WHAT'S THIS, WHAT'S THIS?

I couldn't believe it. I saw 3, 4...no, maybe 5 or 6 turtle "snorkels" break the surface of the water near the "Irrigation Ditch". That's the dingy, low corner of the pond where living things usually don't swim, but here were half a dozen turtles! It seemed they'd gotten wind of sketches being made here, and they "wanted a piece of the action."

Too often I pray and ask God to come bless what I'm doing. I should just find out what He's blessing and go join Him there--even if it's a ditch.

But God...I don't wanna go there...!

UPSIDE DOWN

Well, I'd sketched them swimming in the creek/pond, relaxing in the sun/on the boulders, foraging in the ground, standing on one leg...when a mallard came to the edge of the pond seeming to ask to be drawn again, I wondered how I could draw them this time? But when he went back to his buddy and the two began looking for bugs on the pond floor, they gave me the pose I needed. I took this photo then drew the picture later.

Yeah, God wants us to gain perspective, but to get it to us, sometimes He needs to put us--not just the mallards--in topsy-turvy situations!

WISHBONE

When I got to the Irrigation Ditch today, I found Bilbo holding onto a branch shaped like a wishbone, a hatchling swimming in the water next to him. I know Bilbo just posed for a sketch, but if he were human and knew what wishbones were, would he have wished for a new shell that would grow with the rest of his body?

Maybe animals don't expend energy wishing; they just go about getting the day's necessary food and shelter.

"You don't know what tomorrow holds," we're told in James 4:14. Maybe, instead of wishing for things; we'd be better off ascertaining eternal food and shelter today.

Please pray my cousins, at their father's funeral today, would do so.

Disappointed? They'll be Happy!

The neck was too thick, the tail much too long, the iridescence wasn't showing...the pigeons are actually beautiful--what was wrong with me...why couldn't I get it right...why was it looking like this?!...I wanted to throw away my drawing.

"Just finish it. I can talk to them," the Lord whispered to me. "I'm sure they'll be perfectly pleased to know there's an artist who cries not to be able to portray them as beautiful as they deserve, June."

I added the little yellow butterfly I'd seen flying around the pigeon and showed her the drawing the next time I went to the park, hoping she wasn't too disappointed with it. Actually, I hope it was the same bird.

When it Rains, do I remember the Rainbow?

Several years ago, in preparation for the spring festival, the carp I'd become friends with were removed to clean the pond. I thought they'd be returned after the water was cleaned, but they weren't.

Most people might say, "They're just fish. Get over it."

Families filled the park on spring break; food was vended; there was traditional garb; and music and aromas filled the air...but I remember feeling lonely because the crystal pond looked empty without carp, couldn't feel festive no matter how hard I tried. Even the fountain seemed to try to cheer me up by teaming up with the sunlight and forming a rainbow, and I tried to smile then.

Things worked backwards--the rain came afterwards, not before, the rainbow.

And 27 carp swam up the narrow creek from Deeper Pond, on the other side of the park, to the shallower Duck Pond, where I thought I'd never see a carp again. Dent, the carp in today's picture, was one of those 27 carp. It's a long story of how Dent and several other carp were caught and taken back to Deeper Pond, where she now swims.

I wonder if Dent remembers, whenever it rains, the time she came to Duck Pond, or if she's forgotten it already. Carp have a much shorter memory span than humans. But we don't have much of an excuse. I know I tend to think about my problems all the time but forget about the blessings. And I'm not a carp.

BREEZY DANDELIONS

Recently, I've been on a dandelion coffee kick. Apparently, it has no caffeine; it's supposed to help you lose weight; and among many health benefits, I think improved eyesight is one.

I always have to be careful about what I drink with my medicine, so finding something completely caffeine-free is a relief. And anyone in their 60's or more would smile at anything that's good for sight or hearing, I think.

I'm not sure I'd reach for something that offered longer life, tho'. I used to think I would. But I thought about it. That would just mean I'd be kept out of heaven that much longer, wouldn't it?

Anyway, today, I thought I'd post a drawing of the dandelion I've grown fond of. A ladybug would've added a nice touch of red to the picture, but I think it held onto the stem of one of the cottony things when a strong gust came and went hanggliding away, so all you have are the flowers.

