I Will Survive... Sing it!!

It is so weird to look down at my computer and see that it is 1:30am, and you are just starting Tuesday when I am already halfway through the afternoon.

So, since I last wrote, I have done quite a few things. One thing I discovered lately was that you really need to check what you think you're using when you're cooking. How do I know that? Because I used vinegar oil to cook garlic and noodles in. I made a few funny faces while trying a few bites and in went my lunch to the trash can. I ended up having toast.

Since then, I have made some progress in my cooking skills, just so you know.

So, last night, I went to a life group with Amy... actually I met her there-- it was at a McDonalds, since all life groups are done at public places, for all kinds of cultural and practical reasons. It was with a girl named Saki, who is so adorable! We're doing discipleship with her (well, not "we" yet), but the topic of last night was our identity in Christ. It was basically looking up the "I am" and "I have... in Christ" statements... We looked them up and then made up the "I" statement and discussed them.

It was really cool to watch Saki's face at one point when we talked about the verse that says we are God's temple. At first, she didn't understand it and asked if it meant that we have temples inside of us. Then when we explained and used examples, her face really just lit up. It was cool because you could see that it clicked and that she realized that God lived inside of her and that she already has Him, she doesn't have to go to a "place" to find God.

That was probably the best-- watching that moment she understood-- wow! And a big smile came over her face.

Of course, she came to know many other things too, and one that was particularly special to her was If God is for us, who can be against us?-- because at times she felt those pullings of going one way when Jesus was saying to go another way-- and she knows now that no enemy is undefeatable.

Anyway, it was really cool! I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's interesting, because in Mexico and in the States, you had some basis for explaining things to people... they generally have an idea, even if it's skewed. But here, it's like a blank slate-- and so like last night, we explained what redemption meant, and all those kinds of things.

Anyway, today after the prayer breakfast and Fuse team planning meeting, Yuiko took me to register for my Alien Registration card (sounds fun, huh) and health insurance. I think it's a rule that if you're in Japan for more than 3 months that you have to have insurance. So, I have it now, and a nice little card to carry around. In about 3 weeks or so, I'll go for my alien registration card and that'll be the equivalent, I guess, of my Drivers License Identification (only, I can't drive, but I think for identification purposes, it's its equivalent).

So, fun times. I'm learning more every day, exploring more everyday-- oh and did I mention that I found my way all the way to the church today? And that's a good half-hour walk. I also learned how to use the rice maker, whose buttons I completely don't understand. Nonetheless, I have rice, and it's the right consistency. If all else fails, I can survive on rice.

Yeah, that's what I thought too...

A Sunday Edition

So, last night, you may recall that I blogged about taking the storm windows out. Well, apparently I missed one. BUT, what I didn't realize is that they slide into the walls of the house. Think Japanese sliding doors on the inside-- now think windows on the outside.

I got to bed around 11 last night, and at 1am I was suddenly awakened by the huge banging noise again, right. Oh man.... it was sooo loud. The girls said today that it was like typhoon style winds, but it sounded like a hurricane was going on outside or a tornado or something. The wind blew and shook the house and rattled, that storm door tucked into the wall.

Around 3:40, I really couldn't take it anymore, because I'd been awake just praying for it to stop, and I sat up on the other little couch in my room and looked outside and when the wind blew, I saw it rattling. Ahhhh! I've discovered it. So, I opened my window, pulled it out and laid it out. Now, picture this-- me, leaning over a couch, with a huge open window and the wind blowing like crazy, trying to manuever a huge storm window and put it on the ground without making more noise than was necessary.

I shut and locked the window, laid back down and 2 minutes later- was out. Tonight it's quite windy again, but the storm window is already out, and until the wind goes away, I'm not putting them back in!

Today, the missionary girls all met for breakfast at McDonald's (well, we mostly just met for coffee), and a Bible study. We talked about yesterday at the Fuse, and then we read and journalled on a passage, and then shared our perspectives and what God spoke to us. It was cool.

Afterward, Mark met us (Yuiko and I) there, and the girls went home and we stayed and had a chat. They shared their vision and heart and other relevant information for being an effective minister in Japan, including American-ness, and how that can be effective. It was good to sit down with them and chat. I shared a little of my expectations with them, and some short term goals that I had and we came to an agreement as to things to be doing now.

Of course, I'm in a stage right now where it's mostly learning and observing. From what it looks like, I'll get about 5-6 weeks of that (of course, being involved and participating and doing it with them, certainly). After that, I'll be taking over responsibilities that certain of the girls here have had that will be leaving, and it'll be gradual from there. Certain of those things will include like admin stuff, and a life group and various things.

