Maybe its time to quit (or at least rethink this)

When is too much of a good thing bad?  That phrase is something I've been mulling over for a while, but especially this last week.  Several months ago I read a book called "Barefoot Church" by Brandon Hatmaker that started me thinking.  As a Christian, when does learning about the Bible get in the way of my actually living it out?  Don't I grow more when I stop just learning and start practicing?  Enough with soaking up information from sermons and Bible studies and instead start pouring out to those who need a helping hand.  Are my days/nights filled with church services, small groups and Bible studies so much so that I never have the time to engage those outside of my "church crowd."  Are my friends all brothers or sisters in Christ who feed my status quo lifestyle?  Am I INTENTIONALLY seeking out those who I can encourage and serve in my neighborhood, work, and social circle.    When does "act justly, love mercy, walk humbly" become more than a mantra on a t-shirt but something that impacts my interactions with all those I come in to contact with?  If I'm so wrapped up in "church world" how will I ever reach those who most likely will never set foot in my church. (or any other church for that matter)  Wouldn't it mean more to them if I walked hand in hand with them?  Why is service a scheduled event in my life instead of a lifestyle?  Aren't we as the church called to be the "hands and feet of Christ" and not just a building?  When did I last get out of my comfort zone of church and meet face-to-face with those in need - need of help and more importantly in need of Christ.  What would it take for what I say I believe, to change the way I live EVERY day?  How many times in the Bible do we see Jesus attending a church service or small group study?  Rather he was out meeting people where they were at - Zacchaeus in a tree, the Samaritan woman at the well, the "sinners" that he had dinner with, and the lame man at the pool of Bethesda - none of these people met Christ after a great worship service with a stellar power point sermon.  He met them where they hung out, lived, and shopped.  I'm definitely not saying church is bad...I love my Oak Creek Community Church family!  We all need to be fed spiritually and be encouraged by fellow believers.  But we are missing the WHOLE gospel if we forget there is a hurting world outside the 4 walls of our church that need the hope that we have in Christ.   As you can see I have WAY more questions than answers, but I want to work through them.  I don't want to remain unchanged just because I don't have all the answers.  The time to start is now.  I want my life to be interruptible so that I make the time to "do life" with others.  Read this great quote in a blog this week and here's how I want to start - "We are all just waiting for someone to notice - notice our pain, notice our scars, notice our fears, notice our joy, notice our triumphs, notice our courage.  And the one who notices is a rare and beautiful gift."   I want to be the one who notices!

Brazil trip - Day 11...

Woke up excited today!  I am ready to head home and catch up with my family and friends!  It's been 11 days since I've had contact with any of them.  The technology break was nice but now there are 10+ days of stuff to catch every one up on.  I was just thinking last night of all the things that happened in the world and we have no idea.  I'm sure the morning hours will tick by slowly since we are all so

ready to head home, but it will be here before we know it.  We had my favorite for breakfast this morning...manioc breakfast sandwiches and fried bananas, oh and sweet coffee too.  I must be becoming part Brazilian!  Since the morning was dragging, Jeanette and I set out to check our the zoo at the hotel.  Of course it didn't open promptly at 8!  It had a jaguar, a few types of birds, and monkeys. I guess since we didn't get to see monkeys in the wild, this was going to be the next best thing.  Jeanette and I decided to entertain ourselves by ad libbing what the monkeys were saying.  Exhaustion must be setting in but we were definitely cracking ourselves up!  It was still only about 9 am so we headed back to the mall to kill some time.  Of course we ended up finding more to buy!  Good thing I have plenty of space in my luggage.  It was finally time to head back to the boat for our final meal together.  Did my last round of dishes for the team and then it was time to pack up the bus.  Lynn and Julie weren't leaving til later that night so it was time for another round of goodbyes with them and the crew.  We couldn't have asked for better people to take care of us.  I don't think there was anything else they could have done to make the trip any easier for us.  CBM has a great ministry and I was privileged to spend a few weeks having a small part in it.  After the goodbyes, we headed off to the airport.  They only let you check in so far ahead of your flight, so Jeanette, Leann, and I headed off for some more shopping.  I'm sure I will be all shopped out for a while the last couple of days.  I did finally find my Havaianas with the Brazilian flag, so my shopping is now complete!  Once we checked

