Tuesday, October 26, 2010

obrigada!

well, after a week in brazil, the only word i know is "obrigada" . . ."thank
you!"  it expresses what is in my heart to hans for taking me to see our
daughter, hailey, and to the Lord for watching over her.

it's difficult to find the words for the relief i felt at seeing her contentment
and pride in her adopted country.  she was so excited to show us their
lovely home, the precious children she cares for, and the language school
she is attending.



after a gigantic feast at a brazilian churrascaria (steak house), i thought i
could never eat meat again.  we spent our first evening enjoying the warm
early summer breeze from their back porch, listening to the strange wail of
an "X-files" bug and the songs of the parrots above us.





when it started to sprinkle, hailey jumped up to gather in the wash from
the clothes line.  yes, they hang out the laundry, because electricity is so
expensive.  that is something i have never done.  then, we loaded up her
bag and kidnapped her for four glorious days at the beach, which i will
share about in a few days.

"obrigada" to all who visited hailey's blog and left such sweet encourage-
ments for her.

love,
lea

"thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"  2 corinthians 9:15

29 comments:

-stephanie- said...

So nice to hear you had a wonderful trip.

I love hanging my laundry out. Smells so fresh.

Farm Girl said...

So glad you are home and it was a good visit.
You are a good Mom.

Sandy said...

I'm glad you're home and that
you had such a good time with
your dear Hailey! I missed you
and I'm sure everyone else did
too.

Gloria said...

Welcome home...:)

How wonderful that you were able to visit your daughter and to share special time with her! How fun for her (and you) to have these new experiences in her life.

Blessings to you,
xoxo Gloria

Town and Country House said...

I'm so happy for you to have seen your girl "in context"; I know she was so happy to see you, too! I'm looking forward to your posts about Brazil.

koralee said...

Welcome home my friend!!!! What a lovely spot...and such a blessing to have your daughter soooo happy!

Hugs. xoxo

highheeledlife said...

Welcome home my friend ...I'm so happy that you were able to experience Brazil. It is a country with so much to give and yet it too needs so much. Hailey is a blessing to the children and the people whose lives she will touch. Obrigada, for raising such a wonderful caring and giving young lady... xo HHL

http://bitsandpieces-sonja.blogspot.com/ said...

I've thought of you so many times, knew each day was precious! I remember when one of ours went away to college and I flew up north to visit him. It made such a difference to see him there in his new setting, and to know that all was well...

Welcome home! Hailey will stay in my prayers...

Anonymous said...

Welcome home and I am so happy that you enjoyed your visit and felt good about Hailey. Can't wait to read more.

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

Yes you are sowing seed all over the world...I don't know where you other ones are, but I know about Brazil.

I prayed for you...God would put you on my heart at the weirdest hour...then later I got to thinking I had no idea what time it was in Brazil.

I am so glad you all got to have a vacation together!!! I am so glad you got to go...the list goes on and on.

I remember when my 17 year old son went to Africa...after all the shots and the maximum malaria pills one could take...no communication!!! for a month, yet right where God wanted him. We got to hear his voice twice in a full month!

I am glad you can skype!!

Well I have had one in Germany and Russia and today my 14 year old said he wants to go to Romania in the summer.

So for right now they are all within 20 minutes of me...but probably not for long!!

Lea, we have done what God called us to do...now as He sends them out we can rejoice in our seeds being sent out...a true answer to prayer!!!

If you were near I would send you a loaf of pumpkin bread

Blessings and welcome back...looking forward to the installment of pictures and stories of your trip!!

Anne Lyken-Garner said...

Takes me back to home. I'm South American and am from Guyana, which has land borders with Northern Brazil.
Lovely parrot in that tree. I'm glad you had a good time.

Anonymous said...

i missed you! so glad you had a wonderful trip. hailey is breathtakingly beautiful.

love,
kate

myletterstoemily said...

kate! that is so sweet, especially
coming from such a beauty as
yourself!

Blondie's Journal said...