I received word Uncle Seiko went to be with the Lord, and his funeral will be Friday. The family has requested the church to have a Christian funeral for him. Please continue to pray his 3 children get saved even after their parents are gone.

DIDN'T HAVE TO; JUST DID

It was a red light anyway. I stopped, turned around and saw growing on the ground behind me something that wouldn't have arrested my attention any other day. But at that moment...

I had been down to my sister's in Okinawa just after my stepmother's passing away. Both mothers are gone now, I had been thinking, and had decided to take a walk that morning, when those orange nasturtiums seemed to smile, "Remember?"

I did. Mommy had orange nasturtiums crawling all over the rock garden of our Ojana yard. 

It's not just Red Lights God sends, sometimes  happy little reminders like this. He doesn't have to; He just does. He is so kind.

The Mukudori Looked Heavenward

Saturday afternoon, it was the trill of the tiny Shijukara (Japanese Finch) that called me to the hill at Far End. But while looking around for the background, context in which to draw the bird--who kept hopping from one tree to another--I saw the gutsy Mukudori (Starling), ambling toward a tree and looking up towards the top of it. The greenery at the foot of the tree, the black and white of the bird, the rough brown trunk, the paralell shapes of the bird and the tree trunk...before I knew it, I found myself whipping out my memo pad and sketch brush and quickly scrawling outlines of what I wanted to draw.

What I've taught myself to do is to make really lousy sketches at first, mostly drawing things I have to remember about the living thing, which I know will probably take off in a few seconds. If somebody looked at my drawing then, they'd think elementary kids could draw better, and feel sorry for me but leave me alone because I'm not hurting anybody.

That's probably why most artists don't want people looking at their work until they're done; a lot of their things look ugly halfway through. That's the way it is with children of God, isn't it? Until Glorification, some of our hearts look kinda ugly, like elementary kids tried to draw us.

Today's drawing one won, hands down...wings down?

I gotta say, I wasn't sure about showing the drawing I did yesterday of the crow because I'd posted the black butterfly right before it. But after I colored in today's drawing, I want to post it--what do you think?

I like crows, but the picture of a crow preening, you can't really tell it's a bird, can you? I showed the picture to my husband and asked, "Can you tell what it is?" 

He stared hard and said, "Bird, right?" but I think that had to be an educated guess; there are few other living things on tree branches...that is, there are no monkeys at the park.

Here is today's drawing. Someone left a tan collapsible umbrella on the boulder, and with the blooms of bougainvillea behind it and the backdrop greenery, it was too pretty not to sketch--even if the crow didn't hang around to help with the composition.

Speaking of which--I tried to have 3 focal points of interest. 1: the crow; 2: the umbrella, and 3: the bougainvillea bush.

When I was leaving, an egret came, so I drew him in too. (Can you see him in the top left corner?) Some say that will throw off the composition number, so I added a branch of bigger leaves at the top center of the drawing to help them feel better.

I'm glad, relieved, and amazed that my Father sees me as endearingly beautiful no matter how I'm put together...but at the same time always knows how to make me better too.

FLUTTERING ABOVE THE CREEK

I remember reading how King David heard sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees and took it as a signal to go out to battle.

Well, I never do anything big like that. I see movement on the top of reeds and know there's a bird or dragonfly there! Or I see irregular ripples in the brook and know there's either a carp or turtle underneath. (There used to be lots of crayfish too, but not anymore.)

The other day, I sensed fluttering above the creek and stopped dead in my tracks, stared hard. Could it be? Yes, the black butterfly that rarely holds still long enough for a photo seemed to be settling down at a place I call Corner Cove.

"Oh please don't run away," I found myself thinking; "Can I draw you? Please?" It looked so pretty on that island of green grass and tan soil. Sometimes I wonder if these living things purposely move around in places they know make them look beautiful--then I realize that's the way much of wildlife was made: beautiful. I just wish I could draw it that way. I was glad and grateful the butterfly would hold still to let me sketch it--probably stayed there for half an hour--when those things usually do not stay in one place longer than several seconds at a time.

David was a STRONG warrior who could fight and win battles, but my Heavenly Father sees--and blesses--weaker souls like me who need even butterflies to hold still for them.