We also talked about some practical stuff and then I made my way home. I made it all the way, by the way, without a cell phone or anything, and it's a walk that has a few turns in it. But it wasn't really that hard. :)

Anyway, the other point of interest for today was a singular accomplishment: I killed my first Japanese bug today. I was laying in bed, and looked up at the wooden border that's about 2 feet from the ceiling and thought, oh my, what is that?!? Then I said, dangit, I'm gonna have to kill you. That's another thing I miss about the States: having 4 other people in the house to kill bugs for me. Granted, I'm adept in the science myself, but whenever possible, I like to have others kill my bugs. Don't be deceived, it doesn't come for any compassionate bone in my body; I just hate bugs.

Japanese Hair

So, today I met this guy, Baki, who, to me, looks like he's 15, right? He's 30.

I also tried to tell this kid Yuto (who actually is 15, and turning 16 next week) that he has cool hair. I made the motion with my hand to describe his hair. We had a bit of a language barrier. He turned to Mark, who was with us, and said, did she just call me crazy?

Apparently, whatever I did made it look like I was calling him crazy.

But he did have cool hair! As as a statement, Japanese guys in general have really cool hair. Kengo, who plays guitar with us, and met Jesus a year ago, has awesome hair! We girls often have the conversation of how he gets it to stand like that.

Anyway, enough of hair. Today was a really long day. I did good sleeping though! We left for Machida, the location of the church plant, in the morning, carrying a few things with us on the train. When we got to the cafe style place (think dimly lit, black walls-coffee house) where the Fuse meeting (the name of the church plant) takes place. We dropped off the stuff, including our coats because it was be-u-ti-ful weather. After praying for a few minutes, we proceeded to walk for 2 hours around the area, handing out flyers, and talking with whomever we could.

Now, there are a lot of people who pass out flyers, and it's crazy how many there are. But- we have good flyers that catch attention, and we aim for college age people (though, like you might have noticed, it's hard to guess age)... anyone who's into music and whoever else. So, we did that and then came back to quickly go over who was doing what (set up, greeting, going to the train station to pass out a few more flyers), etc. etc.

Honestly, I wasn't of much help, because it was my first time and I didn't know what to do or how to do it. But, I observed and chatted as much as I could with some of the people, like Yuto. Oh, and I did go up to the entrance with Tatsu, a college age student who is Japanese but spent quite a bit of time in Hawaii. He speaks good English and taught me a few things like how to say the day before yesterday, yesterday, today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Granted, I learned them a couple of weeks ago, but it was helpful! Mark says he's really good with helping the non-Japanese speakers with their language skills, and he also does translation for various things going on during the meeting.

So, anywho, they had worship which was really, really good-- They play awesome! It was neat to sing the songs both in English and Japanese (though I have to say that I probably know them better in Spanish). But nonetheless, it was cool. After that, Debbie, a young lady who's been here since last May (her fam are missionaries in Brazil), gave the message about perseverance. It was a very good message, and it was relevant to the new believers as well as evangelistic, and it was encouragement even for mature believers. She did an excellent job!

What's cool about the Fuse and the set-up of it is that after the message- we split up into what's called super-small groups. I guess that everyone just makes sure that there's an English and a Japanese speaker and a leader (one of the helpers with the Fuse) in each small group of 4 to 5. We sit down and talk about something relevant to the message and what's practical. For instance, today's message was about perseverance- and today's question kinda was do you have a goal that you're working toward and how can we support you in that?

Of course, that's more of like an ice-breaker, but it gives you a chance to talk about the message and encourage newcomers to fill out the response card (with contact info so we can contact them in the next couple of days). This way, they don't just leave and log that out of their memory. But we have the opportunity to really think about the message, see where they are and what they understand, and then it will stick with them.

It's really cool!

So, in my group were Yuiko (the main leader of the Fuse, with her husband, Mark) and a girl from China named Kin-chan. She's been coming for 4 weeks (and is attending Yuiko's "life group"), and she was encouraged to know that other people go through periods of searching for the purpose of their life. We all prayed together before we left, and I prayed for her that she would find the purpose of her life (obviously, in Christ!), and thank God that we weren't created without purpose. Yuiko also prayed, and then Kin-chan prayed, and it was so cute because I could kinda see that she was wringing her fingers while she prayed. She prayed for me that I'd be able to learn Japanese quickly so that I could communicate with people, and afterward, she told Yuiko that it was the first time she'd ever prayed out loud. Yuiko told me then that I was the first person that she prayed for. I was like, wow!

I hope she will come to a saving knowledge of Christ and a relationship with Him very soon! I'm sure she will.

