Focusing

Pictured here is Andressa holding Samara at dinner last night

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this picture ought to be worth at least one and a half of my group emails.  There’s been a lot of prayer that has surrounded our moving down here to Brazil.  There was the logistics of luggage, bags, transportation, flight schedules and seat assignments; but in my mind all of those prayer requests paled in comparison with the adjustment of our kids (particularly Samara).

Samara was really little when she left Brazil almost a year and a half ago.  Being a VERY verbal little girl, she only remembered a handful of Portuguese words, and we know will struggle to communicate.  Going to Brazil, we knew she’d be leaving not only most of her toys (a very big deal to a 3 year old) but every one she’s ever remembered.  To put it mildly we were concerned for her adjustment.

But all of that was put to rest (but please don’t stop praying) when she got to Andressa’s house.  For some reason Andressa has always had some kind of magic when it came to Samara, even when Samara was a little baby.  Even though they don’t speak the same language right now, Andressa and a few others still hold that same magic for Samara.  In church, Samara grabbed her backpack full of crayons, paper and goldfish crackers to sit with Marlon and Andressa.  Through out the service as Noelle was being passed from person to person Samara was running back and forth between Andressa and Mommy (something that is very Brazilian) only to show us the pictures Marlon was drawing and to get more paper, preferring to sit with them over sitting with us.  Though she doesn’t yet know the language she knows very much that she is loved.  Thanks for your prayers.