Here's the thing about being massively behind on recording our life's happenings: it's sad. And if that doesn't say it all, it's also overwhelming and tragic and crushing. So I'll just jump back in like I didn't just neglect a decade of nuggets, and we'll just move on.
It seems likely that this is perhaps our last month in Portugal. That's a big bucket of feelings to sort through, and I don't think I can quite do it yet. But my brain and heart are trying. I suspect that we will be unraveling this one for years to come.
A few weeks ago, Marcio (a guy Braden played soccer with who got baptized with his wife and two sons last November), called and told Braden that he was throwing a surprise party for his wife, and it was really important that we be there. Turns out it was for us. It was overwhelming. When we ran inside, looking for her and filming as Marcio asked us to do, we saw a room full of our people, clapping for us, surrounded by red, white, and blue balloons, complete with our picture on the wall. They asked Braden and I to speak and we did our best at processing this experience on the fly in front of the group who was most affected by our time here. Maisey also volunteered to share, and I was so impressed by what she said. She talked about how often times she just wanted to go home, but she can see how much growth she's had, and how much she's learned. We offered the mic to Elise and she classicly said "no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no".
In the initial moments of entering the situation, when my brain was trying to figure out the situation, I saw a room with our friends. A room full of people we love, our people. And then later, as I really looked around, my brain was trying to analyze what would bring each of these people here on a long holiday weekend. I realized that we had been in a position to help just about every person there in some way or another: paying for an emergency dental surgery, moving several people with our van, storing belongings in our garages, career training, rent money for the jobs lost, support with the loss of a baby, etc, etc;
I recall Reese giving Braden a blessing in the days just before we came here where he said that there were people here who were praying for help and he would be able to answer those prayers. Looking around that room, I realized that the blessing had been fulfilled. We had indeed been positioned to be able to respond to the needs of many, many members of our ward.
I don't claim to know all the reasons we came here. It seemed important that we come. The cost seemed high. The journey was all uphill. But looking around that room filled my heart with so much love and my eyes with so many tears. It was that feeling you have when you know God used you for His work. Of all the things I've felt in my life, that feeling has to be among the most supreme.
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