Anyhow, then we all went out to dinner and chatted around. We had fun coming home, and though it was only 7:15 (granted, we left at 10:30am), it felt like it was 9! I came home to continue the process of unpacking and organizing myself. Now today, it was warm and windy and was blowing things around, right? Well, all of a sudden, it sounds like someone is violently shaking the window right next to where I'm sitting. It certainly startled me. I sent a couple of messages asking people if they knew why this was going on. After a while, I got an answer that it was the storm windows. So, I opened my window took them out and laid them on the ground. Now the wind has settled down, but man, it sounded pretty crazy and rackety.

Alright, that was my today. Here are a few random notes that maybe you'd like to know:

-Tomorrow, apparently the missionary girls get together with Yuiko (who is beautiful, by the way) and have a "life group" (which is like a discipleship group). I love that we all get together a lot, and pray a lot! That's awesome. Afterward, I'll have a meeting with Mark and Yuiko to kinda get more orientated, and I think we'll be talking more about some scheduling and some of the things that I'll be involved in or in charge of. And in the evening is church-- at the Noborito church... it's a bilingual service, and the one that I attended when I visited here the last time.

-I'll meet my English student this Friday, and I think I'll go meet the guy in charge at the YMCA, where I'll be teaching a class starting in a couple of weeks.

-Apparently, this is a really good time that I came. Everyone just left on break for a couple of weeks, so things are kinda calm and relaxed, so I'm not falling right into the middle of things, but I have time to get oriented right before things start to pick up.

-I've been listening a lot, reading everything I can on the signs that I go by, and eavesdropping a lot. I'm always excited when I can piece together what they're saying and answer questions. Granted, I'm far off, but I understand a WHOLE lot more than I did last year and it will come. Even Kin-chan asked Yuiko if I'd studied beforehand because she saw that I was understanding and I'd ask Yuiko if she'd asked such and such before Yuiko translated for me. So, I'm pleased with that, because that is a goal that I'll be working hard toward!

** Note: I'll try not to make these posts so long in the future, but there's a lot to talk about right now! :) Hope you're enjoying!

I have a cell phone and I don't really know how to use it...

Man, it's 9:30pm here and I feel whipped!

But, I did get lots of stuff accomplished today. I woke up and got up for an hour and a half at 6:30... had a good quiet time, checked my mail and went back to bed.... When I got up, I got ready for the day, and also did things like: the dishes! And I explored our kitchen and the things in the small shelves that we have. Of course, I didn't know what most of it was.

In fact, I was looking for sugar to put in my coffee, and I opened one container of sugary like substance, and well... it wasn't it. So I decided: I don't need sugar in this.

Anyway, I also went to the dollar store to get some things I know I'll need around the house and to the grocery store.... Hannah and Amy once again went with me to kinda show me what things I can or should get at what stores. I figured out more of where I was and what I was doing... and even led the way home from the church, which is a 20 minute or so walk.

Got biking practice. Can you believe that? Janine, biking through Tokyo.

Among other cool things, we had Friday evening prayer, where we all gather to pray for the needs of one another and the meeting of the weekend and the various people that we know are close to a decision. That was really cool to join with them in prayer... we all ate dinner together and then they had band practice in the evening for tomorrow. So, I stayed for that and listened in.

Well, it's not much, but I felt like I accomplished a lot today... and realized that in my receipt keeping, I'm going to have a lot to work on! :) Also! I got a cell phone that was another team member's. He went back to the states, so I'm using it now. I feel important... but, I don't know how to use it or who to call or what I'm really supposed to do with it...

I guess that will come later.

Tomorrow is the meeting and a really long day, so I don't know if I'll get to write tomorrow. For tonight, I'm super tired, so I'm going to bed. Catchya later!

Todo, we're not in Kansas anymore...

No indeed.

This has been an interesting last 48 hours. Tuesday morning, at 4:30am, the alarm went off and up I got after having slept about 4 hours. I showered, I did my hair, finished packing and sat down to coffee and the weather forecast... not that it mattered.

At the airport, we sat down to our tradition: coffee at Starbucks. After joking around a little, and hushing my brothers whenever they said anything scandalous that you don't usually like to hear at airports (i.e. bomb), we did the part that I most dreaded: the death march.

That's right. The little stretch of hallway between Starbucks and the security checkpoint. That's where all the teary hugs and the I'll miss you's and take care's and I love you's take place, and it's the one part of the whole process that I dread. If I could leave and not have to do goodbyes in general, this would be an easy thing.

But alas, it is a necessary part of life.