Out of touch with reality?

This is something I drew from a photograph taken the day after the 2011 Quake, when my son was still a teenager.

The day before, Kinya had gone to the stores and bought a lot of things he found on sale. Little did we know that when the quake hit, there would be a mad rush for the stores, when all the food would disappear from the shelves...but we had bought surplus, cheaply, the day before! Keima's classmate had come back from going to a store across the street--you had to stand in line a long time to get just one thing then--to find him playing soccer with some neighborhood kids in our parking lot, (because we didn't have to go to the store!) When he saw I'd taken a photo, he said wryly the pic should be titled, "Kids don't know what reality is."

He was thinking it was adults who knew earthquake reality meant you got fatigued, shouldn't be smiling anymore. I thought, if you're in touch with the One Who controls reality such He gets you goods the day before so you have time to play soccer, doesn't that mean you're doing a little better with this reality business, maybe?

I sent this picture to Keima last week.

My heart wasn't all there, I guess

Sigh. I don't know how many times I've gone back, but it seems the other turtles, jealous of Bilbo getting so much attention, kicked him back to the upper pond area. So earlier in the month, I went to the place where it's a bit darker, narrower, and probably before may not have seemed a fun place to swim...but where I knew I could find Bilbo to sketch him.

But two other big turtles were there instead. And although turtles are suspicious of people they meet for the first time, these did not run away when they saw me. It was as if they wanted me to sketch them!

So I did. But the entire time, I was wondering where Bilbo was, and my heart wasn't completely in the making of the picture. Poor turtles. One of them, I realized later, didn't get the ends of his front feet drawn. June!

I know when the kids were little, there were days I was told to go off and enjoy myself away from the family. But the entire time, I was thinking about my children, and I could not enjoy my time away from them with my whole heart. Most mothers know what I'm talking about.

It boggles my mind to think God makes Himself like that for me--He wants to be with me! Do I want to be with Him?

THAT WAS A MISQUOTE!

April 9, 2023. The sound of heavy impact in the stairwell behind him made Takuya freeze. He turned to see his father's form lying in a massive pool of blood oozing from the back of his head and found himself thinking: "This could be it for Dad."

But after many prayers, ambulance ride, emergency workers' diligent expertise, and 7 stitches later, it seemed Takuya's father was already beginning to be cautioned from doing too much all at once.

Okay; that picture's not really the kind of "stitches" in the story. But I didn't know how to draw it, okay? This is a picture of me working on a pair of my own pair of slacks, not a medical worker patching up anybody's skin.

After all, it had been that morning, he preached for the Japanese department, and because of years of pastoring in Chicago, he had bilingual ability, so he was supposed to preach to the English department the following week. Taku helped lead singing there so was showing his dad the room when he had that nasty fall.

April 16, 2023. "But God might be a liar," a little demon voice whispered into Takuya's ear. Doesn't it say in the Bible 'I will give my angels charge over you, They will bear you up in their hands, to keep you lest you dash your foot against a stone...."

"Stop right there." Takuya said, shaking his head, as if he were whipping germs out of his hair; "I hear you. But that's a misquote the devil tried on Jesus in the wilderness."

"Misquote?"

"Yeah. It should be 'to keep you in all your ways', but you left out those words. God didn't promise we wouldn't fall and hit our foot on a stone, but that even when we did--in ALL our ways--He'd protect us in it.

So God doesn't say we'll never lose our jobs, but He'll make sure even if we do, we'll be able to take care of our families in it.

There was a missionary who really prayed about it, but for the sake of His testimony, had to walk on hot coals. Of course, his feet were badly burned. God doesn't always promise there won't be burning. But the burns healed so quickly and perfectly, everyone around was amazed. 

And that man's willingness to be burned for his Master plus a Living God Who would so mightily care for His loyal servant resulted in masses of converts--even those who actually persecuted him at first believed....

Dad, what are you doing up? You felt like getting next month's message ready? Mom, get him back in bed!" (She comes rushing in, And talking, the two leave the room.)

The field flowers, insects, birds--all heard from their ancestors what happened during that Encounter in the Desert, and were almost screaming today, "Wilderness Temptation again! Misquote! Misquote!" That's okay, fellers; Taku knows.

