Quick don't think...What would you do?

You have just finished a full morning of prayer with friends. As you round the corner heading home, up the hill you see a white car in the middle of the road. The next thing you notice is this older woman half in half out of the car. She is leaning into the car trying to grab something, or pull something...what is she doing? Hold the phone that car is rolling backwards, down the hill. The woman is still trying to do what ever she's doing, but the driver side door hits her, slamming her to the ground, rolling her head over heels. Did the car run her over? What is going on? But wait that car is coming backwards fast with no one driving it. It's moving in your direction!

What do you do? Did you have a chance to look around and see if there were any little Portuguese kids or old ladies walking up the side of the street? Are there any cars behind you? What should you do? Get out of the way and let the car race on down the street out of control, or use your older Peugeot 505 (the little gray tank), to take the hit and stop the white car?

Now I don't know about you but I have these moments when I'm driving along and I wonder "What would I do right now if my brakes went out?" I always figured I'd drag the side of my car along that _______, (you fill in the blank), til it was stopped. So as I watched that little white car zooming down the hill at me, that's the process my brain went thorough. I wonder if I can stop that out of control car by pinching it between my car and the curb.
Here came the car. My brain is saying, "Do it! No don't do it! Should I do it? Yes do it! No! Shut up and STOP THAT CAR!!!" So, I side swiped the little white car with my beloved Peugeot. You know that breaking glass, crunching metal sound? Enough said. The car was stopped. The day was saved. The woman came wobbling down the hill. The neighbors came out to look and I was the...Hero? No I was wondering why I just sacrificed my car for this lady. It really messed our cars up, hers more than mine. Her door was crushed between our cars, opened all the way up, the wrong way. And her back tire was on a funny slant.
The one blessing was that even though my right headlight was smashed, my right front fender scraped up, the two right doors crushed in and the rear right fender scraped up, and a pretty good impact in general was given to the car. Everything still worked. Electric windows went up and down, doors opened and closed and even the headlight still worked. So great. The car looks bad, but it fits in with everyone elses. And I did get a chance to pray for this lady. That's was nice.
So there. That's what I would do with out thinking. Great! I'd mess up my car and get to talk to the police. (Who were really nice.) My insurance guy just looked at me like, "Are you nuts!?!" Yes I probably am. Sorry Bordens, but really glad she is such a good strong car! (Why are cars and ships she's?)
Next week...A pack of wild dogs is running down the street chasing a small child. What do you do? ...Lets hope not. OK don't cross the double yellow line and call us when you get home. Blessings

Top Ten Things I Loved This Week

#10 Our house church Grace packed to the gills. (We'll need to multiply into two house churches soon.)

#9 Playing guitar with Christian in the attic while we waited for Jasmin to come up and pray with us. (I am learning slowly and my fingers are soooo sore.)

#8 Performing Miss Mayas Place for Thursday morning chapel at the kids school. (I wrote it, we rehearsed it, and performed it in one week. Never again!)

#7 Sunday afternoon lunch at the Hursts new house. We had some great cheese that they brought with them from Italy. (And their new house is awesome.)

#6 Screaming and yelling for each other as 20 of us took surf lessons together at surf camp. (They said they could hear us at the other end of the beach.)

#5 Playing tip Frisbee in the grass area by the cafe at Christian Surfers Portugal's 3 day surf camp. (I'd explain the game but it would take to long. Let's just say it was sooo fun.)

#4 Surfing with Jason Gregg and Chris Gonzalez after our surf lesson. (Three amateurs having a blast in the sun and surf.)

#3 Watching Zac lead Christian Surfers Portugal's surf camp and be right in his element. (I was really proud of my team mate. He put a lot of work into Surf Camp. Along with Marty, Carrie, and Hillary.)

#2 Dancing last night at the little cafe at surf camp with 7 or 8 new Portuguese friends whom I'd met at Surf Camp. (I figured that I'd might as well stay up and dance because we were camping right by the cafe and the music was SUPER LOUD. I went to bed around 1:30. The music finally stopped around 3:00. Sure I was tired from surfing all day, but it was still fun dancing.)

