The Lord has been teaching me a lot about love lately. I know I'm getting married in 5 1/2 weeks, so of course that is on my mind a lot, but this isn't the love He has been putting on my heart. The kind of love I've been learning about is the kind I should show to everyone, because He first loved me. It's easy to love Joaquim because he's just so darn good looking, and he calls me his princess and gives me shiny things and asks me how I am doing with such concern and sincerity...and then listens to my response! (Ladies, aren't you all jealous? I know, I got a good one!) But there are some people who are not easy to love. So what do I do then?
I still have to love. Actions sometimes speak louder than words.
But what if people still can't see beyond your words? Yes, the offensiveness of the gospel message is often in its delivery. But sometimes it truly is only in the message. No matter how you sugar coat things or say it with a smile, someone is going to be upset. It is those times that are most frustrating and where we feel least able to do anything.
I have to confess that I have been guilty of speaking the truth, even with a heart of love, but without a spirit of gentleness. I've even had people call me a gentle person, but when I see things as black and white, I have trouble expressing my heart...especially when challenged. For this reason I'm glad I'm a work in progress. God isn't done with me yet!
When you ask God to work on you, it can get kind of ugly. And it has. But I have no regrets and I will not waver from the truth.
2 Timothy 3:12-17 "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
The circle of apartments
Big things are always happening around here. It never stops, and I guess I should just get used to it!
The most recent development in the life of Christine and Joaquim's married future is the near acquirement of an apartment in Arlington Heights. Here is the kicker: it is the VERY apartment, unit and all, where my parents spent their first year of marriage. It's really nice, hardwood floors, new kitchen and bathroom, ceiling fan in the bedroom, great price, and it's a month-to-month lease which is really ideal for us. We were not a fan of being bound to a whole year or two when we are only bound to God's will for us! It will be great. Our landlady is still looking into my credit and my rent paying history, which is fair, so she hasn't given us the total green light yet, but...come on. It's coming.
Now that we know where we are going to live, I am just a distracted pile of daydreaming. I can picture where we will come home after our fabulous honeymoon to Hawaii, and I imagine making coffee in our kitchen, and experimenting with our Brazilian/American dinner extravaganzas. Joaquim will explore Arlington Heights while I'm at work, and we live about a mile from downtown so it's an ok walk on a nice September day. Hopefully by the time the weather gets worse, he will have some more direction on how God wants to use him here.
I'm so grateful for the blessing of that apartment, and more importantly for the man with whom I will make a life there!
The most recent development in the life of Christine and Joaquim's married future is the near acquirement of an apartment in Arlington Heights. Here is the kicker: it is the VERY apartment, unit and all, where my parents spent their first year of marriage. It's really nice, hardwood floors, new kitchen and bathroom, ceiling fan in the bedroom, great price, and it's a month-to-month lease which is really ideal for us. We were not a fan of being bound to a whole year or two when we are only bound to God's will for us! It will be great. Our landlady is still looking into my credit and my rent paying history, which is fair, so she hasn't given us the total green light yet, but...come on. It's coming.
Now that we know where we are going to live, I am just a distracted pile of daydreaming. I can picture where we will come home after our fabulous honeymoon to Hawaii, and I imagine making coffee in our kitchen, and experimenting with our Brazilian/American dinner extravaganzas. Joaquim will explore Arlington Heights while I'm at work, and we live about a mile from downtown so it's an ok walk on a nice September day. Hopefully by the time the weather gets worse, he will have some more direction on how God wants to use him here.
I'm so grateful for the blessing of that apartment, and more importantly for the man with whom I will make a life there!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wedding weekend begins.....NOW!
I am convinced that planning a wedding makes you a better bridesmaid...so I am going to try and be an awesome one this weekend! Miss Annie Schuette is getting married on Sunday, and this whole weekend is going to be about her! And Wes of course, but we know how the ratio goes there...I am so thrilled for them, and am really looking forward to a fun weekend of bachelorette parties, manis and pedis, hair up-do's, rehearsal dinners, actual rehearsals...LOTS OF SMILING FOR PICTURES...and of course supporting one of my best friends as she makes a life long commitment to her VERY best friend.
