Family

Last night we had our family Christmas for my side of the family. All my siblings were there and I was able to attend on skype. It was a very interesting experience, but I would have rather been there in person. I have the coolest family in the world. Every sibling is different and brings a whole new dynamic to a get-together. I wanted to add to the fun, but my jokes are usually pretty bad, and online on a phone, they are even worse. Oh well.
I experienced a first too in that they opened our presents for us in front of the camera. That was pretty interesting, although it was kind of hard because we cannot remember everything we received. We will actually get them next month when we are home for Sarah's sister's wedding. It was also interesting with giving presents as we had other people buy for us. My brother Dan did a great job and got everyone great stuff.
Moral of the story: Don't take being with your family for granted, even if it is a family reunion and everyone gets on your nerves.

The Perfect Person

I wonder what the perfect person would be like. Our thoughts on this topic show much about our lives. As I make this list of my perfect person, you will be able to see quite a bit into what makes me frustrated, what makes me happy, and why I click the way I do. For example, you will see dependability on my list. Why? Because I can't stand undependable people and so I try to be dependable.
The perfect person...

Loves all and condemns no one
Tries their hardest to have a non-biased view of the Bible, taking it for what it was meant to be
Follows the golden rule
Is kind to all
Patient, gentle, joyful (not a Debby-downer), merciful, considerate
Respects other opinions, but not afraid to share his when asked
Honest, even when it is hard or not convenient
Has good communication (prompt in their response)
Does not judge others by appearance
Dependable and reliable
Responsible
Frugal
Wise
Hard working
Tells others what they truly believe, rather than sugar coating everything (in other words, if there is something wrong with me, I would appreciate you telling me so that I can look into the mirror of God's Word and see if I need fixing)

So this list is more for me because I want to strive to be this person. (Because I want others to follow this list, I should follow the Golden Rule and try to be like this list). You may have to read that last sentence a couple of times for it to make sense. But basically I am striving to be perfect, although a knowledge of one's own imperfections should be added to the list as well. And I must include that we will never actually be perfect.
So what else can I add to that list, or what would your list include?

Dreams

So I have heard quite a bit over my life about chasing my dreams. This past year I read a book called the Dream Giver that talked about following our dreams. But it talked about having one dream and I wondered what happens if you have multiple dreams. Many people, including me, would say that my dream has been to be a missionary in Brazil and that is what I am doing. But what about other thoughts that come into my head. Do I pursue them all? I think that I know my answer, but I just want to hear what others will say.

Running

So Sarah has got me running consistently now. Really it is her who is the consistent one. This past Saturday she went out without me and didn't come back at the normal time. I went out to check on her and she was finishing her 9th lap, which was 5 miles! I was astounded, especially since we started with 2 laps just two months ago and she already quadrupled that. So yesterday I ran the 5 miles with her. I was thinking about it and I have always wanted to run a marathon and so I might try to soon since I am running with Sarah anyway.
Speaking of things that I have always wanted to do: My good friend Nathan made a list of things he wanted to do and put it on his blog. So I am going to put a list here of possible things that I would like to accomplish at some point:
-Run a marathon
-Flip a house
-Publish a book
-Have a good enough marriage to be able to speak on the topic
-Have kids
-Earn an honorary doctorate (that is a joke)
-I think that I would like to Pastor a church at some point if God would like
-Be involved in making a movie (I say make cause it would probably be unprofessional, but I would like to be involved in one).
-hit a home run in softball (it might just have to be an in the parker)
-be fluent in several languages

ok, well that is all for now. It ended up being less serious than I thought because I couldn't think of much to write.

Church

You know, I think that there will be a lot of surprises in heaven. One will be who all is there. On prefield ministry we traveled to all different types of churches and with our many other travels, we have seen all kinds of different churches. Even down here in Brasil, the churches are different. I think that we can have church in all different kinds of ways and still get the main point of worshiping God.
But I think that God had a great purpose in creating the church. He did not just create it cause it sounded like a good idea. He desires that we first of all glorify God. We do that so much in the church. But we also do that by following the idea of church in having fellowship with other believers. That fellowship glorifies His Name. One purpose of the church is to heal us when we are broken. We encourage others through difficult times in the church, and then when we go through hard times, we may be encouraged as well. I know people who leave the church when going through hard times personally, but that is the time where in the church they should be encouraged and be rallied around.
There is a lot to say about serving in the church as well. JFK's quote about the country is just as applicable with the church, "It is not what your church can do for you, it is what you can do for your church." We should all be servants in our local church!

Spelling

So since I have arrived in Brazil, I have become aware of two different things with spelling. First, I am bad at spelling Portuguese because I don't use the accents right. Secondly, my English spelling is in quick deterioration. I am quite nervous about this as I think spelling has a lot to do with how someone is perceived. I am very grateful for spell check that works on this blog, gmail, word-of course, but am nervous about the other places where I don't have that luxury as well as misspelling my there's, here's, and other words that have different spellings and meanings.
Oh well, at least I am aware of it. I will probably start sending the update email to my mom in the US to edit it before I send it out. But for now, I will just keep trying my best.

Almost a bad day

Well, we almost had a bad day yesterday, but it was really good. We started out early to get to town in order to register for our CPF's, the Brazilian social security number. As we got out of the taxi, I could not find my wallet. I turned around and the taxi driver had hesitated pulling away, but I caught his attention as he started driving. Sure enough, my wallet was in the back seat. Close call.
Yesterday evening, we had one of our language school teachers, Fabi, over for dinner. Sarah and Fabi left after their classes were over while I finished up my class. Sarah had a couple bus numbers in mind to ride home, but they were both wrong. So when they got on 614 she started to have problems. First, she had a 20 real bill, (equivalent to 10 dollars) and the guy on the bus did not have change and so would not accept it. So Fabi had to pay for the ride. Then, the bus turned before Sarah thought it should have. So they were freaking out inside the bus because they did not know what to do. It turned out ok though cause the bus still went pretty close to the house. So they made it home safely.
Then they were cooking dinner and the gas stove was turning on, but not lighting and they could smell gas. Sarah turned on the top of the stove and all the gas lit up. Sarah said she could feel the fire all around her and both Fabi and Sarah screamed, but it was over quickly.
We had also been having some problems with our gas heater. I couldn't get it to work. Well, Jon Trott, another missionary came over and looked at it and said, "oh did you know it was turned to off?" And then it worked and I felt retarded. But at least the gas is working now.
But it was a great day because we got our CPF's, had a great lunch downtown, had a good day in class where one teacher told me how good Sarah is doing, and had fun having Fabi over.