EXCESS BAGGAGE

"You really need to let that go June."

I was clearing out papers again and came across something I'd held onto for years, something which served no other purpose than to nurse wounds of a wrong committed against me. I couldn't get rid of it for some reason--the sinner in me felt good to taste the bitterness time and time again, I suppose.

I thought of how it was like Joseph saving his ropes selling him into slavery--he wouldn't have done that--saved the ropes, I mean. He had named his firstborn, Manasseh, or "God caused me to forget my past toil". I resolutely, finally, threw my painful reminder away.

There. The next paper I looked at...was a short thank-you letter. How nice. I'll keep this! Wait--I felt a little jab in my back. I know people talk about how letters like this are good for when you're feeling down, but isn't that 

what the Holy Spirit is for if you're really a child of God? In actuality, can't having something like this be a needless source of pride?

Maybe for others, that's not a problem, but that's the whisper that came to me. I needed to get rid of this just as much as the first piece of paper. Okay Lord; I guess You know what You're doing. With a sigh, into the "circular file" it went.

Daddy's Lloyd-Jones commentaries and books have been transferred to the shelf with photographs, and other shelves have been cleared to make room for my art supplies. Most of the Japanese books were taken to my stepmother's study.

Oh--a 5-min. duck, 10-min. jellyfish, 20-min. tiger fish were recent timed drawings. They just wouldn't sit still, so I asked them to help with today's post.

JUDGE FAITH

Recently, an online judge caught my eye. Actually, she was popular a decade ago, so I am very behind. But I don't watch T.V. anyway, so...

"In your entire life, whenever you got in a tight bind, you called on one person for help, and that person was always there for you," she reminded the defendant. And, "You can tell she's done some things she's not proud of, but it's obvious she loves you and she has nobody else in her life;" the plaintiff was told, strongly urging re-establishment of bonds before sentencing was passed. I honestly do not remember what it was; it was eclipsed by the importance of their renewed trust relationship with each other.

In another situation, the court case was put on hold completely. "I want you to hear somebody." A person who almost messed up his life unalterably came out from the back and shared candidly of his experience, with the happy result of having the formerly callous teenage defendant apologize to and hug his mother, tell her he would change his ways. He was in a posture then to accept any judgment handed down from the bench. No, I do not remember what happened here either.

Some think of God as the "Judge in the Sky". I guess that can be scary if you know only judges that treat the law as sterile, unfeeling means of executing justice. But if you know God--like Judge Faith--who cares about extending our love-trust relationships and thinks it's worth the time to salvage individuals' lives; well, that kind of Judge doesn't look half as frightening.

He DOES declare principles of absolute truth. But the trust relationship with Him, the hope in the new future centered in Him practically eclipse all else.

TIMED DRAWINGS

"Timed Drawings". I can't stand the 2-minute things. It's supposed to be an exercise to teach your eye and mind to hunt for important things and just jot them down on the paper. In 2 minutes, you really can't get anything down other than the bare essence. Maybe those in art school who have drawn all their lives can manage to make respectable drawings, but this was the best I could do...see? my pelican ended up without his signature pouch lip! Have you ever seen such a pelican?

You feel like you can breathe in a 5-minute drawing, and a 10-minute drawing, you almost feel like you can draw a masterpiece...only, you KNOW I wasn't born with that kind of natural talent.

Actually, I don't know if even Rembrandt or Van Gogh would've created their works of art in 10 minutes.

It is only the Master Artist Who says "Let there be Light" and instantly forms a bow of colors across the sky; sprays a dark velvet canopy with glittering lights then gives them names. It doesn't take him 10 minutes to have streaks of silver electricity pierce the canvas of the universe accompanied by echoes of rolling thunder. Original beauty? Have you ever seen the sunset, waterfall, wildflowers, designs on birds and fish, marveled at the snow, ice, insects?

The other day, when I finished ten 2-min. scrawls, four 5-min. sketches, and two 10 min. drawings--in other words, I'd been working for an hour--it felt good to take a snack break. I had a slice of banana bread Chiaki Garner sent over for my birthday. My Creator can say "Let there be Life" and breathe it into being instantly, but I hear He gives parents 9 months' preparation time.

