I miss my girls!! But isn't it incredible that they get to meet?! And in Nairobi!!! What an amazing gift! Friends like these are an amazing gift!
I love you girls SOOOO much!!!!! (And I managed to use an exclamation point with every sentence I've written! ;) grins)
MPWAH!
And next? May! In PA! All of us plus some!! wahooii!
grins
1.31.2006
1.30.2006
Faith being made complete...
This really struck me. It's from Journeys beyond the Comfort Zone by David W.F. Wong. (I highly recommend the book, by the way. Seriously. A must read. Admittedly, at first the title kind of had me thinking - 'um, ok. I wonder if this is going to be just like every other book about "comfort zones" that I've read, but not so. I'm really quite moved by it. My faith is being moved by the way in which God moved through this man - through his experiences and his words, his insights and his faith.)
"Abraham froze, his hand in mid-air. He knew that his faith had not been in vain. The process of faith was complete. James tells us that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4).
Perhaps, James was thinking of conception and birth. Between the two points is a time-frame when the embryo grows into an infant ready to leave the womb. The baby reaches full term and is then born into the world. In the same way, everyone who is tested by the Lord must endure the full term and emerge mature and complete. Abraham underwent the full term, right up to the moment when he would have plunged the knife into his only son's heart.
Unfortunately, many of us fail to go the full term in our faith. When we are tested, we give up. Or we go part of the way, and when it gets too difficult, we give up. We are in effect aborting our faith in the womb. Instead of giving birth to the full-term faith, we are effecting an abortion of part-term faith. James tell us that Abraham's faith was made complete by what he did (James 2:20-22). His faith was made complete by his action. He took faith to its conclusion, to its full term."
When I don't have constant, ever-present accountability, it's easy for me to slip into the "happy place" of - 'Wow! I must be getting this faith thing down. I'm meeting life's challenges without hating life or myself or the people around me, in fact, I'm pretty upbeat, even joyful, about even the most challenging stuff. By all outward actions and expressed thoughts, this may be so. But lately I've been becoming more and more aware of a laziness in self-reflection, of addressing the internal questions and strife and gaps and incompleteness. Without a doubt, my faith is ever increasing and growing as I encounter and re-encounter God through many experiences and through many people, as they ask the deep, probing, founding questions of faith and the foundations from which mine grows. Yet when it comes to challenging myself to grow in faith beyond those foundations, I often feel overwhelmed by the energy and concentration this takes, and so put it off. Perhaps something akin to writing a term paper (except bigger), you can only put off addressing what you've so carefully or non-chalantly tucked away for later for so long before you feel panic at the realization that the due date is a whole heck-of-a-lot sooner than you remember it being. Your procrastination has left you with a feeling of urgency with a need to start researching right now. This is me. Right now. I've been both carefully and non-chalantly tucking away questions and critical thinking for later (for a few months), reasoning that 'I have lessons to plan', 'I need to write this letter... finish this application... email this friend... meet with this person'... Actually, the application for the ECHO internship was what triggered my panic 'I've-been-procrastinating-too-long' button. It caused me to reflect in a way that I hadn't taken the time to, and asked me questions I hadn't asked myself, for quite a while. It's easy for me to be self-reflective and question-asking when I'm around people who prompt me to. It's not so easy when I have to do most of the reflecting and question-asking by myself.
I don't want to flippantly throw out the ignorant/naive/arrogant/pat-answer comment: 'Yeah, 'course I want my faith to be complete! Bring on the trials!' Yet I do believe that it is through trials and pain that we are able to experience God ever-present in our loneliness and aloneness, his wholeness and completeness in our brokeness, his security in our insecurities, the abundance of his blessings in giving up the pitances that we try so desperately to cling to.
Reflecting on my brokenness is painful. Reflecting on my insecurities makes me want to cling to them even harder... a disintegrating security blanket... eventually you've got to grow up and let it go. Reflecting on what God may ask of me... a little scary. Will I be able to give it? Yet so desperately wanting to be complete in faith... no stone left unturned...
I'm not sure how to end this. But I guess that's the point. I'm 23. God's work has only just begun in me. Both scary and exhilarating. It leaves my heart pounding, but wanting more. grins The ultimate adventure. I couldn't ask for a better Guide. We've started off toward "The Forest of No Return" (harkening back to childhood), shoddy unmarked "path" at best, walking sticks in hand - rough terrain ahead. No compass or map, save the Word. Kind of like Highlander or STEP, the only thing you know is the step in front of you. The true test of faith and trust. Each day is a fresh start. Expect blisters and mosquito bites, and maybe if you're lucky you can avoid the black flies, miserable little buggers that they are. It's always good to remember that "God made dirt and dirt don't hurt." ;) And of course, the more the merrier.
(Not) the end.
"Abraham froze, his hand in mid-air. He knew that his faith had not been in vain. The process of faith was complete. James tells us that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4).
Perhaps, James was thinking of conception and birth. Between the two points is a time-frame when the embryo grows into an infant ready to leave the womb. The baby reaches full term and is then born into the world. In the same way, everyone who is tested by the Lord must endure the full term and emerge mature and complete. Abraham underwent the full term, right up to the moment when he would have plunged the knife into his only son's heart.
Unfortunately, many of us fail to go the full term in our faith. When we are tested, we give up. Or we go part of the way, and when it gets too difficult, we give up. We are in effect aborting our faith in the womb. Instead of giving birth to the full-term faith, we are effecting an abortion of part-term faith. James tell us that Abraham's faith was made complete by what he did (James 2:20-22). His faith was made complete by his action. He took faith to its conclusion, to its full term."
