"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・・・）

３つの願い, References...

英語のものと、日本語のものを区別するために、タイトルを違うものにすることにしました。それに、この話は、母の証だけでなく、父の証も入っているので、英語の"Kimiko's Travel Agent"と"Roy's Navigator"を一緒にしたようなものです。

日本語の「3つの願い」はこのブログの２０２３年１月にあります。

１２日の    君子のTRAVEL AGENT・未知のもの・小さな声・戦争・Travel Agentその１

１３日の     Travel Agentその２・ハワイ湾で・失敗作・カナダで日本語・強く生きるとは

１４日の    あの先生・ここにも声が・宣教師になる？・ヒトリで行く・むすび

I almost forgot. At the end of the book, I mentioned not attaching things like "Kimiko's Travel Agent" or Daddy's "The Value of One Soul." They are both available by computer. As a matter of fact, "Kimiko's Travel Agent" was the first piece of literature I ever put out, and it was "published" online in 2007. You can read it at https://hopeassured.blogspot.com. The companion piece, "Roy's Navigator," my Dad's testimony, is available there too.

And Daddy's message (this blog, Sep. 20, 2024 post なんで？Value of One Soul) now has 2 photos.

I can live a week without a cellphone

"I can do all things through him that strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

Lots of people think this means I can do profitable things like enduring the taunts of a bully, praying for good promotions, or claiming exceptional blessings. Isn't this what Janice did when she procured our free stays at the ritzy hotel? Or...

I looked over at my IT-minded son. To be fair, he is NOT one of those who is addicted to his electronic devices; but I have heard of people who cannot live 

without it. This made me think about a reading for Phil. 4:13 in context with the verses before it. What about--I can live a week without a cellphone "through him that strengtheneth me"?

That's what that verse was saying, wasn't it? I can be content in all circumstances!

This won't be a popular post...

THE HANDS THEMSELVES

In the back room, I listened to my sister giving piano lessons. 

I remembered the weeks before college I listened to a friend practice on the church piano while I listened in the back room.

I couldn't help but admire how she emphasized joyful lines but simplified the melancholic verses, careful to communicate the message and not draw attention to technique.

But then I wanted to cry. In my rebellion and depression--Mommy had called them my "Slough of Despond", I'd pretty much lost the good years.

Lifting up cupped hands toward the ceiling, then spreading out my fingers a little and feeling everything had slipped through them, I remember praying, "Oh God, I have little left to offer You. I've lost most of it. But if you'll have ME, you can have all of ME."

Do you remember I once blogged about an MK, Kent Penner, who authored Finding Rest, a book about Japanese kanji? Sunday afternoon, the Lord drew my eyes to another book written by another MK, Erisa Funada. She had earned her masters, had raised two little boys, and translated Instruments in the Master's Hand, for Christian counselors in Japan, and I had spoken with her several weeks before she went to Glory.

Her book cover illustration seemed to emphasize the answer God gave me in that back room. "It wasn't the things in your hands but the hands themselves I wanted, June." I sensed Him say.

Hands authored the book, Finding Rest; hands worked on the translation, Instruments in the Master's Hand; and finally, the hands offered to God--finished a semblance of the book...well, Daddy called it "Kimiko-Roy's Adventure".

Readers of this blog know a lot of stories behind the amazing work of God recounted in the book. Would you like to read what has been written?

Go to KIMIKO-ROY'S ADVENTURE.rtf on my One Drive. You will not need to create an account or register a credit card here, and the book will not disappear after 5 days but will stay there.

"Inori" Means "Prayer" in Japanese

After prayer meeting Feb. 19, Jaime began putting away the tables and stacking the chairs to get ready for the next day's ping pong ministry held in the same room. He'd told us about his trip to mainland Japan, and surprised us by telling us of some people he'd visited while he was up there.

Inori Takagi was someone I'd taught in Sunday School. In fact, several years ago, when I stopped in for an unannounced visit, she'd shed tears happy to see me. Despite the difficulty she experienced growing up in her Christian home, the Lord allowed us to have a good friendship.

When Inori was in elementary and learning to write the American alphabet, she copied a Bible verse in English and made a bookmark for me--of course, she herself could not read it! I kept her Labor of Love in my Bible, in the first page of Ephesians, the book I was memorizing when she gave it to me.

This spring, my sister Joyce and I will be going back to that church where the Bible School will be having a graduation service, and a former member of our Gushikawa Baptist Church will be graduating from Bible School this year. I wonder if Inori would come too? It's been YEARS since I've seen her.

