Welcome, Heather!

 

Last night we had a party celebrating Heather's arrival. The team women decided it would be a fun excuse to make all our American desserts so we had brownies, dump cake, Rice Crispie treats and several other things, including these bars, which are as good as they sound! It was fun to introduce our Brazilian friends to our favorites (and watch their faces as they try them!) but the best part was getting to eat them ourselves. Several of us were definitely experience a sugar-overload by the end.

Treats aside, we're so excited to have Heather here. She reads this blog, so I won't gush, but I do want to say that she is going to be a real blessing to our team and we're thankful that she made the sacrifice to come join us.

Yesterday was an exciting sneak peek at the new building. We started our worship service in the old location and had songs, our children's time and a short sermon. Then we loaded everyone up and headed to the new place for the Lord's Supper, more singing and some special time in prayer about the move. As soon as we started the first song, Alicia and I looked at each other and grinned--the acoustics are incredible.

We only have one Sunday left in the old building. It's a very odd experience for me. I've never been a part of a church move before. My home congregation in Winnipeg was in the same building my whole life. (Or at least they were up until last month! But that story could take a dozen blog posts to tell...) We're leaving behind a lot of memories in the old place--so many "firsts", like the first wedding and the first baptism; so many new experiences for our team; sitting before worship and wondering if anyone was going to show up; all our language gaffs (not that there won't be many more in the new place!); all the different people who walked in the door. It was where our team first got to see our dream of a church realized.

But I know the new building will hold all kinds of new memories. The story in this building starts with a church family already in existence. In fact the more I think of it, I've got this story thing backward. It's not the story of this building or that location. It's the story of the church family. When my family moved to a new house, we didn't consider that our family was starting a new story, just a new chapter.

Goodness, I can't stop rambling today! I'll blame it on a rather long weekend. I'll stop talking and leave you with this picture of the gang in the new place. The work is obviously still in progress but you can already see the transformation that is taking place.

 

Curious

note: I started this post a week ago and am going to try to finish it now. But I'm racing the clock, or rather, the baby--will he wake up before I finish?

 

JT is interacting more and more with his world. As you can see, his eyes are like saucers as he studies everything around him. He's very patient as we haul him around town on all kinds of adventures--to the annual city-wide worship, to the hardware store, to the market--and he's happy as long as he gets to see what's going on.

We had a great time with Russell's parents but it was much too short, as such visits always are. I'm happy to say that though Jackson was spoiled for two weeks straight, the damage doesn't seem irreparable and he's adjusting back to our quieter life.

I don't know how quiet life is going to be for the next couple of months, though. Our first Sunday in the new building will be June 22 so everyone is working feverishly to make it happen. Before then we have a campaign from Highland Church of Christ in Abilene coming for just over a week and the arrival of our intern, Heather. But wait--there's more! Right after we move in, a campaign from Auburn will arrive to spend six weeks teaching English, like last year.

The sign was moved from the old building to the new one yesterday and we drove by last night to have a look. It was kind of surreal but, at the same time, it looked "right" there.

An interesting thing about our new location (as if there wasn't already a million interesting things about it): Our old place was a former church and was located on Rua Espírito Santo (Holy Spirit Street). The new one is a former strip club and is on Rua Iemanjá, named after the goddess of the sea. A name is just a name and a questionable past can be overcome but it makes me wonder what adventures this location will hold for us!

Two casts is too much fun

Yes, I have proven everyone right about gringoes and futebol. I have had both feet casted and x-rayed in the past six months. Thankfully, my current injury was only ligaments and not broken bones. My doorman said that I should take up baseball!

What I really wanted to say is that my son is awesome. His mom is an even bigger hero than she was before, and I cannot imagine how many paid staff it would take to do her job. My mom and dad have been so sweet and understanding of our commitment to raise Jackson in Brasil, and I will never be able to say how grateful I am for that.

There are many friends and family members that are kinda down right now; please pray for them and all the loved ones on your prayerlist. I know that we all have lots of things to do, but it is only possible if we ask God to do the heavy lifting. We begin our renovation on the new location tomorrow; I have never been more electrified and freaked out at the same time! We need some mountains to move, first with our incredible members, and then with the new friends we are making in the neighborhood of Boca do Rio (the mouth of the river). We pray for comfort from God to come while we work and create a new place for people to be transformed.
Thanks, and keep the homefires burning.

The New Building--BEFORE

Well, it's official. The contract is signed and we should be getting the keys soon. Now the remodeling begins. We've got just over a month to get it ready. I've been saying for a while how excited I am to tell you about this building so I thought I'd show you why:

Here it is from the front. Not bad; plenty of room for our sign.

 

And this is what you see when you look out the front windows. The dirt is from a major construction project at the mall just down the way.

 

This is the view looking left...

