nice to meet new people, see old friends and hear some good music. I emphasize some, because unfortunately even many of our "musicians" have fallen victims to thinking we have to sing endless, repetitive chorus, with a lot of talky-talk between, and then play mindless tunes while we are supposed to be in prayer. ARGH!!!!! Fortunately that didn't take place in every session. It certainly makes me grateful for my church where we don't have all that yakety-yack and "praise time" that lasts 90 minutes. I am becoming old and grumpy I suppose!

The good news on our return is that our church staff is growing. We had recently invited a young man (well anyone in their 20's is young to me!) to be our youth minister and we received the news that he accepted. We are thrilled. João decided to announce the news Sunday night. You can see him, together with his lovely wife, at the podium in prayer at the close of our service Sunday night. Everyone is well pleased. He has been the chaplain at our school and is well liked by our youth and our deacons and so he already has a head's up. We still have to work out when he will start and when his installation (induction) service will be, but that is just "gravy".

We are praying for God to show us the right person for children's ministry as well. Our main candidate, already a church member and one of my ex-students, just didn't feel she wanted to take this one right now. So we are praying and seeking the right person. It is exciting to see things fall into place ever so slowly.

Today we had a lovely lunch with João's old seminary roomate, who is home from South Africa (as a missionary). We have entertained both he and his wife on separate occasions over the past two years, but had not had a chance to be with both of them together. It made for a great day.

I have been drawing off and on over the last few weeks. I did a couple of Degas' dancers and one of his nudes (that I won't be putting on my blog) and am now involved in drawing Mia. It looks just like her and I am excited. But drawing in the fur takes forever. It is hair by hair and is very slow. I am having some neck and arm pain, so I am taking it easy on the drawing these days. I think I have overreached my boundaries in that area, for I have had chronic problems with my neck for years and years, although it's been at least 15 years or so since I've had a flare-up. Consequently I will be trying to diminish my computer use for a while, until it quits bothering me. That being said, that's about all I have to say for now.