TO THE CLINIC

Cold weather had been forecasted, so I was going to put off my doctor’s visit for another day, but I opened the door Fri. afternoon and saw how nice it was out. Kinya and I found ourselves donning windbreakers and taking off for the clinic.

Apparently, we weren't the only ones who'd decided to go out today. I stopped in my tracks and got a picture, when I saw, down in the river we were crossing, a...Cormorant! I'd NEVER seen one there in the almost 10 years I've come here to visit!

The Common Coot nearby, I've seen before so didn't get excited about. This is the bumpy-toed bird that doesn't know it's not supposed to be able to swim well because it doesn't have webbing. His red-masked cousin, the Morehouse Hen, is the other non-webbed duck I've seen in this Tengan River. I told Kinya about the swimming birds. 

"Look! There goes the Kawasemi!" He motioned to a shiny blue dot flying across the water. I saw it as it was flying but lost it when it stopped. 

"Where?" I asked.

"There, in that brown area!"

I pointed my camera in that direction and pushed the shutter blindly. Later, when I checked the closeup, look: it was there!

I think Kinya and I work together well, don't you?

He goes to the clinic with me, spots the flying sapphire for me, and I get a nice picture. Okay; so he does all the work, and I get the happy results just by instantly turning the camera in the direction he said.

Isn't that the way it is with Grace?

医院からの帰り

そう、昨日は、定期的に医院に行ってきて、いつもの薬をもらってきたの。帰りは、また遠回りして、あの橋で渡ることにした。水鳥たち、いるかな。

あ、白鷺、いた！そしてバン（白い額版）とオオバン（赤い額版）が近くで泳いでいたし、今回は鴨もいた。そして、初めて見る模様の、スズメ大のヒナ（アイの子？）がちょっと離れたところをくるくる回っていた。車ではないけれど、このようなヒナをハイブリッドというらしい。ハイブリッドちゃん、頑張ってね。

家の方に向くと、自由に飛び回ったあと、雀鷹（ハト大）が電信柱の上にとまったのに気がついた。やっぱり大好きな沖縄は変わっていないと、思った。国際結婚がいっぱいあるし（だから愛の子もいっぱいいる）、ほとんどの人は小さくても、「ゴーイング・マイ・ウエイ」（我が道を行く）と、いまでも力強く生きている。沖縄に戻れるように斎藤家を導いてくれてありがとうと、神様に感謝するしかなかった。

みんなが神様に心を向けるように、用いられたいなと、思いながら家に帰ることにした。あまり暗くなる前に、そしてこれから寒くなりそう。

THINGS TO TALK ABOUT

Now that I'm in Okinawa, I can talk about what I saw. The Iwatsuki Park is 1000 miles away.

I didn't tell everybody when I saw the Kawasemi mostly because I didn't want cameramen to come running to take its picture and scare the bird away.

But snakes, I dared not tell anybody, because I knew as soon as I did, people would just hunt them down to kill them.

So, when the beautiful albino snake DIAN showed up at the Irrigation Ditch; or I got to be good friends with LEGOLAS on the hill behind Quasi Pond, I said nothing.

Even when the large Ao DAIsho let me sketch her on the front park; I tried not to utter sound of it for a while, at least until she'd had time to slink away or be hidden in her shrub, where she'd be safe.

I mean, she was nonvenomous and completely harmless, but huge so could be kinda unnerving.

I just remembered something else I needed to talk about.

In my book about Mommy and Daddy, Parts I-III had Japanese subtitles which were excerpts from a sign on Daddy's headboard (roughly translated: "Living in the Lord's Memory").

When Jesus walked the earth, His memory was of a time He was perfectly one with the Father in heaven, and He died for us so that we could live like this someday. How thrilling it is to think we are privileged to have fond Father-child thoughts with the King of Heaven!

Yes, He could've created us to be clouds, rocks, or even snakes (this is Legolas)--but He chose to have us born as human beings that we could have relationship with Him. Are we fortunate, or what?

