Changes and Growth

Here we are, almost 2 weeks into the new year. If you're like me, the beginning of a new year makes us think about how we've changed or grown (or haven't) during the past year and how we'd like to continue to change and grow.

In 2010, we added a daughter to our familybought a piece of property and began construction of our own house.
We had many different outreach events in which we met many new people and saw a handful of these place their trust in Christ. We got a new dog that we wish we hadn't and I learned how to make doughnuts from scratch that are pretty good. :) We read books, watched movies, saw new places, made good decisions, made wrong decisions ... all of which in a small way shaped whom we became last year.

In teaching the kids' Sunday School class last Sunday, I asked them what new thing they learned about God and the Bible last year. "You mean what we've learned since coming here?" one of them asked. "Yes," I said, since we had met them for the first time last year. They started spouting out what they had learned and I was amazed by their answers.

"I didn't know Jesus died for our sins." Rafael said. "I knew he died, I just didn't know why."

"I didn't know Jesus rose from the dead." Larissa said. "I thought he just stayed dead in the ground."

Larissa in the middle

"I didn't know the Bible existed" said Guilherme. And Ricardo and Rafael added that although they knew about the Bible, they had no idea there were books in the Bible with chapters and verses and now they have memorized the order of the books and have fun playing sword drills.

"I didn't know God created the world." Ricardo said. I asked him how he thought the world was created. "I had never thought about it before," was his answer.
Ricardo and Rafael in yellow

They went on to list attributes of God they've learned -- He's Creator, Savior, self-sufficient, incomprehensible, love, holy ...

It was encouraging to know that God is using us to teach these children wonderful truths about Himself and His Word. It also was a question I've been considering myself ... what did I learn about God in 2010? I have some answers, but I want to spend more time getting to know my God in 2011. I want to learn new things about Him and His Word for myself this year. For by doing that, I know I will grow and change and start to look more like Him.