You calling me chicken?

 Post by Brin

Yesterday morning I got up and lounged on the addictively comfortable couch at Stan and Julie's only hours before we left and regretted that I had not spent any time on it earlier. The last week has been so enjoyable, with encouraging lunches and dinners with friends (Josh is up 5lbs.) and events at the Turkey Festival (or Chicken Festival as Ava and Mia referred to it a few times, they have little to no exposure to the word "turkey" in Brazil but know it fits in the chicken category). For me, the weekend passed at a local community college's Motorcycle Safety Class. My weekend education came at a high price, ya all. I missed out on the glorious gluttony of turkey and conversation at the Turkey Festival, seeing Luke Porritt in tights, and relaxing poolside at Stan and Julie's. My class started on Friday night and went the whole weekend, even in the rain. I shivered and chattered and my left hand cramped from a combination of it's subnormal temperatures and new found importance in shifting gears. However, the weekend was redeemed when I was handed my passing grades and now am a licensed driver, although that hardly qualifies me for the lawless roads of Altamira. Honestly though, I should not cheer myself too wildly, I am pretty certain God enabled me throughout the test. He is vitally involved in the details of our lives; we can catch a glimpse if we are looking for Him. I am so relieved to have the class behind me.

Now we are in St. Louis, checking in with family and friends from college. Maybe a little rest, maybe some shopping and probably a date night at Barnes and Noble.

Ella and her friend Heather enjoying a ride at the Turkey Festival

Josh? The doctor will see you now.

We have arrived back into the States and with that comes the meaningful conversations we have been craving, dry skin that compels us to drink from the lotion bottle and explanations to our children how barns, grain elevators and automatic flushing toilets function.

Josh  got to see a dentist today. Finally. It has been 2 1/2 months since he spit fragments of 5 of his teeth on the dirt road of the TransAmazon Highway. We are so, so thankful to be able to do this here where we can just relax knowing that Josh will get the best care and we don’t have to triple check every decision.  Josh however, hasn’t been the only one seeing a doctor. Within 72 hours of landing in the States, Mia has managed to break her 3rd bone on one of those “safe and fancy playgrounds” that I had been touting to the girls on the eve of our arrival. And thankfully, we have been so well cared for by everyone around us it is quite evident that God has brought people into our path right when we needed them the most.

 

  Ok, so here we see Nate, a former youth group student, now a chiropractor with an office equipped with an x-ray machine. How very helpful. He diagnosed the break and sent us on to Dr. Baer from our home church who slipped us into the clinic during the closing minutes to cast her arm. And then this morning, Rachael (Rumbold, where we are staying) started out the morning by brainstorming what I will need to do to keep the cast dry and clean, a task that had not even crossed my mind. So, yeah, we are being taken care of.

 

 Ella and Isaac at a children’s museum

 

Mia plays with her cousin Maci and friend Andrew at a church picnic