We really need to be nice to these less fortunate slithering critters, don't you think?

They Don't Make Them Anymore

”Lookit what Yoneko just brought," Joyce said, hoisting a junior-sized accordion onto the table; "I haven't seen one of these in a while." We began talking about how 50 years ago, quite a few missionaries played accordions. After all, you could take those instruments into the jungles and villages a lot more easily than pianos and organs.

We thought about Christmas Eves with the Shuri Church in the 60's. Once, it got surprisingly cold, and Daddy had wrapped his head with a scarf to stay warm. Co-worker Aunty Edna had brought her accordion, playing beloved carol melodies with right hand keys while pumping out bass and chords with left-hand buttons.

Someone at church asked for recommended reading, and Andrew Murray's Humility was mentioned (Here is my stepmother's translated copy). Biblical humility, so different from what people think of as humility, is NOT mere contrition; it's stated in the book. It's having a vision of GOD to the extent self disappears.

It's kinda like the accordion, I think.

The accordion is not an instrument to produce beautiful sound calling attention to ITSELF as a solo concert instrument, but it is carried in order to lift other hearts toward GOD. 

When everybody starts singing, you're supposed to forget about it if you play it right.

TWO MORE PICS

Actually, these two pics are "from yesterday's post". See, these are what Joycie and I looked like before...but I wasn't sure you'd want to see any more pics of us when we were little, even if I did want to scream when I found these in Daddy's study. So, I didn't post them yesterday...but I decided to go ahead and put them up today. Go ahead and shoot me if you think I'm overdoing it!

Joycie was always a teacher, can you tell? Even when we were little--I mean when I was in diapers--she was teaching me things like when Mommy was about to have a leetle baby, how we needed to be good big sisters to our dear little sister.

ONE RUNG AT A TIME

"Sometimes I wish Mommy could hear what you're doing," I said to Joyce, marveling. "Nah; she's probably hearing much better stuff right now to be impressed by anything on earth."

She'd made sure all her girls got music lessons, insisting we'd be able to use it for the Lord.

"We are climbing Jacob's Ladder," I heard my sister do with one of her pupils as a piano duet for special music. But it wasn't just a "cutesy" musical number. After the song was over, the explanation was given how every verse was set in a higher key symbolizing how in life the Christian was climbing closer to God one rung at a time.

We all look down the ladder

and say we aren't that bad. I suppose the Godliest of preachers not only discern false cults but can scoff at the Holy Spirit's working thru' women. Those who see themselves as impartial in this matter may disdain other cuisines, accents, garb. People who have no problem being racist can call music unnecessary, and then some musicians turn around and shrug off artists and writers in ways they would never treat educators or professionals. 

Me? The other day, I was realizing how I needed to stop looking down my nose at "how shallow people can be" who live for looks and money.

But getting back to Joyce. Watching her teach the congregation made me think, "Only Joycie could do this!"

I feel so much would be wasted not to have her 40 years of music ministry recorded somewhere. I've begged her to show me what she has, and she's said OK!

Oshiro History has been basically journaled. I prayed, and God seems to want Joycie's Music Things stored next. 

Don't ask me why God chooses to use us when we're so blind to our own silly biases, just keeps showing them to us as we climb the ladder to Him. I'm so grateful He does anyway, aren't you?

"You'll Get the Rest Later"

I held in my hand what looked like a traditional heavy wooden kokeshi doll robed in brocade, but a note from my sister explained it was being passed around to write farewell messages/ encouragements to a church member who would be leaving soon. Wait...so it's not just a doll? I read more carefully. "Cute doll scroll," it said!

The golden cord at the doll's waist was untied, and the floral adorning revealed a roll of paper inside. SO IT WASN'T JUST A DOLL!

The person moving, Jun (I use my Japanese name Tomoko here so the church people don't get us confused), is moving to Kasukabe, about 5 mins. from where our family used to live!

