Had a wonderful day at church today and was reflecting on all the OTHER things I’m thankful for.  For sure, the individuals/families that support us financially, we couldn’t do this without them (you).  But there are so many things I have to be thankful for here in Michigan, things that have been an added ‘surprise’ blessing, because I just didn’t expect them.  I just LOVE our church family here.  Not that I thought I wouldn’t like them 🙂  ….but before moving up here, I just didn’t think about how much I would enjoy getting to know the different individuals that make up this body of believers, and how special they would become to me.  Very likely I didn’t think about it because I was focused on the wonderful, special church family I was leaving behind.  Funny how relative time is–that 8-10 months of language school in Sao Paulo is looming large in front of me…but 1 year here just doesn’t seem like enough.  But it hit me today, the blessings I would’ve missed out on if I’d refused to move.  I resisted this whole missionary thing for quite awhile, I never said I wouldn’t go, but I wasn’t jumping on a plane either.  It just didn’t fit with my dream of being a farmer’s wife, living out my days in the middle of a cornfield, enjoying 4 different seasons, kids showing pigs, basically the way I grew up 🙂 ….but that’s another (much longer!) blog post.  I’ve always heard that when God says no to something we think we want, He’s got something better, but with this whole move to Brazil it was a little harder for me to internalize–I’ve been there, it’s not as easy to live there as it is here 🙂  But the door in my brain opened a crack today, the light flooded in, and I realized, really grasped, some of the blessings I would’ve missed if I’d said no, I won’t go.

I didn’t think about the blessings of some of the lessons Matt and I would learn during this year.  We are both working on patience (me with homeschooling, him with spending all day, every day with the same group of people–not things we were used to).  The immeasurable blessing of God’s grace to get me through the day, when things are going badly,  when I mess up…this I knew before but I feel like I’m experiencing it more strongly than in the past–maybe because I need it more? 🙂  The importance of relationship, of seeing people for who they really are and loving them regardless….  The need for me to change my internal complaining attitude to one of thankfulness and praise (thanks to an awesome bible study “Lord, Change my Attitude’ by James MacDonald)…   I’m rambling, so I think I’ll end with the words of the song that’s been running through my head all week, and this short video I watched today that was extremely convicting:

All I know is I’m not home yet

This is not where I belong

Take this world

and give me Jesus

This is not where I belong

(Building 429, Where I Belong)