I heart coffee

Hi, I'm Mark and I'm a coffee addict. Actually, I need to be more specific. I'm addicted to coffee here in Portugal. I drink way too much, but I'm convinced it helps me with my Portuguese. For example, today I didn't have a cafe before heading out to the store to find some paper for our printer. My tongue felt very heavy and wouldn't work very well. I stumbled through easy sentences and my brain couldn't keep up even when the clerk asked me simple questions.

But then I got a cafe. And my tongue all of a sudden began making sounds that I didn't know could be uttered from my mouth! My brain was working and I felt like a million euros! I was conjugating verbs like no foreigner should!

I actually only drink about 4-5 cups per day. But, I've been told that each espresso that I drink holds the equivalent of 4-5 cups of "machine-brewed" American coffee. So that puts me somewhere in the neighborhood of 16-25 cups of American coffee per day??? What??? I mean, I've been known to polish off a pot of coffee while talking with my brother-in-law, but that's a mere 10 cups split between the two of us! We're in trouble when he comes to visit in July---we may just overdose on espresso while talking shop and hanging out at the beach.

As you can tell I'm struggling to come up with substantive content for my blog. Life tends to move pretty quickly here and before I know it a week has gone by and it's hard to post all that's going on. I've got an idea though---I'll make sure I run out and grab a cafe and then I'll be sure to have a well-functioning brain in which to write something interesting. Be right back!

Dia do Pai

Today is Father's Day in Portugal! Yep, every March 19 is the big date. This year the girls made crafts at school and gave them to me when we picked them up. Sahara and Bria had written notes to me (in Portuguese) -- Bria's teacher went out of her way to tell me that they had written them without any help! Then, we had a blast hanging out, eating dinner, and watching a movie. It was a very special day and I'm proud to be the daddy of the 3 most incredible girls!

Serpents and Doves

I had to give a presentation about my company yesterday in class. Wow, talk about a difficult task! I prepared by writing everything out first, but the most difficult part was fielding the many questions while I did the presentation. It's one thing to prepare something beforehand, but it's another thing altogether to answer on-the-spot in the language you are trying to learn! It's always a chore to determine what to say--should I be bold or cautious? Risky or safe?

As I prepared the presentation it brought me to a unique question: In a postmodern country which is increasingly uninterested in spiritual matters, should we become bolder in our witness or smarter in our witness?

Surprisingly, I think Jesus asks us to do both! Check out Matthew 10:16 where Jesus tells his followers to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. I also like how John Calvin explains it:

“You have need of wisdom and of harmlessness, because you will be like sheep in the midst of wolves.” The reason is drawn from the necessity of the case: for if they did not wisely exercise caution, they might be immediately devoured by the wolves; and, on the other hand, if they trembled at the rage of the wolves, or were incautious, they would presently waver, and would at length fail to perform their duty."

John Calvin, Calvin's Commentaries, electronic ed., electronic ed. (Garland, TX: Galaxie Software, 2000), Lk 10:1.

Difficult Day

I don't have an easy job. Today was an especially difficult day. For the past couple of months I've been pouring my energies into a young man and today I found out that he wants nothing to do with me. He's been so receptive, asking questions, and wanting to know more about the Word. But, about 3 weeks ago he stopped calling and dropped off the radar.

It's no coincidence that right before he dropped out of sight we were talking about the implications of believing the Gospel. He realized that he needed to make a choice, but kept saying that Jesus demanded too high of a price. I am actually glad that he was weighing the cost, but I'm also sad that he has decided it's just not worth it. Yet, there were some incredible opportunities to sow the seed and I am grateful for those moments. Truly, the seed developing and believing is not my work anyway and so I'll wait and trust that the Spirit knows best.

Yet, it's still difficult. I'm lamenting the loss of a good friend and language partner. My heart is heavy because I desperately want to see him embrace the Good News. I am distraught knowing he is running away from the Lord. But, I'm also challenged to trust that God's timing is right and that God is asking me to be faithful in the midst of a discouraging turn of events.

Os computadores "Magalhães" estão aqui!

Portugal has a program that distributes computers to all students and yesterday the girls got two brand-new laptop computers! We did have to pay a small fee (50 euros each), but they are now proud owners of REAL computers. They will be able to work on projects from school and home--plus, the computers come with a ton of programs loaded up like Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Portuguese language tutor, English language tutor, a dictionary, a webcam, paint program and much more! Here are some pictures from when we started them up last night.

Here they are working hard....Tirza was SO disappointed she didn't get one. She kept saying "It isn't fair!" over and over again. I tried to tell her she'd get one in 1st grade, but in her mind she thought she should get one too! I think we'll try to find a Barbie computer from Toys-R-Us for her to "use" along with the big girls!

Bria is working on a program that helps teach "time."

Yeah! We love the computers!!!! Hopefully they are indestructible!

I think it's a big deal....

I'm sure not everyone will think this is a big deal, but I do. Today I sat down and read the first two chapters in Acts.....in Portuguese.....and I knew every word.....

I'm getting to the point where I can read most things--I still struggle with certain vocabulary and more technical writings, but it's been fun to be able to read more and more. I try to read a Portuguese newspaper each day (they are free!) and it helps a ton. Plus, I've found out that when you know the context of the subject the reading comes fairly easily.

What left an impression on me after reading those two chapters in Acts was that it felt like I was reading it for the first time. When you read in another language you quickly realize that there are different ways of translating into the specific language. Although the text is translated directly from the Greek, it reads in a different way.....not different meanings.....what I've discovered is that Portuguese is much more descriptive at times than English. Thus, different words are used to describe the events surrounding those two chapters, which make it interesting and an entirely new experience! I found myself appreciating the text even more than the many, many times I've read the passage in English. Cool, huh!