Sunday Funday March 22
Prayers and Praises
Praises as we’ve had lots of time as a family, and get to enjoy watching a bunch of old Disney movies together!
Praises as we turned our guest room into a filming studio for lots of videos for our students at the International school. The creative juices are flowing!
Praises as things have been really calm in Brazil, and the only thing that has been unavailable to buy is hand sanitizer.
Prayers for all the Living Stones kids: we worked to make sure they were as ready as possible, but without school and Living Stones, most of them do not have any other support systems if their homes are not healthy places to be.
Praises for the local leaders who will continue to love and care for the kids in their communities as they can.
Prayers for the unknown: Brazil is about a week behind the USA and three weeks behind Italy. We do not know how it is going be coming up. We are also praying for you all in the USA and the different struggles happening there.
Interweb Reads:
What’s the point of sexuality if I’m single?: “God created sexuality to help us understand covenant love. Covenant love goes beyond romantic feelings or even the joy of close friendship. This love is based on a promise that cannot be broken, and this is God’s love for His people. The overarching message of the Bible is God’s covenant love — that a holy God pursues us with sacrificial, passionate love to bring us into fellowship with himself. Your sexuality is a profound tangible reminder of this truth. Here’s how: Sexual desire invites you to pursue covenant. Sexual intimacy within marriage is the celebration of covenant. Sexual faithfulness is the promise of covenant.” (Focus on the Family)
Virtually Visit Disney: I also love how you can visit 500 museums and 33 National Parks.
Church, Wash your Hands: “Steadily, American Christians (mostly white, mostly Evangelical) have beat the drum that it is not the government’s job to care for the sick. "The task belongs to the church," they say. Cautiously, I agree, jamming my stake in this cracked corner of common ground and raising my flag.” (Shannon Martin)
Staying out of Trauma Brain during Coronavirus: super helpful with this pic: (Sarita Hartz)
5. Practicing Faith over Fear: Let’s pray for this great family in Ethiopia! (Jon and Amy)
6. Coronavirus comic for Kids (NPR)
7. Some of the best words from the week I read from the Taking Route Newsletter: “As I’ve scrolled social media and seen countless posts regarding the outbreak, I have begun to recognize some signs of a familiar friend/foe of the expat: Culture Shock. It might sound strange, but hear me out. Culture shock usually refers to the range of emotions we feel when we’re taken out of our familiar culture or context and dropped into unfamiliar territory. The way we’ve always done things isn’t working. The communication we’ve relied on has changed. Our surroundings feel scary and different and hard. Tasks that used to be simple are no longer so. We feel homesick for what used to be. We are ready to conquer the world one moment and curled up in fear the next.”
So my friends, as we travel together, all over the world, on this journey of Coronavirus Culture Shock…my prayers are with you.