in at TAM we had to go through security, which is nothing like in the States.  They put your bags through the X-ray machine but then go through EVERYTHING!!  They unzip every pocket and through every baggie.  They didn't know what my Avon bug spray was so they confiscated it.  They empty everything on to the belt...so imagine bras, underwear, tampons, and anything you would rather the world didn't see spread out for all to see!  Oh well, I guess we can feel safe.  I was finally able to get wifi for the first time since we left Miami so I called a few people who of course didn't answer!  Also got to text a few iMessage users...it was great to finally be in contact with and hear from a few people.  Since Jeanette was flying to Rio tonight instead of Miami, she got put in a different security line and a different terminal...so I didn't even get to say goodbye except through the glass.  I'm going to miss that girl and all her craziness.  What will I do when she isn't around to cram herself in to my one person hammock while I was trying to nap!  Said a little prayer for safety for her as she travels along over the next 24 hours.  Was hoping I'd sleep the whole flight to Miami but instead finished "Wild."  Enjoyed the book so now I need to find someone else to pass it off to.    Landed in Miami, through customs and checked in to our hotel rooms.  Leann and I headed for a quick bite to eat and then off for nice HOT showers and then comfy beds for a few quick hours of shut eye!  Its been fun but nothing like being back in the good old U.S. of A.

Brazil trip - Day 10...

Part 1:

Spent the night out on the hedgies with Jeanette.  Have to say I slept about as well as I have any other night this trip.  It started out pretty hot even though we were moving, but by morning it had definitely cooled off, not unbearable, just a chill in the air - especially for any uncovered body parts!  In the morning, I woke up just as the sun was peaking over the water...it was a magnificent sunrise.  Sunrises and sunsets always seem just a little more beautiful on these trips.  Yesterday I noticed a res spot on my arm, but this morning, it looks like a blister in the middle.  Ruth Anne said it looked like this bug that is

irritating to the skin and then causes blistering.  Haven't really had too many bug bites, but at least when I do, I get the cool one!  We had a quick devotional this morning as usual and I'm going to miss hearing Lynn's words of wisdom to start the day.  Today he spoke from John 1 where Jesus asks 2 of his disciples, "What do you want?"  He challenged us to ask ourselves that question each morning, knowing that we might not always pick the right thing, but each day is fresh and new.  Time is dragging this morning without work to do.  We laugh ever time someone looks at their watch and says what time it is because it feels like hours later and is usually only minutes.  I'm trying to be present in those moments instead of wishing them away.  I know soon enough I will be back in my busy life and wishing for some down time.  The girls and I sat out front catching some sun and talking for a little while.  I'm also pretty far in to the book Lynn gave me to read.  Might actually have it done before we leave Brazil.  Jeanette gave me a book to read by Mark Batterson so I should be all set.  I'm actually looking forward to reading it.  I've read another book of his and really enjoyed it so this one has to be just as good as Jeanette has really talked it up.  I found Batterson's book "Wild Goose Chase" to be quite challenging.  Quite a few of us have been trading and recommending books to each other.  Going to have to start borrowing more books from the library or I'll go broke!  A few more hours to Manaus and then we get off the boat to go shopping!!

Part 2:

We just docked at our final port back in Manuas.  About 18 more hours and we will head back to the airport for the long journey home.  So today was our shopping day in Manaus.  Jander walked us through the port where we docked and then through the streets of Manaus.  First we headed to the Opera House in the heart of downtown.  I think some of the team was hesitant and a little scared, but I actually enjoyed it.  Its nice to get to experience the city this way, by walking the streets and being up close and personal with the people.  It was your typical town, lots of little shops and people walking around.  Jander walked us through this small warehouse sized building which was the fish market.  I can't even begin to describe the smell but one of my fellow ER nurses said it smelled like rotten crotch and that's pretty close!  (Sorry my nurse friends will truly appreciate this!)  It was neat to see but not sure I want to eat fish again for a while. Next we took a quick tour of the Opera House.  There wasn't a whole lot to it, but it was interesting.  After the tour, we headed over to the market for some shopping.  We were given an hour and well split up.  Jeanette and I decided to tag team and Caffe headed out with us.  Most of the shops were filled with trinkets you can find in most markets of the world, just with a different city/country on them.  A popular item that most of us bought were the Brazilian brand Havaianas flip flops.  A little more than I would spend in the States, but its true Brazilian!  Plus mine were on sale of course!  They do seem to have more cushion too.  I also found a Brazilian soccer jersey too, so I was all set.  The market was a little crazy but scary in the least.  We did have a funny

