I don't want to be #blessed.

Yesterday, we decided to go to downtown Porto Alegre to shop, see some buildings, and just kind of explore. While we were walking to get on the bus, I witnessed, for the first time in my life, a man digging through the dumpster looking for food. My heart was absolutely broken. How is it that I can go throughout my day eating and snacking whenever I please, yet this man has to dig through the trash to find anything possible?  Since I am in Brazil, and in their culture, I was appalled by the fact that their government has spent BILLIONS of dollars on the World Cup, yet there are still people sleeping on the ground and digging to find food in trash cans. What happened in our world that made items more important than people? Often times, and I am guilty of this as well, when we thing about being blessed, we think of the giant houses we grew up in or the nice cars we always had. In my mind, specifically, having money was in direct correlation with how blessed I was. THIS IS WRONG, PEOPLE. Matthew 5: 3-10 says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Never does it say, "Blessed are those with nice houses and fancy cars, for they will see heaven." NO! Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that having nice things is a sin and that those things aren't blessings, but they are not the blessing we should be focused on. A lot of my generation uses hashtags, so we will say we are #blessed. When I think of #blessed, I think of an instagram picture that probably has a pretty girl 's selfie showing too much skin or a guy standing with a nice truck that his parents gave to him. When I think of #blessed, I think of the worldly items that we view as blessings, the things that give us the attention we want at the moment, but they're things that won't matter in the long run. Have you ever noticed that the people that don't have as many worldly items are usually happier? I do not think that is a coincidence. I think it is because they have realized what the true blessings in life are; without all of the worldly distractions,  it is so much easier to see God active and working in our lives. When I take a step back and look at my life, I think the biggest blessing is having two parents that love each other unconditionally and have for 27 years. Which, by the way, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD. I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH! By having such awesome role models in my life, I have learned what love looks like in a healthy way and how to love someone like Jesus would. That is a true blessing in my life. GOD IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN ANY WORLDLY ITEM WE COULD EVER HAVE!!! So, I think it is time for our generation to stop being #blessed and decide to be truly blessed by our King who loves us so unconditionally.



Also, here are some pictures from the beautiful church we went to

 and the theatre we went to that had the most beautiful chandelier EVER.

Brazil is cool and the Holy Spirit is too.

HI FRIENDS!

okay, so I posted another blog somewhere else a couple of days ago and now I can't remember where it is... Oops. I am not about to retype it all, so sorry, but if I find it, I will be sure to post it again on this one. From now on though, I will post on this blog, so I won't lose anymore posts.

Alright, now on to more blogging. I am in Brazil for the next five weeks and so far I love it here. I would definitely move here in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, that probably won't happen. At least not for a little while. No promises that it won't happen though! I have only been here for a week and I can already tell that God has big things planned. After church yesterday, I really began to think about the Holy Spirit and how we never really talked about it in church growing up. It is so much different to be in a community where they openly profess their feelings in church. Sitting in service yesterday, one of the most different things was during prayers people would openly say their own prayer or repeat what the preacher was praying. They didn't care what anyone around them would think. This has always been one of my biggest problems in church. I never wanted to raise my hands up during a song or say Amen during a sermon because what if my friends thought I was weird. THIS IS NOT OKAY! How many other kids these days do you think are thinking the same thing? It really bothers me. Why are we bottling up the way the Holy Spirit makes us feel just because we don't want to be judged? Why are we not comfortable with just letting it out and not being ashamed of  it? I have talked to Ansley about what I think about the Holy Spirit and I am convinced that whenever I get tears in my eyes when I am overwhelmed by happiness or chill bumps on my skin while listening to a certain song it is because the Holy Spirit is alive and in me. I don't think this for only myself, but for anyone. The emotions we experience in church are God saying, "Hey! I am here with you and I love you so dang much!" I believe that God speaks to me through my emotions. I know I can be a pretty emotional person, but I am not talking about the emotional roller coaster I am constantly riding. I am talking about the emotions I experience while praying, worshiping, or even just talking about Him. I think He enjoys watching the joy He brings and will continue to bring me through sharing His love with people. And you know what? I think that is really cool.


Also, here is a picture of how beautiful Porto Alegre is and of me holding a tarantula.