When I don't have constant, ever-present accountability, it's easy for me to slip into the "happy place" of - 'Wow! I must be getting this faith thing down. I'm meeting life's challenges without hating life or myself or the people around me, in fact, I'm pretty upbeat, even joyful, about even the most challenging stuff. By all outward actions and expressed thoughts, this may be so. But lately I've been becoming more and more aware of a laziness in self-reflection, of addressing the internal questions and strife and gaps and incompleteness. Without a doubt, my faith is ever increasing and growing as I encounter and re-encounter God through many experiences and through many people, as they ask the deep, probing, founding questions of faith and the foundations from which mine grows. Yet when it comes to challenging myself to grow in faith beyond those foundations, I often feel overwhelmed by the energy and concentration this takes, and so put it off. Perhaps something akin to writing a term paper (except bigger), you can only put off addressing what you've so carefully or non-chalantly tucked away for later for so long before you feel panic at the realization that the due date is a whole heck-of-a-lot sooner than you remember it being. Your procrastination has left you with a feeling of urgency with a need to start researching right now. This is me. Right now. I've been both carefully and non-chalantly tucking away questions and critical thinking for later (for a few months), reasoning that 'I have lessons to plan', 'I need to write this letter... finish this application... email this friend... meet with this person'... Actually, the application for the ECHO internship was what triggered my panic 'I've-been-procrastinating-too-long' button. It caused me to reflect in a way that I hadn't taken the time to, and asked me questions I hadn't asked myself, for quite a while. It's easy for me to be self-reflective and question-asking when I'm around people who prompt me to. It's not so easy when I have to do most of the reflecting and question-asking by myself.
I don't want to flippantly throw out the ignorant/naive/arrogant/pat-answer comment: 'Yeah, 'course I want my faith to be complete! Bring on the trials!' Yet I do believe that it is through trials and pain that we are able to experience God ever-present in our loneliness and aloneness, his wholeness and completeness in our brokeness, his security in our insecurities, the abundance of his blessings in giving up the pitances that we try so desperately to cling to.
Reflecting on my brokenness is painful. Reflecting on my insecurities makes me want to cling to them even harder... a disintegrating security blanket... eventually you've got to grow up and let it go. Reflecting on what God may ask of me... a little scary. Will I be able to give it? Yet so desperately wanting to be complete in faith... no stone left unturned...
I'm not sure how to end this. But I guess that's the point. I'm 23. God's work has only just begun in me. Both scary and exhilarating. It leaves my heart pounding, but wanting more. grins The ultimate adventure. I couldn't ask for a better Guide. We've started off toward "The Forest of No Return" (harkening back to childhood), shoddy unmarked "path" at best, walking sticks in hand - rough terrain ahead. No compass or map, save the Word. Kind of like Highlander or STEP, the only thing you know is the step in front of you. The true test of faith and trust. Each day is a fresh start. Expect blisters and mosquito bites, and maybe if you're lucky you can avoid the black flies, miserable little buggers that they are. It's always good to remember that "God made dirt and dirt don't hurt." ;) And of course, the more the merrier.
(Not) the end.
1.29.2006
this is a small taste of the amount of snow we've gotten...
The 'Magical Melting Sidewalks'... this picture is from way back in the beginning of December. This was just the beginning of all the snow we've gotten. And these sidewalks, where they're located, are quite amazing. They actually work pretty well. And when they end... well, you step up 2 feet and start walking on the hard-packed snow sidewalks. Sometimes people cut steps into the snow. grins
The chore of every house owner in Northern Japan. The unfortunate thing is that most house owners are elderly people. The problem is is that it is these elderly people that are climbing up on top of their rooves shoveling off the snow. And it's people in their 50s and 60s helping people in their 70s and 80s. And this guy is probably wondering why in the world I'm taking a picture of him. :)
Bush snow shelters. This fall I was kind of amused at the lengths they were going to to care for their bushes... now I understand.
and all of this is after a week of "warmer" weather and melting snow...
grins Shimashyou! Come play! ;)
The chore of every house owner in Northern Japan. The unfortunate thing is that most house owners are elderly people. The problem is is that it is these elderly people that are climbing up on top of their rooves shoveling off the snow. And it's people in their 50s and 60s helping people in their 70s and 80s. And this guy is probably wondering why in the world I'm taking a picture of him. :)
Bush snow shelters. This fall I was kind of amused at the lengths they were going to to care for their bushes... now I understand.
and all of this is after a week of "warmer" weather and melting snow...
grins Shimashyou! Come play! ;)
1.26.2006
What I love most about Japan. What I miss most about Central America.
JAPAN...
1. The people I've come to know and am ever learning to love. And not just love because they're openning up their lives to me, but because - as a friend just reminded me recently - loving them even when there's "no benefit in it for me."
2. This crazy winter. I think I'm the only person in Japan enjoying it. ;) But I have to. First because I really did pray for the snow, and second, because I have a feeling it's the last full winter with snow that I'm going to be experiencing for a while.
3. I'm learning a new language! waHOO! Ima yuki ga taksun furimas! (Right now it's snowing a lot!) Sugoi, ne! (Isn't it great!) Yuki ni shimashyou! (Let's go play in the snow!)
hahahaha grins
4. God is teaching and reteaching me some pretty incredible things about himself, about myself, about people, and about his creation. Tatoeba (for example): a continuation of my conversation with Naoko...