There are WORDS to that?

Saturday (Friday in the U.S.), in a funeral for a person who had served 22 years in the U.S. Air Force, "Taps" was played. Several servicemen came to do the flag-folding ceremony for the bereaved wife. Some people know there are lyrics to "Taps" and are familiar with the first few lines--"Day is done, Gone the sun"--but do they know the stanza ends: "God is nigh"?

For that matter, how many people have heard stanzas 2 and 3 of "Taps"? I just found out about them this year!

2. Fading light dims the sight /And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright /From afar, drawing near /Falls the night.

3. Thanks & praise for our days /'Neath the sun, 'neath the stars, 'neath the sky /As we go, this we know: / God is nigh.

When all other lights go out, an eternal STAR shines bright--what sure hope there is for the soul to whom God is nigh!

JERUSALEM DONKEY PLATES

I see my front teeth in the mirror and think about how that little Jerusalem donkey must've felt....

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

I wonder if Jesus walked up to that mule's mother and told it to give up its foal to Him because He was the Son of God, and it was the privilege of any animal to let Him ride it. And the poor little colt, shivering, was approached by its mother. Be strong. This is a duty. And a privilege. No, no, no; a thousand times no! My Savior wouldn't have done it that way.

Wouldn't Jesus have smiled at the tiny squirt and even pet it a little, saying in a gentle voice, "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, really.

Will you let me ride on your back a little bit? Please? That would mean so much to me. I'm sorry for springing something on you all of a sudden like this. I know it's not natural to put burdens back there, and you haven't ever done that before, not since the day you came out of your mother's womb! 

If you're not sure, I'll ask around for someone else who might be able to help until you think you can, 'cuz...what, you can and you will?! You sure? Thank you!"

The day of the Trumphal Entry. I picture Jesus leaning down to that little donkey, reminding him, "I need you today! You can't know how grateful I am you're doing this for me! I wish I could repay you." And the little guy, snorting out feelings of pride and happiness mixed with love, found himself determined not to wobble as he walked that day!

The village children were amazed. Yes, it was the  timid little fry that brayed all the time but turned tails and ran if you even touched its back. It looked like the one that had been bullied by the bigger ones so was too scared to come out with the others anymore. But it was letting Jesus ride it! What had Jesus done?

There were hurt people too timid to come out into normal life. Could Jesus do something for them too?

"Hosanna!" (That means "Save us!") It started out with one youth's cry. An echo sounded. Soon, the donkey heard it from a gravelly alley, from the steps winding down the middle of Jerusalem, and soon it seemed lampposts were lighting up and waving palm branches and crying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!"

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Hm; mebbe I oughta wear these teeth with pride, like a license plate proclaiming: "the King rides here."

No Problem Telling Them Apart

Am I silly, or what? On a page listing critters I'd seen that day was my finished drawing of one of the birds, colored and everything--but when I looked online at a photo of that bird, I realized I got the color wrong, and I'd missed the distinguishing mark on the cheek--I needed to draw it in!

But as I was doing so, God nudged me and said, "June, you saw that bird at Step Creek. Your picture here is of a bird you photographed at Lower Bridge, clear on the other side of the park--how do you know it was the same bird?" True. It made sense that the bird would be the dusky thrush, at Lower Bridge to begin with, and she was brown, didn't have those cheek marks! Of course.

Sorry Dusky. I just about changed your brown to gray; gave you an afro and side burns; changed your name to "Hero"! (All those things would've happened if it were a Hiyo-tori, not a Tsugumi, or Dusky Thrush.)

Aren't you glad God keeps our identities straight--even little fowl of the air? What a God. What a great, compassionate God!

YESSS!

"I got a call from Masako today, and she said the hospital told them that Seiko is doing better!  They were actually able to take him off oxygen today!"

The above was part of an e-mail that came a few minutes ago. Uncle Seiko isn't out of the woods yet, but his 3 children may have been given a little more breathing space in which to think about their relationship to God. Please be praying with us they use this time to find the Lord.

I found another cartoon drawing from last year. When I first went to the park, God sent me what I consider park "Guardian Angels" first in Sarah Fin the carp, then in Coffee the crow, and then in Quasi the turtle.

