3 month Recap...I know, I know

I knew that when I came to my blog today I would cringe when I saw the last time I posted. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I did manage a post in December...I was expecting November...so I guess that's good, right? The few people who read this blog probably know why I've been MIA, but to ease my conscience I'm going to give you a big fat recap of the last 3ish months. Ready?

December was a whirlwind month, not just because my jasmine trees bloomed beautifully. We started it by changing our Sunday services at church to the morning time slot. Since the beginning of the church they had always met in the evenings, and due to a variety of factors we decided to move to the mornings. It's been a great transition and we've enjoyed having our afternoons free to continue the fellowship that started in the morning! Two of our members also got married in December and moved to China. That's the third wedding our church has had in just over a year, after no weddings for like 8 years, so that was exciting!

I spent the last two weeks of December and the whole month of January in the US for my furlough. Although I've been blessed to go back to the States at least once every year since I've been in Natal, this was the first official trip (I kept calling it my business trip) and it was GREAT! It was my first time to spend Christmas with my family in Oklahoma since 2006! I also got to spend two weekends visiting my two wonderful supporting congregations and report on the work here in Natal. I loved being with them again and getting to share about how things are going here. I spent a LOT of time driving, but it wasn't too bad because I got to rediscover the joy of driving an automatic and rest my left leg before coming back to my standard-transmission car in Natal. :)

Me with Tootie, one of the elder's wives at Springtown and a great friend!

As soon as I got back to Natal I started the process of scheduling my laser eye surgery. Had I known how long it would take (not because I had any trouble, but because they just had a lot of hoops for me to jump through) to get my insurance company to authorize the surgery, I would have started the process before I left. But, 3 weeks after I got back, I got the surgery scheduled and am now in my second week of recovery! I've worn glasses and/or contacts since I was 6 years old, and was blind as a bat, so this is a very new experience for me! I am so thankful for my Brazilian insurance that covered this type of surgery, something I would never have been able to do in the States without paying out of pocket. It's pretty remarkable that a 40 second procedure can correct 19 years of bad vision, but...I try not to think too much about that!

As soon as I got back I was also pumped to celebrate my friend Talis's graduation from college. College graduations here are week-long celebrations, with events every night and ending with a prom-like party on the weekend. Talis is one of our members who came through LST several years ago, and I am so proud of his accomplishments and where God is leading him in his life. It was an honor to be able to celebrate with him!

Talis's graduation prom :) (Talis is the one looking sharp in a tux)

Things are getting back to normal here now that the Carnaval (Mardi Gras times a million...) holiday is over. Brazil kind of waits for Carnaval to be over before anything serious gets done, so all of our classes are getting started up again and we're already gearing up for the LST season in just a couple months!

Now that I have the emotional burden of this recap post off my shoulders (seriously, I feel guilty about not blogging in a while. Does anyone even read this anymore?) I will really try to keep writing regular updates. but...I know that doesn't mean much since I've told you that many times before. I was reading a guy's blog yesterday who said he schedules his posts to be written on Mondays and Fridays, and actually has it built into his weekly agenda with a reminder that pops up telling him it's time to blog. Maybe I should try that? Ha. Here's to being a better blogger! Thanks for reading!