Abby in Brazil

 NoRmaL yEt noT So nOrMAl "Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for  it is  time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you." Hosea 10:12

  Life & Death "But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness." Romans 8:10 Self-discipline is a fruit of the Spirit     There has been too many cheat days for my no sugar and no white flour diet... unfortunately... But I've decided to do something that's been successful for me, which is no eating after 20:00. And guess what? I lost weight! I'm really happy. It's not easy to do this here because everyone eats after 20:00. But through Christ, ALL things are possible. Volleyball     When they say, "There is no I in team," it's true, especially in volleyball. When they say, "You can learn life through sports," it's also true. Encouragements are SO important in sports and in life. Sometimes you don't see it at all in life. Sports is like a quick flip through of life's highs and lows so we get to learn how to deal with the lows. You learn so much about leadershi...

 Bahia "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:17 What do you do on an 8 hour road trip?     We only stopped twice. Once to eat lunch and once for the bathroom. I didn't do much in the car as I usually sleep. I slept well but then I read the Bible and a book. I was still reading Jesus > Religion. I was really moved by some things I read and I would stop and meditate on it for a while. "He gives even when we think He's taking ." This is just one of the many things that struck me in the book. Sometimes it's hard to understand what God is doing, but that's where faith comes in. It's definitely easier said than done. Sometimes He takes away something to get me closer to Him, therefore whatever "feels" like something is bad happening, I must look to God. This is just a little insight.  New State, more adventures and memories made     We've arrived in Southern Bahia...

A Full Circle   "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18 Staying or leaving: VISA issue... again...     It's almost been 3 months since I made a trip to the States to see family in June. That means my travel visa of 90 days here in Brazil is almost coming to an end... again...      The stress and pressure of this pending issue naturally popped in my mind again. I thought it was time to take more initiative to get this visa done. I asked church friends for help and they were AMAZINGLY helpful. They sent me all these government websites for me to look into and advise me to go to the Federal Police to just ask them directly what I can do. But when I talked to the people here where I live, they said it's best not to go for fear that they might charge me or tell me to leave immediately even though I don't think I overstayed. We decided to contract someone ...

 Quitting "Winners never give up. Those who give up never win."     I'm glad I'm here again to share with you. It's been 3 weeks since I started the no sugar and white flour diet. I've had some cheat days and it was a really bad idea because I've had really bad stomachaches. I've always had issues with perseverance. Since there's no one really keeping me accountable, it's even more crucial to learn that I can't do this with my own strength but through God. I have a goal in losing weight so even though the diet was suppose to be 28 days, I will continue this diet until I hit the ideal weight.     I'm glad that volleyball has been going well because it's something to look forward to. There were times where my team showed great resilience and therefore we came out with the W. Every volleyball practice we spend half of the time playing practice matches against each other. There was one time my team was definitely weaker than the other b...

 Under God's Wings Have you ever been treated dishonestly? Honestly, I don't like it...  But I hope I also don't treat others like that.     I went to my usually small group on Saturday mornings. We didn't have a lot of people this time because people had other plans. But it was still a blessed time. I then went to the mall with some church friends but it turned out I was a third wheel. I went to the mall because I really wanted to watch The Chosen in the theaters. I thought it was a new episode but it turned out I already watched it... My friends didn't tell me that I would be the third wheel so I wasn't so happy about that. And they didn't tell me that they weren't going to watch the movie with me so I was disappointed with that. But it's not like I haven't watched a movie by myself before at the theaters... I just thought it was a waste of money and time. I went home alone on the bus. I was thanking God because so far I haven't taken the w...

 Fun week!!! ...though I almost died.     Another week has past... but last week was really fun. Not only Bella and I were on top of everything for school but also we got to go to the mall one night with a friend down in another city. There was a live concert going on!!! They were singing English rock songs like Hotel California!!! You can guess what was the first thought that went through my head when I heard it... I thought, "I miss my dad... He would've loved this!" After the mall we ate somewhere else for dinner and that was fun. We had fried food. I wasn't going to have any because I was on a diet, but I couldn't resist!     I had a cheat day one night. I had "too much" white flour my stomach could handle since I'm on a diet. The next day I had a huge stomachache. I threw up all the food I ate. Then I started to have a fever and a headache. I was in bed the whole day. I felt useless but there wasn't anything I could do. Thank God after resti...