Skip to main content

The New Norm


Some time around the spring of 2016 our lives took on a new swing.  It was a quieter, less chaotic, smoother thing.  There was no more island camp wearing us out with weekend after weekend retreat.  There was no more hurrying off to catch the bus to town for my ESL teaching job which also wore me out.  There was only one boy.  William and Dalton are both in the States now working, studying and living.  And all of a sudden, it didn't seem so odd - the quiet.  It was just new.  I didn't miss the craziness of our retreat schedule.  I did miss my two stateside boys but I was worrying over them day and night any more.  I didn't miss the bus rides one bit.

 
Now I should define the word "quiet" a little better.  It doesn't really mean silence, just the lack of busyness with three boys running in and out and here and there.  It means a little less laundry, a little fewer dishes in the sink, and a little less housework and some actually quiet.  We tend to go to bed a little earlier.  We stick to a basic routine.  But there is quite a bit of noise actually between the recorders of all sizes, the flute, the clarinet, the violin, the guitar, the piano keyboard, the ocarinas and occasionally a harmonica.  Yeah, it can be noisy - but there's a certain peace about it all.

You see, for the longest time after we came back to Brazil minus Dalton and then William went to the States - I felt a sort of culture shock, trauma, grief.  We'd faced some rough battles as a family and made some tough decisions in staying in Brazil after the sale of the island camp.  With two of our boys in the USA, I felt a certain emptiness.   Dalton had been through some hard problems, was doing well, but I still worried every minute of every day.  William had decided to leave to study, and I wondered about his decisions.  I wondered if they had enough food, money, safety.  You name it.  Life felt very topsy-turvy.  Nonetheless we had topped the hill out of he valley of the worst of dark days.  We had come down the twisty-curvy mountain road, and were getting back on to a smooth path...



One day I woke up and didn't feel gloomy or tired.  I had worked really hard all through the crazy times to stay above the tide of depression but I wasn't always successful or entirely content.  Some time this spring I found myself able to smile for no good reason and started to see a brighter future for the journey ahead.  None of my problems or worries had really gone away, but they didn't seem so overwhelming anymore.  It was like I had simply arrived at that crossroads of decision and had decided to be happy again and it stuck.

I'm thankful for a heavenly Father who brought me through a long haul and into a new, sort of quiet, peaceful spot.  I don't know what the immediate or long term future holds but I can be satisfied and peaceful for each day in the mean time.  

Oh, I still wonder a little around lunch time about what my stateside boys might or might not be eating each day! 



  In peace I will lie down and sleep, 
for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My Promise Verse

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take:  when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. This verse has been a favorite of mine since I was a teenager. When I was a high school senior at a Christian school in Virginia, Job 23:10 was chosen as our class theme verse. At our graduation commencement, the valedictorian and saludatorian in their addresses that day divided the verse in its two natural parts as a basis for the core of each one's address. I was the salutatorian of my senior class that year.  I chose to speak of how God would one day reward our faithfulness and thus, we should always strive to remain true. For many years though, the first part of the verse haunted me in a way. As a missionary especially when times were lonely or difficult, I assumed it was my "trial" or "test," and as such must be accepted in all humility. As I have grown older, I have begun to look more toward the pearly gates and have reconsidered the thr...

Old Film, Same Message

A missionary colleague recently uploaded some old films made about the work in Brazil by Baptist Mid-Missions many years ago in the 1950's. Yesterday I was able to watch the first of the series.  All I can say is "Wow!  Things haven't changed much in Brazil.  And things haven't changed too much with the work of missions in Brazil either!" There are still donkey carts in the street.  They have better wheels nowadays! There are still people who live in grass huts and high apartment buildings, too. Bicycles are still many people's only means of transportation, if they are that lucky! Many roads in the interior towns are still paved with cobblestones, if they are paved at all. And yes, chickens are everywhere, even in big cities. Brazil still needs missionaries! That's right, Brazil is not evangelized and in no need of foreign missionaries today.  It still needs workers to spread the Good News of the Gospel and the Risen Saviour!  Sadly that part of t...

Core Memories: Furlough 2018

  I happened upon an archive of old home video from our furlough in 2018 while transferring items to a new laptop.  Oh, what fun to watch!  Decided to put them in a little video collage.  Making important memories while in the USA with our grands is important!  It takes a little effort and a little intent.   Enjoy! In memory of Papa Potter