Me and Uncle Buck

Here's a picture of me and the world famous "Uncle Buck." Whenever we're together there's sure to be hearty laughs and plenty of coffee drinking. I would put up a picture of his wife "Donna Donna," but she's camera shy. Funny story---a lady at the conference thought I was Buck and Donna's son....it gave us hours of jokes and gut busting laughter!

Home again

We're back from Germany and I'd like to share a couple of "reflection points" I thought about while attending a conference for new workers in our region:

1. I was overwhelmed by the German language:
I kept thinking, "back home I could have read that sign....or set of instructions." I was so excited to board the airplane and hear Portuguese once again after a week away!

2. Everyone needs a break once in a while:
It was so nice to just hang out with friends and realize that we share some of the same issues in our respective countries. Although we love Portugal it was also good to be away for a spell. Plus, being away gave us good opportunities to reflect on the past six months.

3. Sometimes the best moments come at Starbucks waiting for the plane:
One of the best times came while at Starbucks at the Frankfurt airport. We had about six hours before our flight and time to kill---I was able to sit down with a colleague from Belgium and we hit it off--we hadn't had a lot of time to connect during the conference, but God knew we would have that time together! And before you know it, friends for life.....

4. God will be faithful when we ask Him for direction:
I had a specific question (maybe I'll blog about it later) and God answered me directly. Yes, you heard me, directly! Why do we think it's weird when God answers us? I mean, He can create the whole world, but not address me? It was reassuring that God will answer when we call on Him--of course the answer was only two words.....great, now I'll have to blog about it......

Anyway, we had a great trip and now we're glad to be back home in Portugal!

Germany

We'll be in Germany for a week as we attend a conference. The kiddos get to come too so it'll be an exciting trip. They are hoping for snow while we're there and I think there's a good possibility that: A) There will be snow B) We will freeze our butts off C) We'll be thankful to return to the mild climate of Portugal!

We used to live in Germany (for 2 years) so it'll be exciting to go back. I'm not hopeful that we'll remember any German--the little that we learned almost 10 years ago has vanished! One funny story about trying to learn a little German: I mastered (or so I thought) the numbers so when we ordered drinks or food I could use German. But, it seemed that every time I tried to order 2 I got 3....so eventually, like any good person would do, I just started drinking 2 cokes while Hannah had one. I would even order wrong with other things like tickets and just pass the extra ticket to the person behind us. Nice!

We are not the experts

It doesn't take long at all before we're tempted to offer a type of exhaustive overview on our host culture. It's so ingrained in who we are. We come from a place where we've mastered our "home" culture, been successful participants, and even leaders within our communities. When we get to another culture, however, it's easy to think that (after the culture shock and stress subsides) we can offer the inside story about these people.

Perhaps this is the biggest deception that affects how we engage people. After a couple months or years we think we can offer the right solutions or find the right inroads to how the host culture thinks and behaves. The biggest problem arises when we see one type of situation and apply it liberally to all who call themselves natives of the culture.

We have been blessed to have many different types of relationships here in Lisbon. They each show life and culture from many different perspectives; educated or non-educated, traditional or non traditional backgrounds, different socio-economic levels etc. Each provide a needed piece to the puzzle, but not a completed work in which to make sweeping assumptions about culture. I truly believe that we need to continue to be "learners" instead of experts irregardless of how long we stay or how much information we think we know.

My favorite sign in Lisboa

I get paid to drink coffee

I just love my job. This week I've been able to set up several meetings with people and on most occasions it's to meet and have coffee....or really, a cafe (espresso). Monday I got to spend some time with a former language teacher who I'm going to meet with 2x week for conversation. We met in our town of Lumiar and then we walked together to pick up the kids from school. As soon as Sahara saw him she yelled, "Yeeeeeeeeaaaah!" (She thinks he's awesome!)

Yesterday I got to have a cafe with our pastor. He's an amazing guy who loves the Lord and is pastoring a small, but healthy, biblically-minded church. He helped me understand more of the Portuguese mindset as we discussed the ups and downs of church planting in this area. I was amazed as he told me story after story about people in our congregation that have come to Christ and suffered as a result. In Western Europe we don't often talk about the effects of becoming a Jesus follower, but believe me, people here are paying a price. One young man decided to follow Jesus and be baptized. His mom told him the day he got baptized was the second worst day of her life....the first was when his father died and the second was when her son left her family to follow Jesus.....this coming from a staunch Catholic woman.

Tonight we get to go have dinner with a former language teacher who lives in Cascais. We'll meet him down there at 7:30pm (which is early for dinner) along with our good friends B&D who are trying to procure a language partner for conversation. Hopefully it'll work out to have him work with them a couple hours per week.

