A Good Day

Beautiful sunrise this morning at 6:10. I wish this picture did it justice.

That was taken with my phone, maybe I'll have my new camera out and ready to try and take a good picture tomorrow. I wake up around 6 each morning and exercise when the sun is just coming up. You can see pretty far to the east from our bedroom doors. The sky here in Brazil is big and beautiful. My mornings are my favorite part of the day. I open my eyes when the alarm goes off and look out the window first thing and it's always lovely. It only lasts a few seconds. I went to get on my shoes and when I came back it was over. Looking forward to another sun rise tomorrow. Sometimes the sky is clear of clouds and those sunrises don't have much to work with. Today there were lots of clouds, it was pretty. It also explains why I got caught in a rain storm during my 3 mile walk around the park.

So after a morning walk, I came home and put on a dry shirt and Wesley was awake and so I invited him to come with me on my Monday morning run to Sam's Club. They open at 8 a.m., another great way to start the day and a new week. On Saturday I went to Sam's club after my temple trip and I got stopped at the door - they were checking to make sure the picture on the car matched the person holding it. She asked if Andre was there with me, I said no. She told me everyone needs a card with their picture on it and directed me to the membership counter. Oh no! I'm caught! The dream is over!! What will I do if I can't come to Sam's anymore!?!? I went over to the desk and asked if I could get a membership. No, I don't have a CPF number. No, I have no proof of residency, I'm just here until July. Can I please join? I can't, so sad. But they took pity on me and asked a different lady if I could go in and she said it was okay. Yes, you can use your friend's card. PHEW! I didn't ask "So... I can just use it this one time or can I use it all the time?" I just left, grateful to take my chance at shopping again, filled up my cart, and checked out. They were nice, too bad that lady was trying to show them how an exclusive membership club is supposed to work. Don't believe her! Let me in with my friend's card, it's okay! So that's what I get for trying to see how busy it is on a Saturday. Andre said it's never busy. It was just a little busier, but I think generally the vision of consumerism that is being offered to Brazil at a Wholesale Club hasn't caught on with the locals. I'm glad for us expats that it's here though, thank you Sam Walton for caring about us! Last Monday a lady from South Carolina that has been here 2 years stopped us to chat after she heard Abi and I speaking English. She said there's a group of American's here that she can help us get to know, she's heading home in June though and is super excited.

So, this morning at Sam's I took another picture of the pink unicorn with Wesley beside it, so Sophi can see the size comparison. The kids are all excited for her to have a chance to win it and have been helping her see the vision ~ "If you poop in the potty, you get Big Mommy Unicorn!" as they show her the picture on my phone.

And guess what's happened today? It's almost 6:00 pm now, and I had her sit firs thing this morning, but after that she has come up to me FOUR TIMES today and told me (with her underwear and pants still DRY), "Mom, I use potty!" and she's sat and gone. FOUR TIMES! The first surprise announcement almost left me in shock. I was in the kitchen when she came in at 1:05, I asked Melodie to join me in singing praises, I felt like it was a miracle. Is it cause the kids are helping her want the big pink unicorn? What's made the difference? Just cause I was at my breaking point? I was wondering that as I folded laundry and was reminded that last night I prayed for help. And perhaps someone out there prayed for Sophi and her mother's sanity. That's probably not fair for God to answer so quickly, but I'm grateful He hears our prayers!