Home

Lately I have been contemplating our approaching move (still no visas or set date).  While we are all eager to arrive in Mozambique and begin life there, saying goodbye is rough. Over the last year we have made our home here, and home is never an easy thing to see in the rearview mirror. I always feel like I’m leaving a piece of my heart behind.  But we’re also bringing some of home with us through memories and through experiences that have changed and shaped us into who we are today. 

(driving by some sardinheiras aka geraniums)

(a small fraction of Dona Helena's garden; see the Birds of Paradise and think: Costa Rica)

When we arrived in Portugal everything was blooming, bursting forth in full glory. Every walk past the small gardens of our neighbors up to the car, every pass through the botanical gardens on the way to class, even zooming past gardens on the bus brought forth a sensation of sights and smells that calmed, soothed, and comforted this out-of-place, discombobulated soul.  Over time I began to view them as little gifts from God, reminders of his care for us, even in the littlest ways.  And I was comforted by the memories I found, even as I moved across the world.  Things that, amongst the sometimes overwhelming differences and the challenges that come from being isolated by language barriers, helped me piece life here into a new normal.  There are blue hydrangeas (like at our wedding), deep red geraniums at the windowsills (Grady’s mom and I hung them outside our windows all summer while we lived in WA), nasturtiums clambering over the edges of retaining walls (like home in WA), grapevines leafing out (like the wild ones along the roads in TX), vibrant bougainvillea formed into archways (my favorite in Costa Rica), on and on I could go.  They offer memories of home, connecting my life today with my past, keeping me whole.

(nasturtiums - when it heats up they even get bugs & shrivel like WA)

After a year, Portugal has become home to us.  We have made friends, found a church, picked favorite restaurants.  We know where to find dairy free icecream and which parks are best for kids. You know you’re settled somewhere when you can plan your grocery shopping list aisle by aisle through the store! Diego has good friends at school and favorite activities to do in town. 

(Tulips decorate this Coimbra convent cloister)

And now we are looking at moving again… to make a new home in Mozambique. We are going to sorely miss Portugal, and especially Sr. Luiis and Dona Helena (our landlords) who have treated us like family.  But I am excited to discover: what will God use in Mozambique to bring us smiles? What things will we pass on the street that remind us of our lives in Texas, Tennessee, or North Dakota? What will we fly over that bring back our days in Washington or Costa Rica? And what will swing our hearts and minds back to our time here in Portugal?  As we prepare to leave, the flowers are once again in full bloom, vibrantly proclaiming to me a promise of God’s faithfulness.  So I know God has little gifts in Mozambique already prepared to comfort us, to connect us – both to our past and to our new home that awaits us! And ultimately, all this uprooting and transplanting in our lives draws us closer to The One who helps us thrive in each new setting and our true, forever home that is to come. 

 (a neighbor's garden: chock full of flower eye candy)

(the next door neighbor grows his grapes raised over his parking spot)

(our landlords are growing passion fruit & blackberries along the path)

(out for a walk)

(bougainvillea sighting!)

Survival Mode

Bom dia! It’s Wednesday morning here in Coimbra and Diego has come in with his typical Portuguese greeting of “Good Morning!” as we eat breakfast in the kitchen.  There’s some extra excitement in the air today because 1) we have homemade muffins and 2)it is swim lesson day for Diego.

It’s been a long month.  I’m worn out from the three months of “survival mode” since Grady’s accident.  The route to Moz has been anything but straight … yet we are getting closer!  We just finished our final exams – check the box on language school!  We’ve had some excellent teachers and a lot of very patient Portuguese friends as we studied.  We’ve also had an extra wide range of real life practice (with doctors, nurses, fellow hospital patients, insurance agents, bike repair technicians, traffic police, etc).  There is certainly a lot more to learn, and we sometimes have to ask questions or say things again in a different way to be understood… but the conversations where the problems occur are a lot more complex! 

You can always find unique buildings hiding out around town.

Amidst wrapping up language school and filling out paperwork for our Mozambique visas we have been dealing with Grady’s injuries.  He was cleared to drive last week, three months to the day after the accident!  Today will be his first day without the external brace.  He feels about the same, but is doing more things for longer time periods, so things continue on the up and up.

This month the car insurance for the driver involved in the accident sent us a letter saying that as things stand they will be paying for everything.  One less worry!  With that, they have also transferred Grady to the private health care system here in Portugal.  He has started seeing a much more informative back specialist who did an internship in the US and is travelling to LA this fall as a conference speaker on innovative back surgery techniques.  We like the doctor.

He did have a decidedly different take on when Grady could begin flying though.  The startled deer in headlights look he got when we said we were headed to Moz and that he planned to begin flying again in late June was classic.  Would have been funny if it didn’t feel like our lives were hanging in the balance… He says no flying for Grady until September.  And he confirmed that Grady will need a surgery to remove the pieces from his back next spring/summer.  We are still looking into options on whether Grady will remain under this doctor’s care in Portugal or transfer to someone in South Africa.

So when will you leave for Moz?  We plan to leave as soon as possible.  With the new Caravan comes another heap of paperwork to add on the shoulders of the MAF Moz staff.  Grady will be a welcome asset in the office and maintenance shop until he gets his medical renewed.  I can start flying as needed once we’re settled in. 

Currently we are waiting for Mozambique to grant work permits for us so that we can apply for the visas.  Our Portuguese visas expire June 30^th, so right now we are working through our laundry list of pre-departure items.  The boys still have school, which they love.  Things are finally slowing down and we have left behind our three months of “survival mode”.  God must have seen we needed a little time to catch our breath, be a family again and get back on our feet before jumping into a new country, culture, work environment, school system, home, etc.  It feels good to finally have time to play on the floor with the boys, take walks just for the pleasure of the walk, attend a free organ concert in our university's 500 year old chapel and even visit the beach for an afternoon.  

Please pray for the details to come together on our visa applications in a timely manner.  We are eager to begin life there and be of assistance to our teammates but it will be hard to leave Portugal.  Thank you to each of you for helping us along this journey – your prayers, support, encouragement… they mean a lot!

Coimbra, across the street from the municipal market where we do a lot of our shopping.