experience though.  Jeanette had told Caffe that she was looking for t-shirt that said "Brazil" so he took us to a clothing store.  Once inside, Caffe spoke to the lady and the next thing we know she is motioning us to follow her to the back of the store.  We follow her back where we expect to see t-shirts but instead she starts showing us bikini tops and bras.  Jeanette and I just look at each other puzzled then thanked the lady and walked away.  I wondered aloud what the store lady thought of the nice Brazilian bringing not one but 2 young white girls looking for lingerie!  Apparently sometimes Portuguese doesn't translate well in to Portuguese either!  Once we all finished shopping we started the trek back to the boat.  We took a quick detour through the butcher's area and I swear it smelled worse than the fish market.  There were slabs of meat just lying on the counters in the sweltering heat.  I'm trying to push that memory out of my head, otherwise I won't be eating fish or beef!  We loaded every one back on the boat for our final journey.  We are docked near a hotel so once we arrived, a few of us headed up to check out the "mall."  It was about 8-10 shops near the hotel.  Of course everything was marked up by about 50% compared to the market.  We were still on the hunt for the elusive plain Brazil t-shirt.  It did appear that 2 soccer teams were staying at the hotel.  We walked by as they were loading up the team buses.  Ruth Anne told me I could have probably gotten a picture taken with them, but I'm not sure that anyone would want to stand that close to me.  They must be trying to get us ready to head back to the States because we had hamburgers and fries for dinner tonight.  I finished packing up and LOVE how much I've gotten rid of.  Just one checked bag for me - so much easier to drag around the airport.  Home is sounding more wonderful!

Brazil trip - Day 9...

After a pretty sleepless night, I was up for good at 4am.  Flavia couldn't sleep either and ended up leaving the room about 4:30.  I laid there until a little before 5, then headed to the upper deck to catch the sunrise.  It was beautiful and quiet.  Quick change in to my running clothes and I met Dr. Robins for an early morning run through the streets of Sao Sebastian...how many people can say that?  The streets were quieter than I expected but there were some shop owners opening up for the day as well as couples getting an early morning stroll in.  We even came across another Brazilian runner.  I think that's one of the things I love most about running.  You don't need much, just some shoes and the open road. And I always seem to find a willing partner.  We had planned to run for 30 minutes then swing back and pick up some of the ladies to go walking in the park.  As we were about to finish up, Lynn caught us and told us he had something to show us.  We had met a gentleman last night who I can't remember his name, but he is the local baker.  He goes to Ronaldo's church and is very active there.  Lynn was stopping by to pick up bread for breakfast so we went along.  Lynn wanted to show us his furnace but apparently he didn't want to show it to us.  He had stayed late at the party and was behind for the day.  Lynn was going to wait, but Guy and I decided to head back to the boat to pick up the walkers.  We jogged back only to find out we had been stood up!  So after rehydrating real quick, we headed back to the bakery to help Lynn carry the bread home.  We met him a little ways from the shop.  We all ate some still warm, fresh baked bread on the walk back and boy was it good!  I skipped breakfast to get my cold shower in...needless to say I was sweaty!  We were going to have a few patients in the morning but I headed off to try to catch a quick nap, but with no avail.  I'm pretty sure I will sleep the whole way home and all weekend!  At 11 am, we headed to Ronaldo's house for our BBQ.  I have

loved all the food here, but this had to be the best.  We had grilled beef and sausage with some white sauce, rice and beans, along with fresh salad.  And of course dessert...but who had room for that!  We then toured the greenhouse project next to Ronaldo's house, which they actually use to help supply food to 3 local schools. It was so nice of them to have us all over and throw us a going away party.
 Then we had to say goodbye to Ronaldo, his family, and a lot of the crew.  Slowly we are dropping people off at their homes.  Not long after we got back to the boat, it was time to leave Sao Sebastian and head on to Manaus.  Ruth Anne leaves tomorrow for the States so we had to make sure we get back in time.  You can tell that every one is tired.  Most of us are just hanging out in the hedgies napping and reading as we watch the river slowly go by for the last day.  Most of our trip will be overnight tonight so there won't be much to see.  A few of the girls and I are going to sleep up top tonight.  Should be fun although a little cold we've heard.  We are game to give it a try though.  Probably will beat listening to snoring!!

Brazil trip - Day 8...