 

...and looking right. So we're giving up our building that was PRACTICALLY on the ocean road for one that is directly on it. Oh, the sacrifices.

But, you might be saying now, what about the actual building?

Like I said, we need to do some renovating.

This is what you see when you first walk in. A little primer is definitely in order.


But that's not the half of it, as this next picture reveals. There are some rather conspicuous...um..."architectural elements" left from the previous owners.


Yes, that's what you think it is. And if you put two and two together, you can figure out what this place was.

It's a little gross and it's going to take a whole lot of bleach and primer to get it to how we want it to be. But what a story! Our church building will be a wonderful object lesson about redemption and sanctification, about how we were once full of bad things but now have been made holy. I love it.

We didn't just choose it because it makes a good story. It's also a wonderful facility in a great location.

I'll try to keep you updated on the renovation progress. As I've said, it's going to be a HUGE job and we don't have that much time to do it! Please keep us in your prayers as we figure out all the logistics of the move and the renovations. Pray that this building that was once Satan's tool can be transformed into a powerful tool for the Lord. Pray that the new neighborhood will be open to our arrival and that we will attract many new people. Pray that our members will have an easy transition into the new building and location. And finally, please give God thanks for making it all work out! 

Small Group

 

 

It may be hard to believe but oohing and aahing over Jackson isn't the only thing that we're up to these days. One of the highlights of the past month was the start of a new small group. The group is held in the home of Cassi (one of our members) and Manoel. It's also the home (for now) of Kelly and Gladson, their siblings-in-law. (Russ performed their wedding ceremony about a year and a half ago.) We're really excited to be making inroads into their neighborhood. Each week we've had a different mix of friends and neighbors, some who have visited ICOS before and some not. Russ and I have also learned the hard way not to eat too big a supper before we go because there's always a ton of food afterward. Cassi and Kelly combined are the size of a pencil but love to make everyone else eat. And eat. And eat.

We love the feel of this group because it's a really young group. Almost everyone is our age or younger so it's a lot of fun. No one but us has kids yet so Jackson gets passed around for "practice" (he's such a patient guy!).

Please keep this group in your prayers as we try to get it off the ground! It's a huge neighborhood so it will be a million years before we exhaust its potential! Pray also for Cassi's husband, Manoel. Church has been a part of his life at times but he has seen churches do a lot of stuff that he doesn't agree with so his heart is a little hard toward church. But he faithfully attends our study so we hope to change his mind about what church is.

My Boys

 

Isn't he delicious?

I guess I'm referring to both of them!

Anyway, I'm sharing this picture with you because I haven't posted in a few days and I feel guilty. I'm working on a couple of "real" posts but things are kind of chaotic right now. We have the normal pre-visitor chaos and the baby chaos but it's all compounded by a new soccer injury. Someone (who shall remain nameless for fear of embarassing the father of my child) sprained his ankle this weekend. Crutches were not a part of the plan this week but we'll get by. I just have to keep telling myself that we have reinforcements arriving on Sunday!

*************************

While I was writing this we found out that our financing came through on the new church building! Hopefully the contract will be finalized soon and then I can tell you all about it. Trust me--the wait will have been worth it!

Hmm...

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph


What do YOU think?

My First Mug Shot

 

Okay, not really. It's his passport picture. We're trying to get all his documentation done so we'll be ready for furlough in the fall. We were going to do it a couple of weeks ago but then we were all sick. And then last week, we spent all week "fine-tuning" the team with Jerry and Gail Heiderich, counselors who, among other things, help make teams better. (That's the easy way to explain what they do. I might also describe it as mediating tough conversations, helping us get everything on the table and teaching us how to love each other more.)

We're soooo close to having a new church building. We're just waiting for all the financial stuff to go through. Once it does, I'll fill you in on the details. Keep praying that everything goes smoothly. My parents' church in Winnipeg is also in transition and preparing to move out of their building (a MUCH bigger move than ours!). It's weird to think that they won't be in the building I grew up in and got married in anymore but I know the move will be a blessing for them.

Russell's parents are coming in two weeks. I'm looking forward to the time with them even though I know it's not *me* they're coming here to see. I will gladly take backseat to Jackson in exchange for a little babysitting!

Not to Complain or Anything

I'm starting to get a little squirrely. JT is finally almost over his infection though I did keep him home from church yesterday. I'm just glad that there is an end in sight to the schedule of antibiotics and nebulizer treatments. My heart goes out to parents with chronically ill children for whom round-the-clock treatments are a fact of life. I haven't even been doing this for one week and am absolutely worn out. I'm just glad it's helped the kid.