Last Sunday we got into the topic of abortion and single moms and handicapped babies/people. She's thinking about becoming a doctor for women, but that would mean that most of what she would do would be abortions. She doesn't like abortions, but here it's pretty much a norm of life. So we got into talking about Psalm 139 and how God "knits" each one of us in "our mother's womb." Each one of us is precious to him and he loves us so much that he sent his Son to die for us - even those babies, even just one. Even though single mothers would increase and even though they say these babies are mistakes, God doesn't make mistakes. Each tiny forming baby, he is forming. Each of us is his creation. And even handicapped babies... Handicapped people, if we take the time to listen and observe, teach us to look at the world with different eyes. Henri Nouwen caused me to look at this more carefully, and I shared with her his story of living and working with handicapped people in France. And where hardships increase, so does God's grace and strength - even moreso than whatever hardship it is that we're facing. Being a single mom is incredibly difficult. Having a handicapped child is incredibly difficult. But God's grace and strength are there, ever increasing, as our hardships increase. A very deep conversation... and towards the end of (and actually all throughout it) I could tell that new lights were coming on as she was understanding these things differently than she ever had before. And me too. And finally she made the comment... that doctors weren't meant to take life... doctors are healers and they care for life and save life. Pretty dang amazing. And we have these kinds of conversations everytime we meet. Every time!!
5. It's art, it's natural beauty, it's pottery, it's delicious food, the black matt train ticket stubs that I'm saving up to make a really cool collage, and cheap public transportation...
6. oh! and I can't leave out the ONSEN!! (hotsprings!!) There simply amazing!
CENTRAL AMERICA...
1. The people. Their warmth and hugs and kisses. Their unabashed joy and laughter and pain and sorrow. The not-holding-back. My families and friends.
2. Spanish. Everything about speaking Spanish. The trilled 'r', soft 'd' and 'b' and 'v', the music that I hear as it's being spoken. A language that most certainly reflects it's multiple cultures. And understanding. I miss understanding what someone is saying to me. I miss being able to understand what someone is saying from their heart and speak from mine in turn.
3. Surprisingly enough, the heat (I'm probably saying this right now because I'm cold). Not-so-surprising... the SUN!!!
4. The natural beauty. Despite the poverty and sometimes the desolation you can see, Central America is remarkably beautiful. It's colors are rich and deep.
5. The music. A music from the soul, not unlike other places in the world. A music that makes me want to sing with my voice and my body - a music that makes my heart beat and my legs (the rest of my body following, of course. grins) dance around. A music that sometimes makes me laugh and sometimes makes me cry. A music that I feel.
6. grins Pick-up trucks loaded with kids (or adults!), fresh-picked coffee berries sweet and slimmy in my mouth, fresh corn tortillas... along with all the other foods (oh-so-incredibly good!), fresh fruit juice, cowboys and cows, afternoon rainstorms during the rainy season.
Well, you have the short of it. grins If you want the longer version you'll have to make separate requests. ;) (And all the "Central America" pictures are Guillermo's that he sent me of Honduras when he went home for Christmas. None of mine are digital. Thanks Guillermo!! grins And he made me very homesick for Honduras!)
1. The people I've come to know and am ever learning to love. And not just love because they're openning up their lives to me, but because - as a friend just reminded me recently - loving them even when there's "no benefit in it for me."
2. This crazy winter. I think I'm the only person in Japan enjoying it. ;) But I have to. First because I really did pray for the snow, and second, because I have a feeling it's the last full winter with snow that I'm going to be experiencing for a while.
3. I'm learning a new language! waHOO! Ima yuki ga taksun furimas! (Right now it's snowing a lot!) Sugoi, ne! (Isn't it great!) Yuki ni shimashyou! (Let's go play in the snow!)
hahahaha grins
4. God is teaching and reteaching me some pretty incredible things about himself, about myself, about people, and about his creation. Tatoeba (for example): a continuation of my conversation with Naoko...
Last Sunday we got into the topic of abortion and single moms and handicapped babies/people. She's thinking about becoming a doctor for women, but that would mean that most of what she would do would be abortions. She doesn't like abortions, but here it's pretty much a norm of life. So we got into talking about Psalm 139 and how God "knits" each one of us in "our mother's womb." Each one of us is precious to him and he loves us so much that he sent his Son to die for us - even those babies, even just one. Even though single mothers would increase and even though they say these babies are mistakes, God doesn't make mistakes. Each tiny forming baby, he is forming. Each of us is his creation. And even handicapped babies... Handicapped people, if we take the time to listen and observe, teach us to look at the world with different eyes. Henri Nouwen caused me to look at this more carefully, and I shared with her his story of living and working with handicapped people in France. And where hardships increase, so does God's grace and strength - even moreso than whatever hardship it is that we're facing. Being a single mom is incredibly difficult. Having a handicapped child is incredibly difficult. But God's grace and strength are there, ever increasing, as our hardships increase. A very deep conversation... and towards the end of (and actually all throughout it) I could tell that new lights were coming on as she was understanding these things differently than she ever had before. And me too. And finally she made the comment... that doctors weren't meant to take life... doctors are healers and they care for life and save life. Pretty dang amazing. And we have these kinds of conversations everytime we meet. Every time!!
5. It's art, it's natural beauty, it's pottery, it's delicious food, the black matt train ticket stubs that I'm saving up to make a really cool collage, and cheap public transportation...
6. oh! and I can't leave out the ONSEN!! (hotsprings!!) There simply amazing!
CENTRAL AMERICA...
