A Life Update

I knew that it had been a while since I posted a blog entry, but I was stunned when I realized the last date that I posted. It was not my intention to disappear. In the summer of 2022, the Lord allowed me to visit the states to be present for the birth of our second grandchild. I was so happy to be there for that happy event. Since I was making the trip, I decided to come back a couple of weeks early so that I could spend Father’s Day with my dad. Living in Japan, there are few of those days together and I felt impressed to try to make that happen.

I returned to Japan and less than one month later I received a phone call. It was one of those phone calls that no one wants to get. My father was experiencing back pain for months. It’s a very long story, but needless to say, nothing helped and the pain only increased. It had become intolerable. He finally asked his doctor to admit him to the hospital to find out what was causing the pain. He received the diagnosis of stage 4 cancer that had metastasized to his bones. I returned to the states shortly after receiving that phone call to help my brother with his care.

In the meantime, my husband’s father (in Japan) took a fall in January that landed him in the hospital. He has been hospitalized for five weeks and we aren’t sure when he may be discharged. He is not allowed any visitors due to covid. He and my mother-in-law talk on the phone daily. So my husband is in Japan helping with his parents’ care and I am in the states helping with my father.

We have had many needs in our small church in Japan. In some regards, I feel like we are being hit from every side. But God…He is my strength and my song!!  I’ve seen Him work in so many ways. Maybe in the days ahead, I will be able to share some of those things. I’ve been trying to keep a journal and a “thank you” list of all the things God has done during this time.

I usually post about my one word at the beginning of January. I usually know what my one word for the next year will be in the fall. This year I had no clue. I started praying about it and through a series of events, the Lord impressed the word JOY on my heart. I will be sharing a little about that in the days ahead. 

Thank you for your prayers on the behalf of our family. They mean more than we can say!

 

Reflections

Last week was a national holiday here. Golden Week occurs from the end of April through the first few days of May and is a week that has four national holidays.  Many people travel during this time.  We took the time to escape from the big city and visit my husband’s parents in the countryside. I love spending time here. I enjoy the fellowship with family. I also enjoy the slower pace and the long walks along the river and the rice fields.  At this time of year, the farmers are flooding the rice fields and beginning to plant. I never get tired of seeing the reflections in the water.  The view depends on the time of day. Sometimes you can see the mountains reflected and other times you can see the buildings that are in the area.

As I was walking and thinking about all I was seeing, I began to think about other types of reflections.  The most important reflection would be what I know and meditate on about my God.

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
~A. W. Tozer

In the comments of a post by Whitney, she mentioned keeping a list of what she learns about God from her daily Bible time on her phone.  I’m a notebook and paper kind of girl, but I don’t always have a notebook with me.  I do find myself using my phone for things more often than not. So I started a note in my app on my phone called “One Thing” based on Psalm 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.”

When I was a much younger woman, I remember that an assistant pastor at our church encouraged us to get one thought from the Word each day.  I have tried to maintain this habit for years, but I don’t always write it down. If I do, I might write it on the page for the day in my bullet journal.  I liked the idea of having it in one place on my phone so that I can see it any time I want.  I have found myself reviewing my “one thing” while waiting in line or sitting in the car. These are times when I would not have my notebook with me.

In closing, I would like to share one of my recent entries.  Maybe you’d like to share one of your thoughts from the Word in the comments.  I’d love to hear from you.

“ For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” ~Hebrews 4:12

“…make those verses our own through faith and obedience. For a stronger faith, focus your mental energy on the verses God gives you. That’s the best exercise of the soul. Where there is a command, obey it. Where there is a prayer, offer it. Where there is a truth, believe it. Where there is a message, repeat it. Where there is a promise, claim it by faith.” ~Robert Morgan, author of Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation.

Think Bible!

Think Bible! is a blog/website that encourages you to do just what the title says, Think Bible!  Many ladies contribute to this blog and there is much there to ponder. There is something for everyone!  A recent post by a friend was a great encouragement to me in the area of rehearsing God’s Word instead my problems.

I feel privileged to be one of the contributors.  You can read my post on Adjusting to  Life on the Mission Field here.  If you are a long-time reader of this blog, you may have already read this.  Maybe a review will be an encouragement to you.  It was good for me to take the time to review the truths in that post!

An Update and A New Bible Memory Project

I have safely returned to Japan.  There were a lot of requirements, but I was able to meet them all.  I thank the Lord that the final step of another cov1d* test upon landing was negative.  I was permitted to go home for my 14 day quarantine.  I couldn’t use public transportation or take a domestic flight, so my husband picked me up in Tokyo and we made the 5 hour trip home.  It was a long trip with little sleep.  One of the blessings of a quarantine is that I can catch up one some much needed rest…maybe!  HA!  I tend to try to play catch up on things, but I am trying to slow down a little.

My daughter has fully recovered from her surgery and we are amazed at what God has done.  Thank you to those who prayed!

This is also a good time for me to start a new memory project.  I was praying about what that should be when my favorite online memory group announced their latest project.  If you are interested in participating, please click on the button below.  As a disclaimer:  I do not participate in Lent, but there is value in memorizing Scripture.  I hope you will join us!