It sounds like you had a wonderful time visiting Hailey. She's beautiful. And she looks so happy!

XO,
Jane

Lisa said...

Lea,
You are practically bi-lingual! Hailey sounds like she is where she needs to be. This is an exciting time in her life that she will always remember. You have raised an exceptional young woman. You should be very proud.:)

Dawn said...

Glad you're back and had such a wonderful trip. I can't imagine having to go to another country to visit my children... Yikes!

Take comfort in the fact that she serves the Lord.

Welcome home.
Dawn

Unknown said...

What a wonderful place to visit, and it sounds like you had a lovely time.

Karen

Vee said...

We can put up with one's absence so much better when we know s/he is content. Sounds as if Hailey is wonderfully so. And how wonderful that you were able to visit her in her home. Now when you think of her, you'll see her puttering about in her kitchen or working with the children or even hanging out the clothes.

Ruth said...

hey there, thank you for stopping by Underneath His Wrapping earlier! i hang our my laundry too..:) and i love doing so..:)

beautiful pictures!!

Single and Sane said...

Parrots in the trees - how cool is that? I'm glad you had the chance to see Hailey in her new environment. I know that has to make the distance so much easier to bear.

Margaret

{oc cottage} said...

Too funny! One upon a time I attempted to learn Portuguese...obrigada is the only word I retained! I was just incapable of making all those really cool sounds that the language requires...I have English speaking vocal cords and that's all there is to it!;}

m ^..^

Auntie Cake said...

Glad you are back all safe and sound. Looks like you had a wonderful visit. There is nothing like a a visit to a beautiful county with loved ones.
Kate

Bree said...

Oh Lea! So wonderful to see pictures and to know the Lord truly blessed your trip (wouldn't have thought any less!) Bless your sweet Hailey and the calling the Lord has on her life! Praying over her and your dear family :)
God bless you and big hugs!

Rosie said...

W*E*L*C*O*M*E H*O*M*E...
Oh you look to have had such a wonderful time...and to know your baby is smiling, is pure JOY. I find it so hard to be a "long distance MOM", however, knowing they are truly happy, softens the blow.
Glad to have you home safe and sound
....sending you a hug...love Rosie

Joan Elizabeth said...

Lovely to have you home again and great to hear news of your trip. The clothes dryer thing amused me. It helps to live in a place with warm weather. We took our clothes line down when our house was extended 8 years ago. It has not been erected again because we are in constant dispute about the right place to put it. So it is just an obstacle in the way of me mowing the grass properly ... perhaps this summer. I'll let you know in the blog if it happens.

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

Lea..thanks for your precious comment on my tagged post...thanks for your prayers for my siblings...I am at total peace! I pray for their salvation and still love them all...they have distanced themselves from me and scripture tells that story so well. He is totally in control!
I hope you are recovering!!

Cheri Bunch said...

So happy for you!!! I wanted to go there when our son, Caleb, was there! He loved it so much! We had a visitor from there ... a friend of his and now ours. I am hoping to go and visit the family someday! I love you pictures! Obrigada for sharing! Blessings! Cheri

Bree said...

Lea,
Last night, we had an amazing occurrence in our home-God's grace abounds!!! Answered prayer and just a humbling moment for me! And I thought, "I have to tell Lea!" I'm laughing :) SO our great news, after much prayer, tears, moments of hopelessness, and finally learning, trusting, waiting on the Lord with hope and praying boldly, yet humbly before the thrown...and being QUIET (a feat all in itself for me!)...hubby says to me, "I think we should homeschool again." My heart wept at God's grace :) Thank you for your prayers, please continue praying for this next step. Praying you have risen this morning with a joy in your heart at His goodness, knowing you and Hans and your sweet ones are in His care....and of course singing, "so rise and shine and give God the glory, glory!"
Love,
Bree

Deborah Ann said...

Ha! I am so excited to finally have some time online to catch up. Been thinking about you, and the glorious adventure you journeyed on. So I'm making my way up the page to see the rest of the story...