Total Culture Shock

- Today we saw something truly shocking.  As we were driving on the highway, we passed a police inspection station and noticed the police officer give a friendly wave and grin at the car in front of us. A few seconds later we were side by side with the car and we looked over to see the driver was a police officer in full uniform (he was driving in a civilian car) DRINKING A CAN OF BEER as he drove!!!!!  There are no words!  (Especially considering it is illegal to drive in Brazil with any alcohol at all in your  blood.)  It was a truly shocking cross cultural experience.  

- And one one more much lighter story....

First you have to know that every grocery store pretty much has strong, sugary espressos that you can drink free of change.  

Anyway, the other day Jeyson was at the grocery store and saw a dad with his young son and daughter.  The son was about four and riding in the cart, but REALLY acting up...wild, complaining, disobeying etc.  The father in frustration had a plan to keep the son calm and still.  He commanded/bribed, "Sit down in the cart and I'll send your sister to get you a cup of espresso to drink!"  And that's just what he did!  I bet the good behavior didn't last very long!!!  hahaha!

Random Tidbits From the Past Days

- Jeyson's getting ready for some flights to a village.  He and a Wycliffe pilot will be picking up some native believers and bringing them to a more central city for Bible/leadership training.  It's not only a very exciting opportunity spiritually, but also great to get Jeyson up and flying again after many months on the ground while in the US.

- Jeyson needed to get a very thorough government approved physical to start flying again.  This is done in a city two hours away from us.  Anyway, the night before we realized that one of the papers he needed for the physical, his vaccine record, is on the truck on the way to Boa Vista!  After much stress he wound up having to get unnecessarily revaccinated with two shots in order to be approved!  But at least he passed :)  So far that's the only thing we've sent by accident, so that's not too bad.

- Most of the stuff in our house is gone, so we're just living with random things we don't want or need anymore.  We've kept a sense of humor and have actually had many great laughs.  I am using a spatula in the kitchen that broke a while back.  Its handle is only about 3 inches long...makes flipping eggs a challenge!  Elijah has had to eat cereal out of a measuring cup since we packed all of our bowls (we've since borrowed some). I can only bake 10 instead of 12 muffins at a time, since two of the muffin cups on my silicone muffin tin have holes in them and the batter runs out!  lol!  It's been really amusing...and that's only the kitchen.  

- On the other hand, we've realized how little we actually need STUFF.  I mean, we ARE surviving around here without it...true, not quite so easily...but we're still here!  Where did it all fit anyway???  It's kind of a liberating and enlightening experiment.  But I'll definitely be glad when we are settled and I have a full sized spatula again among QUITE a few other items! 

- Elijah's been a challenge lately, but through no fault of his own.  He has had a funky stomach for about 2 weeks (taken him to the doctor twice).  It just cleared up and now he has 4 teeth coming in!  He has a hard time teething too...runny nose, fever, pain, etc.  But we'll still keep him :)

- On the way home from visiting my in-laws this evening, our clutch started having trouble.  This is especially critical so I am not left without a car while Jeyson flies (we only have one car).  Jeyson just finished taking the car apart right now and saw that the clutch needs to be welded.  Apparently this is even likely what a "normal" mechanic would do too, considering parts are hard to come by here.  So, right now at 10pm Jeyson is is off on his motorcycle to a friend's house to pick up electrodes to come back here and weld in the middle of the night or maybe first thing tomorrow.  I seriously have such a talented and hard working hubby.  He takes great care of our family, especially in these areas where I'm a true damsel in distress.  I am praying this will solve the problem (and that it can be put back together) :)

We're 8 1/2 Months Pregnant

Ok not literally.  In fact we're not expecting at all.  Which is good because  I'm so glad I'm not this huge right now while we're so busy!

But I sure feel 8 1/2 months pregnant!  

Not physically, but that's how I feel right now about our upcoming move to Boa Vista.

When I actually was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Elijah, I felt nervous and excited.  So many unknowns ahead, both good and bad.  We did everything I could do to prepare, and it got the point where the overwhelming feeling wasn't even nervous or excited anymore.  It was just READY. 

That's how I feel about this move.  There are tons of things we're excited about.  There are unending things we're uncertain about.  We've prepared for years spiritually, emotionally, logistically.  There's no going back....we're just about ready.  So we just kind of feel like..."Bring it On!"  Whatever it is...let's roll.

Now note, I didn't say I feel 9 months pregnant, after all we still have a bunch of things to do before the actual date, but we feel like, "ok let's just fast forward the calendar and get this baby out!" It's no longer even comfortable to sleep (SO true in both pregnancy and in our case since since we're sleeping on a borrowed mattress since our bed already left).  

Just like with expecting a baby, I know in a way we're kind of in the calm before the storm.  It's the last few weeks of quiet and peace in our home.  Soon we'll be going through the exhausting transition of actually arriving (involving 2-3 redeye flights), the birth if you will!  Then, we'll have that initial newborn phase where the baby doesn't sleep and you aren't sure how he prefers to be held and rocked, etc.  That's how I see as the days when we first arrive - finding a home, figuring out where to get groceries, choosing a church, etc.  But then will come a nice rhythm where we will know the new baby (our new lives) well and things will start to feel familiar and comfortable again.  I'm ready to get moving towards that.