But now Russ is sick, too. I think it's just a bad cold or maybe whatever JT has but it's meant that I'm trying to keep the two of them as far apart as possible. Neither one of them is too happy with me as a result but I just want Jackson to finish getting better. So I'm essentially playing the role of single mom to JT and nurse to Russ. Again, I don't know how people do it full time! Fortunately, the dog has been content to snuggle with Russ all day or I'd be having to contend with him, too. (He can be a little high maitenance at times!)

I have a vague memory of The Outside World of which I have had glimpses when we've left the apartment for doctor's appointments but it feels like it's been forever. I'm sure in a day or two both my boys will be better and we can get out of the house for a little bit. And I really can't complain about it because 1. This really is just temporary 2. So many people in the world have Real Problems 3. Even though I'm stuck taking care of them, my boys are two of the most wonderful guys I know.

And because I seem to have to include a picture of him in every post, here's your daily dose of JT:

 

More of the Kids

I still don't have anniversary pictures but my hands have been literally full this week with a sick little boy. Nothing too serious but he's been pretty miserable fighting "the crud", as the Quireys have always described their sinus issues. The antibiotics are doing their job and he's feeling much better but we've got another night or two of very little sleep ahead of us.

Anyway, I stole these pictures from the Maberys' blog and wanted to share them with you. We took them Monday when we all got together for a time of prayer and thanksgiving for the success of the anniversary service.

Looking at this first picture makes me grateful for the husbands on the team! We've defintely got our hands full now!

 

Now that we have two little babies, these three are the "big kids" of the team.

 

Finally, here are the two babies. They're growing like weeds!

 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

 

We took a minute before the anniversary service to take a new team picture, our first since the babies were born. It's amazing to think about how much has changed in the past year. Now every family has a kid, which brings a new dynamic to our team times. And this picture will be out-of-date before we know it with Heather coming in June (can't wait to get you here, girl!) and a new Sass baby coming in August.

There'll be more pics from Sunday as soon as I can get my hands on them. I had my hands full with JT and wasn't able to take any of my own.

Way to Go

I guess it's your fault. Some of you anyway. I asked you to pray about our anniversary service and you evidently did.

And so we ran out of food.

We had over 150 people in worship this morning and a few more show up for lunch. It was insane and wonderful at the same time.

The room was filled with a mix of our members, members from other congregations, friends, neighbors, co-workers, English students, realtors, language teachers and all kinds of other contacts. Together we thanked God for the family He has brought together. The singing was just awesome as all the voices blended in praise. And yes, we did run out of food but I consider having almost 50% more people than anticipated a wonderful problem to have!

We're still not sure where will be meeting a couple of months from now but it's obvious that some of you have been praying about that, too. We found a new possible location this week and it is quite promising. I'll wait until we've made a decision to tell you about it (and trust me--I'm dying to tell you about it!) but I ask that you keep praying about it! Your prayers seem to be making a big difference!

Sunday's Child

 

So tomorrow our little boy will be six weeks old. It's hard to believe he's the same kid we brought home from the hospital. It's been a wonderful six weeks, with some ups and downs naturally, but we're slowly figuring out how to be parents and JT is figuring out how to be a person. He's got quite the little personality which is why most of my pictures of him are when he's sleeping--when he's awake, his expression is constantly changing and it's hard to get a good picture of him. (Plus I like to look at the sleeping pictures and think about the quiet times!)

We've been asked what it is that we call him. Sometimes we call him Jackson, sometimes JT. We called him JT throughout the pregnancy and I kind of like it. It doesn't work in Portuguese, though, so at church and pretty much everywhere but home he's Jackson. A couple of our members have started calling him JT in Portuguese. That doesn't sound like it makes much sense but with the Portuguese alphabet his name becomes Jota Té (tay). So pretty much you can call him what you prefer except for Jackie. We're not really into that one.

In non-baby related news, our church's two year anniversary service is next Sunday. Please be praying for all the people who we've invited. Also, we're deep in the search for a new building to rent. Staying in our current building is a financial impossiblity. Please keep our search in your prayers. We're trying to find somewhere that will give us room to grow and places like that are pretty hard to come by (at least for the price we want!). So remember our search and negotiations with owners and all that stuff in your prayers!

Hard Work

Thanks to you all for being patient with me while my focus is on Jackson and not, oh say, blogging. I promise I'll be back at some point. He'll be five weeks old tomorrow so every day we get a little closer to the time that parenthood is a little less intense. (No, I'm not naive enough to think that parenthood will ever be simple or easy but, from what I hear, this period is definitely the toughest. Until the teens, of course.)

That said, tonight I am absolutely amazed at how humbling parenting is. In the long run, it's not necessarily a bad thing but it's hard in the meantime. It seems to be chipping away at so many of the ugly parts of me. I can't be a control freak and be a mommy of a newborn. I can't be a perfectionist. I can't rely on my own abilities.