Then, this weekend both Sahara and Bria have play-dates with friends from school. It's a great opportunity for them, but also for us as we usually can sit down, sip a cafe, and talk with the parents before or after! So, all in all, a good and extremely busy week! And to think they actually pay me to do this.....truth be told I'd do it for free!

6 Months in Portugal

Today we've been here 6 months! The time has flown by and it seems like yesterday when we stepped off the plane. We've learned a lot of language, jumped head-first into the community, and have experienced many cultural laughs along the way (more on those in future posts!). We've made some awesome friends (both nationals and foreigners) and have simply enjoyed where God has placed us.

This picture was taken this past weekend when we took the girls to the Coliseu to watch the Ukrainian ballet perform "The Little Mermaid." It was awesome! The girls watched with fascination from the opening curtain to the end of the show. Lisboa has so many neat cultural things to do---from the ballet to museums and everything in between!

We have certainly enjoyed the past 6 months here and look forward to many, many more!

2027

Just had to write a little update about something I thought was neat about Portugal. I had to go down to the Direcção Geral de Viação (the local DMV) and apply for a Portuguese drivers license. Our Tennessee license is only good for 6 months so we had to switch out for a Portuguese one---fortunately, Portugal has an agreement with the US so we can just do a switcheroo instead of taking a test etc.

So, everything went smoothly. I took the metro down to Loja do Cidadão which is a huge government building with all the official offices. The literal translation is "store of the citizens" with the purpose of being able to take care of all of the official needs in one place. When you find the place you need, you simply take a numbered ticket (as with almost every single place of business in Portugal!) and wait to be called. I only had to wait for 20 minutes before I was called.

In Portuguese I asked for a license and the lady was very helpful and kind. I had all the paperwork ready and so it only took 15 minutes to be finished and walking out of the place! So, as Hannah would say, "Are you going to get to the point of this story this century???"

Okay, okay, keep your pants on. The point to the story is that my Portuguese drivers license is valid until.....wait for it.....wait for it.....2027! AWESOME! 20 years! How cool is that! Of course there's a good chance that I'm not reading it right, but the last time I checked the word "validade" was valid and 2027 is really 20 years away.....Crazy cool!

Cold Weather

A high of 44 degrees F? What?

We do live in Lisbon, Portugal, right? And yes, I know we're not as cold as Vosok, Antartica!

Cultivating Humility

My friend Dave R. (formerly a blogger, but now simply on facebook) sent me a book for Christmas called Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney. He told me a couple of guys from back in Tennessee were reading it together and discussing--they thought I'd enjoy it and they were right.

It's a simple and straightforward book that packs quite a wallop. Let's face it, there just aren't a lot of books anymore on humility. I love that C.J. Mahaney, in the beginning of the book, doesn't claim to be an expert on humility, but writes as a fellow laborer who wants to see humility cultivated and pride extinguished. The book contains some highly practical advice to include ways to practice humility as we go about our day.

I think this book was one of the most thoughtful things I've received in a long time--I miss meeting once a week with my friends back in Jackson and this is yet another way to stay connected to them. Plus, I appreciate the fact that they continue to speak into my life despite the distance. If you know someone who is serving overseas in a capacity such as mine, please don't forget that they desperately need to get their hands on books like these---as we're doing the work, we also need great books that reveal God's truth to our lives.....this gift is certainly sustaining my walk with the Lord and helping me understand how to cultivate humility in my life---which is an essential no matter where in the world we're serving!

Jan 09

Just a quick rundown of our Jan. 09 schedule so you can be praying for us:

--back to language school for Mark and Hannah after a wonderful break

--back to school for the girls

--upcoming language school changes (pray that we can find Hannah a new school)

--travel at the end of this month to Germany for a conference (whole family is going)

--new relationships in the community

--ongoing relationships with language teachers

Espresso

Hannah got me an espresso maker for Christmas. Really, it's more than just an espresso maker as it makes cappucinos, macchiatos, hot chocolate, iced drinks, regular espresso, etc. And certainly, I'm in heaven. We debated and debated, but Hannah finally got it so we can reciprocate when we have people over to the house---last time we went to a home they offered espresso so we want to be able to do the culturally appropriate thing also! And, bonus because I can have an espresso first thing in the morning.

Now, I realize some of you will wonder if this will take away from spending time at the local cafe--I can assure you that this doesn't detract...Bria and I scurried over to the cafe this morning to get a quick fix before walking over to do some grocery shopping at our local "Pingo Doce."

Yes, the cups are small. But, ooooooooh, what a punch they pack. Vrrooooooooom!