...Ok I just made myself tear up a little bit...
Wedding parties are important. You invite people to stand up next to you, and affirm the vows you will make, and hopefully those people will be close to you your whole life, and will consistently hold you accountable for those vows. (At least that's what I expect, fyi to anyone whos wedding I will ever be in, and anyone in my wedding party! Ha.) Some people say they're barely friends anymore with people who stood up in their wedding...I know things happen, but I can honestly and sincerely say that I hope to see all of the faces of my dear friends and sisters who will wear pretty gold, chiffon dresses on Sunday September 6th and smile and laugh and cry with Joaquim and me on that day. It's a big deal. And it is IMPORTANT!
So I feel like wedding wedding wedding has been all I think about, talk about, and do lately. But you know what, that's just the truth! This is the KICK-OFF to the rest of my life...and this weekend is a PARTY that will set off my friends' marriage! It's a big deal, and let's get into it!
...Ok I just made myself tear up a little bit...
Wedding parties are important. You invite people to stand up next to you, and affirm the vows you will make, and hopefully those people will be close to you your whole life, and will consistently hold you accountable for those vows. (At least that's what I expect, fyi to anyone whos wedding I will ever be in, and anyone in my wedding party! Ha.) Some people say they're barely friends anymore with people who stood up in their wedding...I know things happen, but I can honestly and sincerely say that I hope to see all of the faces of my dear friends and sisters who will wear pretty gold, chiffon dresses on Sunday September 6th and smile and laugh and cry with Joaquim and me on that day. It's a big deal. And it is IMPORTANT!
So I feel like wedding wedding wedding has been all I think about, talk about, and do lately. But you know what, that's just the truth! This is the KICK-OFF to the rest of my life...and this weekend is a PARTY that will set off my friends' marriage! It's a big deal, and let's get into it!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
t-minus 60 days
This has been a productive week so far...maybe that is born out of necessity, but either way I'm not complaining. Last night I hashed out a potential program for the wedding. I have learned during this whole process that things which seem overwhelming at first are really only a matter of jumping in. Flowers, menus...just pick a few things and start rolling with it. It comes together. So I decided to google "wedding program" and pick and choose what I wanted. 10 minutes later, presto-change-o, we have a program. Hey, that was easy!
Ok but I am so ready to be done with this wedding business. It has been an important thing in my life for the last 9 months. Wait...10 months! Joaquim and I have will have been engaged for 10 whole months, next week! Yea, we are ready to be married.
Other than wedding planning, I have been preparing to be IN a wedding this weekend! It is my first time standing up as a bridesmaid, and I am so excited. Miss Annie Schuette, who I have literally known my whole life, is getting married on Sunday. So it will be a blast to celebrate her this weekend and support her in her marriage to Wes Johnson! We will all be newlywed pals. :)
I have been doing some apartment hunting lately, so if anyone knows of any good places around here, let me know! Our ideal locale would be near downtown Arlington Heights. That's the dream. But we'd go with anything that is close to my work (less than 15 minutes) and less than $800/month. We're confident that God will open those doors! Or that apartment door, literally.
Ok but I am so ready to be done with this wedding business. It has been an important thing in my life for the last 9 months. Wait...10 months! Joaquim and I have will have been engaged for 10 whole months, next week! Yea, we are ready to be married.
Other than wedding planning, I have been preparing to be IN a wedding this weekend! It is my first time standing up as a bridesmaid, and I am so excited. Miss Annie Schuette, who I have literally known my whole life, is getting married on Sunday. So it will be a blast to celebrate her this weekend and support her in her marriage to Wes Johnson! We will all be newlywed pals. :)
I have been doing some apartment hunting lately, so if anyone knows of any good places around here, let me know! Our ideal locale would be near downtown Arlington Heights. That's the dream. But we'd go with anything that is close to my work (less than 15 minutes) and less than $800/month. We're confident that God will open those doors! Or that apartment door, literally.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Don't cry over spilled...water
...unless it spilled because the glass broke and sliced your pinky finger! Yes, that was me on Saturday night, the day before I left Brazil. I was washing dishes while Joaquim and his cousin Samuel were barbequeing some meat (classic...) and while washing a glass, it shattered. My first reaction was just surprise, and then I stared at my finger, wondering if I had cut myself. "I'm ok! I'm ok!" quickly turned to "I cut myself! I cut myself!" At that point Joaqum walked into the kitchen again and found me holding my finger, demanding a cloth or paper towel or something. He gave me a couple squares of toilet paper, which I clamped over my finger, and from that point on I didn't even look at it.