And my #1 on my Top Ten Count down for the week...( If you haven't guessed yet.)

#1 Christians Surfers Portugal's 3 day Surf Camp. It was amazing. Americans and Portuguese, young and old. Professional competition surfers and first time surfers. Followers of Christ and those who those who hadn't heard before. We had an great time and I believe that people heard clearly who Jesus is and what Christian Surfers Portugal is about.

Okay enjoy your week and paddle hard. That's how you catch the waves. Be Blessed

As the World Turns

So about this time last year we were trying to get settled. Noah hated everything that we ate. Living near the ocean was novel. I was constantly telling the kids to be quiet because of Berta who lives down stairs. And things in general were incredibly hard. Such as grocery shopping. It is so nice to feel like we can function now.

This last week was busy and rewarding. Arron from England was with us until Thursday. It was nice to get to know him. We shared some good times and just plain life for the last couple of weeks.

P was busy this week getting ServetheCity park day ready for Casa Sol. She and Jordan did a great job. There were 21 kids and almost as many volunteers.We played lots of games, ate lots of food and enjoyed service and community. My favorite memory was Ananis, an 11 year old girl who is very handicapped and confined to a wheel chair, playing the bowling game. The other kids were kicking a soccer ball at water bottles set up like pins. As she watched the kids playing she caught my eye and flailed her arm out at the game. Then she slapped her chest. I was sure she wanted to try. We rolled her right over to the bottles and rolled the ball down her stomach and legs. As the ball hit the bottles and the bottles fell over she shrieked with joy and smiled so big I thought her face would explode. It really is the little things that mean a lot.

And in family news...

The kids are doing great at their new school, ICSC. They love their teachers and their friends. Both of them are really doing well in their studies. Noah had been nailing history and Eden is cranking in math. It is so good to see them thrive.

The Hurst family arrived last night tired from two days on the road from Italy. It is exciting to have them moving here. They said they packed in the rain and when they got here they unloaded in the rain.They must have brought the rain with them, because it's been raining for two days. Winter is coming. What happened to Summer?

Also yesterday night a cute little stray Jack Russel followed P home. So we let him stay the night with us, out of the rain. Now he likes to come and stand at the down stairs front door. We are a shelter from the storm for strays and wanderers.

Well I'm going to go enjoy the rest my Sunday and visit with the Hursts. Enjoy your Sunday and Be Blessed.

Fearless Word Association

Word was the first thing that I found on this screen. And some how I feel like I have to create some profound thought that opens the world up to you. Something that speaks of Jesus and isn't edited. Something that is raw and beautiful and makes you smile and laugh. Something that doesn't worry about what you think, but I can't. I can't do it. I can't even type fast enough to get my thoughts out in a flow. But I try and I hate what I write. It's like a crude JaCK KerOuAK nOVEL. WITH A LOT OF TYPE O'S. So,... (deep breath)... and forget that you might be reading this. Just let the words come, as the ipod plays music in my ears. (Music) "Like the wind you go." Distracted by my thoughts and the music. I think about the day and all of the busyness from teaching and trying. Why do I feel like I have to be anything? Isn't it enough to just be in the midst of who Jesus sees me as. And my ...Oh I don't know. What is that loud noise that I can hear over the music. Take out my ear piece. Look around. It's just the trash guy. Oh yes the music. (Music) "It's ALL ABOUT JESUS. IT'S all about JESUS. And their preoccupied with always doing it right." And that music speaks to me right where I'm at. I'm right here. Trying to find my purity. Trying to live and be open and honest with you. It is all about Jesus. (Music) " It is well, it is well with my soul!"

Jenelle thanks for the inspiration. Be blessed

PS Little baby Leticia is back home with her mommy. Be blessed little one.

How can I be mad?

Last night P went to visit our Angolan friend Visoo. Visoo was part of our second ServetheCity that partnered with Start to Share. It was supposed to be a little Sunday afternoon coffee and chatting. Oh what a laugh. To think that anything will ever go the way we expect.