*This misspelling is deliberate. I have been flagged on other sites when I use that word, so I am trying to avoid that. I also don’t want that little pop-up that often arises when that word is used.  Thank you for your understanding.

A Cultural Moment

Context can be everything. Even though we have lived in Japan for many years, we still think and act instinctively like a westerner.

My husband and I had lunch at a favorite lunch buffet recently. He came back to our table with some fish and commented that they had avocado for the fish and how unusual that was.  I was so excited!! He got some for me too. I slathered it all over my fish as he took the first bite. I am so glad that he took that first bite. Turns out it was wasabi!  The heat from wasabi can make you feel like your face is coming off. The only good thing about it is that the heat doesn’t last like it does when eating hot peppers. We should have known that it was wasabi.  After all, we were in Japan and when did we ever see them serve avocado with fish? I’m sure that when we see what looks like avocado in the future, we will be more apprehensive.  

P.S.  Wasabi is good in moderation swirled in soy sauce, especially with sushi.  

A Cultural Moment

Japan is  well-known for their high-tech toilets.  This latest invention takes it to a whole new level.

This Month on Instagram

I have joined the #happyhomemaker2020 challenge on Instagram this month. I am sharing some things about my home in Japan. I thought this might interest some of you here. My Instagram account is public. If you are interested, scroll down on my sidebar until you see the Instagram widget. You can click on any photo and it should take you to my account. Enjoy!

Stranded at World’s End

“How wonderful to find Him always there, when we have unexpected need of Him! That living touch with Him is so precious; it makes Him so real; it obliterates the line between the earthly and heavenly; it is so humbling to find Him waiting there.”

“There are many apparently needless trials in life, but the Lord stands with us through all of them.  ‘May you lose nothing in the furnace but your dross,’ said Samuel Rutherford.  The Lord will preserve everything else for us.”

“Stranded at world’s end?  Maybe. But if we lean back we will find ourselves on the bosom of Christ—sweet, familiar place.

Sometimes on the Rock I tremble,
Faint of heart and weak of knee;
But the steadfast Rock of Ages
Never trembles under me!”

~from pages 78-80 of In the Arena by Isobel Kuhn

Staying at Home

It seems the whole world is under a “stay at home” order.  Ours started the second day after my return to Japan.  It’s been almost 2 months…Just like everyone, I have lots of projects that I want to get finished.  I’ve been doing some serious spring cleaning.  I didn’t really do it last year since we were leaving for furlough and my home was in need of some TLC.  Even though others may not notice, I do and it makes me feel so good to have it done.

Another project that I’ve been wanting to get done was painting our guest room.  The walls were a dark blue.  This was my youngest son’s room in a previous life.  He had a blue camo theme going on. I lived with it for almost 8 years after his departure to college.  It felt so dark.  I wanted to brighten it up a little.  This week, I finally got it done and it.feels.so.good!  I also painted the back door of the church and our house since I had the mess out.  I didn’t want to put it all away just to get it out again.

Here is a short video I made of this project.  I hope you enjoy.

Our Church, Pt. 2

On the last post, I had some questions asked in the comments. Rather than answer them in the comments, I thought I would take the time to answer them in a new post.

We do not own our building.  The church pays rent.  There is also a house on the property that we live in and pay rent to the church.  It is beneficial to both of us.  They could not maintain the property financially without our rent.  We could never rent anything similar to this house for the rent we pay the church.  If the day comes that we have to move, unless the Lord performs a miracle, we will most likely be living in an apartment.

We have been posting our services live recently.  Japan is on a little different schedule than other parts of the world with the virus.  We have had two Sundays so far with no attendees and will most likely have at least two more.  After that, we don’t know.  My husband uses his iPhone and Facebook to post the messages live.  He then downloads them and posts them on his YouTube channel.  We have high speed internet service, so that is not an issue for us.  One problem we do have is that some of our people do not have internet and are limited in data use on their phone, so they can’t tune in.

Our Japanese Sunday School and worship service is in the AM and the English ones are in the afternoon.  We are currently doing both services live.  We are not doing Sunday School.  Our English service attendees are people living in Japan from many countries around the world.  The common language is English.  Currently, we have attendees from the Philippines, Jamaica, the USA, India, and Vietnam.  When we aren’t social-distancing, every 4th Sunday is a combined bilingual service followed by a pot luck meal.

The church has a small apartment on the second floor that was built for a national pastor.  We currently use it as a guest apartment.  We often have visitors from supporting churches or other missionaries, so it is very nice for us to have this available.

We also have a nice size backyard.  Most people in Japan do not have yards since the houses are so close together.  I am especially grateful for this as I love to be outdoors playing in the dirt.  When I took our last child to college, my husband built a large deck across the back of the house.  It was a wonderful surprise!!!  I love sitting out there and we use it often for fellowships and pot luck Sundays.

Thank you for your interest in the facilities the Lord has provided for us.  We are grateful.  We would love to be able to buy this property, but at least we have a 30 year lease.  When we checked into the possibility of buying it several years ago, we found out the value was 1.5 million.  We won’t be buying it anytime soon!

 

Picture 1-This cross is on the top of our church building.
Picture 2-This is a picture of our deck shortly after it was built!
My hubby did a great job!!