Joshua

True friendship is visiting me in Brazil for a week. This is Alexandra Elizabeth Fillmore, who is leaving tomorrow and arriving on Sunday here in Brazil. I am looking forward to it so much, to say the least. There will be lots of laughing and catching up, and I will take full advantage of the fact that most people don't understand English. Always a fun trick.

This week has been pretty fun. To be honest I'm not remembering Monday very well, but on Tuesday we went to Joaquim's aunt's house for an impromtu visit and were thereafter chatted with for a few hours, fed cake and coke and some chicken pie thing which was delicious, and then went for a dip in their swimming pool, wearing borrowed clothes. After that we watched a movie with his cousin Carol, and got back around 1am. We were just planning to drop by for coffee. It was really nice, and always refreshing to have a change of scenery.

On Saturday night we went to this great new restaurant in town. It's just a little sit in place with coffee and salgadinhos and cake, and it was so cute. Very cozy, and very air conditioned. That is a rare commodity here. Joaquim cracks me up on a regular basis with his love for air conditioning. He has admitted on more than one occasion that he prefers to hang out at work because his office is air conditioned.

This afternoon is pretty warm and lazy. I'm doing some laundry, and soon to come is a trip to the supermarket. Really fascinating.

Lately I've been reading Joshua. I'm also reading Numbers, and it's funny to see how they sometimes repeat themselves. In Numbers, Moses was just sending out some people to scout out the new land they were waiting to get their hands on, and everyone was freaking out. Talking about how they're sick of manna and want to go back to Egypt because they had such great food there (doubtful) and how they were going to die in Canaan or in the desert on their way, so they might as well go back (a fate that would end in death as well, and probably far less pleasant.) It seems people haven't changed since then, because big changes are still terrifying. In Joshua, they have just gotten to Canaan and are working on taking out all of their enemies. Little Israel is fighting against tons of nations who have been there much longer than them and are much bigger and stronger, but the Lord is taking care of them, doing things like hailing on people and confusing people so they start running around aimlessly, therefore becoming easier targets. But in nearly every chapter, God speaks to Joshua telling him not to be afraid. "Be strong and courageous." Because He is going to give everything into his hand.

I'm facing those same sorts of fears lately. Even having some ideas and some possibilities when I go home...a job, a roommate (evetually), a life...I'm not sure if I'm ready for it yet. It has been a month today since I left Londrina. It feels longer and shorter, in a way. I feel like I've been here for longer because I'm comfortable, but it feels shorter because the time flew by, just like my time in Londrina flew.

Now I have a few days to enjoy and then a week with Alex, and Joaquim is getting ready for the TOEFL, and then there will be 3 weeks of trying to squeeze the juice out of every moment...then I go home, take my sweaters out of storage, and get going, once again.