1. The people. Their warmth and hugs and kisses. Their unabashed joy and laughter and pain and sorrow. The not-holding-back. My families and friends.
2. Spanish. Everything about speaking Spanish. The trilled 'r', soft 'd' and 'b' and 'v', the music that I hear as it's being spoken. A language that most certainly reflects it's multiple cultures. And understanding. I miss understanding what someone is saying to me. I miss being able to understand what someone is saying from their heart and speak from mine in turn.
3. Surprisingly enough, the heat (I'm probably saying this right now because I'm cold). Not-so-surprising... the SUN!!!
4. The natural beauty. Despite the poverty and sometimes the desolation you can see, Central America is remarkably beautiful. It's colors are rich and deep.
5. The music. A music from the soul, not unlike other places in the world. A music that makes me want to sing with my voice and my body - a music that makes my heart beat and my legs (the rest of my body following, of course. grins) dance around. A music that sometimes makes me laugh and sometimes makes me cry. A music that I feel.
6. grins Pick-up trucks loaded with kids (or adults!), fresh-picked coffee berries sweet and slimmy in my mouth, fresh corn tortillas... along with all the other foods (oh-so-incredibly good!), fresh fruit juice, cowboys and cows, afternoon rainstorms during the rainy season.
Well, you have the short of it. grins If you want the longer version you'll have to make separate requests. ;) (And all the "Central America" pictures are Guillermo's that he sent me of Honduras when he went home for Christmas. None of mine are digital. Thanks Guillermo!! grins And he made me very homesick for Honduras!)
1.24.2006
I miss my MOM!
My mom just totaled her car yesterday. Totaled totaled.
Black ice.
Multiple donuts.
"Slamming into the guard rail" doesn't describe effectively how hard the car threw itself into it.
She bruised her right hand and left leg. And she's sore.
And I'm grateful that despite all the other reasons that God wanted to keep her here, he took into account the need of one girl named Rachel who still very much needs her mom.
1.23.2006
Question 8 on the ECHO application: Briefly discuss what God has been teaching you recently.
Recently I've been drawn to 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. Japan is a country of ranking, and if you’re not ranked among a group, if you're the out person, then you are really OUT. No redemption, no hope, no mercy. You don't fit, so you're on your own, sink or swim. The only relief from this hopelessness is the hope of Jesus Christ given to people through the church. And so rereading those familiar verses here in Japan has opened my eyes in a way I've never experienced before. I've grown up in the N. American culture and I'm familiar with its rankings. I've studied enough about the world to be familiar with the way we as nations rank ourselves... 1st and 3rd... developed... developing... underdeveloped... undeveloped. And now here in Japan rank is everything. Your social group is everything. Your high school, your college, your job, and those of your children define your rank - your personhood. I consider these and go back to 1 Corinthians and read Paul’s Spirit-inspired words again - such an incredibly starch contrast! The weak things, the lowly things, the despised things, the things that are not to nullify the things that are… And this is exactly where Jesus walked; these people are the people he walked with. And this is where and with whom he asks us - me - to walk.
I’m continually learning that it’s when I’m out of my comfort zone and away from home that I learn the most about God – college, Central America, and now Japan. These mark turning points in my life, deeper revelations into the God I serve because I’m more open to change. I’m seeking, and letting go of images and assumptions of God that I hadn’t realized were so incomplete and so wholly self-constructed until those points. It is in these situations that God has seen fit to rock my boat, shatter my images, bring me to my knees, strip away my comfortableness with who I think God is, and humble my proud assumptions of him, myself, the church, and the world in which I live. And in turn, causes me to cling to Him anew as he shows me more of who he is, and how he works in and through and in spite of us. Showing me over and over again that although “he isn’t safe… he’s good.”
I’ve also been stretched in my loneliness and aloneness while in Japan. I love being in community, especially those people I have grown to love and cherish. God blessed me with some amazing friendships through my time at Houghton College; peers and professors alike that I consider more family than friends. The hardest thing that I’ve experienced while in Japan has been being away from that steadfast and ever-present community. I didn’t realize how deep my roots had grown there until I started to uproot them. Very painful indeed. Yet the Lord met and continues to meet me in my brokenness and heartbrokenness. He held my heart in his hands and filled it in prayer, through reading the Word, and in being so lonely that I couldn’t but turn to him in everything. And of course, the longer I have been here the more friendships I have made and relationships I have built. I am knitting and being knit into a community here in Akita, Japan. And my faith is continually being stretched through these relationships as I seek to know these people and be known in return. I still struggle with the aloneness that comes with having those closest to me be so far away and scattered all over the world. But it is an aloneness that is full, not empty. An aloneness that is hopeful and expectant, not despairing.
I’m continually learning that it’s when I’m out of my comfort zone and away from home that I learn the most about God – college, Central America, and now Japan. These mark turning points in my life, deeper revelations into the God I serve because I’m more open to change. I’m seeking, and letting go of images and assumptions of God that I hadn’t realized were so incomplete and so wholly self-constructed until those points. It is in these situations that God has seen fit to rock my boat, shatter my images, bring me to my knees, strip away my comfortableness with who I think God is, and humble my proud assumptions of him, myself, the church, and the world in which I live. And in turn, causes me to cling to Him anew as he shows me more of who he is, and how he works in and through and in spite of us. Showing me over and over again that although “he isn’t safe… he’s good.”