Today was our last day of scheduled clinic, of course we know that apt to change at any moment.  Apparently half the year this village is very large, but right now a lot of the people have moved away

until the waters recede some.  We ended up seeing only about 30 patients or so, so it made for an easy morning.  It appears this village has a contaminated water source as several of the people complained of recent trouble with diarrhea.  Sad that there is still this problem in the day that we live in.  Since the clinic wasn't busy, I went and helped Flavia while she was teaching Bible stories to the children and singing songs with them.  They sure enjoyed it and then they all got a whistle and another prize after...talk about smiles!  It was then time to head back to the boat but on the way we picked guava straight from the trees and ate it...yum!  After lunch we set sail for Sao Sebastian.  It was a bright clear day for sailing.  Once we got to Sao Sebastian, I saw there was a small park near where the ship was docked and asked Lynn if it would be safe to run there.  He said we should be fine, so Jeanette and I made plans to run together later in the day.  The whole team took a field trip down to the industrial area of town.  It mainly consisted of areas where they make and/or repair boats and also made made handmade furniture.  It was neat to see the boats in varying degrees of completion.  It was a super hot day today so I came back to the boat to cool off and rehydrate before our run.  Then it was off for my marathon training run.  It was HOT - probably 90+ degrees but it felt great to get out moving and sweat!  Plus Jeanette and I had a good time talking through some stuff.  God has big things in store for that girl!  Pretty sure the Brazilians thought we were crazy and a few young Brazilian boys kept yelling phrases at us like "hello" and "I love you."  Kept us laughing for sure.  I was actually hoping for a cold shower tonight, but unfortunately it was lukewarm...probably the only time I'll be thinking that.  We had Brazilian pizza tonight for dinner which was really good.  It had ham, sausage, tomato, onions, peppers, and egg on it.  Some of them had corn and peas too, but I opted for the less is more option!  During dinner, Lynn told us we were

invited to a surprise birthday party for Ronaldo, the local pastor.  We had to walk a mile or so to his house and also had to make a pit stop at a local ice cream shop to pick up some ice cream. While were standing there waiting, a group across the street started singing "As the Deer" in Portuguese of course, so we joined along in English which was kind of cool.  It was fun to saunter through the city streets and see all the shops, restaurants, and even the local hospital.  Once we got to Ronaldo's house we were able to meet some of his family and church congregation before he got there.  He seemed surprised when he finally arrived.  It must be a Brazilian tradition, but while he was preparing to blow out the candles someone popped a balloon above his head that was filled with flour, so he was covered in it!  Gave everybody a good laugh.  He had a soccer cake that was coconut and lots more other food of course.  Most us just had a little cake since it hadn't been too long since we'd had dinner.  The party was going strong when we left but we were all getting tired and still had the trek back to the boat.   My highlight of the day had to be seeing Jeanette get baptized in the Amazon!  She had made the decision earlier in the trip, but was waiting for the better waters of Sao Sebastian!  What a cool experience for her as well as us.  Well I told the team the next training run would commence at 5:30 am tomorrow so I guess I better get some sleep.  We will see if any one else shows up!  Tomorrow is our last day in Sao Sebastian and we are having a Brazilian BBQ at Pastor Ronaldo's house before we head back to Manaus for the last leg of the journey home.  I really started thinking today about how I wanted to call my family and tell them everything that has been going on...but only about 72 hours to go!

Brazil trip - Day 7...

Happy Monday...hard to believe we have been here for a week now.  We headed back to the main river today for our next day of clinics.  It started pouring about 4am or at least that's when I woke up to hear it on the roof and then it rained most of the morning.  We reached our next destination about 10 am and thankfully the rain had stopped.  It made me wonder how the village we were at yesterday was

fairing as they didn't have much wiggle room as far as flooding was concerned.  The clinic started out kind of slow but we ended up having a pretty busy day.  Apparently this was only the 3rd trip that Amazonia has made to this particular area, and you could tell the people weren't as comfortable with us - especially the children!  We had quite a few screamers today.  When we first arrived at the village
today, you could see there was a small tributary that went back behind the houses.  I was saying how cool it would be to kayak down it.  Well after clinic, Lynn came and said one of the crew would take the smaller boat out and show us an area deeper in to the rainforest.  So LJ, Leann, Guy, Janet, and I all piled in to the boat for our jungle safari.  It was more what we all expected being in the rainforest.  Lots of lush green plants and trees.  There were all kinds of bright flowers and trees, and even saw a date tree.  Then we really started seeing the wildlife.  There were all kinds of birds that we couldn't identify Then several toucans flew just over the boat...so cool.  Then we heard a high pitched screech coming from the trees and

