almost...

wow...i was surprised that someone is still actually trying to read my blog...thank you Kurt...you have always been a faithful reader... lol


So, just to let you i'm not married yet..but i will be in less than a month - august 15th :) it will be a 2 part marriage: August 1st will be the "civil marriage" - we will be married before the state of Portugal, even though it does not really count for us...we will have a "church marriage" (in a garden, not church building) on August 15th...and then we will actually be married :) after that a week off in Tunisia (northern Africa) for our honey moon.

In the meanwhile we have been cleaning, painting and getting our house ready.... we rented a small house with 2 rooms but it needed some work... we are actually having fun while working there :) i'll try to post some pictures ...

I really can't wait for August to come... i'm going to have some special guests at my wedding - 3 shelter friends (Cecilia, Niels and Laurissa) and i can't wait to see them...anyone interested in joining them? ;)

tradition can be fun...

So today is valentine's day! i always thought it was cheesy... i still do!

Flowers, chocolate, going out for dinner & a movie... sounds familiar, right?

Well...i did not get all of it since i had to work in the evening, but i still got most of it...and i did enjoy it...and it still sounds cheesy...

But who cares?! ;)

2008 challenges

I've learned to like being challenged! It is not always fun, but always needed... I've learned that from my good friend Cecilia, and have been experiencing it over the past few years!!

Being in Amsterdam, returning to Portugal, deciding not to leave again, and having a boyfriend...i had to grow!!!

This year will also bring new challenges! I'm looking for a new job, i'll be moving to a new house outside of Lisbon (eventually)...and I am getting married in August!!! I used to get scared at plans like these... not anymore!!!

So, to all of you still reading this blog (if anyone)... have a great Year. May God bless you!

And allow yourself to be challenged...you never know what might happen ;)

Remembering...

A year ago this time i was either at the airport or making my way there with Cecilia and Maarten.
It was a sad day...leaving Amsterdam and what had been my world for over 14 months! My bags had more than clothes and a few souvenirs...they had memories, a lot of good memories...

Yesterday evening the meditation i read was on Philipians 1: 1-11 and once more i was remembered of the Bible verse i read a few times before returning to Portugal:
being confident of this, thet He who begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion of Christ Jesus.

And the meditation was on how we cannot forget the good memories and friends God allows us to make because they are so important when sad moments come...

I guess like Paul i can say, whenever i think of my time in Amsterdam:

I thank God every time i remember you...

Lisboa

I decided to be tourist for a few hours and visit Lisboa. I went up to the castle by tram...tram 28 is the best way to go to the castle because it goes through the old parts of the city where the streets are really narrow - we can actually touch the house walls at times...Fun, fun!!!

no way!!

Ever you ever seen anyone you know on tv? Not someone famous, but just someone...a friend! I have, a few times...but this last time was completely unexpected...because it is a friend that lives in another country, another continent across the ocean!

I was watching a tv program that makes people new houses...and at the end, the very few seconds i see someone that looks just like her... and it was!!!!! Awsome!!!

Another day at the....shelter??!!!??

I was on my dinner break yesterday at the hotel and my coleague calls me to inform me that there was something going on at reception. Since i had finished eating i decided to go and take a look at what was happening!

When i got there a sketchy man and woman were near the phone and in 5 seconds they started yelling at each other and fighting! She kicked him and then he hit her really hard and ended up in the floor fighting! By then i had called 112 (same as 911) again and since it took a while for the police to get there other hotel staff (restaurant, kitchen) were trying to stop the man from hiting the woman...what a situation! when the police finaly got there they took them both away!

And i thought no weird stuff like this happens at a 4 star hotel...i guess it does!!!

"tangled mass of cords"

I just stole the tittle from a post i read from Melana's blog a few months ago! Sometimes expressions just stay in my mind for no reason!