I’ve also been stretched in my loneliness and aloneness while in Japan. I love being in community, especially those people I have grown to love and cherish. God blessed me with some amazing friendships through my time at Houghton College; peers and professors alike that I consider more family than friends. The hardest thing that I’ve experienced while in Japan has been being away from that steadfast and ever-present community. I didn’t realize how deep my roots had grown there until I started to uproot them. Very painful indeed. Yet the Lord met and continues to meet me in my brokenness and heartbrokenness. He held my heart in his hands and filled it in prayer, through reading the Word, and in being so lonely that I couldn’t but turn to him in everything. And of course, the longer I have been here the more friendships I have made and relationships I have built. I am knitting and being knit into a community here in Akita, Japan. And my faith is continually being stretched through these relationships as I seek to know these people and be known in return. I still struggle with the aloneness that comes with having those closest to me be so far away and scattered all over the world. But it is an aloneness that is full, not empty. An aloneness that is hopeful and expectant, not despairing.
life abundant...
"Those who are paralyzed can walk with the Lord. Those who are speechless can talk with the Almighty. Those who are blind can see Jesus. Those who are deaf can hear the Word of God. And those whose minds are shadowy and obscure can have the mind of Jesus Christ."
1.22.2006
days like today are why i am here
#1
English Bible Class...
2 ladies - Teruko and Tokiko - and Mrs. T, the pastor's wife at Eiko church, and I met from 1:30-4pm...
We poured over copies of my Journey of Faith that I typed up for almost 2 hours (followed by tea, of course). Hashing out God's story woven English into an understanding in Japanese. An understanding that God had in mind... because some things simply wouldn't be translated, so we had to figure it out in a round about way - always fun. ;) And at the end of it... well, we didn't finish. Next month. But anyway, at the end of our time together the ladies were excited and "deeply moved." And I was deeply moved at the work of God's hand. He's the one that's doing the moving. :) They "can't wait till next month." grins Me niether.
#2
My best friend in Japan, Naoko.
I met her at 5pm, and we went iceskating and then out to eat - okonomiaki! (one of my favorite foods here!)
4 hours of delving deeper and deeper into who God is and how he makes himself known in and through and inspite of us.
"What happens if God doesn't exist?" Well... nothing, I suppose. But I cannot believe that he doesn't exist. Because he's touched my heart and I've seen his presence in my life and in the life of others in such ways that will not allow me to deny his existence... "What are some examples...?"
"Why do some people in the Old Testament ask God to kill their enemies?"
"Is there a wrong way to pray?"
"How do you pray?"
"What are your hofu - New Year's Resolutions?"
"Do you study Christianity in high school?" Well... yes and no...
"Why is it important for Christians to get married in the church?"
"What was the Rachel in the Bible like? Why did your parents choose that name for you? Why is Jesus called the Good Shepherd?"
"Do you date to get married later? Only Christian guys?"
"I want to be a doctor that works with women, but that means the majority of my work will be performing abortions... I don't know what to do... [question in her eyes, a pleading]"
"What about the subsequent rise in single mothers... and babies who will be born handicapped?"
Psalm 139
"Doctors are supposed to be..." healers, preserving and saving life... "not taking it..."
It would take more pages than I have space for or time to write to recall all we talked about. Let's just say it was good. Very very good. And I'll elaborate when it's not 1 am. :)
She wants me to come to the hospital that she ends up being a doctor at (she's almost finished with med school) and teach all the doctors and patients about Jesus and God's Word... She said "Japan needs Christianity." wow.... wow. God... is really amazing...
"Next week can you teach me about David, "the man after God's heart"?
Of course.
So, yes! Next Sunday we meet again! yay! 5pm. To do a little karaokeing! grins hehehe And of course, a "Bible study" of our own... again delving deeper and deeper into who God is...
English Bible Class...
2 ladies - Teruko and Tokiko - and Mrs. T, the pastor's wife at Eiko church, and I met from 1:30-4pm...
We poured over copies of my Journey of Faith that I typed up for almost 2 hours (followed by tea, of course). Hashing out God's story woven English into an understanding in Japanese. An understanding that God had in mind... because some things simply wouldn't be translated, so we had to figure it out in a round about way - always fun. ;) And at the end of it... well, we didn't finish. Next month. But anyway, at the end of our time together the ladies were excited and "deeply moved." And I was deeply moved at the work of God's hand. He's the one that's doing the moving. :) They "can't wait till next month." grins Me niether.
#2
My best friend in Japan, Naoko.
I met her at 5pm, and we went iceskating and then out to eat - okonomiaki! (one of my favorite foods here!)
4 hours of delving deeper and deeper into who God is and how he makes himself known in and through and inspite of us.
"What happens if God doesn't exist?" Well... nothing, I suppose. But I cannot believe that he doesn't exist. Because he's touched my heart and I've seen his presence in my life and in the life of others in such ways that will not allow me to deny his existence... "What are some examples...?"
"Why do some people in the Old Testament ask God to kill their enemies?"
"Is there a wrong way to pray?"
"How do you pray?"
"What are your hofu - New Year's Resolutions?"
"Do you study Christianity in high school?" Well... yes and no...
"Why is it important for Christians to get married in the church?"
"What was the Rachel in the Bible like? Why did your parents choose that name for you? Why is Jesus called the Good Shepherd?"
"Do you date to get married later? Only Christian guys?"
"I want to be a doctor that works with women, but that means the majority of my work will be performing abortions... I don't know what to do... [question in her eyes, a pleading]"
"What about the subsequent rise in single mothers... and babies who will be born handicapped?"
