In June and July 2015, I taught English for a small university in Rio do Sul Brazil. Rio do Sul is a city of about 65,000 people in the mountains in southern Brazil. I was the only American in the city for most of my five weeks there. It was a wonderful experience for me.

I had studied Portuguese for one year at the university in my city from August 2013 to May 2014, I had also practiced Portuguese with Brazilian friends in my city, but my Portuguese improved a lot being in Brazil that summer.
It was a blessing to spend time with other professors from the college or with my students after class or on the weekends. One Sunday afternoon, I went with two profesoras to another small city, Pomerode, about an hour drive away for a music festival.

On our way back to Rio do Sul from the music festival, the profesora who was driving went through a stop sign. Stop in Portuguese is Pare. I said to her, “You went through a stop sign.: She asked how I knew and I told her Pare means stop. The other profesora burst out laughing in the back seat and said, “We have to be careful. The American knows.” We all started laughing.
We never know who takes notice of what we do. One person we know who always takes notice of what we do is Jesus. He sees it all. That can be intimidating if we are doing things we shouldn’t. It is very encouraging to know that we are never overlooked by him. If we mess up, he loves us, forgives us, and helps us move on. If we are in a difficult situation, he knows and can help.
Thank you for reading. God Bless




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