Thoughts at 2am

It is 2am right now and I cannot sleep. My roommates are sound asleep and I have to admit I am jealous. So, in my sleepless state, I thought I would do some writing and share what has been on my heart as of late.

"If you are being obedient, you will find yourself in situations where you feel humanly inadequate of achievement. We are not living in the Spirit if we can manage everything."

~ Beth Moore

I'm not sure what you think of that particular quote. It's a bold statement. I actually quite like it and if I'm honest with myself and with God, I would have to admit that this statement is true. I can't seem to get it out of my head either. I heard it said last week and I have been thinking about it ever since!
I often have this illusion that when things are going well in my life - when there is order and comfortableness - it is because God has perhaps gifted me with organizational and time management skills. Yes, God has gifted me with some of those things, but I fail to recognize that when I am in control - when things are going according to my plans, I am working independently of God.


This is something I have been learning over the course of the last 7 months in particular. In many ways, my life has been turned upside down. I'm living in a country half way across the world from all that I consider comfortable and safe. I have had important relationships in my life change. My perspective on what I consider important in life has been altered. I am living beyond my comfort zone and it turns out, this is exactly where God wants me. I am left to rely solely on the grace and the strength of the Living God.


It is in seasons like this, where God takes the reigns from my hands. It is a time where I am opened to experience more of God's fullness and transforming power in my life. It is through these seasons where I feel inadequate that God is able to bring total order into complete chaos. There is opportunity for growth. There is opportunity for God to use my chaos and the mistakes I have made, redeem them and transform them into something Holy and for His Glory.

A Whirlwind of a Week

It feels like this week that has passed has been the fastest week here on record. Here is a little glimpse into the life of a Trekker in Portugal:

Monday: Heidi and I spent the night at Doug and Myra's on Sunday night to cut back on transportation time because we had to be in Loures to spend the day with Josh (Matt & Kiri's youngest) while Kiri had some doctor's appointments. We ended up spending the whole day in Loures with Matt and Kiri and family. It was a long day, but I continued to be surprised by the joy I get when I have the chance to bless people around me. I had the privilege of being able to help make Mieka's birthday cake. Making a cake with a 7, 4 and 2 year old definitely has its challenges, but it's a lot of fun too!

Tuesday: Mieka (Matt & Kiri's oldest) celebrated her 7th birthday. We all went over to their place for a pizza lunch, headed out to Portuguese language class and then returned to Matt & Kiri's to continue with the birthday celebrations. Aleah put together an awesome piniata for the kids and we ate a ton of cake and candy. 

Me and my buddy Josh.

At 8pm as per usual, Donovan, Heidi and I taught ESL in Loures and then headed back over to Doug and Myra's for our weekly girls sleepover. Seeing as we have bible study first thing in the morning on Wednesdays, it works out that us girls just spend the night on Tuesdays. 


Wednesday: Us girls have bible study at 9:30am. We are studying the Beth Moore series, "The Patriarchs", which has completely blown me away. I have learned so much. It is one of the most life giving times of my week. This week happened to be the week of the Loures Bazar, so there was prep work that needed to be done. Heidi and I went with Otto and Doug to load bags of clothes into vans to take to the church and then helped unpack the bags and get the clothes set up on tables. Unpacking the bags are so much fun because you never know what you might find in them. Items can range from the ugliest 8o's outfit to a set of fox pelts. Laughs are always had.
As a little side-note, the government of Portugal fell this week. This country is an economic crisis and it definitely takes its toll on the churches. In the past, when the economy has taken a turn for the worst, the numbers in the churches decline. People are in search of greener pastures, so they relocate to France or elsewhere in Europe. We are praying that despite the difficulties in Portugal's economy these days, that the members of our churches here would remain and that they would continue to grow.


Thursday: On a weekly basis, we try to have a team meeting with the Massama leaders, which include Otto and Marjorie and Jose and Paula. It's a sweet time of sharing a devotional and enjoying some worship time together. It's a good morning of refreshment. For the rest of the day, Heidi and I enjoyed a day off since we missed our scheduled day off on Monday. It was a blissful afternoon full of naps, journaling and coffee shops. It was exactly what my head, heart and body needed. 


Friday: All 6 of us headed out to Loures to play basketball with our friend Celcu for the afternoon. We try to play on a regular basis - usually every Friday we play. Heidi, Donovan and I had worship team practice and a meeting at the church and then all 6 of us headed back to Massama to spend the evening with the youth. For the last few months, the youth group has consisted of only guys, but a few weeks ago we had our first girl come and then this last week, we had 2 girls come. This has been an answer to prayer. Most of the guys in the group have girlfriends and we have been encouraging them to bring the girls right from the beginning, but it's only now that they are starting to come. Please pray for more of the girls to come.


Saturday: It was definitely a slower day. We took the morning and early afternoon easy. Half the team went to babysit at Matt & Kiri's, while Donovan, Heidi and I went to youth in Loures. The Loures youth group has been struggling with attendance the last little while, but last night there were 8 youth in attendance and what was even cooler was hearing their discussion about what it means to live a life of faith. Discipleship is lacking in the younger generations here. We continue to pray that God would raise up leaders in the churches and that there would be discipleship happening among the believers.


Sunday: We went to the usual 2 church services, Massama and Loures. It was sadly our last week teaching sunday school in Loures as our only 3 students (Mieka, Sofia and Josh) are leaving for Australia next Sunday. We are so sad to see them leave - they have become a big part of our lives here. The Loures church is in need of young families to attend on a regular basis. Please pray that there would be families that would led to the church. There is a joy that fills a building when there are kids around. Matt and Kiri's kids do a pretty good job in bringing life to church, but we need more. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me". Well, we need those little children in this church.


