The Birthday-Part 3

Since we moved to Brasil in 2002 my mom has been pretty amazing at sending us packages on special days like birthdays, Halloween, Valentine's Day, etc. 

She has sent things before that never made it to our house. She usually has to send it 2-3 weeks before the date and we still usually don't receive it until 2 weeks after the date and she keeps blessing us with packages. 

It usually costs her more to mail the package than it does to buy the contents inside and yet she keeps blessing us with something fun to open. 

The latest recipient was Gi. He got a box for his birthday and he was super excited. Lots of good stuff inside like candy and pop tarts and even a Batman shirt. He's a superhero freak. 

Here are some pics of the box opening day and some pop tart eating time. Thanks Grandmommy!!!

The Birthday-Part 2

So Gi's real birthday finally arrived. He only had two requests. The first was to eat at Paulinho and Karen's and the second was to invite Felipe and Lorenzo to eat with us and to play at our house later.

The day started with some mom crepes on the special day plate.

Then he went to school and had a great time celebrating with his buds.

Then it was off to Paulinho and Karen's for our traditional birthday celebration.  Paulinho, as usual, got Giovanni a birthday gift.

Felipe and Lorenzo went home and then we had a little family party.

First the cookie birthday cake.....

......then present time.

He loved the presents from his brothers and sisters.......

.......as well as his grandparents.

Since he got so much soccer gear he had to try out some new moves......

.......and some headers.

All the soccer presents caused a one on one game to break out in the hall with Anderson which led to, as has happened about 20 times over the last 10 years with 3 soccer loving/playing boys, a broken light fixture. It happens.

Gi had an amazing day.

It is God's will that your good lives should silence those who make foolish accusations against you. 

1 Peter 2:15

The Birthday-Part 1

I've been trying to get back to blogging a bit. I admit that I haven't had much motivation to keep it going but I was thinking the other day how our kids, that now live in the United States, like to see pics of little brothers and sisters so I'm going to try to do better for them.

So this post is mainly for B and Stephen (since Ans was here), who had to go back home and missed the day, and also for grandparents who miss out on a whole lot of stuff.

Since Ans is amazing with little kids and she really wanted to be a part of Gi's birthday we decided to move his celebration up about a month, before Ans went back to college, so she could be a part of it and be the kids fun time coordinator. The Aggies were still here and they were a huge blessing, like always, in the way they helped with everything. They took pictures (thanks Tanner), helped set up, helped make the decorations/party gifts, carried stuff and played with the kids. We actually had lots of fun time coordinators. 

Anderson and I weren't able to be there because I was taking care of him while he was on his barf-a-thon tour 2014. He got a bad virus and threw up 24 times in 20 hours. How do I know this? He was counting each time he threw up. Paramedic had to come to our house to give him an IV, sick for 5 days, threw up at least once a day for 4 days and eventually gave it, but much lesser versions, to Giovanni and myself. It was lots of fun. 

If you know Gi then you know he is a superhero FREAK. He loves them. He is a superhero and he even made up his own superhero name when he was about 3. One day a week his school has bring a toy day. He always brings superheros. Always. So we made his party be all about superheros because that's, obviously, what he wanted. The cupcakes, the gifts for the guests, the plates, the cake and even the kids became superheros. It was pretty cool. My girlfriend has an amazing gift of creativity and turning what the kids want for their parties into realities. I love that.

Here are some pics from that day. Enjoy. 

 Even though not all the guests were good guys......

 Gi had an awesome day.

Intentional Living

This morning my Bible reading was from 1 Peter.

Here is a verse that jumped out at me: "Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay." 1 Peter 4:9

It immediately made me think of my best friend from high school. His name is Tim and he and his wife Michelle do amazing kingdom work for the Lord. They live so intentionally for the kingdom. It always encourages me.

We get their ministry update emails and we got one from Tim this week. He shared about how God is moving, growing and changing their ministry and then he shared this in the last paragraph of the email:

"Meanwhile, back home, Michelle is moving in a young couple who moved from California about a month ago.  They were homeless, 9 months pregnant, caring for their one year old, and using all their money on an old hotel.  We are taking them in until she recovers from the baby’s arrival by scheduled c-section. Another ministry in town has a transitional mobile home that will be available in October."

