Portugal # 2

I am adjusting to Brazilian culture again through the Brazilians that i am with in Portugal. Five or six meals a day instead of three, always taking photos, talking with animation and staying up late are some common characteristics. I need the excitement to get out of my normal staid life. This morning we went to Belem ( Bethlehem) a neighborhood of Lisbon. We crossed the 25th of April bridge, which resembles the golden Gate in San francisco although not as wide because it crosses a river instead of a bay of the ocean. We parked opposite a huge monastery, apparently still in use, after passing by the Presidential palace guarded by two men with antique uniforms and swords. We also walked by the river and saw a monument dedicated to early Portuguese explorers, and an ancient tower, which used to guard the city. We saw the outside of a museum dedicated to those who fought in the tragic effort to preserve Portugal's overseas colonies, principally Angola, during the same period in which the US was fighting its equally tragic war in Vietnam. We walked along a wall with thousands of names of soldiers who had died in the war. Have had a joyous day reading the Bible in English ( 2 Thessalonians), Portuguese ( in 2 Chronicles), reviewing Bible memory verses, preparing a teaching on the love of God, and most of all praying. The biography of Leonard Ravenhill, which i am reading now, speaks eloquently and powerfully of the importance of seeking God and entering His presence. The Word of God is anointed; we need to be anointed to use it.