confessions of thanksgiving....

I have a ton to be thankful for.....

Let's see - the stillness of this moment...and then the wind SLAMMING the door...I almost fell out of the hammock.

Or, let's talk about the total "TommyBoy" moment I had last week. I stopped at the store to get a few things before work one morning which caused me to catch the late bus. No problems with the bus-just a little later than I ever want to be there and I'm by myself. So-I cross one stream of traffic and make it to the median (which is like a parking lot) and proceed to head across the other stream of traffic..... but somehow as I proceeded-I was stopped by sudden tripping over the cracked sidewalk. Normally this wouldn't be funny but today-oh yes. By this time the morning traffic was flowing pretty heavily and there were tons of buses all around-not to mention the light turning green for the oncoming traffic to come straight toward me as I fell into the far lane of traffic. 10 seconds later and I would have been hit or I would have hit a car (that would have been amusing...can you imagine the driver?). Not only do I fall but my backpack goes FLYING over my head and for a split second I think---yes, this is funny to a couple hundred people and I think I actually chuckled at the scenes in my head. Falling is funny sometimes. I was up in about 6 seconds and out of the way. I'm sure you could imagine my prayers of thankfulness for the last two blocks of my trek.

Hmm, I'm thankful for the beautiful relationships here. I have several Brasilian friends that make my job completely amazing :) Rebeca is the secretary and her mom calls me her "American daughter" in which I love. They are such a precious family to me. Rebeca's sister, Gabi, is also amazing. She could be one of the best translators I've ever had. Truly a servant using God's gifts. She never fails to go with me on Saturday nights and I'll be eternally thankful to her for this.

And then there's Raquel. Hmm, servanthood. Her attitude is positive, encouraging, and loving. She has a way with the students in which is a mystery to me. She's like a mother hen-they all just follow her-no matter what age. We are different and yet-we work so well together. We've shared a classroom two times this year and basically team taught. I'll forever look up to her. God uses her to teach me something new.....almost every day!

She also invited me to go to church at IPN-a place where I've fallen in love with God's people and their diligence to the Word of God. I'm truly amazed! I believe that I'm going to the best church in Brasilia!

Story of the week:

So one of my students has a problem with some of his underwear.....I mean-a real problem. I don't know if they are just a bit uncomfortable or ....what, but on one occasion I recovered them from the garbage can. This was a huge deal as I ended up calling his mom to confirm that the lizard camoflauge undies were his...ahh. Well, I thought he was over doing that until yesterday---I hear this loud giggling and someone yell, "Ahh, UNDERWEAR in the sink!" "Who left their underwear in the bathroom?" I went to calm them down and I knew immediately whose they were. I looked over and he shook his head no. The other little boys kept on and on about this matter......and finally he said,"WHOSE GOING THROUGH THE TRASH!!"

I love it when they tell on themselves. Better yet, I love writing in the agenda, "I don't think he is very fond of the underwear he was wearing yesterday-we found them in the bathroom." Ah. Kindergarten. I don't know that I'll ever have a class quite like them.

More to come.....

I'm also thankful for my Mom whose love endured many hard years of raising me and even some years of distant hellos. I love that she is serving God in Cuba this Thanksgiving. :)

Three of our five family members will be overseas all at the same time in just a few days. Sharing God. Thank you to the people who help make that possible-for obeying the convictions of your heart and for giving. It is a truly a privilege and I recognize it as just that. "He doesn't need me but He chooses to use me." I'm thankful. Thank you, God.