Going Back
I’ve had the privilege of going back to Brazil almost every year since we left. As I tell anyone who will listen, I’m fine living in the USA for 11ish months of the year. Because then I get to go home for a bit. Fill up my Brazil cup (boy, do I feel it when it gets low). But this year I had the joy of going back to Brazil with my family. Sofia (11) and Jessica (8) were 5 and 2 when we left the end of October 2020. Caid wasn’t sure how he would handle the heat. It. Was. Amazing. (It was cooler temperatures in Brazil than in Indiana while we were there).
I had each one of us pick our top 8 favorite pictures that showed favorite times in Brazil. Sofia’s first comment in Brazil was “It feels so normal!” And my brain is yelling “Because it was normal for us…for a while.” Jessica tells everyone the best part is the beach.
Caid said his top five things were feeling comfortable in Brazil (this had been such a prayer request!), our special people in Brazil (so many wonderful friends!!!), the language opportunities (he really does LOVE speaking Portuguese in a way that is beyond my comprehension), the delicious food, and the beach house we got to stay at. Honestly, my mind kept telling me so many things that could go wrong…and nothing (big enough to mention) did. Rather amazing.
For me, my pictures show some of my favorite things:
Caid enjoying himself with people. Remembering that he really does love so many things about and in Brazil. That he wants to come back more times.
The girls enjoying themselves: playing outside in rural Brazil all day with Heloise and Louis, a whole day at the beach (like the Brazilians do), the girls having a great attitude when every night was a new house, new food, new people—and they had great attitudes each time. It was fun watching them shop. Getting ice cream and Acerolandia like we’d done many, many times when they were little. Each moment was a salve on my momma heart that wished they could have had more of their childhood in Brazil.
The car. I didn’t get a picture of this, but we rented a really nice car, and the freedom of going around in air conditioning with GPS was kind of glorious. We listened to “Yumi and the Nightmare Painter” on Spotify. I got to go to all the little places I didn’t have access to the other times I’d returned to Brazil.
Getting to attend Milestones: Heloise’s baptism, Mariah’s dedication. When you leave you miss the birthdays, weddings, and random celebrations. But we got to hit a few of them.
It was a blessing to get to be a part of two American Mission Trips. WONDERFUL people, and I am just always taken aback at the beauty that it is when people come together for a specific time with a specific purpose to serve Jesus and others.
All the spoiling. We got to spoil our kids with spa days, getting their nail and hair done, going to the mall and nice places to eat, as well as a house on the beach. It also felt like spoiling to be able to stay at the Vila do Carpineiro, with their amazing service and love for my family.
Being as a family. The “INDY” picture, not knowing it would be a 46 hour journey getting to Brazil, but when Jessica said “So this is what it is like when we drop you off and you go to Brazil?” Something SO healing in that!
A million blessed moments. Like my napkin moment, my jogging moments, the moment the girl excitedly said “Blue!” in English for the first time.
Too many people to list: those that took us out to eat. Those that had us over to their home. Those we met for the first time. Those we cried with, laughed with over so many years. You know who you are. We love you.
There were a million moments of ministry that I could share and sound really spiritual, but that’s not how spirituality works. Thank you to so many who prayed for us, and held us up. As Sofia says, going on a mission trip as a family is a great idea because “Now this is part of your family story.” YES and AMEN.