What is Unseen

We get stuck on stuff.  The story about "The Boy and the Filberts" by Aesop gives us a great visual through words:

A boy put his hand into a jar of filberts and grasped as many as his fist could possibly hold. But when he   tried to pull it out again, he found he couldn't do so, for the neck of the jar was too small to allow the passage of so large a handful. Unwilling to lose his nuts but unable to withdraw his hand, he burst into tears.
A bystander, who saw where the trouble lay, said to him, "Come, my boy, don't be so greedy. Be content with half the amount, and you'll be able to get your hand out without difficulty."

 Now, the moral of that story is "Do not attempt too much at once", but I think there's another side.  I say the moral of the story could also be:  "When we don't let go, we get stuck."

II Corinthians 4:18 offers some great advice:  "...we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

It's all about the Unseen.

Let go of the stuff, whether you have it now or not.  It's OK.  I can say that.  We have/had stuff.  We were big stuff at one point too.  This move to Brazil was a HUGE change to what we were used to.  We had to let go of  the stuff to move on.  Literally.  

I made a music video presentation (all original photos/video clips) based on one of my favorite songs, "Steal My Show", by TobyMac.  It's a great visual of some of the things we had to let go of, but came here to see.  Oh, and work on that unseen eternal stuff.  Now that's good stuff.  ;-)

Btw, leave it in the small screen because it blurs when you expand it.  Sorry.  But not bad for my first music video. If you prefer, you can click on the following link for the YouTube version.

Youtube Video option

Be Prepared

Besides being the Boy Scout motto, "Be Prepared" resonates in our household like air to the lungs.  I shake my head in disbelief and awe at the twists and turns my life, and now my family's life, has taken.  We really should write a book!  From my birth in Brazil (Becky), to living the corporate life and making a very good living (Bill), to homeschooling, to our ridiculous and wild traveling, to now living near the Amazon in Brazil.  We would have you laughing, crying, amazed, wondering about us, but hopefully most of all, thinking about your own life.  Are you prepared?

Prepared for what?  Whatever comes your way.  For the accounting of your life to God.  For surrendering your will to be molded.  For giving up control of your orderly world.  For being responsible.  For whatever is needed at different times of your life, with a touch of humor on the side.  

My kids are teaching me what I seemed to have forgotten when I was their age.  Take a chance.  Enjoy the moment.  And I'm teaching them what they need to learn (grudgingly at times...).  Endure what you don't like (like sitting through a Brazilian service even though they can't understand most of what is said).  Washing dishes by hand.  Cleaning house.  Walking or riding city buses.

This is a tribute to all who have learned to "be prepared" and who understand what Paul means when he addressed the Philippians:  "...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

We are in a season of not having plenty (on purpose - we chose to live near a 3rd world part of Brazil) but we have also lived in the plenty.  And just a note to the plenty.  Use what God has given you to strengthen others around you.  Don't feel bad about having plenty.  And those not having plenty, don't berate those that do. There is a season for both.  

I hope you enjoy this Prezi.  It is an awesome way to visually present things, and since we have so many photos (over 500!) of our recent trips to the river communities, this is a fun way to show them off.  It was hard to pick only a few, but at least you can get a feel for the areas we go to (all within 1-2 hours of us).