Judging by the fact that it is still bandaged and puffy, I probably could have used some good old fashioned stitches. At that point, though, I refused. I've never been to a hospital in Brazil and...wouldn't really like to. I'll have to reconcile with that someday, but it was not the time!
Poor Joaquim was so worried about me. My last night, and I injure myself and bleed all over the place. (That's not true, there was really hardly any blood...) Then he had to say goodbye to me and let me go by myself through three different airports with two large bags. He was not happy about that! It was a sad goodbye, but thankfully it was the LAST one, and my last time traveling alone.
The next time I set foot on an airplane, I will be Mrs. Christine Fragoso, heading to Hawaii with my husband! Holy moley............................................
Judging by the fact that it is still bandaged and puffy, I probably could have used some good old fashioned stitches. At that point, though, I refused. I've never been to a hospital in Brazil and...wouldn't really like to. I'll have to reconcile with that someday, but it was not the time!
Poor Joaquim was so worried about me. My last night, and I injure myself and bleed all over the place. (That's not true, there was really hardly any blood...) Then he had to say goodbye to me and let me go by myself through three different airports with two large bags. He was not happy about that! It was a sad goodbye, but thankfully it was the LAST one, and my last time traveling alone.
The next time I set foot on an airplane, I will be Mrs. Christine Fragoso, heading to Hawaii with my husband! Holy moley............................................
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Partaaaay
Wow. It is so late and I have so many things to say, this is just going to be a mess. So, take it or leave it!
First of all, let's start with yesterday...
Joaquim and I were bummed that he had been enlisted as a driver to pick up his brother-in-law's family at the airport in Iguassu Falls. That's a 6 hour drive round trip, and they were supposed to arrive at 7pm, therefore leaving me alone for an entire Friday afternoon and evening. Being that I'm only here for two weeks and it had been nearly six months since we'd seen each other, that was a really big thing to ask. So we tried and tried to find someone to go in his place, but it turned out that only he or mãe could go in their car because of the insurance. So, seeing as mãe couldn't go since she was busy preparing for our party tonight, he was it. I couldn't go because there wouldn't be enough room coming back.
So, Wednesday night, I prayed ohhhhh Lord pleeeeease don't let him goooooooo. You know, a last desperate plea. Well, let me tell you, God is funny. He answered that prayer and added on more blessings on top of it.
I asked Joaquim to try and just take the whole afternoon off instead of coming back just in time to leave for the airport. So when he got home at noon, all smiles, he was free. We were sitting in the living room at two o'clock, reading a little devotional together, when his sister, acácia, came in to give the update on her in-laws' arrival. Apparently they had been misinformed about how to get their bags in São Paulo, so they left them in the baggage claim and got on the plane, only to be called off the plane to go check their bags, miss their flight, and be placed on a flight that would arrive at 1am.
Ai ai ai.
My first thought was "yay, he has the afternoon off!" My second thought was "hmm, at least I'll get to go to bed early..." and my third thought was "wait, this is crazy! he can't be driving that late at night!" Apparently, Mãe felt the same way, and was concerned with their car, since it's in need of a little (expensive) work to fix the shocks, something having to do with turning the wheels (I am not the right person to talk about these things...) and wasn't comfortable with them having that car on the road in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere. Amen, sister. So, Joaquim stayed and they enlisted a cousin to drive his car, and we went out for a snack! Instead of having less time together, we ended up with more. And why? Because I decided not to worry about it and whatever happens, happens, and just leave it in God's hands.
Ok, moving on to today.........
For those who didn't know, today was our Brazilian reception!!!!!! Oh my goodness, it was marvelous.
