The visas are here, fully cooked and in our hands! We are very thankful for your prayers on our behalf. We know God is Sovereign and his timing is perfect.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 tells us that there is always a purpose for what we go through. There are new things to learn and new lives to touch, and even... time to rest. Well, now... a new season in our lives is about to begin and can't wait to see what plans God has for us in Brazil. We'll be traveling to Brazil on Dec 10. Our family is so excited and ready to run the race.....we are going to be spending these last days packing and saying goodbyes to our friends and family, of whom we are so thankful for. They've been so supporting and loving through this whole process.

Listening to music is a great way to learn a language, or at least that's what they say. So here we go ............I know Roberto Carlos is Brazilian and well known all over the world. I found this and totally felt in love with this romantic song. Called "Se eu nao te amasse tanto assim" Enjoy!!

Brazil shares a border with almost every other country in South America--only Chile and Ecuador are untouched--and covers almost half the continent. It is the fifth largest country in the world, behind Russia, Canada, China, and the U.S.A., with an area of eight and a half million square kilometers.
Brazil has the sixth largest population in the world--about 148 million people--which has doubled in the past 30 years. People concentrated mainly along the coast and in the major cities, where two-thirds of the people now live: over 19 million in greater Sao Paulo and 10 million in greater Rio de Janeiro.

The Portuguese were the first European settlers to arrive in the area. The immigrant Portuguese language was greatly influenced by the numerous Indian and African dialects they encountered, but it remains the dominant language in Brazil today. In fact, the Brazilian dialect has become the dominant influence in the development of the Portuguese language, for the simple reason that Brazil has 15times the population of Portugal and a much more dynamic linguistic environment.

Sao Paulo overwhelms the senses with its sheer size. With over 19 million inhabitants, it is the world's third largest city and the largest in South America. Sao Paulo possesses significant ethnic minority communities, including substantial Japanese, Italian, Lebanese, German, Spanish, and Portuguese, neighborhoods.

I just started reading 1 Corinthians today for my devotions and here are some of the thoughts I gleaned or you can say, thoughts that touched me.

Verses 30, But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
31 so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."

The only reason we are in Christ Is because of God. Man’s wisdom can do nothing to reach salvation. Man’s wisdom can’t help us to know God. We got saved because of God’s wisdom and the purpose of salvation was that “God may be glorified”. Isn’t it marvelous that God chose simple, humble people to be His people. Influence, power, intelligence are all totally irrelevant to Him. But it does not end here. As soon as we became Christians, God began doing a work in our lives. We did not stay ignorant. Instead, through His word we received wisdom, HIS WISDOM. He made us the wisest of all creation!!! God gave wisdom that he might receive glory. That’s the whole idea. I want this to be part of my DNA, always remembering that the glory belongs to Him.

Today I spent some amazing time with my brazilian friends and I had so much fun.........We ate "pao com queijo," had a "cafezinho" and talk, talk, talked forever. They spoke portuguese almost the whole time ( I needed help on many occasions ) but I was so surprised that I was able to understand a lot. I have to say that I was exhausted afterwards, I was trying so hard..........that it wiped me out!
Brazilians are such warm, caring, friendly, fun people......I love them. It's really all about "relationships" and that more than fine with me!