Meet the parents

I am Brazilian, He is American. We met in China, got engaged in New York City, and got married in Itapema Beach/Brazil. In our adventure as a married couple, Dave and I learned that love can overcome the language barriers and the culture differences. We've been married for three years and recently added a tiny person to our little family. We have a 10 month old baby called Levi. This post is about us. When I thought of starting a blog in English, many challenges popped up in my mind. In spite of the fact that, after marrying Dave, my English grew to *almost* complete fluency, I still struggle to build a coherent text. We can probably all agree, writing in another language isn’t as easy as speaking it on a regular basis; whereas we don’t have to worry about the form of the thoughts that we are trying to express in words. When talking, a sentence can be easily built with a mixture of words, gestures and face expressions. In writing, you become the eyes of the reader, trying to reach the goal of bringing him to a full understanding of your thoughts. Well, after this post is over, you may tell me if I reached that goal or not, it will be worth a try 🙂 Anyways. Let me get you filled in with my story. I'm Bruna (of course), married to David and we are both parents to baby Levi. These two guys own my heart. Every piece of it. I'm from Brazil, and Dave is from the States. How we met is a long long story. But I will sum it up: Dave and I came to know each other, in China, in the year of 2011. It was a cold Sunday in Qingdao when I saw him for the first time. He had tucked in his blue shirt under his jeans, and was wearing a brown belt. The first thing that came into my mind was “He is cute, but so very serious”. I had no clue how wrong I was about that statement, as I had yet to find out about the real him. I only got to know the funny side of him months later. As a matter of fact, we only spoke to each other long after that day, on Facebook, away from all the awkwardness that meeting someone for the first time can create. Dave is a funny guy. He makes me and Levi laugh every day. And we are so beyond thankful for him. Ever since we started dating, we both knew that our hearts would belong in many places. As long as we were in each other’s company, we would be at home. As he said one time: “Home is wherever you are, Bru”, and I take that as one of the biggest encouragements, along the path of our marriage. We are currently living in America, but constantly missing my family, who resides in Brazil, as well as our dear friends back in China. Our hearts are called to three different countries, and we have changed so much through living in all of these places. Our son Levi was born in Brazil. Having an American dad and a Brazilian mom has gotten him two different citizenships. After a lot of paperwork, and meetings, and a ton of pictures taken: our little guy holds two passports! And he's only 10 months old. How fancy! Levi was named after David's little brother who passed away in a motorcycle accident in 2011. My husband's brother was his best & closest friend, and we still feel the weight of his loss. The only way Dave faced the death of Levi James with a good attitude was the fact that he has an eternal perspective on all things. We both believe Jesus is our Savior, who took our sins and paid our debts on the cross. We know, through God's grace, we have eternal. This life right here is temporary. Our sufferings and loss are too small compared to what God has in store for us.

 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18 “What no eye has seen,     what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”     the things God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

What a joy to be part of God's plan and to feel His comfort every day. There's nothing better than having a close relationship with God. His love for us is never-ending.    Bruna Masalin