Pretty Party Girl

my "baby" girl

going to a 5th grade class party

who told her she could grow up?

Thankful

We have had a rough couple of weeks here in the Blume household.

I'll not bore you with all of the details, but basically Kevin and I have been out of commission.  He had a bad cold (I thought) when I got back from the states.  A few days later he hurt his back.  While he was recovering from that, he tried to close our heavy iron front gate and re-injured his back, much worse this time.  He got some shots and muscle relaxers and is doing much better now.

I got his bad "cold" - which I will now call a flu because it sent me to bed for about a week.  Basically it camped out for a few days each in my throat, chest, and finally nose, where it turned into a sinus infection. I am now on antibiotics and doing much better.

Garrett is dealing with the flu bug now, but on the whole, our health is improving.

We have also had computer problems which aren't completely resolved yet.  So, we've kind of gotten out of the blogging habit.

I called this post "Thankful" because I am just so thankful to be feeling better.  I am hardly ever sick, and it's a good thing because I am a horrible patient.  I am also thankful that even though we felt really bad for a few days, no one had anything serious.  Good health is a blessing, for sure.

I am also thankful that it is spring here in Brazil!  The birds and flowers are bringing it in in full force.

I'll write more later, but just wanted to explain where we've been!

The Gaze of the Soul

Anyone who knows anything about the Bible knows that FAITH is pretty important.  There are plenty of scriptures about faith.  Possibly the most convicting one is this one:

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

Pleasing God is our goal, right?  This verse says that without faith I cannot please God.  I can have a lot of good deeds and be a nice person, but if I don't have faith that doesn't matter.  It is IMPOSSIBLE to please God without faith.

If faith is SO important, I better know what it is.  Is it just belief?  Is it trusting?  to what point?  Is it belonging to a church?  My dad asked himself these questions a few years ago and he shared with me what he learned.  I haven't forgotten it.

He read a book by A.W. Tozer called The Pursuit of God.  Specifically a chapter called "The Gaze of the Soul".   (I encourage you to read it here.  It is not "light" reading, but very worth the effort.)  In this chapter, Tozer cites a story in Numbers 21:4-9 in which the Israelites are bitten by fiery serpents and must look upon a bronze snake to be healed.  This "looking" is compared to the Christian's "believing" in John 3:14-15.  So Tozer concludes that faith is the gaze of a soul upon a saving God.

Faith is the gaze of the soul. Not the glance of the soul, but the gaze - continuous looking and focus.   Keeping your eyes on God when things are hard.  Looking to God when tough times come.  Continuing to look to God when good times come and everything is working out.  How else can we keep our perspective?

Gazing at God for direction, purpose, comfort, security, understanding, peace, healing, insight and promise.  That is faith.

I thought of this lesson today because a sweet friend of our family's has just found out that she has cancer for the third time.  Tricia Lillard has been someone I have looked up to my whole married life - for a million reasons.  She is a beautiful Christian servant who has truly used all God has given her to share his love with so many.   Please read her daughter, Callie's, blog post and you will see an example of the kind of faith I am talking about.

And can I say how attractive a faithful person is?  Don't you just want to be around a person who is secure, confident, positive and assured?  Maybe focusing on our own faith sometimes is the key to reaching others for Christ.  How can you "share your faith" if you don't have any?

Please join us in praying for Tricia and praising God for the example of faith that she and her family are to all of us.

Fun at the Lake

While I was visiting with my in-laws in the states, we took a quick trip to their house on Pickwick Lake.  It was fun and relaxing.

There was boating......

At this point I will inform you that the rest of the pictures on this post will be just of Giovanni.  Because he is cute, because I don't want to show my 17 year old daughter in her bathing suit on the internet, and because I surely don't want to show myself in my bathing suit on the internet (for different reasons than her, if you know what I mean...)

At one point, we stopped at a little beach and got out and swam and ate a little snack.  Giovanni took off for a little walk on his own....

And since he was alone, guess what he did? (here is a hint)

This face pretty much says it all....