were hoping to get to see our first monkey, but it actually ended up being 2 of the brightest red/blue macaws.  Definitely very cool stuff.  Another part of our team went out after us and didn't see a thing...poor them!  Hopefully there will be more time for side adventures.  As on most trips, flexibility is the key.  We were supposed to stay in the general area to treat another village, but apparently they came down the river to see us instead, so we headed 3 hours the other direction for our next stop.  We had a nice sunset cruise to end the day. I swear the sunsets get more beautiful each night.  Enjoyed just hanging out up on the upper deck chatting with Leann tonight and then goofing off with the rest of the team.  Leann and I are planning on taking one of the younger girls snipe hunting one of these nights.  :)  Speaking of hunting, we are hoping to go alligator hunting before the trip ends.  Guess we will have to check with the guys soon.  I do know one of my biggest take aways from this trip will be that you never really know what someone has or is going through.  At night, during our devotional times, several of the ladies have shared some heavy, heart-wrenching stuff with us.  But thankfully it doesn't end there...they then shared of God's amazing grace in their lives!  Looking at these ladies, you would never know the burdens and heartache they carry, but God is merciful and gracious.  Made me think of the quote..."there but for the grace of God, go I."

Brazil trip - Day 6...

Happy Mother's Day...in the States and Brazil.  Once again I'm missing Mother's Day with my mom.  I'm thinking next year I better make sure I'm in the States or my mom is going to get the wrong idea!  I think this is my 3rd year of missing it.  Kind of sad I'm missing the family get together, but I'll have to make it up to my mom later.  We will just have to celebrate the mothers on our trip today!  Have to say that last night was my best nights sleep so far...which isn't saying much!  But everything is a little better after some good sleep.  It hit me today that I'm stuck on a boat with the same people for the next 5 days...and I haven't been able to run!  This may be bad for all of us!  Ran in to Lynn (the missionary/pastor) on my way to the upper deck this morning.  He said he wanted to talk to me because he had a book he wanted to give me but had to tell me about it first.  At the airport, he was browsing the books and a lady recommended a book called "Wild" to him.  He had read it and thought I would like it.  But he had to preface it by saying he couldn't give the book to just anybody because it contained a lot of vulgarity.  I wasn't sure if he thought I was used to vulgarity (thank you ER) so it
wouldn't bother me, or that he thought I could handle it...I'm hoping the latter!  Several of the team have  been ill with GI stuff, but thankfully I've been spared so far, even though I've rinsed my toothbrush multiple times in the "unsafe" sink water.  After breakfast, we took a leisurely ride back to the main river to a small flooded village.  There was no way to get from house to house except by boat or a few man-made walkways.  Once we get close to a village, the captain starts blaring the horn to let all the locals and surrounding villages know we have arrived.  The morning clinic went by fast and we saw 80 some patients.  Sounded like most of them were just coming for vitamins and de-worming meds so they were in and out fairly quickly.  I did manis and even a few pedis today.  There were a couple of girls hanging out in the waiting room today for quite a while so I grabbed the Noah picture book and had them try to teach me the Portuguese names of the animals.  They were super cute of course.  Since it was Sunday and such a small village we were done with clinic by 12:30.  A few of us were hanging outside waiting for lunch and got to see a toucan which was pretty cool.  Then after lunch Dudu took us on a small boat out to tour the river.  It was nice to see it from a different perspective.  We got to see some water buffalo and birds.  It was a pretty warm day and we all just wanted to jump in the water but Lynn told us it wasn't a good spot for that.  Hopefully later we will get to jump in.  At 3:30 we headed to church in the local village.  To get here, we had to take a 20 second boat ride and then navigate the plank walkways which were rickety in places.  The church was 90% kids but t

hey had a lot of fun singing and they colored pictures for us.  Before the service started, the Americans were sitting toward the back and as I mentioned it was hot!  One little boy, probably couldn't have been more than 10 yrs old, came and turned the fan so it would blow on us instead of the Brazilians.   He went back and sat down then realized it was still rotating, so it wasn't always blowing on us, so he got back up and fixed it so it wouldn't rotate anymore.  It was so sweet.  Dinner tonight was Brazilian chicken salad.  It was good but interesting.  It had everything imaginable in it...chicken, mayo, apples, egg, raisins, corn, carrots, and even olives and then you top it off with shoestring potatoes.  Definitely not a classic chicken salad.  The crew also made made us a chocolate/coconut cake to celebrate Mother's Day.  They sure do take good care of us!  Then to end the day, we had a communion service on the upper deck with the Brazilians and Americans.  We sang a few worship songs in English and Portuguese first then shared the bread and cup. We might not be able to completely understand each other, but we can all worship and take the Lord's Supper together...sweet fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  It was the perfect ending to a great day as we witnessed the beautiful sunset while we worshipped our great God!