I happened to sketch them together here, altho' none of them have been around for awhile now. Actually, they didn't all happen at the same time. When one left, God sent the next. So this picture is completely from imagination.

God can send critters to a pond or breath to the lungs--our God is gentle and great--and He answers prayer. How good it is to be His own. If only all of us could know Him as Father!

THREE MORE

Do you remember "Seiko & Six Cousins", the Feb. 24 post? At that time only 3 of the cousins--myself and my 2 sisters--knew the Lord Jesus, and we were praying the other 3 find His salvation. Will you pray fervently with us? Uncle Seiko, 101 years old, was hospitalized this past weekend, and the doctors are saying he doesn't have very long left.

I am sure he--and his wife, who knew the Lord Jesus also--want to live with their children in Glory. Would you pray with us that they not have to go alone?

My sister Joyce, who needed a haircut before leaving for her stateside furlough, used the opportunity to go to the hair salon of one of the girls, Masako, and have a good talk with her. It seems because of the years of seedsowing of her childhood years, she has a basic understanding of the person of God and actually prays to Him from time to time.

The three have gotten so far away from the sound of the Word tho'.

The apostle Paul said to Festus he wished that he were not "almost" but "altogether" like himself, except for his chains, that is. I so understood how he felt when he said that. I wished Masako didn't just pray somewhat to God but altogether entrusted her eternal soul to a living, loving God Who would care for her for eternity--for her and for her siblings too.

I finished coloring in 3 more pictures this weekend--don't you think it would be so much easier for God to work in the hearts of Masako, Mori, and Chieko; than it was for me to color in pictures of Eida, Peter, & Alabaster? Oh God, manifest to us your merciful redeeming power!

Jusy Tagging Along

I almost forgot.

The first Sunday my sisters and I were in Okinawa--Jan.29--we pinch hit for the special music. She notified Joyce that week she wasn't feeling well, so we decided to do a trio we used to sing together years ago: "All That Thrills My Soul Is Jesus"; do you know it?

Joyce, the pianist, you may remember from the Nov.30,2022 post, was a blue medalist in a university voice competition; Janice teaches piano in the U.S. Me? I sound nice when I tag along with the alto part.

Kinda like genuine Christian living. God sends ALL the grace, but His children get to ride on His coattails, beam, and pretend like we deserve some kind of credit.

The Painting Contest Theme was "Peace"

The prize for runner-up went to a painting of an idyllic spring pasture, where you could almost feel the velvety breeze floating over the scene and sunbeams danced off pastel flower petals and glinted over chirping birds chatting over their reflections in the brook. The theme for the art contest was "peace". Of course that picture would've been given a high rating.

...but if that was "runner-up", what was the winning painting like?

It was a black, violent, stormy scene, in which a wave crashed against the cliff, sending spray all over. But if you looked carefully, you could see on those rocks was a branch with a nest, and on that nest was highlighted a still bird...that depicted a peace that nothing could shake, the judges decided.

Yesterday was Resurrection Sunday, when we celebrate the true life we have in Christ. People have the wrong idea of "life". Many think it's doing a lot of work, being successful, having a lot of friends; so the "Christianized" version of that might be being involved in a lot of ministries, having a lot of Christian friends or maybe going to church. That's more like the spring cherry blossom blizzards I see in Japan now. They are pretty, no doubt about it.

But when God takes everything else away--natural man would call that "he has no life"--and puts children of God in isolation, but they learn to find peace and life in His Love alone, maybe there are actual snow blizzards--I remember seeing the real, "sticking kind" of snowfall in April up in Koriyama once, and the sakura blossoms were so shocked they all fell from the trees. But sometimes from deep within the ground, we can see surprising blossoms fight their way up. Here's a drawing of a rose in the snow. It was drawn from a photograph, not imagination, so it really does happen. No, it wasn't that same year.

NO COMPARISON

 

When I first got over my COVID in Jan., I came back to the park and sketched in black and white. I began using colored pencil on them a few weeks ago. This is the way 3 of them look now.

  

I'm glad God promises to take me after I fall and fix me up as much as He wants for His purposes, if I'll let Him and not try to do it myself. I know, I know--no comparing my sorry art with what He does; I was just making a "happy realization" comment, okay?