It's just that anticipation now of beginning the process.  

Jeyson right now is renewing his medical approval to fly (it expired while in the States) and soon he'll recheck his licenses and do a few flights with Jaars.  Then, we'll be all cleared to go!

In the meantime, we still have to sell our vehicles, fix up our home to rent out, and finalize renters.  We're in the home stretch now!  Please pray that these things will be resolved so we can bring on our Boa Vista baby :)

Ministry Fun

I seriously cannot emphasize enough how crazy the past weeks have been.  I am not exaggerating when I say they've been some of the craziest of our lives!  But as I mentioned in my last post, we've gotten a ton done!  Our belongings left and we're now working on getting Jeyson's flight licenses renewed, our house fixed up to rent out,  and some things sold and finalized here in Anapolis before we can go to Boa Vista.  But we can't make headway on everything every day.  Something is always pending in an area and then it clears up to be able to work on again.  So, in between Jeyson has been working at Asas full time (unless something else requires action).  There, he has been working on a project he has really been enjoying.  

 Wycliffe/SIL has been needing to change out an engine from one of it's Cessna 206's.  A couple of guys have even come from other countries to help get the job done quickly.  Jeyson has been part of the team and really enjoying it.  

 The engine finally went on the other day...cause for much celebration!

 But there's still a lot to do to finish up the project before the plane can fly again.  This happens to be one of the very same projects Jeyson did at MMS so he has been an especially big asset to the team.

Judging from the way Elijah acted when we visited the hangar last week, I think we've got two plane fans on our hands!

Meanwhile, I've gotten the chance to minister to two couples by teaching my first class of childbirth education for my Informed Beginnings course.  (The picture below is not really us, but just to give you an idea)

It's been REALLY neat to get to reach out to these two pregnant women in a meaningful and unique way and to see them really grow in knowledge and trust in God's plan.  One of the ladies recently had some preterm labor and it was awesome to see how she felt confident and knew just what to do.  It's such a drastic difference from Brazilian culture which is SO fearful of birth and chooses c-sections.  One of the woman has felt especially criticized for wanting a normal birth (rather than choosing a c-section) so I'm so pleased to be able to reach out to her and support her in a special way during this time.  We have 3 class sessions down and another 4 or 5 to go and then hopefully I will even get to be present as a doula in one of the births.  

In the middle of the craziness of our lives, both of these ministry "projects" have been exciting and refreshing ways to serve God as we trudge through getting other things done.  

So Little Time and So Much Done!

Today is February 7th.  We arrived in Brazil January 12th.  And I am AMAZED at all that we've been able to get done in less than 4 weeks.  Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been all easy.  In fact the past weeks have been some of the most stressful we've experienced...ever!  But God has graciously gotten us through step by step.  Our moving truck is coming on Saturday and.....I can't believe I'm saying this....we are READY!

Here's a quick list of what we've accomplished in less than 4 weeks.
- We met with our leadership and decided we're going to Boa Vista
- Elijah had 3 doctors appointments about a hernia surgery
- Elijah had his surgery
- Got tons of boxes, plastic wrap, and other packing material (No one stop shopping here!  That was a lot of work going all around downtown and even to a town an hour away!)
- Jeyson made wooden crates for some of our more fragile items.
- Took down all of our stuff from storage and organized (we couldn't figure out what to bring before we knew all that we had)
- Finalized things with a moving company
- Sorted through and packed up ALL of our stuff

- Dealt with a broken down car (turned out to be a quick fix but I was a damsel in distress the other night!)
- Dealt with a big sewage disaster in the backyard

- Replaced Jeyson's missing driver's license (a whole day event in itself!)
- Dealt with some confusions with our bank account
- Filed our taxes
- Started teaching a birth class (Stephanie)
- Helping to change out a 206 engine (Jeyson)
- And MUCH more!

Phew!  We are exhausted but so glad to have gotten where we are!  I'm so proud of all we were able to get done in such a short time.  Even though we are now sleeping on mattresses and straining pasta using a cutting board (I packed my colander...oops) we are SO glad to soon see our belongings go out the door.  It will be much easier to focus on our next tasks at hand without having to think about packing or living around boxes.  What has been really tiring about the past weeks has been not knowing when to stop at the end of the day since you can always keep packing late into the night.  My hardworking hubby has been packing till midnight many nights!  But we will be back to more normal hours soon.  Yay!

Next up:
Renewing Jeyson's pilot's licenses
Selling our car, motorcycle, fridge, and other household goods
Find someone to rent our home (we'll rent out here until we are settled in and ready to buy in Boa Vista)
Fix up our home to leave it ready to rent out
Continuing with the engine change and birth classes
Preparation flights to fly a Cessna 206
Saying goodbyes

Stay tuned and keep praying!