I expected that she would be gone a couple of hours. Instead, as you can see from the picture to the right, we ended up with a baby. Now my friend the Greggs had that happen. They ended up getting a baby when they didn't expect it. But theirs is still in womb. It's taking awhile. Ours came in one day. Technically she's not ours. See her mama is in Spain. She took a bus there to abort her 13 week old twins. I guess she didn't have any other options as to what she could do with her kids, because she left her 7 yr old, 4 yr old and 9 month old, Leticia, with her 15 year old nephew, who is in the 4th grade and feeding her Chorizo soup. WHAT?!?

So P call's and says she's bringing home baby Leticia. I, being so Christ like, responded WHAT!? She being very Jesus like said "We were just talking about what an amazing man you are and how well you would take this." I, in my Christ like fashion, responded "MMMMMM!!! Fine bring her home."

Which brings me to the car, which is in Lisbon, and not at my apartment...but maybe I'll share that part later. Right now Leticia is safe, not eating Chorizo soup and getting a lot of love from Tia (Aunt) P. Pray for Leticia's mama. Be Blessed and remember the widows and orphans.

Church Plant

This poor little guy has had a hard time as of late. When he came to live with us. He was in bad shape. In the process of being moved he was placed in a garbage bag to protect him. As it was summer the short hour he sat in the car before being transported to our house did some major damage to him. You can see that the whole center section has had the dead part trimmed off. He looks a little funky, but who am I to talk. I wake up to my self every morning.

So why am I rambling on about our plant you ask? Well he just got the dead parts trimmed off yesterday and after I had finished I was looking at him and I thought, "I can't believe he survived." (I like calling it a he. It gives him personality.) I wanted him to survive, but we received him right before our trip to Hungry and we were going to be gone so I figured, he might not make it. Such is life. So I stuck him in the plant bed out side and left him til later.

Later came and I kind of just left him with the other plants. He got a little water, but he looked bad. His pot was leaning over side ways in the other flower bush and he had all these brown parts that made him look almost dead.So i decided yesterday to get him out of there and see if there was any hope.

I got him out of the planter, cut off the dead stuff and took a look at him. What do you know, he was a little beat-up, but alive and had even put off new growth.

That's when I remembered something Gerard Kelly had said at CONNECT, (our yearly conference). He had said that some people think the church in Europe is dead, but that it will not die unless God gives up on it and God has not given up on the church in Europe.

So I was looking at this poor plant and I thought "Yes, maybe this old plant looked dead, and I had to cut a bunch of dead parts off, but it is alive and new growth is happening."

Yes maybe the church in Europe needs to have some dead trimmed off. Yes, maybe some people figure it's dying or dead. Yes, maybe it's had some damage done and now it looks a little funky. That's okay. God's not finished with it yet. He is the master gardener. After He's trimmed it up, it will thrive.

So, now I have my own little church plant, to remind me that God will finish what He started. I think I'll name him Luther. The plant, not God. Be Blessed and let's all work on trimming off the dead parts.

Last Week

The cool of Fall in the air. The smell of the sea and moisture in the air. Looking around I wonder where the weeks has gone. Sunday is always so busy, but this was a lovely restful Sunday. Over the last week we have had a number of people living with us. Four different German girls and a fellow for the UK. Beautiful people. Three of them had been out at Baba's land. What a blessing to have these people be a part of our life for awhile. Especially the lives of our kids.
So anyhow yesterday was a wonderful Sunday. After meeting at Scott and Terri's house with our Grace community, I came home to my sick little family. Eden had been running a fever, Noah had one of those frog coughs and P had this crazy rash that covered her whole body. So they stayed home. After a busy week of school, teaching, team meetings, basic life, visitor, and sickness, I was ready for a down day. And I got it. A lovely time of visiting with Arron and listening to great music. Time to laugh, bar-b-que sausages and make pizza. A time to eat together and fellowship together. A time to sit and read Nancy Drew. A time to play with Lego's and read animal joke books. A time to prepare for the week ahead. A time to hear each others stories and live in the midst of His love.
I hope you will find a place of rest sometime this week. A place to laugh, and eat and love in the presence of God. Be Blessed