Pics of my boys!

God's Provision

I have been wanting to post for some time now just how amazing God has been in his provision for us with the coming of Joel. We have heard how much a baby costs, and about all the extra things that you need to buy, etc. As we were preparing for Joel to arrive, we bought the major stuff, the crib, the stroller, etc, and then almost as if a rain shower from heaven, God has provided everything. We bought Joel a dresser with 5 drawers and some shelves..... all I can say is that his dresser is filled with clothes, blankets, cloth diapers, sheets, shoes, and hats, none of which we purchased... I am being serious, we did not have to buy anything!!! I have thought so many times..... huh, I have not bought even one outfit for my son, and he is clothed like a king. This can only be the Lord. All praise, honor, and glory be to Him, and Him alone. He has used many of you, to bless us in this way, for that we thank you! We have received care packages in the mail with clothes and gifts, that have been SUCH a blessing. I mean, who doesn't like getting packages in the mail! The Soul Cafe team that came brought gifts from friends and family, and delivered our stroller among other things... my mom came and brought gifts from our sweet family and she and Jude's mom came up with lots of great gifts (from the Grandpas also) and hand-me-downs from friends. It must be ingrained in the word "Grandma/Grandpa" to provide and bless right from the start... Friends and folks we consider family here in Brazil have showered us with gifts and hand-me-downs so much so that I am in awe. There is no other explanation but the Lord. My prayer is that you may be encouraged and led to praise God with us in this. He deserves sooo much more praise than we give Him. Revelation 7:10-12 "And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!""

Eat, Sleep & Poop

Well, it's been 2 weeks now and our little family is starting to settle into a routine...kind of. Joel's eating well, pooping like there's no tomorrow, and sleeping in between! Like father, like son. Jane's still moving a little slow, but she's feeling better and better each day. She went on a walk yesterday and was really glad to get out of the house for a bit.

Jane's mom flies back to the States on Thursday. I'm thinking I'm going to lose some weight when she leaves. There won't be anybody here to cook! Yikes! With all the new laundry I had to break down and buy a new dryer. We now have TWO clotheslines! Jane's mom said that Joel has so many clothes that we could just throw them away as they get dirty. That way we wouldn't have to do laundry. I'm really starting to like the idea!

Joel Deron Geroy

Joel Deron Geroy was born on Sunday, September 14th at 11:23 am. The official numbers on this litte fella were 8 lbs. 12 oz and 21" long. After passing his due date by over a week, Jane's doctor decided it was best to go ahead and induce labor. The indcution started at 9:00 am, and 2 hours and 23 miutes later, out popped our little boy. Jane and I were thrilled that she did not have to have a c-section, but even more, that Joel arrived safe and sound. The Lord answered alot of prayers and we are so thankful for His outpouring of grace on us and for this special gift He has given us in Joel.

Enjoying Rio!

Taylor had sooooooooooo much fun playing in the water at Camboinhas beach near our apartment. We all had a great time just talking, enjoying the breeze, and walking around before the week got started.

One of the teams last days here we got to go to Rio and see one of the wonders of the world... The Christ the Redeemer Statue. We took the scenic route to get there, but once we got to the top the view was great! Another thing that everyone liked while they were here were the sweets. Mmmmm Mmmmm. I think the group favorite was Brigadeiro, a yummy chocolate candy they make here.

Fun Stuff in Niterói: Climbing the Costão

Jude took the girls to climb a "hill" close to our house and it proved to be quite an adventure. No pregnant climbers allowed, but here are some pics. They even got to feed a monkey!

Team Activities at the Project

Here are some pics of the team in action at the project during the VBS and doing some home visits. They poured out lots of love on the kiddos and the staff... Jude and I were especially encouraged. Thanks for everything guys!!! The group picture is tiny, but just to give you an idea of the group involved in the VBS.

Soul Cafe Short Term Missions Team

A group of 4 lovely ladies from Soul Cafe made the trip to see us in Brazil and help out with a Vacation Bible School and some home visits for the Project! It was a blast and we thought that we would show you some pics from their time here. From left to right, Kim, Taylor, Kerri, and Sheila and of course my handsome husband, Jude. They made it, after a long trip and some luggage issues, but they were all still smiles!!!

Pastor Claudio and Jude went to pick up the team. This pic is the team with our Pastor, Pastor Claudio, who has an amazing heart for missions and loves when teams come in... he gets to use his English!

Here is Kim, with what became her favorite outfit before all of the luggage arrived! The airline delivered it the afternoon after their flight arrived. Yeah!

Taylor made quite the appearance at a " Country Party" that one of the lifegroups at our church had. We were all invited and had a great time. Taylor even joined in on a dance the youth performed! I also had to throw in a picture with my belly, Joel is growing strong..... and should arrive in a little over a month.