So, as he had his "private time", all the adults stood around saying "how cute", laughing and taking pictures.

Oh well, he didn't seem to mind.

Thanks, Grandmommy and Papa for a fun day!

ACU

I have been on a trip.  At the beginning of August, Ansley, Giovanni and I flew to the US to take Bronwyn to college.  After a fun visit with my parents in Huntsville, we went to Memphis (where Kevin's parents live) and then drove to ACU.  Here is that little journey in photos.....

Here is our little group leaving early on Friday morning.  

Gracie and Bronwyn were all smiles early in the morning.

Ansley and I.... (with Bronwyn in the background.  She just had to get in the shot...)  These pictures were taken in the morning.  I know because we had 8 hours of driving and I know we weren't that excited any other time during that trip.

We finally reached Dallas, where we spent the night with our friends the Terrys.  Look at who was waiting for us.....

Sweet little Kira

and her big sister, Elisa.  We loved playing with them and catching up with Sascha and Jennifer.

The only bad thing that happened was that Ansley got sick during the night.  Nevertheless, we left Gracie there to stay with the Terrys for a while and set out the next morning for Abilene.

This pretty much sums up what the scenery is from Dallas to Abilene.  Flat roads and pick up trucks.

You know you are in Texas when you pass the Lone Star Cowboy Church.  Interesting.....

Poor little Ansley.  She loaded up on 2 Dramamines and slept the whole way in the back seat.

We finally made it to Bronwyn's dorm to move in.  This is the view from her window.

Decorating ensued....

Here is Bronwyn's roommate, Asia.  She is from Thailand and she and Bronwyn seem to be getting along great.

After a few days of work and lots of orientation meetings, Bronwyn's room was complete (sort of), she had her books and her schedule, and it was time for us to go.

Cool decorations hanging from the ceiling.  Not your typical dorm room.

Asia made this collage for Bronwyn and a matching one for herself.  Really cool.

Bronwyn's desk.

The worst part was saying good-bye.  Ansley and Bronwyn pose for one last photo.

And a tearful hug for mom.  After this, she shooed us out of her room.  Then I'm sure 10 minutes later she was fine because since then it has just been new and fun and exciting things to do and learn.  

ACU is a great place and we are so excited Bronwyn is there.  We are also excited that she has a return ticket to Brazil marked for the middle of December!  Four months will pass by really quickly, right??

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say,
 "I used everything you gave me."

Erma Bombeck

I can't stop thinking about this quote.
So Profound.  So Convicting.  So Biblical.

Take some time, as I have the last few days, to think about abilities, talents, blessings that you have.
Now, think about why you aren't using every last drop of those things to bless others.
Embarrassment?  Pride?  Laziness?  Excuses?  Time?  Traditions?  Anger?

Let's let go of whatever is keeping us from using our talents and gifts.
There is a lot of work to be done.

Giovanni at the Pool

My sister in law has a pool, and since it is SUPER hot here, we went swimming one afternoon.

I had bought Giovanni a little floatie thing so he could (hopefully!) be a little more independent at the pool this summer in Brazil.  If not, you know who will be either holding him or chasing him or fussing at begging another kid to hold him or chase him for a while.

This was our first day to try it out.  I didn't even let him get in the water without the turtle thing because I was afraid he wouldn't want to put it on.  Maybe he will think it is part of his bathing suit...?

At first he was scared.  Didn't want to let go of anyone.  At one point he even started really crying hard because he was so scared.  I didn't get him out, just gave him his paci.

Then slowly he started loosening his grip on us a little and feeling more relaxed in the water.

He started "swimming" from one sister to the other.

Afterward we would clap and cheer for him.  He liked that.

Then he started really enjoying the water and getting his face wet a little.

(This is my favorite picture of the day.   He's not crying, he's just having fun.)

Finally, he was brave enough to float on his own.
Notice his "CARS" toys which he held on to the whole time (unless he was throwing them to the bottom of the pool for the girls to fetch...)

It was a great first day of swimming this year for him!