Adjusting

Having returned to the US about eight days ago after a month in Brazil, I find myself adjusting. In Brazil there is no real schedule as everything is flexible. Here I am settling into my regular routine of the Daniel approach to prayer, ( 3x daily Daniel 6:10)reading 7 chapters of the Bible daily in Portuguese, another hour of language study, learning and reviewing memory verses, and hoping to return to daily exercise walks once i recover from a cold. Last year at this time i had one that lasted for three weeks. Temperatures have settled into a normal pattern of below freezing much of the time, in contrast to 90-100 degrees F in Brazil. There is much more alone time instead of always being with people in Brazil. It is almost like living two different lives. Looking ahead i am praying about potential trips to Europe and China, an almost certain return to Brazil, finding a Christian community close to where i live, and the men to whom i am ministering. Meanwhile i am waiting on the Lord. Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage, and wait for the Lord." May i glorify Him by doing the work that He has prepared in advance for me to do ( Ephesians 2:10) as Jesus glorified the Father by doing the same. ( John 17:4) In the New Year i want to continue to reduce my expectations of people and increase my expectations of God. Towards the beginning of blood curdling prophecies against Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, the prophet Nahum gives this little gem. "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him." ( 1:7 ESV)