Waiting

Well, since we are updating our blog, I thought I would add my two cents. The past months seem to have flown by in one sense and dragged by super slowly in another. Sometimes I find myself thinking, am I still only 7 months pregnant, am I not at 8 yet????? I think that I have thought that every month, except the first one, since I didn´t even know that I was pregnant. :) Good things come to those who wait, so I know that this little blessing to come, here in about 2 months, will be amazing. It seems that we have been waiting on lots of things lately. Getting internet in our house, getting the leaky window in the babies room fixed. Waiting in Brazil, means at least 4 months. :) In these cases, we have been "waiting" for over 6 months I believe. David writes in the Psalms about waiting... I wonder if he ever found the secret for waiting. Some of the verses talk about waiting patiently, others about wait, accompanied by hope in the Lord. Other times, you can almost hear the distress in the Psalms... How long will I have to wait? Praise God that David was honest with the Lord. When I think about what I want, I get impatient and don´t like to wait. When I think about the greatness of my God, I dont mind the waiting so much. Even as I write this, I am frustrated in the waiting, but my God is still the same God, just as marvelous and just as capable of holding me in His mighty arms and comforting me, even if it is over something that I know is small and realitively unimportant in the big scheme of things. Yet He still cares. I am thankful that I serve that kind of a God. When I remember to put my wants aside, even then He fills me with hope not in my daily situations, but in Him who is over and above all.

Psalm 130:5

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,

and in his word I put my hope.

(NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

It´s Madness I Tell You!

Pastor Beto, director at the project, took me to Maracaná Stadium to watch his favorite team play a soccer match. This is the second time we have gone, and it´s the second time his team came out winless. I´m not sure that he is going to take me again!

Pencils, Lifegroup and That Pregnant Teacher!

The picture at the top is of the kids showing off the pencils we brought back for them from the US. They thought they were too cool. Then there´s Jane with some of her students. The littlest one is Daisy and she is actually in another class. She is toooooo cute! Then there is me with some of the girls from the project that have been coming to the Thursday night lifegroup that we attend. We´ve been praying that the Lord would use this time to really speak to them. And lastly is Jane and I in Rio. Some friends of ours took us on a tour of Rio since we haven´t really spent much time there and we don´t have a car. This was taken about 6 weeks ago in a national park that overlooks Rio.

My First Bible

We held a special service for some of the kids at the project earlier this year. Once a child turns 10 years of age, they are given a bible as a birthday present. This is a picture of Larissa (one of Jane´s students from last year) and her mom with Jane after the service.

Pics from the Spring Semester

These are some of the kids that we are working with this spring.

Baby Shower!

Our church family held a baby shower for us back in June. It was such a blessing and we were even more blessed that Jane´s mom was able to be a part of it while she was visiting here in Niterói. We aren´t the only ones at church that are expecting a baby. Two of Jane´s girlfriends, Francine & Sabrina, are expecting as well.

The Reality of it All

So, four months without updating the blog. That´s just sad huh? It´s about time for an update don´t you think? I usually post pictures of the kids or of new places we have recently visited, but today I think I´m just going to open up and share a little bit of what is going on around us here. Pictures are much more fun. What I´m sharing today isn´t. Jane and I made it back to Brasil in mid-January. We were anxious to hear about all we had missed while we were back in the States. Unfortunately, not all news we received were things that we wanted to hear. Two months ago, one of the moms that has two girls at the project overdosed and almost died. She had left the house so she could go get high. She didn´t have any place to leave her kids, so she locked them in the bathroom at home. She just got out of the hospital this week. About 6 weeks ago, the house across the street from where our cell group meets on Tuesday nights was robbed. The housekeeper left the house at 7:30 in the morning to go by groceries. Three guys held her up at gunpoint and told her to let them in the house. The owners were still there. They held the family and housekeeper at gunpoint for three hours while they collected all that they wanted to take. When they were done, they forced the owner of the house to drive them into Rio (about an 45 minute drive), along with everything they had stolen, and drop them off!! Who says you have to have a get-away car? Three weeks ago, Pastor Claudio was driving us home to our apartment. As we pulled up to our apartment building, we saw a motorcycle accident happen right in front of us. There was a teenage girl riding along with her boyfriend. They had been at the beach and were both drunk. He lost control of the bike and they both fell off. She got run over by a van that was behind them. I went to give first aid and was thankful that it wasn´t as bad as I had thought it was going to be. She had a deep cut about 4 inches long on her right knee and I could see down to the bone. There were severed ligaments and tendons, but she was not bleeding profusely. I found out later that her femur had been severly fractured. I have seen three other motorcycle accidents in the last week alone. Two weeks ago, a man who lives two houses down from the Project was shot 5 times in a drug deal that went bad. He didn´t die, but he is still in the hospital and is now septic due to an infection he received from the gunshot wounds. He will proably not live. 10 days ago on Friday morning, a teenage boy was shot and killed during a robbery at his home on. This was 2 blocks from the Project. Three guys had entered the home and held the parents at gunpoint demanding them to hand over their valuables. They went to wake up the boy because he was still asleep. When they did, he tried to jump out of the bed and they shot him. He was a relative of one of the teachers who works at the Project. We arrived at the Project today to find out that the lady who lives next door was arrested for drug trafficking...marijuana and cocaine. It was no suprise to us. You can smell marijuana smoke coming from their house EVERY day. I´m not trying to sensationalize anything. This is just the reality of where we live. This is what is happening right around us. Sorry that you didn´t get to see any pictures of smiling kids today. Hope to have some for you next time.