DON'T NEED THEM!

Today is my sister Janice's birthday.

She is the sister with whom I would go up on our Ojana house rooftop--it doesn't snow in Okinawa, so they're flat--and we sat up there and played the ukulele and guitar and sang for hours. 

"Long, long ago in a far away place Rough rugged timbers were raised to the sky... It only takes a spark to get a fire going...For those tears I died."

Janice is the one who was with me...I just realized she was with me when I had my first "grand mal" epileptic seizures when I was 14 in that Ojana house, and

She was in the Furugen house when I had convulsions and Mommy told me I needed to be regular in taking my medicine FOR THE SAKE OF EVERYONE AROUND ME, since I was unconscious and completely unaware of what was going on, but I scared everyone else.

Janice was sleeping next to me on the bed here 3 years ago to witness another unpleasant episode.

She insisted I set the alarm on my cell for taking my medicine.

I got tired of hearing the alarm (it goes off three times a day) and I'd shut it off but realized I had seizures in the night in Iwatsuki--Kinya told me to go back to sleep and lay down next to me then--and again here.

I thought I didn't want the alarms, but I told my husband and son to expect their sounds again!

Oh--after seizures, when I don't feel well, Kinya brings food to bed for me. For this year's Father's Day card, I drew the meal tray and wrote: "Thank You For Everything." I couldn't think of anything better to sketch!

Wait...this was supposed to be a post for Janice's birthday. How did it end up being about Kinya?

"JUST DO IT YOURSELF!"

Joyce was away for my Birthday and Father's Day. She said she wanted to take our family to Gustos when she got back, wanted to treat me for my B-day and treat Kinya for Father's Day. She'd treated Keima to Starbucks for his birthday in May tho', so all he got was pudding...just kidding. He got a full meal; it's just that his parents paid for it!

I knew Kinya wanted Unagi, but since it's one of the more expensive dishes on the menu, he was going to order the less costly ground beef meal. Oh, not for the meal Joyce was going to treat him to! I asked if I could order Unagi then and count on him to eat what I couldn't finish, and he relented and said he'd get it himself. After seeing him order, I put in mine for the cheaper hamburger patty. 

All the orders are delivered by kitty waiter now. I guess the novelty's worn off, and what used to be more brightly painted, I noticed, is just the store's round logo on a white background. Even the cat features which used to light up at least when the robot moved down the aisle no longer do; I guess the establishment wants to save up on battery expenses. And I suppose with commercialization, efficiency is the name of the game.

After the meal was over, Joyce went to pay for everything and realized we were facing a self-cash register.

Call me Old-fashioned. At 66, I'm allowed to be. When our family went out for dinner 60 yrs ago, we used to kid around with the waitresses (who learned our birthdays), took time looking at the menu, made a big deal about getting the order straight, and squabbled about the adding up the numbers. And I really think God smiled on us as we carried on like that, didn't think we were such a bother and left us alone to do it ourselves. We thanked him for such a blessed time too.

FISH EGGS

When Rumiko first expressed a burden to meet with our cousin on Dad's side, I wasn't sure of what to do.

It was really hot, I wasn't doing very well, and I said to myself, I couldn't ask Kazue if we could make an appointment to see her and then--knowing me and my medical condition--be the very one who might have to cancel if temperatures got too high that day. 

I'd hand-delivered a note to Kazue's home (I wanted to see if I could walk to her house in the heat) telling her about how Rumiko wanted to meet her but it might be my fault she wouldn't get to do so, etc.) She phoned saying we could meet again when it got cooler, not to worry about it this time around. BUT Rumiko decided she'd just go over by herself.

We prayed, and God had Kazue come home from at the right time, and they had a good talk--for 2 hours? Thank you so much for praying.

And the Bible Conference and Bible School graduation Joyce went to, I was able to see online. Someone I noticed viewing proceedings via ZOOM was Kaoru Kurokawa, who had been in Bible School the same time as my husband Kinya.

