Taking It Back...

It's been quite some time since my last blog....not much to say on that. I have been thinking, though, that the intro to my blog talks about how I will be sharing my journey in Japan, and yet I haven't shared how the journey began. So, here it is. This is the story of my call to Japan!

So, I grew up in a Christian family but I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus nor did I pursue it. I lived simply knowing that God was real and I believed in Jesus, but it never went beyond that.

Not to say that God wasn't present because I would encounter Him, but, because I didn't know how to further my relationship, my encounter would simply be an experience that happened with nothing further as follow up.

As I went through high school my interactions with God in an obvious way were limited to camps and summer mission trips, then I would come home and get caught back up in "life" and school and God would seemingly fade into the background.

Starting in middle school I began to have a love of japanese manga and then, through that, I began to fall in love with the culture. It came to a point where I began to have a desire to one day go to Japan.

During all four years of high school I was in a NJROTC program and as I reached the end of senior year I began to think about joining the military. I had no desire to go to college but I did have a strong desire to go to Japan and I thought, through the military, I could definitely get there.

After I graduated high school I began the process of joining the military, all the while aiming for getting to Japan. My hope was to be stationed in Japan however, when I talked to my recruiter she said that the possibility of being stationed in Japan with my job choice was near impossible.

See, I had chosen to become a linguistic and due to that choice the Navy would want me to learn Arabic, Mandarin, and Cantonese, not Japanese. They would also most likely station me in Afghanistan or Iraq, which I had no desire to be in.

I began to wonder about my choice to join the Navy but, seeing no other option, continued the process. A friend of mine had joined the army successfully and I decided to ask him how he came to the decision to join. He told me that he had prayed and asked God and had felt peace about joining.

Encouraged by this I began to pray and ask God if I was supposed to join the Navy. Every time I prayed I felt more and more anxious, peace would not come.

I had been planning on going on one last mission trip before heading out to boot camp and the time for it was drawing close. My recruiter pushed me to complete everything and officially join before heading out for the mission trip but I felt like I was supposed to wait until after. So, I told her as much and headed out to Mexico to a YWAM base.

While I was in Mexico the base had a dedication night where I encountered God again in an amazing way and it set me to thinking. I started to wonder if there was a way to have a lasting encounter, if there was a way to encounter Him not only on mission trips. I wondered if there was more and if there could be more every day, not just once in a while.

I explained this to a YWAM staff on base whom I had been hanging out with while I was there. She thought for a bit and then asked me if I had considered doing a Discipleship Training School. I had heard of it but didn't know much about it and asked for more information.

It had just so happened that they were having a luncheon the next day for volunteer staff explaining DTS should they desire to do one. I was invited to go and I felt that I was supposed to. When I was there I asked them if there was one in Japan and they told me yes and put me into contact with the base leader.

I began praying about DTS and I kept getting an overflowing peace. I informed my recruiter that I would not be joining the Navy and I began applying for DTS in Japan.

In 2010 I went to DTS in Tokyo and fell in love with Japan and its people. I felt at home and knew then that I was going to come back as a missionary.

Then, in 2011, I came back as staff with YWAM Japan and thus began the journey! My encounters with God increased and I avidly pursue relationship with Him.

A blog...three weeks coming

This blog has been in process for almost three weeks! *sigh* It's not that the magical notebook has failed me, but that I have failed it. Ah well, here it is.

So, in my last blog I promised an overview of my last day of the 3 day babysitting adventure. The last day being a Sunday, I got up, got ready, picked up the kidlets, and headed to church! As I did my best to understand the message, (it was all in japanese and korean as we had a korean pastor from Sarang church in Korea visiting, and my pastor was translating the message from korean to japanese.) both girls ate their breakfast. Once the older girl was finished I set up my Asus pad and she watched Curious George until the message was finished.

Once it was finished and everyone began preparing for lunch, as well as lunch itself, the other members began trying to talk to Arianna. She hid behind me for the first 15 minutes until one member caught her attention and she went a played with her (it was funny because she kept trying to get Ari to call her aunty but Ari doesn't understand japanese lol).

Everyone enjoyed having the kids there and the grandpa at my church (we all call him otou-san) especially loved the baby, Meg. He held her as much as he could before he left, it was so cute!

