Back to normal...

After a strange and crazy 72 hours of an allergic reaction, I'm glad to say that whatever it is/was isn't bothering me anymore. I guess I just ate something weird Saturday afternoon, and I have no idea what it could be, but I probably won't go to that buffet again. It's a shame, because it really was delicious.

I had to miss my first English class at WEBB yesterday, which really was frustrating. But tomorrow morning I'll be there, bright and early. October will be much busier for me, that's for sure. Even in the busyness, when I take a step back and look at what I'm actually doing here, sometimes I'm not exactly sure. But My Utmost for His Highest had some interesting things to say about that today. Oswald Chambers was talking about the importance of knowing Jesus, and how nothing we do matters at all if we don't know Him.

"We actually slander and dishonor God by our very eagerness to serve Him without knowing Him. When you are brought face to face with a difficult situations and nothing happens externally, you can still know that freedom and release will be given because of your continued concentration on Jesus Christ. Your duty in service and ministry is to see that there is nothing between Jesus and yourself."

I can say that my foremost concentration hasn't been on Jesus Christ. I am easily getting bogged down by all the church services and events and things to DO that I don't spend enough time at home, just focusing on spending time with the Lord. The problem with that is that if I did just take more time to spend in my own private devotions, everything that I do would be so much more fruitful. It's hard to learn these priorities when you're actually experiencing them. I have known them intellectually for a long time, but to know them in practice is something very different. Interesting things to think about...

Despite my hives, the weekend was very nice. It was pretty busy, especially Saturday because Joaquim arrived here at 6:30am and we were busy all day until the prayer vigil at church ended at 1:30am. That was a long day, and then Sunday morning I woke up very very itchy. But all in all, life here in Brazil is still great. Please continue to keep me in prayer as at the end of this month I'm going to be renewing my visa. I really have a peace about either outcome, though I wish terribly that I could just get it renewed and stay, I'm not totally hopeless if I need to go home in November. Because then I'll just come back. : ) God knows what He is doing, and either way, I trust Him. I was encouraged yesterday and on Monday by my own testimonies about what God has done in my life. I forget sometimes how miraculously He led me here to Londrina, and how He placed the call on my life to serve Him in another country. He's not kidding about all of that, so He will make it possible. Amen!