But i like that one...maybe because it explains the way i feel sometimes! Like all the "cords" are entangled and i have no idea on how to straighten them...And maybe things on the outside are just fine and on the inside too...except in that one corner!!!! the one i had to deal with now...before all the "cords" were in the right place!!!

but maybe, maybe, that's the only way they can get into place...

Overwhelmed...

Now to Him who is able to do immesurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen!

Ephesians 3:20,21

I guess this might be an often quoted verse whenever awsome things happen in one's life! But what else can we say...we do have an awsome God that works in ways we can rarely understand! And the way He makes things happen are still a mystery to me! No wonder another one of my favourite verses is

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!

Romans 11:33

Some of you reading this blog know that last year i was trying my best not to stay longer in Portugal after my time at the Shelter! I really did not want to come here and find a job! I was not looking forward to a "normal" life, as i call it!! Nor was i interested in having a boyfriend...settle down! I wanted to be free to do whatever, go wherever!

The funny thing is that over the past months this is what has been happening to me - what i did not want to happen and had prayed not to happen! But guess what...I feel so overwhelmingly (does the word even exist??) blessed these days to see how God has been spoiling me with small, everyday things! And i can only thank God for giving me what i prayed not to have!!

:-)

26.

...and another year is gone!

If someone would have said to me last year that in a year time i would have a boyfriend and would be living and working in Lisbon, i wouldn't have believed!

God has a way of taking us by surprise! And isn't that awsome?! :)

Does God love you?

I was just thinking about life when i read that question on a lady's t-shirt while walking in Lisbon downtown, trying to find some shoes that would match my uniform and taking some time off!

This has been a crazy week - moved to Lisbon, started a new job (some of you remember those firts days at the shelter! But this is a 4 star Hotel and Backpack is just a toy compared to BIRD! :) ), I am trying tro find a room, need to rest, my alergies are bothering me, my throat hurts, and i will be working 7 days till i get 2 off!!! (i'm not complaining, though...keep reading!!)

Does God love me? Oh yes, He does!! :)

And i feel blessed, so blessed right now! I have a job, a place to stay in the meanwhile, people at work willing to help and encourage...and i'm living a lot closer to my boyfriend (ok, i'm finally mentioning him on my blog :) ) ...

It's funny how it all depends on our attitude towards circumstances...i'm so tired yet smiling is quite easy...Praise God!!


PS: To Kurt, since you seem to be my most faithful reader... - I'm sure i'll be able to use all the good things you taught me about reception work ;)
Never read Jose Saramago... I wonder how it would translate into English! I heard he rarely uses punctuation...oh well...let me know what you think of it when you finish!

Moving...

So i got the job!! The one mentioned on the previous post!
I'll start tomorrow working at a 4 star Hotel in Lisbon as a receptionist!!! Yay!

Now i need to find a room and move again....i'm staying with family at the moment!!

So this is my life...and there is a line from a song in my heart ...walk in fields of grace!!!! God has been soooo good!

in the middle of...somewhere

So i left my little village of 75 people yesterday to come to Lisbon! And that feels quite good because some days i do feel like i live in the middle of nowhere!!

I was on the metro today, on my way to an enterview at a fancy four star hotel (ok, so i really liked reception work...i might end up doing it again!!), and behind me was a man speaking Italian to the little boy he was travelling with and trying to teach him how to say the name of the next metro stop in Portuguese! The first thing that came to mind was Oh, the sweet sound of a foreign language! Can't get those in Vale da Mó!!!


PS: Kurt, you're right! I should't worry to much ;)

Thin line

I find it hard sometimes to know if i'm doing enough or not...
We must wait on God and for His timing, but we still need to do our part. But how do we know when we should stop and just wait?! How do we know that what we have been doing so far is enough and it is up to God from now on?!
I guess we can go wrong both ways...either be too lazy and say we are waiting on God, or do too much because we feel we have to accomplish things on our own, and end up leaving God out of our lives!

Any thoughts??