fAmiLy...iT's whErE oUr hEarT iS...

I had a great time with Emma in Ireland this last month... getting to know her beautiful friends in Belfast and her family who lives in a farm towards west... I could experience a "proper" Irish Christmas (proper for her family), and meet some part of her family... they are great, very hospitable and making sure I was welcomed and feeling included ... And I did felt at home and among family with them...
After that we went to the Land in Portugal to spent the new year with more family...
>It was nice to be back home, to see Rosie and Ton...Josh was in Algarve visiting his mom and Carly was in Lisbon with her family...Jared was also back there, Julia and little Anna came from Germany with Birger...Hajo and his sister Monique also came from Germany but left the day after we arrived...Darek from Czech Republic was there since the beginning of December... and Emmanuel came from Sweden with 2 other friends...
It was a nice group from "the big family" :-) ...

It was raining most of the time and the roof of my house was broken in some parts, so I had to fix it a bit to stop some rain to drop inside... But it felt so good to be back in my little cozy hut... I'm looking forward to start building it soon ...
I didn't do much the 3 days I was there cuz I only stayed in the "arriving" feeling and didn't get time to "settle"... but it was nice to chat with most of them in different times... most part of the days I hardly left my house cuz people would come by and we'd just stay in nice conversations...

Nobody had great plans to celebrate the New Year, we were all feeling like having a nice and relaxed evening in each other's company... and that's what we did... Birger though, got excited for some fire show, so they all brought the fire equipment out and we had a nice time watching them...














After a nice show we didn't stay up so late, because we had a loooong ride next day...

Me and Emma were still wondering how would we get to Berlin to meet another part of our family, nearby Berlin... we thought about hitch-hiking, but I'm glad Julia came up with another idea...

We could drive her car and drop Birger in Karlsruhe, and she could get the ride Birger would take... it all worked fine for all of us...

So, in one and a half day we drove around 1800 Km from the land in Portugal to Biesenthal, north Berlin...with minnus 12 degrees...Brrrr!!!

But it was definitely worth it... we were again with family...

a special one this one...our "nomadic family"... we all met different times in different places...we travelled together... we share dreams together...
we pray for one another...we encourage one another in hard times and celebrate in good times..
.we support one another in our lives, passions and dreams...
we cry and laugh with one another...
And this was another time like this...
It was nice to hear how is everyone doing at the moment, what each one is involved in... what are some of our dreams and expectations... what are our dreams...
what are our pains and struggles... and from listening to one another, we pray...
and God reveals Himself in our midst, around us and inside each one of us...

what a precious thing it is , to belong to a FAMILY ...

After 5 days I came back to Portugal...it's time to come back to the Land, and I'm really looking forward for this new season...
But I'm not there yet... I'm also with my family, here in Algarve, where my sister Edna lives now with Paulo, Pamela, the twins Joshua and Nelson, Rute, Paulo's sister in law, and Mafalda her daughter...
I went this morning to a service where I also met Sarita, with whom I lived in Lisbon, Rodrigo, Zeza, Rafa and Rania, a beautiful family who is also my family...

It was nice to be away all this time...the longest in these last 2 years...it was nice to be without responsibilities for a while... without the need of thinking about what needs to be done... but this was a time also to gain perspective and see more what it's ahead of us in this new season...
As I said, I'm excited to start building my house, I guess after 2 years it's time to care for my own shelter, my nest... But I heard the prayer shelter was also destroyed with the storms, so I would like to build that first... For me it is a priority for us to have a place to be with God, The Bigness... a place to retreat... a place to shelter... a place to hide... a place to "date" with God...
I'll see...

We also hope to have less visitors this next months till the permaculture course in March (check out on the new blog if you're interested), so we can also have more time for ourselves and for one another... to grow closer as a family who are living at this physical place at this moment...

I feel so rich to have such a varied and beautiful family spread all over the world...
Some people spend their whole lives storing money and possessions in order to feel rich and secure... and they spend so much of their time "making" money, that they end up not having time for family... we can see a lot of that on Christmas time... people spending lots of money in presents, but not really spending their time with those who are close to them...
Sometimes TV takes the place of family and consumes all the time people could have together... How sad is that ?!!! anyway, I don't want to develop this here...

As for me, I want to keep storing those I love in my heart... where my family is... that's what makes me feel rich and secure...I know I'll never feel alone... That is for me, to be rich...
I feel so blessed !!!
Thank you God...

I feel tired though, from all the travelling and constant being with people around...I'm looking forward to accept Jesus' invitation when He says : " Come to me, all those who are tired...and I will give you REST" ... I need to get back to my shantii rhythm again... with my quiet and solitude times ... all we need is balance !!! There is time for everything !!!

and here is just a funny contrast...showing how fast were the changes lately...
here's me in minus 14 degrees in Biesenthal...

and me with 12 positive in Algarve...

eh, eh, eh...I definitely prefer the warmth...