After everything we went back to their house for a nap. Once they woke up we went to a small park where, instead of playing on the swings and slide, Ari proceeded to draw in the dirt with a stick.

She drew a picture of me and her and then an awesome picture of her mom with her hair being blown back by the wind. Personally I think, for a three year old, its a pretty good picture and I quite liked it.

Some other kids came to the park and she played with them for a bit until we left. We went back home and played together until Ari was ready for some mommy/daddy time and Meg for a nap.

Well that about covers the adventures of that day. I'm going to post  second update in a bit to try to encompass the time since then!

Undeniable Faith

I failed to blog the past two days, but that's ok because it's not turning into three days!

My next blog after this will be about the other two days of babysitting those adorable children but right now I want to wrote about something that's been on my heart for quite sometime.

I was cooking dinner, and tomorrow's lunch, (a 2 hour venture) and, while cooking, my mind tends to just take off on various journeys and sometimes I get to go and sometimes I'm just staring at the food blankly as I am preparing it. Today I got to go on the journey and, after many rabbit trails, and random deer ones, I began to travel on a bit of a wider and far more established path.

When walking on this path the dirt does't get kicked up as it is embedded within the cobblestones that make up the path. (I'm getting somewhere with this I promise) Usually when a path is paved it is because it is trod so often that people took the time to pave it for easier use. So, clearly this is a road I often trod in my thoughts.

What is this road? It's the road of finance. I believe many people have this road, some   paved with concrete, some asphalt, others with cobblestones such as myself.

Those that are paved with concrete or asphalt constantly worry about their finances and therefore have chosen the easiest way to make the path traversable because it is one they are constantly going back and forth on.

For those with cobblestone, we worry less and take our time picking our way across the cobblestone. Well, for me at least that's how I feel.

While I was cooking I was thinking about the fundraising letter that I have been working on, which I refer to as my "Introduction Letter". I am currently not meeting my monthly support needs. I am receiving about $600 a month and I need about $1500 and so I have been working on a letter to help me raise more supporters. (On my visa I am not allowed to work and so I live on the support of others)

As I went through my finances of this month and what bit I had left for the next month I realized it wasn't enough. However, I wasn't struck with fear, instead my immediate thought was, "Ok God, I know you got this so, I will do my part and leave the rest up to you."

I have found that, every time I am confronted with my lack of finance, I am filled with this undeniable faith that God will provide. I have seen Him do it again and again and I know He's good for it. He is my father and He wants to take care of me and provide for me that I do not have to worry or fear.

My father (on earth) is a reminder to me of God's faithfulness to us and of His love for us. My dad unconditionally loves his kids, no matter what we've said to him or even whats been done, he love us and wants the best for us. He teaches us and guides us and, even if we reject it he still wants us, he doesn't turn away from us.

This unrelenting love is characteristic of God's and I know that, without a doubt, I do not have to worry for God is with me and is watching over me, just as my dad is. Well, my dad is back in the states but is with me in what he has taught me I now carry (and on the days we skype hehe).

In Matthew chapter 6 verses 25 to 34, it talks about not being anxious and not worrying, for, just as God has dressed the flowers, feeds the birds, and so on, so He will do so for you. So, instead of worrying about these things seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and these things will be added to you.

I feel that my undeniable faith in Him and His provision-whether financial or otherwise-comes from truly understanding and knowing this. I am truly thankful for God's faithfulness and for that of those who stand with me in my calling and support me.

Well, I feel quite satisfied with that and so, I shall say good night and see you tomorrow!

(I have noticed, however, that on the days I write that sort of final line, for whatever reason , it doesn't happen.....mnrrrr. But here's to beating the odds!)
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

To Nap or Not to Nap

So yesterday was day 1 of the three day babysitting adventure!

The girls seemed to have had a lot of fun, but despite all the fun they had when it came time for their naps, they laid in bed and played even more! Even though they were clearly tired they talked to themselves and had a good time. 

As a result however, when we went outside they both started to rub their eyes and the baby fell asleep. Needless to say after we were done eating we headed back to the house where I laid down the baby and put on Curious George for the toddler.

The minute I laid down the baby, she woke up haha! For the next hour after that she played by herself in her crib. Their unflagging energy never fails to amaze me and I am thankful that I am able to keep up! 

I had hoped to take them to the park today but I am currently waiting for the baby to wake up so that we can go!  The toddler is so patient and gladly waits for her sister to wake up so that they can go together! So cute!! 