TWO CHIPPER TREETOP CHIRPERS

You know the little birds" whose singing got drowned out in the April 2 post "That Singing's So Pretty"? Well, they're Japanese Finches, a little smaller than sparrows. I noticed and drew those playful little birds 2 years ago. Here are two of them.

"They looked to me like little round circles or dots with long tails, skipping on treetops. I used to call them "Noteys" until I went home and looked them up online to find out they were called Finches.

I don't think birds ever hang upside down on branches, even to play--I just felt like drawing a playful one doing it--call it artist's spring fever.

I was first depressed that I could not distinguish birds by hearing their calls, as naturist Gilbert White could, but a nearby small bird reminded me that was after years of studying them. He probably started out like me too: liking them all.

Yeah. God recognizes each of us but loves us all, after all.

THAT would've been called Sacrilege several years ago!

Do you remember the panic near the beginning of COVID when it was rumored there wouldn't be enough paper going around to make masks for everyone? Altho' after a while, some people grew sick of them, at the beginning, having them was a matter of life or death.

I saw a mask the other day discarded at the base of a neighbor's wall. It had served its purpose so was no longer useful, And a fella who boasted himself to be a big guy in the pond--the crayfish--had been reduced to pincers on the grass too. A tiny spider nearby was weaving a net on the corner of the mask thinking little about it all.

LITTLE GUY'S SPOT IN THE SUN

Yup, they were there. The larger turtle named Bilbo posted about last month and his friend Little Guy were at the place I call the Irrigation Ditch Falls. They're there pretty regularly now.

"But why won't the little turtle move over?" asked a little boy who was watching the larger turtle trying to hoist himself up out of the water onto the landing where the smaller one was.

We could see he wanted to keep his spot where the sun hit and warmed, whereas scooting to the left meant he'd be in the cool shade.

To stay in a warm place means so much to turtles! We had to smile at that little turtle as he let the other one slide on top of him and topple over him but he would not leave his place, hunkered down all the more.

Are we as bright as Little Guy to want to stay in the condition where we can be sent warm, living light from Heaven? Are we as stubbornly willing to hunker down in the Word and let distractions slide all around us, things like COVID make our world topple upside down yet not rattle us from His soothing command?

Coming Back to Sketch Mallards

When I got to the park, there was a bunch of life milling about the place, but no one noticed the mallard standing on one leg at the edge of Inner Island at Step Creek. I could see he had most of his head tucked under his wings, but with his eyes he was checking everything out.

"I just got here, and it's time for me to take my medicine, so I'll go to the drinking fountain for some water and be right back. Can I sketch you then?" I asked.

It really felt like the mallard responded, "You think I believe you're really coming back?"

"No, really!" On the way to the water fountain, I saw another mallard swimming towards Step Creek. "Hey!" I shouted towards it, "tell that mallard at Step Creek I really am coming back!" I think she gave me a look like she didn't know what I was talking about but nodded sure.

I think he was surprised to see me. He was still standing there on one leg. I still don't know how to draw mallard feathers right, but they're letting me try again and again. And mallards like this one, I'm glad stay still--they're much easier to draw--even then, I still have a hard time.

At least mallards just hide their heads under their wings when they can't believe what you've drawn or sometimes they go off flying because they can't hold in their honking any longer.

When I went to the park the following day, I went to the exact same spot. Sure enough, the same mallard was there. "Hey, can I try again? Please?

I sensed a smile-like response and began sketching. This is what I was able to do this time.

Line upon line...

He Was Waiting for the Right Time

"I Surrender All." I really thought I sang...and meant it.

I had a little accident when brushing my teeth in Okinawa that took off a little enamel from one of my front teeth. No biggy, I could just have my dentist fix it when I got back to Iwatsuki. I'd always been a little happy with the smile I wore, even if I couldn't boast super bright brains or exceptional talent.

When I got back to Iwatsuki, I didn't check the dentists carefully, wanting to get my chipped tooth repaired quickly so just went to the nearest place. Wrong thing to do.

It turns out the practitioner worked on other completely unrelated teeth as well and it feels like I've had to pay for unattractive appearance--altho' he says there's nothing wrong with it. Until last month, my teeth were a small source of confidence too...

