Praise the LORD!!! James found a place that sells orthopedic braces and such. He bought a "Tennis Belt" for me to wear (at the recommendation of a new acquaintance whose husband is an orthopedic surgeon!). We were studying up on Bursitis and Tendonitis to find relief from the pain I have been experiencing. James even went so far as to restrict my "computer time." :D Turns out, I am suffering from a mild case of Tendonitis and so thankful for that little belt! I can wear it for just a while and it takes the edge off the pain and allows me to go about my day normally for days afterwards! Such a blessing!! Did I mention what a wonderful MAN I married??
In other news, my Grandma is doing better. We thought we were going to lose her last week. She was not responding to anything and then all of a sudden she became alert and ate TWO bowls of chicken noodle soup and started bossing my Mom around! We are so thankful for this added time.
A facebook friend shared two wonderful blogs w/ me and they are so good! Lots of great reading material to encourage and uplift as well as at times admonish us in our daily walk with our Savior. They are proverbs14verese1 and Passionate Homemaking.
I really miss this time of year in the Northeast. The wonderful Fall colors and smells bring back such good memories for me. We are trying our hand at growing pumpkins this year, so maybe we will get some "Brazilian Fall" pics and have the mouthwatering smells that go along with baking pumpkins!
Please continue to pray for us. We are seeking God's guidance as to furlough and the sale of our house. There are pros and cons to everything and we keep going back and forth. I am sure we are not the only ones....... :D
Have a wonderful night Friends!
Lisa

Wow! It's been a while!

Wow! It feels like ages since I've sat down and added an entry. We have all been busy w/ getting a niece married and helping a sister in law to settle in to her new roll as a missionary. What a busy summer! Now we are settled back into school and the routine is coming along nicely. I love having a routine. I feel like we get so much more accomplished.
On a personal note, the LORD has been taking me through some learning times. Please keep me in your prayers. My shoulder and elbow have been acting up, very stiff and sore, and I am not sure what to do. James is thinking about sending me back to the States for some exams. I am not real excited about that. Pray for wisdom to know what to do, and a willing (read submissive) spirit to obey and DO it. :D
I must go and see about lunch now, I hope to be a little more faithful with the writing in the coming months.
Lisa

Well the kitchen is officially done!!! WHOOHOO!!! Where is the dance smiley?? I am posting some pics so you can see what a wonderful job was done. We are so pleased with the results and I love the colors! (Even if my sister does feel like she is at Steak -n- Shake!) LOL So here is the official tour.................

More Shower Pics.....

As you can see our theme colors were orange and green. As I have blogged before, we are not doing so hot financially right now. I only say that to testify to you how great our God is! We were offered a bunch of decorations................only one problem, they were lilac! The Bride-to-be is the sweetest most cooperative thing you ever will meet. She is the third of 4 sisters! She knows all about hand me downs. When we talked about the $$ and what had been offered her attitude was so sweet and she so gratefully accepted whatever folks could do. We just couldn't go and get what I wanted to make it a lovely "peas and carrots" shower. (Her favorite colors are green and orange.) So I approached her Mom and asked if we could go and look at crate paper. I asked my husband if he could give me anything to help with the shower. Now usually when having something like this it is not uncommon to spend R$100 - R$200 on the decorations. Well, my MAN gave me R$40 and said that would have to do. We got to the decoration store and wouldn't you know it they had the exact shades of everything we wanted! We figured how much of everything we would need and would you believe it came to R$66!! Well, you remember that the MAN gave me R$40? I FOUND R$10 in my purse!! And the Mother of the Bride was able to kick in the R$16. So there you have it! God gave us the desires of our hearts and we didn't spend an arm and a leg to get it!

Here are some more pics of Edileusa with her sisters and Mother.






And here is one UNINVITED guest!














My Husband assures me that she came through the window above the sink in the Seminary and NOT from the drain! I will believe, I will believe...................

Dear Son, James V, killed it and burned it just for the thrill!

Getting in the Groove.....

It has been a while since I last posted. James asked me to teach a class this semester at the Seminary. I have been busy studying the Women of the Old Testament! He provided me with a syllabus that has 18 women to study and would like for me to complete it in two months! That will be a challenge, but I am always up for a good challenge.

