Goodnight honeymoon stage

There always comes a time when reality sets in. In most phases and transitions of life we experience a short period when everything seems to be going perfectly smoothly and nothing will discourage you from the task at hand. And then there comes a point where you realize that being joyful and content takes work and lots of time with God.

Next week is going to be my first full week of teaching and though it is a short week, I became very overwhelmed yesterday. Part of the reason for that is because I had spent a lot of my free time during the schoolday painting the big backgrounds for the third grade play. It took quite a bit of time, and I was exhausted by the end of the week. Thankfully, the Lord put my perspective in the right place, reminding me why I am doing all of this: because this is where He has put me and because I have so much to learn from these kids. Not to mention that they are in need of someone to guide them and I am one of those people right now.

Last Friday (the 19th) I was able to go out to the Word of Life in Atibaia (about 2 hours from here) and reconnect with some missionary friends I grew up with in northern Brasil. It was such a great time, though short and really encouraged me.

There were some very meaningful moments this week. My parents got to come visit for Sunday- Tuesday which was a blessing!! We were able to have some fun times and good talks, and they got to see the church I have been attending as well as see PACA. We died laughing on Monday night playing Dutch Blitz and Mad Lib together. Mom got frustrated with Dad winning all the time that she threw all her cards at him and then with a laugh said, "That felt SOOOOO good!!!"

The kids did a wonderful job on their play. They sang a song by Mary Rice Hopkins called "Forgive" which is about the parable of the unmerciful servant. It is a really beautiful song and when kids sing it always gets to me. Such sweet sounding voices. Even though practices could get stressful and they wouldn't listen, that moment at the end when they would practice their song would help get my mind in the right place.

That is all for now! I have finished my lesson planning and am hoping to enjoy an evening with my roomate and another friend. :)

Thanks for your prayers! I cannot tell you how much I have felt them. There are times when I feel so discouraged and God just reminds me of His purposes and plans - they can be unknown to me, but He has already laid them out for me. SO thankful!