. . . Aaaah, to be a Baby again

We've been in Brazil for 3 1/2 weeks now and have accomplished much in the way of "setting up home-base"! It's an interesting process trying to live in a place so foreign and far from your home. There are so many similarities, like cars and grocery stores, and the mall, and kind-hearted people. But the differences are so much more glaring as you try and operate that car on the seemingly lawless Brazilian road, or find products you need at the grocery store in a language you don't yet understand, or even make small-talk with those kind-hearted people. One thing is for sure . . . Like babies, we've never felt so utterly DEPENDENT on other people. The Ensz's and the Atkinson's (our team here) have been our ever-helpful guides (or PARENTS!) in this new world. We had to be shown how to turn on a stove, prepare drinking water, prepare fruits and vegetables for eating, how to purchase food and gas, what good products to buy, how to protect our babies from rashes (because of the heat and moisture) and from mosquitos, how to mop our floors (no vacuuming here! Everyone has tile or concrete floors), how to deal with Brazilian expectations about children (they do NOT play in the sand or in the rain, for fear of sand fleas and sickness, respectively. And it is expected and totally normal for total strangers to come up and pinch your baby on the cheeks or even hold your baby. . . . they absolutely adore them and aren't afraid to show it!), and of course we're still learning how to talk.

This journey in "basic living" is sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating, and almost always draining. I have a new appreciation for why babies get fussy: It's so tiring when everything is new! I had a three-minute conversation with a grocery-store worker, complete with broken Portuguese and desperate hand motions and sound effects just trying to find a box of matches!

We praise God that even when we are so helpless and vulnerable, not only does He continue to Father us, but He has provided such gracious and patient people to help us to take our first Brazilian steps. We know we are also held up by the prayers of so many people! We look forward to telling about the couple of ministry opportunities we've already had and a little bit about how we spent our first New Year's and Christmas in Brazil!