The older girls are doing great in school! We are using Saxon Math this year as it was provided for us at a very low cost. They are also taking two courses with the Seminary students. I will be able to use these hours on their high school transcripts. James started rolling slowly in the Math dept. but he will gather some steam as he goes. He prefers to work with Dad outside during the daylight hours! But what boy doesn't?? Jesse and Bea are in need of material! They have almost finished what I have left for them and will be stuck with reading and flashcards until some extra $$ comes in to make an order.

We had a lovely wedding shower here last Saturday. Edileusa and her man got quite a haul! I was so pleased with all the nice things they received. I will try to post some pics of the decor. The girls did a great job decorating! Bea made her famous "Peanut Butter Pan Bars" and Emily and Katherine did Chocolate Chip cookies and Banana Nut Bread, respectively. The sister of the Bride made mini pizzas and her Mom brought apple cake! So we had quite a spread for an afternoon shower.

Here are some pics.

Learning to be a better Helpmeet

God is trying to teach me something. We are in a construction mess, having school, nightly seminary classes, training a pastoral candidate, and trying to keep our house. Those of you who know me, know that my husband has jokingly accused me of trying to keep a "Good Housekeeping" home. Meaning that I want the house to look like the front cover of a magazine at all times. He is right. I DO want my house to be beautiful all the time. But with all of my responsibilities, that is impossible UNLESS I delegate. At first, this was easy. I explained exactly what I wanted done and how and in what time frame.
Then something happened. I was expecting too much in too short of a time and getting very irritated if it wasn't done! We are still trying to "find" every one's strengths and weaknesses as far as chores go. Now, I believe that everyone should know how to do everything. But I also want housekeeping to be enjoyable. It is FUN keeping the things your husband provides for you in the best way you can! So we are trying different routines and chore lists to find THE ONE that will click.
As far as God teaching me? He is allowing more and more "little things" to come into our lives. Kind of like one of the gypsies we see on the street corner juggling. He starts out with two sticks of fire and then his partner tosses him another from the sidelines. Just when you think he can't possibly handle anymore, he gets another! Quite a sight to behold and very entertaining while we are waiting for the light to change so we can rush about our busy day. The point to all of this is simple. God will not call me to do (or be) more than I can handle! He loves me more than anyone on this earth and has MY BEST INTEREST at heart. What a wonderful Savior we have! I love to sit and contemplate this love. It gives me chills. He knows me better than I know myself and can see the end of the path.
Please continue to pray for us. This construction could go on for another year! It is so slow because of our finances. The power of the dollar has fallen and we are struggling to keep our heads above water. But here again, God knows all of this doesn't He?? And He only has OUR best interest in mind.
Have a blessed day!
Lisa

We are addicted to ceramic dust! This is the kitchen mid-way. We are almost finished in there....PRAISE THE LORD!!!
This was taken in the late winter/early spring. The MAN calling......post more tomorrow!

Facebook

We discovered the world of facebook last night! The www is truly an amazing discovery. Where will I ever find the time to keep up with all of this?!?! The girls are joining today and are excited about that. We are working on scheduling time for everyone on the computer. We have two at the moment so it is okay............ We need a cyber cafe!

I printed off the rest of the NGJ coloring sheets, YAY!! The Sunday School children (as well as my own) love those pictures to color every Sunday. We are working on the translation so we will have it in Portuguese.

Incidentally, I saw that there are new herb lessons available also. I am going to get those printed off a.s.a.p. as well. They are so helpful and informative. We even use them as part of our "curriculum" for school.

We have a terrible time with dust! I am learning how to keep our house more dust free. (A great difficultly when we have no rain for 4-5 months!) I just recently learned that Eucalyptus oil gets rid of dust mites! Here are the three steps: Add a generous amount to your washer with your regular laundry soap when you wash the bedding, spray a mixture of eucalyptus oil and water on your pillows and let dry in the sun, and wipe the matresses down with the same mixture on a towel. Watch out dust mites, here I come! We are going to put this to practice Monday! No more sneezing! ( I hope) We will let you know the outcome in a couple of days.

Kaira saved my post tonight! I could not for the life of me figure out how to get it out of the draft file.......... THANK YOU, Kaira! I have been so blessed by my cyber friends. Can't wait to meet some/all of you on furlough.

Have a blessed night!
Lisa