"Miss Me?" Part 2 – Bekah, Ana, Chris and Sean

My summer break is over here in Brasil and I'm back to teaching after spending lots of time this past month with Richard and our four youngest. Some wonderful friends let us use their apartment at the beach just before Christmas and then Richard's brother David, his wife Maureen, and daughter Hope arrived the day after Christmas for a three month visit (check out Maureen's blog: "Dispatches from Brazil"). We had a good time with them here in Campinas and then they traveled with us to Belo Horizonte where we spent three weeks at a restoration house for ex-street boys with our MC team.

We missed Randi, Ari and Sadye so much this Christmas season! We did survive and are so grateful for all of the ways that God has blessed us through this transition. I wrote all about Randi, Ari and Sadye in my last blog, so now I'll give you some updates on our four who are with us:

Rebekah graduates from Escola Americana de Campinas - The American School of Campinas (where I work) in June - three weeks after Ari graduates from Point Loma Nazarene University in May and one week before Randi at the University of Illinois. She has jumped right into the many activities of the international school experience - she was elected Senior class vice-president on the first day of school and played varsity basketball and soccer. She has been in the frenzy of college testing and application deadlines and has applied to colleges in California (including Point Loma), New York and Washington D.C. with plans to major in Film and Media Communications. Please pray with us for her to land exactly where she needs to be. Right now, she is working on a mini-documentary about the drastically different lives of youth in Brazil called "One Country – Two Worlds" based on her experiences of having former street kids from the favelas as some of her best friends and going to school with kids who have maids, drivers, and beach houses - but have never ridden a public bus. You can watch her trailer for it on Youtube – just type in the title. I am going to miss our Bubba and all of her projects (which are often evidenced throughout the house)!

Adriana celebrated her fifteenth birthday this year - very important for girls in Brazil - so we had a surprise party for her (inspired by Debora and the other "Brasileiras" on our team) to make sure that she got the royal treatment. It was extra-special to have Rob, Alison, Demetri and Jasmine Cranshaw here with us, too. Now in 10th grade - Ana played soccer this year and was on the cheerleading squad. She also participated in a Model United Nations convention in Sao Paulo representing the country of Ghana. But - to hear about Ana, directly from Ana, check out her blog "Hearing it Straight" - adrianainbrazil.blogspot.com.

Sean and Chris – who turned 14 this week, have grown more than six inches, slimmed out, sound like men and are – yes – secretly shaving. Some of my students have crushes on them and I don't think they mind the attention – pray for us! As they had been going to an International school, they are speaking the best Portuguese in the family and have been mistaken for our interpreters more than once. They are both playing the guitar pretty well and even working on composing their own songs. Last week, they spent a week camping with the boys from the Restoration House. The ex-street boys have some amazing stories – maybe Sean and Chris shared how they were stopped by the Federal Police and frisked a few weeks ago (you don't want to know). Right now we are trying to find a school to enroll them in (as I only get two scholarships at the American school where I work and the scholarships they had at the school they have been attending for the last year expired). School tuition is expensive and as we are trying to do everything we can to make it possible to bring the whole family for a visit to the U.S. during June and July, they are being homeschooled again for a season while we work on the best situation for them.

I am so thankful to our Lord for the wonderful attitudes our children have for serving, their flexibility during change and their openness to understand the part they can play.

Thanks for letting me catch you up, Beijos (kisses), Jocelyn

Miss me?

It is almost midnight on the eve of New Year's Eve and I'm trying to get a jump on my commitment to my husband that I will finally begin to keep a blog (and as I have failed miserably in keeping a daily journal - I am anxious to be successful with this). Richard is very sure that my family and friends would love to hear from me - that you are all, in fact, eagerly awaiting the arrival of my thoughts in your inbox. While I am confident of your love, I am not so sure that you've missed hearing from me - especially because I usually have so much to say in person. But all of that aside, we have been experiencing God's faithfulness on so many levels in the last year and a half - in preparation and in transitioning here in Brasil - that I do have things I want to share - and then too, maybe you won't have to hear so much the next time we are together. But - it's late for now - I will attempt this again tomorrow with updates on some of my favorite topics - our children and granddaughter.

It's tomorrow - and after spending the day walking around the "center" with my sister-in-law Maureen (who is here for three months during research) trying to visit museums which are all closed for an extended holiday - until February - and witnessing Maureen develop a bright red sunburn, I am ready to relax a bit, try to stay cool and blog some more.

This has been a very different Christmas season - it's our first without Randi, Ari, and Sadye and we are really missing them! It has been a year since Bekah, Ana, Sean and Chris were together with their siblings. We did have a cyber experience by hooking up a webcam and watching Sadye open our present to her on Richard's laptop and watch and listen to her read the Christmas Story. We are glad that Ari was able to fly from San Diego to be with Randi and Sadye for Christmas.

In case we haven't been in touch and you're wondering - here's an update on the family: We have multiple graduations this year, which is both a blessing and a challenge. Randi graduates from the University of Cincinnati with her Master's degree in June and is preparing to take the LSAT (entrance exam for law school) soon. She's been teaching Women's Studies classes at the university and teaching Pilates in her spare time - when she is not working as a research assistant at a law firm, taking graduate classes, writing her thesis, or being a mommy to Sadye.

Sadye is in first grade now at a school of performing arts where she takes ballet, tap and violin. She has a best friend named Sweet Pea and has just lost her first tooth. Her new passion is writing poetry - some of which I shall include in future blogs.

Ari is graduating in May from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego with a double major in Journalism and Literature. She's been an editor of the college paper, interning at San Diego Magazine and working at a really cool coffee shop called "The Living Room". She is also helping us by frequently editing our stuff. She is a pretty amazing writer -objectively speaking. She is getting ready this week to take the GRE (for graduate school) this Saturday in Cincinnati.

We are proud of our girls and miss them terribly. What helps is that they've found exciting churches to be involved with and we are confident that God is directing their steps as he is directing ours. In Ari's birthday letter to Richard last November she wrote:

I hope you know that, while some may call you and Mom’s decision to move bad timing (with two daughters in college and two in high school), I think it’s the best timing anyone could have hoped for.

What better time to demonstrate a willingness to embark on a no-holds-barred, people-think-we’re-crazy, this-is-absolutely-the-right-thing-to-do adventure than when your children are on the brink of choosing their own adventure?

So, thank you for not using us as an excuse not to do what God was calling you to do. It might have been convenient, but what you’ve done is so much more valuable to all of us. It’s valuable now, when we are still struggling through it, and it will be even more valuable later, when we can say that great things were accomplished because we were willing to let them happen. (Even at the expense of convenience.)

I love you!

Pretty amazing - I told you.

This is Part I - Richard is wanting my attention and almost repenting of asking me to blog - he has suggested that I divide this blog (which is three times this length), so please visit again if you want to hear about Bekah, Ana, Chris, Sean and all of the awesome happenings and challenging moments of responding to God's call for our family in Brazil.

Beijos (kisses) and Feliz Ano Novo,

Jocelyn