Cactus Flower

This is part of a message delivered this week to the Ladies Missionary Circle of Community Baptist Church of Reidsville, North Carolina. Today we are going to talk a little about Christmas in Brazil.  It may not be exactly what you think!  Brazil is a large and very diverse country.  It is actually as big as the United States in size.  Before we begin our trip around the country, let's start with a verse. Over my thirty some years in Brazil, I have had to learn to be content in whatsoever "state" I was.  During the holidays this has not always been easy.  Finding my "happy place" on Christmas Day has been a journey.  I'll share a little of that as we go along.  Here are a few questions for you to consider as I share about Christmas in Brazil. Our first stop on our journey around Brazil is the huge city of Fortaleza.  It is located on the coast and is truly a beach town where even the Christmas trees in displays in city parks are often made of...

Years ago holidays for our missionary family were spent with other expat missionary families.  When our boys were small and we lived in the big city of Fortaleza, there were always special plays and holiday programs at the school for missionary children.  Even after we moved to Bahia there were plenty of missionary families to share in the festivities and with whom we could enjoy a Thanksgiving meal or a Christmas dinner or a New Year's brunch.   A few years we had family from the USA here in Brazil.  That was always exciting for our boys.  Nowadays the pickings are slim.  There just aren't any more families around and our own boys are all in the United States.   As missionary empty nesters the holidays can seem rather unexciting. 2017 In 2017 we were in the States for the holidays and dear family friends went along with us for Christmas.  That was an incredible year.  We saw and enjoyed snow. In 2018 we were back in Brazil and...

  This time last December Byron and I were winding up our trips to the interior and all the various home Bible studies to get ready to head to America for Christmas with our family.  This year seems a little too quiet and somber without that rushed feeling of packing and prepping.   I wasn't even sure if I should bother to get out any of my old stash of Christmas decorations or hunt for our artificial tree.    I finally decided against the tree but did search for my trunk of ornaments, nativity scenes and Christmas houses.  In a quick flurry of decorating I removed all the miscellaneous things from the top of our big buffet cabinet in the living room and turned it into a Christmas village.  And I started pumping out Christmas tunes on my little Internet radio to make the moment bright. But my mind has been wandering back to Christmases past when our boys were small.  William here was demonstrating his leadership skills at a young age telling ...

Day after Christmas in Virginia Christmas Eve found me in Brazil hurrying about to get things in order to catch a plane with my missionary man to make it to Christmas dinner with extended family in North Carolina on time!  I'm not sure what time everyone planned on eating, but I think we made it at just the right hour. The day after Christmas Byron spoke at a nearby church and then we hurried up to Virginia to my parents with some of the North Carolina gang coming up the next day to see my brother and family.  All in all those first couple of days were rushed, but very good! Our trip was not a furlough, but we did work hard to see as many of our Piedmont Triad churches as possible and some friends.  Our plans were complicated by four snowfalls and an Omicron surge.  Several churches we had hoped to stop in for a visit were just not having all their "old normal" weekly services.   One of the main reasons for our holiday trip was to see our family up close an...

After I posted this last night, Dalton and Destinie were already on their way to the hospital for an early Christmas gift!  Baby Mariya Jane Atha was born early this morning in North Carolina! Christmas traditions in Brazil look a little like home when you go to the big city malls.  You may see some blinking lights hanging on a porch.  Most cities have some sort of decorations.  Churches have presentations and maybe even some parties.  But overall it's just not the same.  Even after 20+ years of living overseas, my longings for all the things that make up a good old traditional American Christmas are strong if not visibly muted. This year at a new mall in the big city We decorate a "real" fake Christmas tree.  And yes, it came over in a container from the USA quite a few years ago.  It's slap full of decorations that mostly came from America with some handmade things, some things from Brazil and even one thing from Niger!  I put out ...

 For several days we've been running around the Christmas bush saying, we should take it down today.  Alas others things just kept getting in the way.  This morning right after breakfast we got the tree undecorated and stored away.  The boys worked happily with some Christmas music in the background.  All they had to do was put the stuff on the table.  I put it all carefully away.  My goal this year was "all in one box." I shed a few quiet tears as I was packing.  Reading little notes attached to ornaments from Community Baptist.  Some of the dear folks are now in heaven.  One little note that called William - "Trip" - made me smile.  Our Christmas decorations weren't used in 2013 as we were in the States.  The last time they were used, was during some of the times when we were first aware that things were not going well in one of our son's life.  2012 was a rather low Christmas.  No one really helped me wit...

  What's with that foot in the picture?      Thankful for a fairly happy Christmas inspite of being far from one of our boys this holiday season.  We were blessed to open gifts and cards from grandparents and friends that were carefully placed in our luggage before with left NC.  Our gift exchange was simple but fun and good.    In the afternoon we traveled to the home of fellow missionaries in the nearby big city and enjoyed an incredible Christmas banquet.  We were thankful and blessed to have our dear neighbor go along and share in the fun as her family were all far away in another state.   We may have been far from our blood relatives and bittersweetly sad but we can be grateful for all God has done for us over the past weeks.  This afternoon it was great to hear Dalton's voice and just a little of his holiday happenings.  We anxiously await the next Christmas when perhaps we can all be together...