Tuesday, October 13, 2009

God is good



Essa foto é de ontem (12/10). E bom, sempre que paro e penso no céu, lembro-me que "os céus proclamam a glória de Deus, e o firmamento anuncia as obras das suas mãos." (Salmos 19:1)

Depois de uma imagem dessas, preciso de mais motivos pra adorar o Criador?

Friday, August 7, 2009

A thank-you prayer



July came so fast and suddenly it is already August. I wished July was longer, though. I miss being somewhere far from here and yet, knowing I was never alone. I guess that's the feeling I had all this past month. Although I spent a month away from Brazil with people I had never seen before in my life, I just knew I wasn't alone.

Well, let's start from the beginning then. I was invited to be a summer missionary in Tennessee and I honestly didn't even know this kind of stuff could happen. Without much hesitation, though, I accepted the challenge. A regular missionary would normally spend 8 weeks doing missions. Unfortunately, I didn't have two months to do that, so I just went for the month of July.

So I went to Tennessee to work for the Smoky Mountain Resort Ministries (aka SMRM) with no real expectations. I honestly didn't know what I was going to deal with.
I got to learn, later on, that SMRM is a ministry which does lots of missions with the international students who come to work there for a work and travel experience (like I had done in the past), does LOTS of daycamps for the kids at some campgrounds and provides worship service at these same campgrounds. It also does other stuff, like helping at the Craftsmen's Fair and working in the 4th of July Parade. Basically, there were 10 of us doing all kinds of stuff.

Now imagine yourself living with lots of people you don't even know. (Actually, it was like living with 15 people - there were also some other summer missionaries sharing the dorm with us, but they were ACMNP [A Christian Ministry in the National Parks] - they weren't exactly doing the same things as we were.) It's not easy. Not easy at all. However, I was able to see that God had blessed me with great people I'd get acquainted with and from whom I would learn a lot. Having to live with so many people was definetely challenging, though that's when I saw how wonderful God was for allowing me to meet each and every one of them, and oh gosh, I am definetely gonna miss all the great fun and even all the tears we cried together.

So back to missions. Well, as I had written to Cassi (my prayer partner prior to going to Tennessee), doing missions in my second language was my greatest fear. And I have to say, it did feel funny and unnatural the first time I actually preached. But I felt great doing that. And I know God was the one who gave me the strength and even the courage to do all the preaching, all the talking and well, basically, everything.

I guess I just want this post to be some kind of a prayer to God. Just a thank-you prayer for giving me the opportunity to serve Him with SMRM this summer and being able to experience great moments there.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Livre

Exato. Sinto-me livre. Não que eu esteja livre do meu chefe, do meu emprego, faculdade ou professores. Não é dessa liberdade que estou falando.

Livre. Sinto-me livre das coisas que antes me prendiam. Sinto-me livre de tabus e repressões. Sinto-me livre de dos and don'ts . Sinto-me livre da imundice do mundo. Não. Impossível viver assim. Em Cristo sou livre.

Impressionante como às vezes conhecemos uma música há eras, mas só em um determinado dia ela faz sentido. É o que aconteceu comigo em Free, do Hillsong.



Sunday, September 21, 2008

Happiness is overrated

I heard today that three percent of the world’s population are naturally happy. Money or good health apparently have nothing to do with it. Just gobs and gobs of serotonin jumping from neuron to neuron, I imagine. For the rest of us, happiness is a whatchamacallit? - oh yeah, a choice. And for everything else, of course, there’s always mastercard.

Yes, a choice. It is normally said that how people around you behave is somehow connected to your well-being. Is it? I, myself, used to believe so but not anymore. This might seem theologically incorrect to some - and I definetely do not want to sound like a self-help author either - however, you do have the power to choose between feeling good about your life or not.

Monday, August 18, 2008

His glory, not mine



Let's just say my life's been pretty much like a mess lately. College, work (both of them), friends, they are all okay. Nothing to complain about them, no.
Nevertheless, I have been felling... ungrateful.
I was listening to Casting Crowns and one of their songs got me thinking for a little while. It goes:

The Voice of truth tells me a different story
The Voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of truth says "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth


The thing is I cannot help being scared of what the near future is going to present me with.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Hora de mudar

Sim, eu falo, falo, falo que preciso me acostumar a postar aqui mas eu nunca o faço.


Enfim, sábado ouvi uma pregação sobre santidade e senti que a mensagem foi como um baque pra mim. Preciso acordar, não sou mais criança pequena pra brincar de ir à igreja e ser cristã. Quero minha vida junto à Deus. Necessito disso. Quero entender Sua grandiosidade e bondade.

A música do post anterior continua sendo a minha 'trilha sonora'. Mas muito mais que isso, peço à Deus para que agora ela se torne minha realidade.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Enfim, de férias


Pensei melhor e apaguei o post anterior. Acho que, no fundo, eu já sabia que ia deletá-lo mais cedo ou mais tarde.


Sim, férias. Como eu ansiei por esse dia. Tanto sono atrasado que poderei recuperar. Tantas pessoas que poderei ver. Tantas coisas que poderei fazer. E, mais uma vez, sei que no final vou ver que não fiz quase nenhuma. Digo 'quase' nenhuma porque recuperar o sono atrasado já não é mais uma questão de vontade, e sim necessidade.


Enfim, contar das minhas férias não é o motivo deste post. Só queria deixar uma música aqui. Não sei se a letra está totalmente certa porque ela está escrita de ouvido.

É tão bom estar aqui
De joelhos a orar
Nada esconder de Ti
Confessar, chorar, louvar
E aprender em oração quem Tu és e quem eu sou
Minha frágil condição
Teu imenso amor
Quero deixar tudo que é vão
E guardar o que é eterno
E ouvir de Ti que escolhi a parte melhor
Quero ser uma canção de louvor ao Senhor
Arte feita a mão, dedo do Criador
Profunda amizade com meu Pai, meu Deus
Essa é a minha oração