Walls and other Blessings.

Last weekend we had to quickly run to Fortaleza for an emergency doctor's visit with Julie which ended in more joy than grief. It was worth leaving the construction site for four days to deal with her cyst which was causing here much pain and to find out that our pregnancy suspicions were correct and the baby is doing well at 8 weeks. We needed to stay for follow-up visits to the doctor and the house work in Croatá continued without us. This is a scary thing if you know anything about construction in the Brazilian interior. But when we arrived there was very little that needed to be changed due to minor measurement errors and the walls of the house had increased greatly. The men made the changes in one day and continued to go up with more walls of brick and mortar. Now we have another reason to get our new house completed and it was good to go to Fortaleza and get some more supplies.

As I have said in past writing, materials are generally more expensive here and labor is generally cheaper than in the US. One exception to this rule is granite and marble. It is in a surplus here and as far as materials go I would consider it "cheap." I had an estimate done on 2 bathroom sink counters, 2 bathroom shower divider walls (2m x 1m), one large kitchen countertop, 12 window sills, and 2 floor thoroughfares. The total ended up being R$2300. In the States this would probably be 5 times this amount. An added blessing to this cost is the recent increased value of the US dollar. The dollar has been falling since the day we stepped foot on Brazilian soil but the past two weeks have taken a turn for the positive. We were receiving 1.50 reais for every US dollar we spent. The dollar closed at 1.88 on Saturday against the Brazilian Real. This is the highest rate that we have seen in over two years. It still has much to recover to reach the 2.43 rate when we arrived here in Brazil, but it is a great blessing none the less. This will positively help offset some of the hyper-inflation that we are experiencing here.

It is just one more proof that the Lord is taking care of us and He can provide even when other things are failing. He is to be praised for all of our recent encouragements: the new house construction, Julie's pregnancy, and the value of the dollar increasing. Please thank Him with us for the blessings He uses to encourage our work here in Brazil. I will end this blog with a list of the blessings that we have to look forward to in this new house:

--It has a ceiling so...

No sand, leaves, or bugs falling into our house.

During the day the house will stay cooler (We don't use an air conditioner.)

Mosquitos cannot enter through roof tiles.

During the rainy season our sheets, furniture, & electronics will not get damp from droplets.

In the future we can build a second floor if we want.

The night sounds are blocked out easier.

It is more secure from theft than only having removable tiles.

--This house is an investment because...

We were paying rent but now we can be paying against what we own and improvements go toward our investment and not someone else's.

Our town is growing fast and will probably grow faster when the new highway is completed

Investing in the US is not "currently" as secure as in Brazil.

We also will have a carport to protect our vehicle from the sun.

--We have a more suitable place for ministry because...

The floor plan was made with areas to meet.

This house will be easier to keep cleaner and better for inviting people over (especially with the kitchen joined with the living room and an extra bathroom)

We are planning for an area to play basketball and have a soccer goal.

I am going to put a sink and toilet in the garage for the kids from kids club to use (They won't dirty the house or find things in the house that they would like to borrow indefinitely.)

--We have a more suitable living situation for our family.

We actually have some storage areas and closets (our current house has none)

Julie and I have our own bathroom/shower.

I will have a carport where I can repair the many things that break (like the car)

The kitchen we currently have is very hot, little, and very ugly.

--Other blessing are...

People see us more dedicated and have already shown more acceptance.

We now have another group of neighbors to get to know and tell about Christ.

We are directly behind the hospital which provides some emergency care if needed.

We have a place to keep the dogs outside when visitors come.

Everything will be new and clean.

I am going to work on getting hot water for the showers.

The Laundry room is separate from the kitchen.

Our front wall with be open so others can see inside instead of totally closed like our current wall/gate.

I am adding many places to hang a hammock for rest and visitors.