Psalm 139
"Doctors are supposed to be..." healers, preserving and saving life... "not taking it..."
It would take more pages than I have space for or time to write to recall all we talked about. Let's just say it was good. Very very good. And I'll elaborate when it's not 1 am. :)
She wants me to come to the hospital that she ends up being a doctor at (she's almost finished with med school) and teach all the doctors and patients about Jesus and God's Word... She said "Japan needs Christianity." wow.... wow. God... is really amazing...
"Next week can you teach me about David, "the man after God's heart"?
Of course.
So, yes! Next Sunday we meet again! yay! 5pm. To do a little karaokeing! grins hehehe And of course, a "Bible study" of our own... again delving deeper and deeper into who God is...
Antigua, Guatemala... Easter Morning
I miss Central America... and I miss Lindsay Musser! Does anyone know how I can get ahold of that girl????
1.21.2006
Everyone, meet Clippy the Purple People Eater Clip
this is the newest addition to my family, er... i mean, my... uh... whatever. grins
so, the problems - that is, MY problems - with computers, and technology in general, seem to be endless. take, for example, this newest "development." my broken usb port. that i broke even more in trying to fix. (suggestion for all those people out there with just as little techie know-how as me - DON'T try to fix your broken computers. BAD idea.) so i took it took Dean - great missionary friend here (like a dad, and slightly older than my own), who looked at me incredulously when i told him that i "tried to bend the little wire thingy back the way it was supposed to be - you know - like the other 3." and it was working too!!! until it broke off... (sheepish and slightly shame-faced) he gave me a "dad look" and asked me if i had turned off my laptop before sticking my needle-nose pliers into the usb port. (grins) of course i turned it off! and then he took me to the denki (an electronic store that has just about anything you might look for) and being the crazy computer expert that he is (something i can never dream of being) found me a usb-something-or-other-that-is-all-capital-letters-that-i-will-never-in-my-life-remember-card to stick in my "slot." for simplicity sake, i call it my USB card. i don't know why they don't just call it that. it'd certainly make my life a lot easier (and also anyone who just read that - - - sentence). AND, coming to the point of the title of this blog, that is where i found Clippy the Purple People Eater Clip - my clipdrive (clipdrive was simply WAY too boring). i feel like he should be a gangsta or something.
so, everyone!... meet Clippy! grins (i feel like i've crossed some sort of threshold in computer technology... wow. exhilarating.) ;)
1.20.2006
yaaaayyy!! (you're looking at one very excited Rachel...)
"I sent your references off today."
Tim
No, not a random name I decided to pick up for myself... and no, I haven't suddenly decided to become schizophrenic (although that would require me to use several names...). :)
This is the guy in charge of the ECHO Tropical Agriculture Internship. grins
YAAAAYYY!!! *BIG GRIN*
The first deadline for application is Feb 15... oi! It's going to be close! The second is August 15. For me, either one is ok, though the Feb one would set my mind to rest a whole lot sooner that the Aug one... So, pray with me. That my application would reach the sunny state of Florida in time for the first deadline, and if that's not the case that God would give me the patience to wait till August to find out.
I'm SO excited!! :)
Tim
No, not a random name I decided to pick up for myself... and no, I haven't suddenly decided to become schizophrenic (although that would require me to use several names...). :)
This is the guy in charge of the ECHO Tropical Agriculture Internship. grins
YAAAAYYY!!! *BIG GRIN*
The first deadline for application is Feb 15... oi! It's going to be close! The second is August 15. For me, either one is ok, though the Feb one would set my mind to rest a whole lot sooner that the Aug one... So, pray with me. That my application would reach the sunny state of Florida in time for the first deadline, and if that's not the case that God would give me the patience to wait till August to find out.
I'm SO excited!! :)
1.17.2006
oh! the joy of roasty toasty toilet seats!
no central heating in japan.
i have a one-room apartment.
my bathroom - toilet room - is outside of the one room, in my genkan (entrance way).
my genkan is not heated.
thus, everytime i go to the bathroom, it's liking going outside, except without the strong winds and swirling snow.
so this is how i dress to go to the bathroom...
multiple multipe layers...
and i am eternally grateful to the person who invented heated toilet seats! they're wonderful!
i have a one-room apartment.
my bathroom - toilet room - is outside of the one room, in my genkan (entrance way).
my genkan is not heated.
thus, everytime i go to the bathroom, it's liking going outside, except without the strong winds and swirling snow.
so this is how i dress to go to the bathroom...
multiple multipe layers...and i am eternally grateful to the person who invented heated toilet seats! they're wonderful!
1.16.2006
as if i wasn't clueless enough
i now have a news channel in arabic with japanese subtitles...
help?
but in other news...
i just found out that instead of being a week in the US for Kat's wedding, i can now be there for a week and a half! woohoo! that means i'll be in houghton for graduation, and still have enough days with my family so that they won't feel shorted for time by me going to houghton for a day. joyousness! (hm. don't think i've ever used that word before... it's fun! it probably isn't a word... amy? sam? my speed scrabble/boggle buddies? where are my human dictionaries?!)