This morning we woke up around 9, had breakfast, spent time with more cousins who were arriving, ran some errands, etc. etc. The whole day was kind of that way. Figuring out last minute details, you know. We had to go through how to service would be. It wasn't an official wedding, but there was still a little program in the chapel. Pai spoke about Isaac and Rebecca and how each one chooses to leave their families and start a life together, make sacrifices, etc. Joaquim's cousin Karol sang, his uncle gave a little speech with some advice, mentioned Psalm 37:4, which has always been the verse that I have prayed...so of course then we both shed a couple tears, but good ones.
Afterwards there were lots of hugs, congratulations, pictures, more hugs, more congratulations, and more pictures. The decorations were beaaaautiful, the flowers, the tables all set up...the food was delicious. It was a marvelous time!
Then the fun really began for Joaquim...his cousins had some other plans for him. They sent everyone out of the room where we were taking pictures of him and promptly had him dressed in a sparkly dress, a green boa, lipstick, and sent him out in town to ask for money for our honeymoon. Poor guy. We'll only hear the rest of the story tomorrow...
First of all, let's start with yesterday...
Joaquim and I were bummed that he had been enlisted as a driver to pick up his brother-in-law's family at the airport in Iguassu Falls. That's a 6 hour drive round trip, and they were supposed to arrive at 7pm, therefore leaving me alone for an entire Friday afternoon and evening. Being that I'm only here for two weeks and it had been nearly six months since we'd seen each other, that was a really big thing to ask. So we tried and tried to find someone to go in his place, but it turned out that only he or mãe could go in their car because of the insurance. So, seeing as mãe couldn't go since she was busy preparing for our party tonight, he was it. I couldn't go because there wouldn't be enough room coming back.
So, Wednesday night, I prayed ohhhhh Lord pleeeeease don't let him goooooooo. You know, a last desperate plea. Well, let me tell you, God is funny. He answered that prayer and added on more blessings on top of it.
I asked Joaquim to try and just take the whole afternoon off instead of coming back just in time to leave for the airport. So when he got home at noon, all smiles, he was free. We were sitting in the living room at two o'clock, reading a little devotional together, when his sister, acácia, came in to give the update on her in-laws' arrival. Apparently they had been misinformed about how to get their bags in São Paulo, so they left them in the baggage claim and got on the plane, only to be called off the plane to go check their bags, miss their flight, and be placed on a flight that would arrive at 1am.
Ai ai ai.
My first thought was "yay, he has the afternoon off!" My second thought was "hmm, at least I'll get to go to bed early..." and my third thought was "wait, this is crazy! he can't be driving that late at night!" Apparently, Mãe felt the same way, and was concerned with their car, since it's in need of a little (expensive) work to fix the shocks, something having to do with turning the wheels (I am not the right person to talk about these things...) and wasn't comfortable with them having that car on the road in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere. Amen, sister. So, Joaquim stayed and they enlisted a cousin to drive his car, and we went out for a snack! Instead of having less time together, we ended up with more. And why? Because I decided not to worry about it and whatever happens, happens, and just leave it in God's hands.
Ok, moving on to today.........
For those who didn't know, today was our Brazilian reception!!!!!! Oh my goodness, it was marvelous.
This morning we woke up around 9, had breakfast, spent time with more cousins who were arriving, ran some errands, etc. etc. The whole day was kind of that way. Figuring out last minute details, you know. We had to go through how to service would be. It wasn't an official wedding, but there was still a little program in the chapel. Pai spoke about Isaac and Rebecca and how each one chooses to leave their families and start a life together, make sacrifices, etc. Joaquim's cousin Karol sang, his uncle gave a little speech with some advice, mentioned Psalm 37:4, which has always been the verse that I have prayed...so of course then we both shed a couple tears, but good ones.
Afterwards there were lots of hugs, congratulations, pictures, more hugs, more congratulations, and more pictures. The decorations were beaaaautiful, the flowers, the tables all set up...the food was delicious. It was a marvelous time!
Then the fun really began for Joaquim...his cousins had some other plans for him. They sent everyone out of the room where we were taking pictures of him and promptly had him dressed in a sparkly dress, a green boa, lipstick, and sent him out in town to ask for money for our honeymoon. Poor guy. We'll only hear the rest of the story tomorrow...
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