This World is not My Home, Part Six

PART SIX

This is Part Six of a blog series. You can read the previous parts by clicking below:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three 

Part Four

Part Five

So for the next year, I kept struggling to stay focused on my heavenly home... a struggle that I felt like I was losing most of the time. Which made me really discouraged with myself for being so carnal. The situation we were living went from bad, to worse, to WORST as well. All of the complications I mentioned in the previous part continued, and especially the interpersonal struggles that I hinted at, became acute. All of this affected our marriage as well. And that is the worst! I have always said that as long as WE were good, we could face anything that came our way. But when WE were not good, all of life was rotten. So, basically, all of life was rotten.
(This picture is of us between a rock and a hard place. Couldn't have a better pictorial reference to our emotional state of affairs!)

This World is not My Home - PART FIVE

PART FIVE

This is Part Five of a blog series. You can read the previous parts by clicking below:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three 

Part Four

So, with that, the Lord filled me up with faith to take the leap (well, flight, actually) back to Brazil. This time we felt it was the point of no return, for we were officially giving up all our “rights” on the beautiful church house that we had called home for the past five and a half years. We no longer had any furniture, nor vehicle, nor job. We did have some boxes in storage, but that was the extent of our worldly goods.

This World is not My Home - PART FOUR

PART FOUR 

This is Part Four of a blog series. You can read the previous parts by clicking below:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

So... now we were living in our dream home. We could easily and comfortably have lived in this home and raised an army of children there indefinitely, as long as the church allowed us to. However, the Lord had other plans. The truth is that, when we first left Japan for the States, He made it clear to us that we were not to put down roots in the USA, because we would not be staying. It was to be a season – a time to establish our family and be built up in the faith. For a time. And He spoke to us many times over the years that we would one day return to Japan. So all of this stayed in the back of our mind, and we tried to not “put down roots”.

This World is not My Home - PART THREE

PART THREE 

(This is the continuation of a series of posts that you can begin by clicking HERE for PART ONE and HERE for PART TWO.)

Shortly after that, Fabio was offered a job back in the town we used to live in. This would require a move, as the base was too far away to commute. We had a Peruvian friend who was about to travel to Peru to join his wife and daughter for vacation, and he offered us his tiny apartment. He was also renting to an older lady, but he said she worked long hours and only slept there. So we agreed. Problem was, he never went to Peru, and the other lady lost her job right after our move in, so there were all five of us in a total of about 375 square feet. If our living conditions at the YWAM base had been limited, this was downright claustrophobic! And indeed, there were times I felt I certainly might not survive. It was not only a matter of space (or lack thereof), but there were a lot of other complicated dynamics involved in this situation. Just to mention one, our Peruvian friend was a “gomi” man (garbage collector), and as I mentioned you can find some pretty neat “gomi” in Japan, which our friend did regularly. He could not resist collecting it all! Since his apartment was only about big enough for a dog to live comfortably, he boxed all of his gomi treasures up, and stacked the boxes floor to ceiling, lining all the walls of what was now our bedroom (minus the “bed” - there was barely room for the three of us to sleep like sardines on the tiny bit of floor space that was left). This left no space for our suitcases, which had to then stay in the trunk of his car. For three months. So, every time I needed a change of clothes or anything else, I had to go down two flights of stairs with a baby in tow, rummage around in our suitcases in his trunk – which was not easy with a baby in my arms – to find what I needed. Frustrations abounded.

This World is not my Home - PART TWO

PART TWO

(Click here to go to PART ONE.)

We mistakenly thought it would be a simple process to get his paperwork taken care of. Two months later, he called and said that I should come back to Japan with Joshua so that we could at least be together. So we did.

Now, when we left, he had also quit his job, of course, and the base where we were now staying was too far away to go back. He had spent the past few months searching for work, in vain, and the small amount of money we had hoped would help us start out in the States was now quickly running out. Our room at the base was a bit on the dingy side, not well furnished, and very small. I remember one day looking around, wishing we had this and that which would make our life so much simpler. At least a table would sure be nice... We had nothing in the way of worldly goods but some clothes in our suitcases! In my heart, I said, “Lord, if you wanted us to stay in Japan, why didn't you just leave us alone? We were perfectly happy right where we were! And now look at us! Here we are, destitute and uncomfortable. No car, no job, no nothing!”

This World is not My Home - PART ONE

 This world is not my home

PART ONE

This is a topic that has been percolating in my head for some time now, just to chronicle what the Lord has done and is doing in my life in this one area. I am a work in progress and still have so much to learn!

First, I rewind back to Japan, where I lived from 1998 – 2003. During that time, I married and had my first child, and at those stages, I never planned to leave Japan. I imagined us just staying our whole lives there. But God had other plans. Around 2002, we began to feel the Holy Spirit stirring us up – that we were going to be leaving. And I had a really hard time letting go.