Anyhow, I made it to Dallas with little trip up. I've had times where it's taken me forever to get out of St. Louis and I was concerned about that. But all went smoothly and I was able to grab lunch in the airport before doing a final call to my fam before I boarded my next 13 hour flight.

I counted my good fortune too soon. I was SO close to having an empty seat next to me, but then a lady wanted an aisle seat. So, I got a lady from Bolivia who, by the time the flight had ended, had proposed a trip for me to Bolivia (to work there, of course) and mentioned that her son was very handsome, etc. She was a very nice lady though, and I helped her fill out her customs and immigration forms.

It wasn't my favorite flight. I don't want to sound negative, but for the first 7 hours, the kid behind me kicked and pushed the back of my seat. He was about 7 years old, and you can't really ask a kid to be quiet and still for that many hours. The last few hours I didn't feel too good...had a stopped up nose and was nauseated.

Beware of the chicken served on the airplane, that's all I have to say about it.

So, before I went through immigration, I stopped off at the bathroom where I threw up my last meal. I felt better after that!

Anyhow, no problems going through immigration or customs. I left, exchanged money, with all my luggage. And let me mention, that you have a limit of 2 pieces of 50 lbs. of luggage. I managed to make it to 99.5 lbs. Yes, we did cheer in the airport.

So, exchanged money, bought a bus ticket to Shinyurigaoka, made a phone call letting the people here know what time I'd be here, bought some water and then stacked my 99.5lbs of checked luggage and two carry-ons on either side of me, and I collapsed in a chair, exhausted.

Five minutes later, I grabbed everything and went to go get on the 2.5 hour bus ride.

A number of team members were there to meet me. In fact, when I stood up on the bus to get off, I looked out and saw them out on the sidewalk on the other side of the bus and they started cheering. It made me smile.

I got stopped before stepping off and they took a picture, and we took many pictures and then took the train station to Mukogakoyuen (not that that really matters to you! ;), a few stops later, and someone else met us to take my luggage to my apartment.

At my apartment, four of us stayed: Amy, Hannah and So-chan, my Korean roommate, who is super-sweet. Hannah and So-chan made dinner of Japanese curry rice. It was soooo good.

They stayed and chatted for a while and left after 9pm and I didn't bother unpacking but went to bed around 10.

At 5:30am (Japan time: 3:30pm here), I started waking up and did a quiet time, and went back to bed and eventually got up at 8:30. After somewhat unpacking and getting showered, cleaned up and ready for the day, Amy came and picked me up, and we went to lunch with more members of the group. It was great, and I got to know many of them, and they I better.

Family members were also in town, and they were going to go to various places like the Shinjuku towers and Shibuya (which has the busiest Starbucks in the world), so Amy and I went there, and then by 3:30pm, I was getting a bit tired, so I decided to head back. Amy took me by the 100 yen store (roughly, the dollar store), and I got a few things that I knew I needed and came and unpacked more.

At the risk of telling you all the details, I'll leave you with a few things:

-Today, So-chan boiled a sweet potato (not like the ones in the States, but they taste really similar) and I got a piece for breakfast. I opened the fridge to look for the butter. I paused, looked around and said to myself: I don't know which one's the butter. I closed the door, headed the other way and said, "I don't need butter with this." :)

-After visiting Hannah and Amy's apartment, I came back by myself! It's a 5 minute walk, and really easy, but I was proud of myself for finding my apartment by myself.

-Tomorrow is fasting day until 5pm... So, I don't really have to worry about groceries!

-Other than that, I'm still kind in exploration mode: figuring out what's where, how to accomplish things like getting to the grocery store, where and how to pay bills, how hot water, the stove and the heaters and other things like that work. Oh! And turning things on and off, becuase you know, they don't say on and off like regular appliances that we have (had) in the States do.

Anyhow, I'm going to get going. I hope to blog again tomorrow. Feel free to comment!!

Last Things

Oh my gosh, I'm SOOO tired. It's been a long day... a long few days!

So, tomorrow I'm off. Off to Japan. I'm pretty excited, although to tell the truth it still kinda seems unreal. Today was full of last minute things like a trip to Walmart, laundry and cutting my nails so that they don't get broken, torn, bent or otherwise damaged tomorrow. That ALWAYS happens when I fly, and so I've learned to clip them!

Also today, I re-packed my suitcases. I weighed the one suitcase and it was 62.5 lbs.. and of course, the limit is 50lbs. Unfair, right? I know. So, my ma helped me rearrange items, and all in all, I took out a number of books that I will send over along with some other things that I need to take over, but I just didn't have the room. Oh well.

We had dinner, laughed, joked around, a friend added some fun to my hair. I ended up doing a lot today... but I won't mention them all, I'll just say that I enjoyed mentally crossing yet another thing off my list... all those small nagging things that fly through your mind.