Close in name, similar localities, and yes, Jun-chan talked with junior high girls that came to the Christmas Gift Exchange too.

But rats; my camera ran out of juice again, so now I can post only what I already have, pictures taken on that gift exchange day.

Jun-chan's been gone most of the time I've been here, so the only other one I have is when she opened up her surprise gift exchange of cup noodles. Sorry; half her face is hidden!

Maybe I can "spiritualize" and say we can follow God anywhere, even when we can't see His whole face (feelings and blessings sometimes follow)?

JAIME'S COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

8 men Jaime sees every day--but never in church--came to his Re-enlistment Ceremony at Gushikawa Baptist. Here are some pics I took at the refreshments and photo shoot later. (I held a cell camera during the actual ceremony for Jaime's  friends and family viewing from the U.S., so I couldn't take any still photos during that time.)

There was plenty of pizza and cake afterwards (it was Jaime's b-day today) plus coffee and rolls. Oh--don't let the person standing next to Pastor Nishino, the person with "California" written down his sleeve, fool you; he's really from Pennsylvania!

We asked the men to get together up front and Pastor Nishino's wife had them smile for her.

Two other church folk, and Joyce and I were there too. Plus, of course, those who viewed proceedings from the U.S. were there "in spirit"! I wonder how many realized they were in a church started by a soldier that would no longer need to re-enlist but had finished tour duty and was Home with Jaime's Comander-in-Chief?

Oh--Pastor Nishino had been taking a video of Jaime's special day with the church video camera, and he sent me the YouTube link, so if you want to see it: https://www.youtube.com/live/uK6iTonTKqc (20.30-28.00 for actual ceremony and 31.40-32.15 Happy Birthday ♪, but the camera's running quite a bit before everything gets started). If you keep watching, you may hear "You raised him right" said to Jaime's mom visiting via cell or parts of the pastor's prayer before refreshments.

RUDE AWAKENING

"BEEPBEEPBEEP NOMOREBATTERY!TIMETORECHARGE!. . .BEEPBEEPBEEP NOMOREBATTERY!TIMETORECHARGE!"

It was about 5:00 a.m., and the room was pitch black. I found myself jumping out of bed; swimming around in the dark, disoriented, wondering where my cellphone was; finding it and hurrying to put it in its charging cradle in another room. But it was maddening to come back and hear the beeping in the room.

1 Where There's Sound

Kinya was awake by this time and had turned on the room light. We searched high and low until we found the source of the sound: the smoke alarm on the ceiling--it hadn't been touched for 10 years--was telling us its battery needed to be replaced.

2 There's Wire

By the time we found and had unscrewed the smoke detector and stopped the offending noise, it was 6:04. I guessed it was time for me to recharge. No kidding. I keep a reminder on the bed headboard that says, RECHARGING w/GOD'S WORD. It has memory work and prayer projects to keep me focused.

3 Time to recharge？

"Aim for nothing, and you're sure to hit it," an old adage says. What's an adage?

Pithy sayings like, "Where there's smoke, there's fire."

行けなくても大丈夫

毎週、姉は教会に送ってくれるけれど、2月23日の日曜の朝、体調不良のため自分はまた休むことになると、分かった。「大丈夫。神様は知っているからね。」と、ジョイスは、励ましてくれた。

そして、オンライン参加できるように、礼拝ビデオを送ってくれて、私は日本語・英語・とポルトガル語の男性コーラス特別賛美を聞くことができた。

子供たちに負けないように２月の暗唱成句を一緒にしたり、西野先生のメッセージを聞いたり、集会が終わったら、もと教会員の仲間サアヤ姉が結婚に導かれたという、報告を聞いた。

教会に行っても、家にいても、みんなと一緒に神様に心を向けて恵みの働きを期待することが大事なのね。（この猫の写真を載せた訳？近くの医院の前にいただけ・・・）