But this morning's messenger's question hit me between the eyes: "Have you really given everything to God, count all but rubbish for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ?" (Phil.3:8) I could almost audibly hear, "June, your teeth, smile, personal appearance. Have you given them to me too? Would you be willing to have buck teeth if I asked you to?"

Yikes. I thought I had given Him EVERYTHING. Until I realized I was resisting getting it yanked out of my hands. That meant I was grabbing onto them with everything I had!

Before I decided practically what to do in my dental work, I wanted to take some time today and really get a good look at my own heart--well, I asked God to look and tell me what to do. Boy, I didn't know it was like that.

Funny--I guess He did, from a long time ago. He was just waiting for a good time to let me see it.

WE JUST FOLLOW HIM

My next drawing? This one's kinda embarrassing. It's a collage...some close friends had asked for a written personal testimony, and this accompanied it.

It starts, I guess, with the explanation that my Dad and Mom were missionaries from Canada and Hawaii, but they didn't actually come together to Okinawa; that was for the sake of the picture. They came separately and met there, where my sisters and I were born.

I went to a school for missionary children seeing the islanders enchained to their lives to dead ancestors spending more money on tombs than even their own homes and realized God wanted me to return to these people as a missionary myself.

My interest was art. After receiving training in the U.S., in chalk art, I shipped my chalk talk easel to the mission field, hoping God would use it there for His work. I was able to do 6 chalk talks before back problems made me stop.

God led me into marriage with a Japanese pastor-in-training; and we began a family in the prefecture of Fukushima. The earthquake of 2011 and ensuing radiation chaos, however, necessitated our leaving, and we found ourselves in the prefecture of Saitama.

You already saw the picture of the Cross Stitch that made it out of that Quake (Mar.28 post). The same God Who led my parents from Canada and Hawaii led our steps from Fukushima to Saitama. Let COVID, wars, economical instability come--His Faithfulness is sure in it all--and we just follow Him.

THAT SINGING'S SO PRETTY

I thought I was running out of pages and needed to get a new notebook. But it seemed God put a stop to it. Wait, He seemed to remind me. Didn't I have a lot of pages I'd left blank for pictures I'd wanted to draw when the ideas had occurred to me? Go and draw them now, seemed to be the suggestion.

Now? Now.

Okee...I turned back to the first blank page. Oh THAT. Yes. I started drawing, remembering the myriad of things that happened, I'll relate just a little. My many critter friends at the park had come out to meet my sister--Peter the Kawasemi, Alabaster the Egret, Junior the Mallard, Slit and Bubbles the Carp, Inchy the you-can-guess-what-kind-of-worm, and the last one, I didn't actually draw.

I told my sister about them. I'd been standing at the creek listening to the pristine singing of some of the little birds of the forest that day, and lifting my face to the trees, I'd said, "That's so pretty! Keep singing!"

Little did I know there were crows in the shades of the branches I faced, who answered my request with loud, enthusiastic caws, completely muffling out the song of the smaller birds!

Oh well, I said to myself, I'd pretend to be a mother crow who'd just been through hours of nursing a sickly chick who was so weak he could not emit a sound and would be overjoyed to hear him finally caw. Yes, I guess that sound would be the most beautiful music in all the world to that mother crow. Keep singing, pretty crows!

LEARNING FROM WOODKIN (pt.2)

(cont'd from yesterday)

I decided to see, several months later, if I might be able to draw humans, but even if it was a simple pose--two midwives talking to each other--not fighting or exchanging objects/forces in any complicated way--I wasn't sure of myself, so I ended up drawing them as mannequins again.

Then in '22, I drew Woodkin asking, "NOT a bongo drum?" when Mike tells him the steak sauce container is not the musical instrument he mistook it to be.

 

Can't tell by looking at him, but Woodkin is a Softie for babies. Here, he got so taken up with playing with one (sorry; the face got smudged) he forgot completely about his once-treasured ping pong paddle.

Woodkin in Pinocchio's outfit was kinda cute, but when he heard about people's dentists and taxes, he decided he'd rather stay Woodkin and play ping pong than become a real live boy.

That's all. Maybe I 'd fare better leaving matters just as God gave them to me instead of thinking I'd be happy if only I could make them different, you know?