HAHAHA
so guess what just happened! the arabic news/japanese subtitles changed to american news with english subtitles (ummm...) and just as i was wondering what the point of that was for japanese people, a narrative-type voice came on saying that there would now be subtitles in japanese. ok... same news report... but with japanese subtitles (still in english). then said voice came on again saying that there would again be english subtitles (i'm getting a little confused). then i (supposedly a japanese person) get a vocabulary lesson from all the words that were repeated in the "news cast." it was played a 4th time. happy english learning. and now the real news has come on. in japanese. no subtitles. and i'm still as clueless as ever.
grins
ahhh, the life of a gaijin (foreigner). ;)
help?
but in other news...
i just found out that instead of being a week in the US for Kat's wedding, i can now be there for a week and a half! woohoo! that means i'll be in houghton for graduation, and still have enough days with my family so that they won't feel shorted for time by me going to houghton for a day. joyousness! (hm. don't think i've ever used that word before... it's fun! it probably isn't a word... amy? sam? my speed scrabble/boggle buddies? where are my human dictionaries?!)
HAHAHA
so guess what just happened! the arabic news/japanese subtitles changed to american news with english subtitles (ummm...) and just as i was wondering what the point of that was for japanese people, a narrative-type voice came on saying that there would now be subtitles in japanese. ok... same news report... but with japanese subtitles (still in english). then said voice came on again saying that there would again be english subtitles (i'm getting a little confused). then i (supposedly a japanese person) get a vocabulary lesson from all the words that were repeated in the "news cast." it was played a 4th time. happy english learning. and now the real news has come on. in japanese. no subtitles. and i'm still as clueless as ever.
grins
ahhh, the life of a gaijin (foreigner). ;)
1.15.2006
I don't know much about these women but...
this is still pretty dang exciting!!
...hoping and praying that the face of politics would change as different perspectives, life-stories, and expressions of values are changing, encompassing broader visions, becoming more representative of the world in which we live... I'm so excited for these women and for what and who they represent!!!
Chile
Liberia
cheers!!
...hoping and praying that the face of politics would change as different perspectives, life-stories, and expressions of values are changing, encompassing broader visions, becoming more representative of the world in which we live... I'm so excited for these women and for what and who they represent!!!
Chile
Liberia
cheers!!
1.14.2006
you know you're tired when...
you walk around your apartment for 20 minutes with your fleece on backwards and don't notice until you glance in the mirror and wonder why it's not zipping down the front...
grins
grins
1.12.2006
hahaha!
So, today I went to the dentist to get the hole checked where yesterday my wisdom tooth had been. All ok. "ides" (it's good). And I was told my teeth were good.
And then the dentist took a sample of the plaque between my teeth and showed me on a microfied slide the little bacterias that were swimming around my mouth (actually only found one in this particular sample, may it die quickly and not proliferate). He then asked me if he could... hehehehe "clean my room." Sure thing! Have at! Clean away! You can clean my room any day!
grins
And get this. All of this - wisdom tooth hole check and cleaning, bacteria show extraordinaire and subsequent cleaning cost a grand total of 810 yen. About 10 bucks.
Can I get my teeth done in Japan for the rest of my life??? Please!?
And then the dentist took a sample of the plaque between my teeth and showed me on a microfied slide the little bacterias that were swimming around my mouth (actually only found one in this particular sample, may it die quickly and not proliferate). He then asked me if he could... hehehehe "clean my room." Sure thing! Have at! Clean away! You can clean my room any day!
grins
And get this. All of this - wisdom tooth hole check and cleaning, bacteria show extraordinaire and subsequent cleaning cost a grand total of 810 yen. About 10 bucks.
Can I get my teeth done in Japan for the rest of my life??? Please!?
1.07.2006
the future of the world is hanging on the solution to this dilemma...
or so it would seem.
;)
When given the option to circle humble on a question form that asks you to circle 2 terms which most describe you, and humble is numbered among them, do you circle humble if you think you're a humble person? But then again, isn't it said that a humble person would never call themselves humble, never think of themselves as humble, because the very definition of the word doesn't allow them to do so. And thus a humble person would never circle the word humble anyway. Isn't humble a term that someone else usually gives you. What humble person calls attention to themselves, pointing out that they are humble. As soon as they did so, they would immediately be thought of as being the opposite. But then alas, what if you are humble afterall...? And to add to the dilemma is the fact that really there are many definitions for humble, but we have an idea in our minds that is also a bit different from these definitions, yet it is usually the idea we go by... hmmm...
So, my real complaint is: Why is the WORLD would you put humble on a word choice list by which you're supposed to describe yourself?!
rrrrrrrggh
k. done venting.
;)
When given the option to circle humble on a question form that asks you to circle 2 terms which most describe you, and humble is numbered among them, do you circle humble if you think you're a humble person? But then again, isn't it said that a humble person would never call themselves humble, never think of themselves as humble, because the very definition of the word doesn't allow them to do so. And thus a humble person would never circle the word humble anyway. Isn't humble a term that someone else usually gives you. What humble person calls attention to themselves, pointing out that they are humble. As soon as they did so, they would immediately be thought of as being the opposite. But then alas, what if you are humble afterall...? And to add to the dilemma is the fact that really there are many definitions for humble, but we have an idea in our minds that is also a bit different from these definitions, yet it is usually the idea we go by... hmmm...
So, my real complaint is: Why is the WORLD would you put humble on a word choice list by which you're supposed to describe yourself?!
rrrrrrrggh
k. done venting.
1.06.2006
possible next step...
I'm applying here for next year...
Please pray.
I feel excited, a little giddy, knots in my stomach, thoughts and heart pleading with heaven, and most of all, wanting God's will in my life. This means having my own will scratched out of things. This could be hard if that will, and my willing heart, is attached to that thing... like it's in the process of being right now... Thankfully, though
"...I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future..."
And to this I cling.
Please pray.