I'm excited to be able to work with these adorable children both in playtime and in ministry at one point! The little one is waking up so I'm going to go get her ready for the park!

Till later!

Encountering Sleep Unexpectedly

So I didn't blog yesterday...ahahahaha. Well I can make excuses or I can be straight up, let's go for straight up. To be honest, I had nothing to blog about. I suppose I could have blogged that I made it safely back to Tokyo...but that's about it.

Even now I'm not entirely sure what to blog about, so I guess I'll talk about yesterday and what I'm looking forward to today.

Yesterday I managed to stay awake until about 1:00pm. I curled up in front of my heater and, next thing I knew, I was waking up at 6:00pm. I had no plans to sleep like that, it just happened!

I went next door to the other apartment (the girls at base live in two different apartments right next to each other) and ended up getting dinner cooked for me by my lovely coworker Rachel!  It was tasty and definitely the highlight of my day.

Then I managed to stay awake until about midnight and then I went to bed. I got up at 6:00 this morning and headed out to my friends place where I will be babysitting to wonderful kidlets for the next 3 days! I will, hopefully, blog again tonight about our day and maybe even have some pictures of the kids!

Well, for now that's it and there's a little girl waiting for me to play with her, she said she's "taking me to her castle" lol! So cute!!!

The Things That Children Do

Hello all! I am currently on a 10 hour bus to Tokyo from Osaka! But, because I missed blogging yesterday, I will be blogging about yesterday tonight, in the morning I will blog about today, and tomorrow night I will blog about tomorrow, yes.

So, yesterday the reason I missed blogging was because I moved from Ashiya -where I had gone to work for a week at a preschool there-back to Izumi, where I had worked previously for two weeks at their preschool.

Why did I do that? Because it made it easier in order to get assistance in getting to my bus, the very one I am sitting on.

So, what I wanted to share about yesterday is actually really cool. Yesterday morning I was playing duck duck goose with the kids, while I was being chased I slipped and fell on the wooden floor. About ten minutes after said fall I started having quite a bit of back pain and I started feeling queasy.

I posted about my back hurting on facebook but didn't mention it to the kids or teachers. During morning circle the teacher leading the circle had the kids pray for me as it was my last day there. A few of the kids took turns and each prayed for me, in japanese of course.

One of the kids prayed specifically that my body would be healthy. Around 15 minutes after that my back stopped hurting and the queasiness went away! How cool is that. God healed me through the child! I love it!

So that's the cool thing I wanted to share. Till morning!

An Overflowing of God's Love

   So today at the preschool I read the book "You Are Special", which I like to refer to as Punchinello, to the kids. I know the story as I have read it before and even had to do a mime drama to the japanese reading of the story. However, as I was reading the part where Eli and Punchinello are talking and Punchinello asks Eli why he cared so much about him, I lost it a bit. The truth and powerful love behind Eli's reponse touched my heart and I could feel God's love for people, no matter who they are or what they look like, overflowing. When Punchinello asks why, Eli responds with, "Because you are mine." Just thinking about it I am astounded and moved by it again.

   God loves each and every one of us and many people, much like Punchinello, don't realize this and they let the labels and judgments that this world places on them determine their worth. But, as it states in the book as well as the bible, God (Eli in the book) created each of us, and he created us the way we are on purpose. He has loved us since before we were born and rejoices over each of us in our birth.

   It's hard, when cruel things are said to you or when people make judgments about you, but above all that God loves us. The only words that should truly matter to us are the ones that come from him. Jesus is the judge, not man, and he paid the price that we may know our Father intimately and that such things can be cast behind us.

   My thoughts dance with the truth that, if these children can truly understand how special they each are and readily accept the love of God and what he thinks about them, that will be so much weight that will never be put on their shoulders because the judgments of this world will not stick to them.

   Wah, to be able to express all that makes my heart happy! Watashi no kokoro wa ureshii, hontoni ureshii desu! I want to see it. A world changed by children who carry this, who share this and love on others regardless. I want to see kids doing what they are called to do and not having to wait until they're "old enough" to do it.

1 Timothy 4:12
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."

   This is the truth that I want to empower children with. I want to see them moving in healing, prophecy, and in reaching to others. I am excited for this and I know God is going to do absolutely amazing things.