Ministry News - June 2015

We returned last Wednesday from our last ministry trip to São Paulo, where Seminar 2 went very well with about 200 in attendance. We were happy to be back at that church after over 2 years, and hear from some who participated in Seminar 1 back then. If you did not see it on facebook, we would ask that you please read this blog post, as we hope it will encourage you to pray for us! We always face spiritual battles when we go out to minister, and your prayer covering is SO important!

Acampamento em Família

 Comunhão com irmãos em Cristo... isto é um pedaço do céu na terra! E ainda mais neste lugar tão maravilhoso que proclama a glória do Criador dia e noite! (E ainda bem que na eternidade não terá borrachudos, que aqui serviram para nos lembrar que ainda estamos no mundo caido e existe algo muito melhor no porvir!)

Fellowship with our family in Christ.... it's a little piece of heaven on earth! And especially in such a marvelously beautiful place that proclamed the glory of the Lord day and night! (I am so thankful that in heaven we won't have to worry about the bugs, which served as a reminder that we still are living in fallen world and so much more awaits us in heaven!)

What is Love?

I am just wrapping up 2014 while wrapping up an in-depth Bible study about 1 Corinthians 13 - the chapter about love. I highly recommend this Bible study guide from the series Bible Studies for Busy Mamas called Thirty Days in 1 Corinthians 13 that walks you through the chapter in 5-15 minutes a day, uncovering gems and digging deeper than I ever had before. Still, in thirty days, I feel I have barely scratched the surface of the depth of this chapter, and in understanding real love.

Recap of 2014 Newsletter

 

Dear Loved Ones,

Well, we missed the boat for a Christmas newsletter this year, so we are making it a New Year's newsletter! Such is life these days. ;-)

We have had a very fruitful year, and we come to its close with thankful hearts. Thankful especially for Jesus Christ and His life and His love which He has given us in abundance.

It has been a year of growth in many ways! Each of our children has grown, and our family has grown by one member. The reach of our ministry has grown as well, and we are thankful for each opportunity the Lord has given us, each door opened and each family reached with the powerful truths of His Word. And yet our greatest desire is to grow in truly knowing Christ... this is life!

My Trim Healthy Pregnancy

Welcome Annaliese Victoria!

Well, it finally happened! We welcomed our sixth child into our family!

Making Room for One More - Part 3 (Making a Co-sleeper)

I like to keep my babies close to me at night while they are little. To serve this purpose, I have always used a pack-n-play with the bassinet attachment next to my bed. However, when we returned to Brazil two years ago, Olivia was already five months old, and we were short on space, so we brought the pack-n-play, while leaving behind the bassinet attachment. 

Making Room for One More - Part 2

Part One is Here.
So once I got my stuff out of the "Storage Room", I was just dying to tackle an enormous project: refinishing the cabinet! We bought this cabinet at a used furniture store four years ago because it was sturdy and functional and what we could afford, but I always thought it was as ugly as sin. Just never seemed like a good time to do anything about it, though....  Until now!

Making Room for One More- PART ONE

There's always room for one more! We are just in the process of trying to discover where it is at! Hehe. We live in a wonderful home, but it is not large by American standards, for eight people, at about 900 square feet. But with a little creativity, we can make it work very well.

Starting a New School Year!!!

Well, we are just finishing up our fifth week of our new school year, and so far, so good!
To tell the truth, I was *totally* overwhelmed about just thinking of getting started. I felt so disorganized, we had been traveling so much, and I felt "low" on curriculum. Two years ago, we returned to Brazil planning to be here for a two year term, so I planned out two years of curriculum for that time and brought it with me.  Now here we are two years later, and we are not going to be returning to the States to restock, so I had to rethink everything.

Me Time?? How much am I willing to give?

But Jesus answered them, saying, “.... Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name.”  John 12:24-28

LImitations on Video Games and Healthy Alternatives

Video Games... TV..... Movies..... Ipad..... Electronic forms of entertainment *abound* in our world these days. How are parents to manage all of these potentially helpful and potentially harmful "tools" for their children? We have tried a lot of different things at different times, and will probably continue to make adjustments as we go along, but I will share some of the ways we have managed this area as of late: 

Celebrating Vovô's 74th Birthday!

 It was a blessing that our seminar and ministry schedule took us to São Paulo the week of my father-in-law's 74th birthday so that we were able to take him out to celebrate!

An Afternooon of Fishing

A couple of weekends ago, we traveled to São Paulo to do a seminar at a church there on a Friday and a Saturday. The pastor then asked if we would consider staying longer so Fabio could preach at his church on Sunday, and we accepted.