We made it!!!!

It's obviously not a small thing taking 4 kids and all our 10 boxes and bags from here to there.
Shuffling through airports, planes, shuttles/taxi's, hotels and boat trips is not a piece of cake. BUT, God is my Father in heaven and when I have a need, I can ask Him like any child would. I love the scripture in Luke 11:11 that talks about if a son asks his father for a fish, would the father give him a scorpion or if he asks for bread, would the father give him a stone... well, I love this scripture because of course a good father wouldn't do that. So why would God do that to us? In everthing in our lives since I have known the Lord, His promise never failed and will never fail in the future. It may not look like what we think, but it will never fail.
We are back in Brazil and it actually feels really good. I wasn't sure how I felt about coming back. I always try to put my trust in the Lord to prepare my heart and the family's heart to make us ready for wherever we are going or what we will be doing. He is SO faithful and I feel so bad that I actually doubt and compain in the natural.

I was totally dreading the travel to Brazil. Hannah is now 11 months old and more active. Like reaching for the person in the seat infront of us on the plane and wanting to grab thier hair! Nate is 3 and much more chatty and active too. The girls can now take care of themselves a lot better. I was amazed at each one and how well they did. God gave us provision in the sense that we got 5 seats and had another seat on 2 different flights come up empty next to us!!!! My big joke was "buy 5 and get 1 free"! AND, American Airlines never charged us for our baggage like they advertise!!!! We saved a few hundred dollars there! All the little things added up to a huge pathway filled with ease.
The transition into Brazil was suprisingly sweet. We boarded a packed American Airlines and saw the expressions on the passengers faces when they saw our crew boarding. There were a few smiles but many rolling eyes. Our family is "Huge" in American standards. The kids are little still and I know what they were thinking. I use to think the same way! "5 hours of screaming kids??? YUCK" Our culture doesn't tolerate it well.
We made it through and many people commented that they didn't even know our kids were on the plane! "Well done KIDS!!!"
When we got in line the next day to check in to the Brazilian airline TAM, we no more pulled up with our 10 boxes and bags, 4 children and our 7 carry on's and the people in line came alive. The Brazilian women would goo goo at Hannah and started in thier cute little voices admiring her. It was also very welcoming when we could interact with them as "gringo's" and see that they were surprised we spoke thier language so well. I loved it! If Nate was on the florr singing loudly while I was busy with handwriting all 7 labels for our carry on's, they didn't make any comments or make us feel pressured that our child was misbehaving. We could "let it go". As a parent it is a hard balance from the US culture to the Brazilian way. They are polar opposites! So, we correct our children regardless and NAte was distracted by some Brazilian who "helped" us, not just watched and judged.

Ease and comfort aren't in every situation but I do believe God gives the grace to get through the tough challenges. Like for instance, we arrived in Miami and before heading to bed I talked to my sister-in-law, who just got back from India. All 4 of her kids came down with chickenpox and were throwing up on the plane that was 17 hours long plus all the other plane and train transfers they had to go through. They made it and I know it wasn't easy but His grace is sufficient to have gotten them through.

Se we are back and we are packing all our stuff from Porto de Moz and we'll move to the new city of Maraba' on the 19th of February. I'll send an update when we arrive. For now, keep us in your prayers. Blessings to you and missing you already!
Clyde and Kelsie