In the last few days, I've made a list of things that I will miss about the States. Yes, family and friends are at the very top, and that goes without saying. So just count yourselves there. Anyhow, that list contained things like: being able to read all the signs, driving, driving with very loud music, a ready supply of Mexican food, stilletos, and shows like The Amazing Race and Project Runway. Target! Oh, I do love Target. Some silly things, but I will miss everyone and many things I leave behind.

Well, I need to get to bed... I'm super tired, and do need to get to sleep before quite a few hours of travelling.

Will write from Japan! Stay in touch!

The Complacency of Fools

Well, I'm sure you have the gist of things in my life: getting ready for Japan (I almost wrote Mexico!) ha. Japan!

It's about 3 weeks to go, and I still have things to figure out... OH! I just realized-- I need to get my tetanus shot. See-- things like that! There are millions of them that pop up in my head and disappear and then reappear in a few days.

So, you get the gist. But I wanted to blog about something that I've been thinking about lately.

Proverbs continually talks about learning from wisdom and getting guidance. Now, I have been very unwise [read: foolish] at many times in my life, and could definitely use some wisdom and guidance so that I don't fall into the same mistakes and can AVOID other ones.

1:32 says, "For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them"

The last part of that verse is particularly what has struck me-- the complacency of fools will destroy them.

It seems like complacency/apathy is a big issue to be dealt with in the States. I hear it a lot from people talking about themselves, about "in general", and from my own personal observation.

Complacency can kill us. Ok, maybe we know that. But what about being called a fool? Ouch. Isn't it true though? Fools are complacent. Fools don't care. Fools are lazy, and often misinformed (or negligent of the real information readily available to them).

Anyway. That verse struck me particularly as I've been thinking about the way I hear the Word.

When I sit down and watch tv, I listen, I pay attention... sometimes, many times, I do other things while watching tv. I laugh. I look up at the serious parts. Suspenseful parts make me tense up and hold my breath.

And then, the show is over. I turn the tv off, get up and go. The show hasn't changed my life. I may have learned a fact I didn't know before, but I'd say 99% of the time, I haven't learned anything that would really change my life or the way that I go about my life.

I'm the same.

Sometimes I feel that way about when I hear a message. I sit back, I listen... oh wow. Oh, that's good. Funny story. Ok, show's over. Get up. Leave.

I've let the relaxed, complacent, apathetic way of watching tv translate into the way that I approach other things in my life.

NO! The Word of God is not like a tv show or a theater production. It has more weight! It has value: "for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young-" (Pr. 1:2-4) It is LIFE... not a production on stage to entertain me.

So, I've been challenging myself to really think on... meditate on... listen to the message, and to make sure that that changes the way I go about my life- and the way that I see things.

I think it's really sad when I can't remember what I heard spoke about on Sunday... when I can't name ONE thing I got out of a particular study.

It's a sign that whatever that particular thing was wasn't THAT important to me.

I'm not saying that I need to memorize the messages or constantly remember what exact thing I got out of what particular message... but I DO want to make sure that I am actively seeking wisdom and guidance out of the Scriptures, and finding something that God is speaking to me out of everything given in a message or passage.

I don't want to read the Word or go to church like I watch tv. I want to be purposeful about going to church and reading the Word!

I don't want to be destroyed by complacency and let laziness and lack of discipline destroy the things God has planned for me.

It's all part of that pursuit that I was talking about. Laziness... apathy... will not get use nearer to the heart of God.

Anyway, I challenge you now! This wasn't just an entertaining blog entry, but did you read it that way? Skimming, "oh that's nice" kinda paying attention... maybe? Ok, not? :) Have you been "watching tv" at church-- not really letting anything sink in... just sitting back relaxed and lazed (if that's a word), like you do on your couch?

Let's pursue God and His heart. Let's draw near to God and have His Word planted in our hearts. Let's meditate it and turn it over in the soil of our hearts so that it will produce fruit in our lives!

___________________

I'm not talking about a "do it yourself"- "work at it" type of approach. The Holy Spirit is the One who will give us insight, open the Scriptures to us, and produce fruit in our lives.

However, if we don't make it a point to prioritize and make it a point the importance of the Word in our life, then we're not giving God an opportunity to work in us, are we?

When we show that we are purposeful, desirous, hungry for learning from God and letting Him work these things into us-- amazing things will happen.

It's not about us working or doing chores. It's about pursuing God and not being a casual/complacent reader/listener. It's the difference between being a spectator and a participator.

Honestly, it's the difference between destruction and life-construction.