I feel excited, a little giddy, knots in my stomach, thoughts and heart pleading with heaven, and most of all, wanting God's will in my life. This means having my own will scratched out of things. This could be hard if that will, and my willing heart, is attached to that thing... like it's in the process of being right now... Thankfully, though
"...I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future..."
And to this I cling.
1.03.2006
this is where my apples live
personally, i think it's pretty funny...
cracks me up every time i open the door.
grins
1.02.2006
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a week full of joy and surprises...
Christmas Day in Japan was different indeed...
a Christmas Eve service mostly in Japanese with a bit of English thrown in here and there
staying up till 2 am with a couple of my Japanese friends, both named Naoko (one of whom spent the night with me), talking about the meaning of Christmas
(Naoko, my closest Japanese friend) 
(a Naoko sandwich - inside joke) grins ;)
waking up in the Bengtson house (the missionaries in Akita who've been here for 18 years) with a stocking stuffed with peanut butter, chocolate pudding, peanuts, and random fun Japanese snacks and other things
met another English teacher, Brooke, who had asked to come to church with me (very much seeking God)
the service being in Japanese, we kind of had our own message in the back, talking about the "Branch of Jesse" - kind of random, but God used the illustration to bring together the progression of his promise to us... Abraham and the covenant... Christ, the fulfillment of the covenant... A new heaven and new earth to come
together, we made our way to another Eng teacher's apt and 4 of us (me, Brooke, Honey, and Glen) watched Sea Biscuit... oh so very random
headed back to church for an evening Christmas party (the party ended with a Rachel-led game of Christmas pictionary - it was absolutely hilarious!)
AND at 11 pm I walked a freezing 10/15 minutes (one way) to the post office (which is open 24/7) to pick up my mom's amazing Christmas cookies (wonderful Christmas present!)!!
December 26:
(I promise I won't break down every day) :)
a very very very early morning (considering I went to bed at 2am) - 4 am - to catch the 5:36 train to Takanosu... which I missed by ONE MINUTE because it took 40 min to walk from my apt to the train station instead of 30 min because it was snowy and icey and windy. grrr But thankfully, the next train left at 6:30. So, hamnashida.
and THEN! A WHOLE WEEK WITH AMY AND HER PARENTS AND SAM! grins Who is Sam, you ask? Well, ask Amy. grins
lots of fun and adventures and food and speed scrabble and boggle and hikes and talking and laughing and lots of hugs! :)
me and Amy pooped out on the snow
Amy and Sam pooped out on the snow :)
beautiful
our goal: the top of Kimimachizaka. well worth the 1km 2 hr thigh-deep snow trek.
absolutely breathtaking
on the bridge in Takanosu
And of course, the 5 of us passed the New Year together, ending
the day at the onsen (hotsprings).
Amy's a punk!
grins hffma! :)
(on the way to the onsen)
Last night, Amy and Sam took the night bus to Tokyo to catch their flights back to Thailand and the U.S. (Amy met up with Kat in Tokyo, too!). And today, I caught the train back to Akita.
I miss them already!
a Christmas Eve service mostly in Japanese with a bit of English thrown in here and there
staying up till 2 am with a couple of my Japanese friends, both named Naoko (one of whom spent the night with me), talking about the meaning of Christmas
(Naoko, my closest Japanese friend) 
(a Naoko sandwich - inside joke) grins ;)waking up in the Bengtson house (the missionaries in Akita who've been here for 18 years) with a stocking stuffed with peanut butter, chocolate pudding, peanuts, and random fun Japanese snacks and other things
met another English teacher, Brooke, who had asked to come to church with me (very much seeking God)
the service being in Japanese, we kind of had our own message in the back, talking about the "Branch of Jesse" - kind of random, but God used the illustration to bring together the progression of his promise to us... Abraham and the covenant... Christ, the fulfillment of the covenant... A new heaven and new earth to come
together, we made our way to another Eng teacher's apt and 4 of us (me, Brooke, Honey, and Glen) watched Sea Biscuit... oh so very random
headed back to church for an evening Christmas party (the party ended with a Rachel-led game of Christmas pictionary - it was absolutely hilarious!)
AND at 11 pm I walked a freezing 10/15 minutes (one way) to the post office (which is open 24/7) to pick up my mom's amazing Christmas cookies (wonderful Christmas present!)!!
December 26:
(I promise I won't break down every day) :)
a very very very early morning (considering I went to bed at 2am) - 4 am - to catch the 5:36 train to Takanosu... which I missed by ONE MINUTE because it took 40 min to walk from my apt to the train station instead of 30 min because it was snowy and icey and windy. grrr But thankfully, the next train left at 6:30. So, hamnashida.
and THEN! A WHOLE WEEK WITH AMY AND HER PARENTS AND SAM! grins Who is Sam, you ask? Well, ask Amy. grins
lots of fun and adventures and food and speed scrabble and boggle and hikes and talking and laughing and lots of hugs! :)
me and Amy pooped out on the snowAmy and Sam pooped out on the snow :) beautifulour goal: the top of Kimimachizaka. well worth the 1km 2 hr thigh-deep snow trek.
absolutely breathtaking
on the bridge in TakanosuAnd of course, the 5 of us passed the New Year together, ending
the day at the onsen (hotsprings).
Amy's a punk!grins hffma! :)(on the way to the onsen)
Last night, Amy and Sam took the night bus to Tokyo to catch their flights back to Thailand and the U.S. (Amy met up with Kat in Tokyo, too!). And today, I caught the train back to Akita.
I miss them already!
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