Hebrews 4: 12 "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the hearts".

For the past three weeks, we've been part of a couple's bible study. While there, we met a couple named Geremias and Adriane, both fairly new believers. You can see them in the pictures. They are on right side of the picture. She's wearing white and he is stooped down in front. The kid with a green shirt is their son.

They asked us if we could disciple them, which really surprised us because our Portuguese wasn't that good at the time, but we agreed to it. We thought this would really be helpful, and it sure has been. When we see how hungry this couple is to learn about the Word, it's really refreshing... it feels like having a tall glass of cold water on a very hot day.

Their comments last Saturday were "I'm learning so much about God's word", "I'm a different person thanks to Him", "Can we meet more times during the week?".

To God be the Glory!!

Alexandra and Adrienne's first week of school went well....... Alexandra was misplaced the first week and a half. The school put her one grade under the one she was supposed to be in (I don't know why they did that) but we just talked to the Principal and they are going to fix that. Their schedule is a little long though. It goes from 7:30am to 5:00pm and as you can imagine they are totally exhausted when they get back home. The very positive thing about having such a long day in school is that they are learning Portuguese sooooooo fast!

Anna is doing really good in school. She already has several friends that help her with any anything she doesn't understand. Definitely Marina, Bia and Tomas had been a huge blessing for Anna. She's also playing Volleyball which she loves ..........I have to tell you she is good!!. She wants to be a great testimony to these kids. She prays for their salvation every day and I'm so proud of her.

Well, seems we are getting into a routine here and thank God for everything that He's doing in our lives.......

Our girls sure find ways to have fun.........I just downloaded the pictures on my computer from my camera and found this, I had a great laugh!!

Well summer vacation is almost over (here south the equator) and the girls are starting school next week... ay, ay, ay!...they keep saying everytime they think about it.

Anna will be starting ninth grade and it will be totally in Portuguese. She already knows a guy from church that goes to the same school so she feels a little bit better but if you know my Anna you know that she has no problems making friends. Alexandra and Adrienne will be going to a different school called "Escola do Amanha" wich they have half days with american curriculum and the other half is in Portuguese.

I'll take the opportunity to ask you to pray for them this coming week everytime you remember. Please pray that they will adjust fine and that they can make good friends and especially that they will understand and learn the language fast. Thanks in advance!

Several people have ask about our mailing address. The following is the language school address were we receive all our mail. So here it goes. Just in case..........someone wants to be a blessing to the Marlin family :)


Steve Marlin
R. Floriano Peixoto, 2065
Jd Sumare
14025-220 Ribeirao Preto, SP
Brazil



As you can see on the map, Sao Paulo is the city in red and that's where we'll serve once we're done with language adquisition. We're studying Portuguese in the city of Ribeirao Preto wich is located about four hours north of Sao Paulo... and it seems that we will be moving to Sao Paulo in the begining of July. We ask you to keep praying for our family too.



We are building relationships here and as I stumbled upon this picture yesterday of Steve, and some friends from church, joking about Jesus shining in our hearts (They had lights in their pockets)... I thought of the verse in Matthew 5:14-16 that says,

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

I pray that these new relationships will see Jesus in my everyday life.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Many people have asked me about my country (Spain) and it's food... For some reason, when people think of Spain, they think of burritos, chili, quesadillas, frijoles, salsa and very hot food. Please do not misinterpret me... I love all those things. But there is a misunderstanding about "La Cocina Espanola". It may be because of the proximity to the USA of other Spanish speaking countries. OK !?

I'll try to solve this mystery! let me share with you........Spanish cuisine is typically Mediterranean, which means we use a lot of olive oil, tomatoes, vegetables, sea food, chicken, bread, cheese, pork, etc... Our tortilla is called "Tortilla de patatas" and is nothing more than potatoes, olive oil, salt and eggs. It looks like a cake, just like the one you see on the picture.


The most famous plate and usually well known, is "La Paella". It consists of rice and lots of seafood. The only thing hot in this plate is the black pepper. Here's the recipe:

Paella

1 tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
2 cups uncooked short grain white rice
2 cups clam juice
2 cups dry white wine
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. saffron or 4 envelopes puro ground saffron
1/4 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups peeled, diced plum tomatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1 jar(8 oz) roasted red peppers drained, thinly sliced, divided
1 lb Bay Scallops
10 clams, rinsed
10 mussels, scrubbed
20 large shrimp (1 1/2lbs) shelled and cleaned

Heat oil in large paella pan over medium-low heat until hot. Add garlic and cook just until garlic sizzles. Add onions and rice, cook and stir 10 minutes or until onions are soft. Stir in clam juice, wine, lemon juice, and paprika; mix well. Combine saffron and boiling water in small bowl; stir until saffron is dissolved. Stir into onion mixture. Stir in tomatoes, parsley, and half the red pepper. Bring to a boil Turn down to low heat . Stir in scallops and peas, clams and mussels, shrimp. Cook until rice is al dente. Serve Makes 10 servings.

I Hope you enjoy it!!! And hopefully, I answered some questions too about food from Spain.

"There is nothing more magnetic or attractive than a smile" and isn't that true!!!


Smiling makes us appear more confident and more attractive. When you smile the world sees you as friendly and they want to get to know you and find out "What’s the good news?" It's a great tool. A frown does the opposite. It propels people away and you are seen as less confident and even less attractive.

It's been proven when you smile your body naturally releases chemicals such as serotonin and endorphins. These chemicals are natural pain killers and they are also known as the feel good chemicals that makes us happy. You may notice that it is hard to be smiling and be negative at the same time. In fact when you smile you can turn negative emotions into positive emotions because your smile is communicating to your body that everything is okay.

What makes you smile? please feel free to add a coment I would love to hear from you!.
As for me, I can think of millions of things.........but I'll list 5. Add your 5 things please!

My little Adrienne's sense of humor.
Praising and thanking my Jesus.
My husband's silliness.
Finding a good deal.
The happinnes of others.


Make a choice to smile it will change your day and it will also affect those who are around you.

God is good and He wants to use you for His glory!!!!

Last night we had a good time celebrating New Years Eve with the church here. We had a special service with a lot of people sharing and giving thanks for what God has done in their life... very sweet. After that, around 10:30 pm, we had dinner... and let me tell you that Brazilians eat rice and beans everyday, yums! It's really good. We also had shrimp in a yellow sauce and another typical dish called Salpicao, which is some kind of a chicken with noodles. Oh, and also barbecue chicken... everything was delicious.

We had plenty of oportunities to practice our broken Portuguese with some friends. It's kind of a funny feeling, we can understand 80% of what they are saying but we can't speak back....and when we do, it comes across like we're chopping and destroying the language!. But we've definitely seen progress and that is encouraging. Oh well... we'll keep trying. Thank God Brazilians are so gracious and smile a lot, which makes us feel soooo much better.