WHO ARE THE GARNERS?

Some have wondered, from past photos, if God sent a missionary couple. He didn't have to. Scot and Chiaki Garner were faithful members of a church for Christian military families on the island, and God sent them to help at Gushikawa Baptist. They now have grown children who have families of their own. Scot, retired from the service, is an administrator of a Japanese air conditioning company and has helped many find jobs. Chiaki is gifted in the kitchen and full of church fellowship ideas.

Scot and Chiaki's seasoned walk, readiness to work and pray, also to build tender relationships (I know...these are two separate photographs. But Scot and Lilia really ARE best friends! This is something we see practically every week!) and keep confidences have become a vital part of the church. What can I say--I'd be happy if God always kept them here, altho' I'd feel happy for any flock He'd want to give them to...like He did when He brought the Garners to us here!

A Piece of Cake for the Creator

Yesterday, I shopped for chocolates for Kinya and Keima, remembering St. Valentine, who'd been imprisoned for secretly performing marriages between young lovers altho' the young men had been drafted to go to war.

Valentine's loyalty lay much higher: to God, the Creator of the shadows of the prison cell.

"You won't find a bargain like that again." Kinya had told me. My last laptop had been a high end one someone let go of for a newer model, and we happened to grab it when it first hit the market.

God, the Creator, had brought it to me for about a fifth of retail price.

(Husband Kinya to right, Church Member Kina-san below.) 

Let's just pray. You never know what God can do, I'd said, and asked someone at church for pointers looking at computers.

The Creator brought to me a computer bearing all the necessities mentioned by the person at church--CPU, SSD, memory--and after checking, it was learned this laptop would've cost about 8-9 times brand new!

Speaking of "new"...I found something "old"...a Prayer Card from 40 years ago!

My Dad had just gotten remarried, so Kiyo was the new Mrs. Oshiro, and we 3 J's are new missionaries, college graduates here!

Wow. You never know what God can do.

(Can you tell who's who?)

IF YOU NEED ANYTHING, I'M HERE

"Before we partake of the food, I would like to lead in prayer..." Daddy had announced in a loud voice to the other patients in the room. My stepmother hurried to the bedside and reminded him we were not in church, could he give thanks before the FAMILY ate? 

We changed gears, a little at a time. 

Daddy adapted to his new "wheelchair ministry" mindset of spreading cheer in a place dominated by misery. First, he hung the "Beginning Driver" sticker around his neck and rode his wheelchair around, drawing smiles everywhere he went. Then he made sure to ask names and thank custodians and caretakers, expressing appreciation to every staff worker.

A faithful visitor was a Takashi Nishino, a quiet young man from church. Most visits, he'd greet my Dad when he arrived then wait at the foot of the bed, available to do anything if he was ever needed; then said good evening when it was time to leave. Most people wouldn't have the patience for this--especially young people--but Takashi did.

His mother, a Christian and nurse, had been told she could not give birth, but she had told God--as Hannah in the Old Testament did--she would raise her son to serve God if He would give her a child.

Her husband, a non-Christian, couldn't believe it, when a son was indeed born to them. In the middle of college, that son saw his pastor was no longer able to stand behind the pulpit, and dropped studies in psychology, announced intention to start Bible School!

Daddy went to be with the Lord in 2016, but I wish he could see the young man who came to the hospital, quietly asking if there was anything he could do.

For a while now he has been pastoring--was just married last year--and has been asking GOD if there's anything HE needs the flock to do.

ルツの決心

やったー！日曜子供礼拝後簡単工作に、８時間かけて、色を塗って完成させた。ルツのものがたりのジン（ミニ絵本？塗り絵？）なんで８ページのものに、そんなに夢中になってるのと聞かれてもしょうがない。

お母さん大好きな子たちがあの部屋にいた。今日はルツの話、お母さんが大好きだったのねと、思っていたところ、びっくり。モアブから出たのは、ナオミを愛していたからじゃなかった？

ルツもオルパもお母さんを愛していたけれど、ルツはナオミの神様を信じていたため、モアブから出る決心をした。この話でよく強調されるのは、ルツのお母さんにたいしての愛で、ルツの神様にたいしての信仰がみおとされがちなのね。だから未信者も「うつくしい物語」と、言うの。だけど、聖書をそのまま読むとルツの告白はスゴクはっきりしている：「あなたの神はわたしの神。」

ゲームの時間

愛する人についていく？それとも信じている神様にしたがう？こんな大切なことを子供たちに教えられるため、真美先生に聖霊のちからが続けて与られるよう神様、お願いします。