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...