*Update - Kiri's health has remained much the same since last week. We continue to lift her up to God for healing but trust that God has a plan for Kiri. I'm sure she would appreciate your prayers, especially as she is getting ready to travel next week.

So, tomorrow our week starts all over again and it's shaping up to be a good one.

The Benfica Game

The Portuguese are passionate about their Futebol. Last week, with Luke being here, we had the opportunity to go to see one of the local teams play. Benfica is a our friend Jose's favorite team. We hear him talk about the team all the time, so we figured we better take in a game and witness a bit of the futebol culture we hear so much about. 
The game did not disappoint. Not only did Benfica win, but it was an exciting game.

Games such as these, it's better to be safe rather than sorry, so you need the full swat team in place :) Apparently games can get out of hand on occasion.

WARM-UP

What a cute cheering section!

Jose and Otto

They Scored!!!!!!

The Final Score, Benfica 2, France 1

Benfica has now advanced to the quarter-finals, so we are hoping that in mid-March we can go to another game.

Villa Nova Milfontes

After 3 glorious days away, enjoying the sun, sand and ocean, we have returned to city life and our routine schedules. Our TREK leader Luke has left after what seemed like the fastest week gone by yet since being here, but it was a pretty great week. We have returned refreshed, rejuvenated and refocused.

Monday morning we loaded up our rental van and hit the road. We went to a resort village of sorts about 2 1/2 hours south of Lisbon along the coast. None of us Trekkers were able to drive seeing as we either did not drive stick or we had expired driver's licenses, so Luke courageously stepped up to the plate (driving in Europe is not an easy thing, especially when you're new to the country). Just for the record, Luke did a fabulous job.

We stayed in the town of Villa Nova Milfontes. Our time together was spent exploring the beaches, lots of journaling, drinking lots of coffee and reading and crossword puzzles and also some team building time and working on some of the issues we have experienced over the last 4 months.

The resort was literally like 50 feet from the beach. Minus the cooler temperatures, I would have thought I could be at a resort in Mexico!

While walking along the beach, we discovered some caves. We were able to crawl through a few of them, which was pretty cool.

As we crawled through one particular cave, we discovered on the other side, an old ship washed up on the beach.

Gotta love the beach. This little getaway made me really excited about summer here.

Coffee was consumed at a cute little beach house cafe.

The town of Villa Nova Milfontes is located where the Mira River and the Atlantic Ocean meet. It's amazing how calm the river is as it heads into the ocean whereas the ocean waves crashing into the river are so rough.

Upon our return to Lisbon, we headed out to a local favorite restaurant with our missionary team: Otto & Marjorie, Doug and Myra and Jose and Paula and their family. 

The evening concluded with dessert at Doug and Myra's followed by a prayer time.

We've now hit the ground running again with our various ministries, full of energy and refocused. Now that our midterm retreat has come and gone, we have only 3 months left in Portugal and we want to finish our time here strong. Please continue to pray for our team, that we would be united together as we do ministry and also that we would continue to be obedient to what God is calling us to do here in Portugal.

Also, please pray for one of our friends here, Kiri (she and her husband and kids are here from Australia serving with the Bible College here). She has been sick for 6 weeks already and she continues to get worse. The doctors do not know what is wrong with her, so she needs some prayer for healing. Their family is leaving for their home assignment in Australia in 2 1/2 weeks and there is still lots to be done before they leave. Please pray for healing over her body and for energy to face the day with 3 energetic kids. I have come to love Kiri dearly while here in Portugal and I know what it feels like to have constant pain and no one knowing what to do about it. So please pray for her and her husband Matt and their 3 kids.

Day Trippin

Our leader from Trek, Luke arrived in Portugal for our mid-term retreat this past Wednesday. For the last few days we have been able to show Luke around Lisbon and show him some of the ministries we have been involved in thus far. Today we did an afternoon trip into the area of Belem and downtown Lisbon.

The Mosteiro dos Jeronimos

The Discovery Monument

This bridge (The Ponte 25 de Abril), reminds me of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco. The statue at the end of the bridge is the Cristo Rei statue (the Jesus statue)

The Torre de Belem

This tower was built as a fortress in 1515. This became a symbol of Portugal's great era of expansion.

The architecture is amazing though.

Gotta love the sight of a Starbucks in Belem. It was the last of the Starbucks in Portugal I had yet to visit. Today, I checked it off of my list. Success!

Belem is well known for their amazing Pastel de Belem. It's a phyllo pastry crust with a creamy custard like middle. You sprinkle cinnamon sugar and icing sugar over top and it is absolutely delicious - especially when you get them still warm! This is a very Portuguese pastry.

After spending a few hours in Belem, we caught the train and headed into downtown Lisbon. We were unaware of a protest going on in some of the main squares today, so we unfortunately were not able to show Luke a ton of the downtown, but I think we still had a good time.

Due to the protest, the Po-Po were everywhere and completely decked out in their swat gear.

We ended off the evening with an amazing meal at Jose and Paula's. Paula is an incredible cook and made us a very Portuguese seafood dish with shrimp, clams, prawns and a delicious kind of fish - sorry I can't remember the name of the dish or the fish. Regardless, we left with our stomachs completely satisfied and full. We fed so well when at Jose and Paula's. Plus, we just really enjoy their company. We are very blessed to work alongside them here.

And of course, no evening at the Arrais home is complete without some "Just Dance" on the Wii. Unfortunately their 6 year old daughter Debora was unable to join us tonight - she's usually our excuse to play, but Rachael, Aleah and I busted out our dance moves without Debora's company. I called this working off the meal we had just consumed.

New Sites + Good Company + Delicious Food 

= A Very Awesome Day!