Low in the grave He lay...

Luke 24:5-7:

"And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them,

Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen:

remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying,

The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men,

and be crucified, and the third day rise again."

He is alive! He is no longer dead!

1 Corinthians 15:14, 17, 19:

"And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."

But He is alive: our faith is not in vain!

Not only is our faith now not in vain, but we now have the greatest reason of all to live and to have hope!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!!

Only thirty days until I am on Brazilian soil. Wohooo! :)

Physically, I am still here in South Dakota, but mentally, if not also emotionally, I am already down in Brazil. Why do I say this?

Well, to give you an idea....

I just dream about Brazil almost anytime I dream these days. The most random comment, conversation, or item will make me think of something back in Brazil: things such as the shape of the bread for the sandwiches at lunch today, or the fresh feel from the early morning rain, or the yogurt for breakfast. Or how about the other day when I was diligently trying to get some schoolwork done, and out of nowhere, an incredibly vivid image of the most amazing fish dish ever came to mind and, whoosh, just like that, my concentration flew out the window: I could seriously taste it!

I think I have been gone from Brazil just a little too long. . . and a simple fact is beginning to come to the surface: I miss Brazil.

(and I need some more current pictures!)

I'm slowly learning that...

...one word and act is fundamental to a growing and vibrant Christian walk.

Here’s a quote from the bulletin the other week:

“The quest for character requires that certain things be kept in the heart as well as kept from the heart. An unguarded heart spells disaster.”

From The Quest for Character by Charles R. Swindoll

Three down, two to go...

And:

Four wheeling in the desert...

Homemade pizza...

Near-midnight attacks on fellow Spring-breakers...

Staying up late...

More thinking...

...

For a few short days...

Spring Break includes:

Sleeping in...

Riding bike...

Going Shopping...

Having Long talks...

Drinking Coffee...

Playing violin...

Eating amazing breakfasts...

Teasing Claudia...

Being entertained by the Wii

Laughing...

Thinking...

Amazing weather...

Wonderful friends...

Yes, I am glad that break is finally here (but it is going by much too quickly!)

God is so good

I have a time. I have a place. I have a date. It is in eighty days at 10:45 am, in Denver, on May 18th. Yes, that pretty much sums it up.

I cannot describe how excited I am to be headed to Brazil for this coming summer.

I am blown away with the way God works. To make a somewhat complicated story short and simple, after finally finalizing the dates and departure/arrival locations, it looked like the tickets would be more than the original price quoted. However, upon confirming and paying for the tickets, God worked in such a way that it actually ended up being less than the original price that was given, which had been based on different dates and locations! When I heard this, I almost could have cried...I wanted to tell everyone around me about it! Simply getting tickets to Brazil was enough to make me barely able to contain my excitement, but then to see how God worked with the details, well, let’s just say that it is amazing to see how God works!

(Have I mentioned that God is incredibly good?)