Kaoru introduced me to Ikura, or Japanese Caviar. Pastor Ishikawa remembers how Daddy introduced him to lemonade. We remember the strangest things, yes? We just need to be faithful in the smallest, seemingly insignificant ways. Then maybe someday God will ask us to speak to a distant relative about important eternal matters, answering questions and talking for 2 hours.

For now, we just need to give out fish eggs...I mean, we need to be faithful.

They that were afar off are made nigh

Can I call on you for more prayers again?

Tues., Joyce will be going up to mainland Japan for the Bible School graduation. It turns out God wanted me to stay in Okinawa for something else--and it is for this I am soliciting your prayers.

Wed., my cousin Rumiko, pictured on the left before leaving for Bible School, will be coming to stay here.

She is the cousin on my Mom's side who labored for the Lord on the island of Izena even after her husband passed away. Now in her 70's, she lives on social security in an apartment on the southern part of the island. I feel the Lord has given her a special gift to reach souls.

Rumiko's deceased husband's sister will be bringing her here Wed. by bus.

Rumiko has felt a burden for Kazue, our cousin on Dad's side. We've prayed God would open up a way for the two to meet and talk.

Since she lives 3 mins.' walk away, and we could think of no other way to do it, we decided to simply ask if they might be able to meet. They are cousins--distant relatives, after all.

Rumiko & Grampa Nagata; Little Kazue and Grampa Kawasaki (that's Daddy!)

Some readers may remember Grampa Nagata, who came from Hawaii to help work with the elderly in Okinawa. He ended up leading his brother to salvation and then his granddaughter--Rumiko! Unfortunately, Kazue did not have a grandfather who knew the Lord to show her the way of salvation. Grampa Kawasaki, the wealthiest man in the village (he was responsible for taking in my Dad and family during the Depression), could not pass on eternal life to those he loved and cared for.

Perhaps after Tues.' talk, these ladies, formerly mere distant relatives, will find they are, in Christ, inseparable relations forever. Would you pray with us this be so?

BEARDED LADY

A Bearded Lady came for my grandson Yusei's Birthday Celebration in 2023?! Well, to tell you the truth, I'd taken a photo of the family in the kitchen and drew a picture of it. (Last picture of post.)

But I'd stayed up the night before making preparations for the day so got real sleepy while doing the sketch, and I found I couldn't concentrate. Instead of drawing simple shadows under the nose and chin, I ended up giving myself a moustache and beard!

Actually, my favorite picture of Yusei is when he was several months old and still in his baby crib. He'd been having a crying fit when nothing his mother did seemed to settle him down. Exasperated, she'd dumped him in the crib and gone out to the kitchen. I took off my glasses and quietly scolded him in English about how much God, his parents, his grandparents loved him anyway. Yusei, of course, doesn't understand English, much less speak Japanese yet, but he seemed to listen, amazed, and even smiled. Unbeknownst to me, my daughter got the whole thing on video behind me.

Today is Yusei's 4th birthday. My prayer is that he wouldn't do as I did working himself silly with efforts to make life succeed, but one day find a Heavenly Father to call His own so that he too would know a smile that could never be taken away from him.

But I Looked for Carp, Not Minerals...

I couldn't find it! Usually, the local church worship service is streamed on Discord, but this morning, the church icon wouldn't show on Discord...I looked and looked until I managed to find it.

YESSS--! I KNEW it had to be here! Then I looked forward to the honey I knew my heart was going to get treated to for a while.

That was what I remembered doing at the park up in Iwatsuki. I'd go to the creek, to a certain spot just around the bend where I KNEW there were carp under the brush and peered hard.

At first, I couldn't see anything, but after a while, I would see something move and then something else.

Then I could see them clearly, sweetly--about four or five carp--because I was EXPECTING to see them there. Other people walking thru' the park would look in the water in the exact same place but see absolutely nothing. These people would scratch their heads, look at me kinda funny, and walk on. Of course, they would never hang around to see the baby carp come out from the back or witness delightful rare antics of swimming things!

EXPECT God's blessings, we're told, and "mine for wisdom as for silver, gold, or precious stones. (Job 28)" But I know how to look for carp in the water, not mine for minerals in the earth...