This is how they live their lives and it reminded me of the verse above. I know this couple and I know how they live. They would be the first to tell you they aren't perfect. They would probably be embarrassed if they knew I was writing this about them right now. And I love that about them. They are humble kingdom workers who, in the power of Jesus' name, are attacking and destroying enemy strongholds. 

And right now they are cheerfully sharing their home and their lives with someone who needed a meal and a place to stay at exactly the time they needed it. 

Intentional kingdom living. 

Their actions reminded me of another verse about the importance of being a blessing to strangers.  Hebrews 13:1 says, "Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!"

Whether we are entertaining angels or humans is not even the question. Being Jesus to those in need, whoever they are and wherever they come from, is the reason we do it and it's why we do it cheerfully.  It doesn't matter how much or how little we have because we are to share those things and show hospitality to those who have need. And if in the process of being hospitable to everyone we get to host angels in our homes how cool is that? 

My prayer is that we follow the lead of my friends this day and every day. 

Jesus said that all our behavior, whether good or bad, flows out of our hearts. So our behavior always reflects what is at our core, the true beliefs of our hearts. No matter what we say we believe, our hearts and our actions express what we really believe.

Steven K. Scott. The Jesus Mission 

Six

Gi is having a birthday. It's been a while but you guys know what we do on special days. Here we go:

Anderson: "GIOOOOOOOO!!! happy birthday buddy! i can't believe you are 6 years old!!! i can't wait till you get to go to dohms next year with me! I LOVE YOU and HAVE AN AWESOME BIRTHDAY!"

Carys: "SQUIIIIIIIGS HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! i can't believe you are six now thats so crazy! you are soooo awesome and cool and a great dancer. You are the sweetest little boy i know, you are always ready to play with me and thats flipping awesome! i love you so much! happy birthday buddy!

Garrett: "Happy Birthday dude!! I hope you have an awesome Bday!! You are super cool and an awesome soccer player just like Neymar! I love you bro!!! 

Ans: "Happy Birthday little buddy!!!! I miss you so much! I can't wait to see you in December! Then can we finish our alphabet book together??? I love you so much and hope you have THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER. Eat lots of ice cream and cake and dress up as a superhero!!!!!!! Call me so we can talk and I will sing you a happy birthday song in a silly voice! I love you!!!!!!"

B: "Happy Birthday Quigs!!! I was so excited when you were born and I got to have another little brother. You're pretty cool!!! I love you and I miss you soooo much! I hope you have a super great day and that Mom and Dad and Quariti and Keka and Kanderson do whatever you want for you because it's your birthday!!! Parabens, ta? Um beijo, ta? Love you!"

Stephen: "Little Bro, You are in charge today so make everyone do what you say. Show them who is boss. You are too cool. Try not to grow up very fast. I hope you have a perfect day having fun and scoring goals on Anderson. I love you! Happy bdayyyyyy!"

Girlfriend:  "I love you Giovanni.  Thank you for your sweet hugs and kisses and for always holding my hand.  I am so proud of you and can't believe how much you are growing up!  Keep being the smart, funny, crazy boy that you are and remember to always love and obey God.  Hope you have a great and happy birthday!  I love you!!"

Me: "I'm so happy that today is your birthday! You are one cool six year old. I love how you play soccer in the hall every day with Anderson. You are getting so good! I can't wait to go to your games when you and Anderson play for A.C. Milan and you are their goalie! That's going to be so cool! I love how you go in Garrett's room and hang out and play with him for a long time. I love hearing you guys having fun together. I love how we hold hands everywhere we go. You are my six year old bud. I love how you go to bed by yourself and sleep in your bed all night. You are so big! I'm glad Felipe and Lorenzo are getting to come home with you today and get to go to Paulinho's with us. Paulinho LOVES it when we have our birthdays at his restaurant. It's going to be awesome. Thanks for being awesome! Happy Birthday Quigs! I love you!"

Happy Birthday Gi! We love you!!!!