First blog from Brazil!

We made it!!

Today marks three weeks since we got on an airplane and embarked on a journey that had been in the works for around 2 years... going on 30+ years. And who knows how long in the heart of God!

It has felt very surreal in that my emotions have been mainly... level? My focus has been on each next step on our to-do list and each thing that I can do to create peace, routine and normalcy for my children.

The every day tasks remain each day - breakfast. get ready. snack. play. lunch. play. snack. play. dinner. play. snack. bedtime.

My goodness, do my children EAT! Throw in a few errands to the local supermarket to find some sort of food that we know how to cook...and a day has passed with emotions unprocessed.

And then suddenly a wave of grief will surge over me when I see a picture of someone I

love or when I watch my children wrestle through their own struggles. Wow, as a mum that has to be one of the hardest things: to watch your children deal with pain. It's in those moments I hold onto my Jesus' garments and cry into His chest, as they do the same to mine. And I speak the truth over and over:

"He has good things for us. This is hard but this is the best path we can take, because it is the one He called us to walk. He created us and He is good. He knows exactly how to lead us in abundant life. So let's be patient my little ones because He leads us into joy!"

This is the beginning of a new chapter. One that I know will be crazy amazing, with the full circle of emotions - heightened and otherwise. It's hard to not want to rush ahead and be settled, speed it all up and be able to do all the things! But foundations are important and I want to have a strong one.

"Above all, trust in the slow work of God... We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on our way to something unknown, something new... Don't try to force them on, as though you could be today what time... will make of you tomorrow."

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

A peaceful contentment and awe also comes in waves. When I was 5 years old, God called me here. Throughout our lives He has been planting seeds, preparing the ground and getting things ready for this leg of our journey. It's by no means the destination, but it's a certainly a home that God has been singing to us about throughout our life. And now we are walking on its soil, breathing its air and touching its people.

We live close to the beach - amazing. We can't swim in the water (shark attacks on this shoreline is frequent and deadly) but we can sit in the shallows and allow the little waves to wash over us. Today Emma and I collected shells and dotted them about our turrets of our sandcastle while protecting them from Hudson's destructive feet. Several towers were built just to satisfy his craving to pound them down and laugh... Oh, this 3 year old boy!

The team and the people here are beautiful. We have been utterly dependent on others and it's humbling. A missionary has given us their apartment while she is stateside. A couple is helping us get everything we need in order to be able to rent an apartment. People are interpreting for us frequently. Almost every time we need something we are reaching out to someone to guide us. It is a lesson in dependency and we are reminded of the One who we are to be completely dependent on.

The faithfulness of God shouts from each moment, though truthfully I only hear the echoes once I sit back and quieten myself. It's truly beautiful to see His dreams become mine and then become reality. His fingerprints are everywhere. His breath empowers. His presence is my comfort. I see Him smiling on me, taking my hand and saying, "Let's do this!"

God's faithfulness is the spine of my story.

And it is yours too.

Can you see it?