The biggest hit seems to be that old pride problem. I want so desperately to have a perfect child, a child that other people will look at and say, "Wow, they're doing a great job!" I want everything I attempt to be successful--after all, generally in life I succeed at most everything I try. I want (and I wince as I type this but I'm just going to be honest here) to be able to look down my nose at people with screaming babies, with misbehaving babies, with anything but perfect babies.

And that's just not going to happen.

Instead, I fret and cry and pull my hair out and make mistakes and obsessively Google solutions and some days just feel like quitting.

But I hear that's all quite normal. So in the in between times, I'm trying to remind myself that like so many other unpleasant things I have endured for Jackson's sake, this is good for him. It's making me into a better mommy and a better person.

Now I just have to remind myself to read this post in the tough times.

A Couple of Stolen Moments!

I feel like I've accomplished very little in the past month. Then again, I feel like I've been working constantly. Jackson will be one month old on Monday. I can't believe we've already been parents for a whole month!

The past month was full of the normal new baby stuff--dirty diapers, late night feedings and a sweet snuggly boy--and a few other things. My mom and dad came and spent a couple of weeks with us. They were a huge help as we got the hang of our new jobs. They'd only been here for a couple of days when Russ got rear-ended while taking Dad to the mall. Our car is still in the shop (two weeks later!). Our insurance company provided a (very small) rental car for us for the first week and we've rented another car to get us through until Monday, when hopefully our car will be done. Russ and my dad weren't seriously hurt--it was nothing that a couple of massages at the beach couldn't fix!

This week has been full of adventure. Mom and Dad left on Tuesday. Wednesday morning I woke up to the news that Jennifer was in labor and shortly after heard that our newest teammate, Samuel Josiah Porter, had been born. Then Wednesday afternoon, a new mission team that is in training with Continent of Great Cities arrived. They're on their survey trip and are here to check out our work and pick our brains. I hope we've been able to share a little wisdom with then. At the very least, they're getting to spend some time at the beach, so their stop in Salvador won't have been a total waste!

Lately, for obvious reasons, it's been hard for me to get online and reply to emails and blog. But I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who has emailed or sent stuff or shown their love in any of a million different ways. Every day I tell Jackson how much he is loved by so many people that have never met him. I can't wait to bring him on furlough this fall and introduce him to his giant extended family!

We've All Been Napping!

Sleeping in the Sun, originally uploaded by russandval.

We're still stuck in the crazy cycle that is life with a newborn. JT is a wonderful baby and sleeps like a champ. That's not to say that we're not exhausted, even with the super help of Grandma and Grandpa Turner. But life is good and we absolutely love our sweet little boy. I thank God for him daily.

I'm SLOWLY trying to catch up with online life. I've put some pictures on Flickr if you want to see more (just click on the above picture to get there).

Perfection

 

Introducing
Jackson Turner Quirey
born Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 5:31 p.m. (Salvador time)

We can't believe he's ours.

(Much, much more later)

A Couple of Weeks Later

Oops! I'm not meaning to leave you guys hanging. There's just not much to report. I'm still very pregnant. The due date is this week and the doctor said it could literally be any time now. So we're just hanging out, waiting for this kid to show up. Hopefully he comes before my parents do next weekend. It's given us a little more time to get things ready for his (and Mom and Dad's) arrival but now I'm running out of things to do (short of reorganizing closets and such, but I refuse to nest to that extent!) We'll let you know when there's news!

I can't believe that it's February. I know that this means that now some of you will be checking our blog obsessively looking for baby news. (I know because I do the same thing with other pregnant friends' blogs!) The due date is officially Feb. 22 so don't get too antsy yet. We're eager for this kid to get here but we would rather he wait until at least next Thursday to come because Carnaval has started. The hospital is right on the edge of one of the biggest parade routes so getting there would be quite a challenge.

Carnaval has a well-deserved reputation (though Salvador's celebration looks very different than the pictures you've probably seen from Rio) but for us it's a quiet time. All the festivities happen far from our neighborhood so all we notice is how empty everything is. (If we lived in a different part of town we'd feel otherwise.) The streets are empty. The restaurants and malls are quiet. They say the population of the city grows by one million during this week but everyone stays further in town. If you're participating in Carnaval, you generally head out around 4 or 5 in the afternoon and stay out until 6 or 7 in the morning. Then you head home or to a nearby friends' house and crash until it's time to go back out again. That's assuming you sleep that much--many people don't.

But we'll be at home. We can watch the bands on TV (except for Sunday night when we'll be having a team Super Bowl party). There's an areawide church retreat this weekend but we're opting to skip it. For some reason sleeping on the floor (or even an air mattress) is not high on my list right now. Instead, I'll pass Carnaval washing teeny little clothes and finishing getting things ready for the baby's arrival.