THOUGHTS FROM BED...

I guess I overdid it in the heat yesterday and need to take it easy today again, so here's an "easy post". Here are a few more photos taken with my cell. Usually, Purples don't show up in photographs, but this time, the lavender wildflowers don't look a powder blue! (are cameras partial to wildlife in Okinawa, I wonder.) Thank you, Lord. Altho' this pink hibiscus was one of the first blooms on my walk, I noticed yesterday a lot of them were blooming just across street from the Gushikawa Baptist Church.

Come to think of it, it's not just cell. THESE were taken with the compact camera. Last month, Chiaki Garner, who goes to Gushikawa BC, sent over to our home a loaf of her famous zucchini bread...and I didn't think to take a picture until I was about to eat the last slice!

Last week, it got cool enough for me to get out for worship service plus pot luck, and I went again this week for something more yummy than Chiaki's zucchini bread.

At the last half of the message, the preacher mentioned how our self-worth had to be grounded in the reality that God loves us so much Jesus died for us on the Cross. Simple Gospel. We say we believe it, then we easily get upset by other things.

I so needed to hear that. I've been having issues with Kinya. I know, I know; I'll put my eyes back on the Cross (this is Sze Wan's drawing on the bookshelf at the back of the church) and remember to do so for now; probably will forget about it tomorrow and will need another reminder then...but God, tap me on top of the head whenever I need it, OK?

I mean, it's been over 50 years I've been walking with Him, and I STILL forget what you would think are the easiest things.

I'm so glad we have a merciful Savior!

SPECIAL DELIVERY

A friend, Kristine, was supposed to drop in yesterday, and I was so looking forward to her coming. She's an art lover too; married to a Japanese; and yes, she loves the Lord. Afternoon possibilities, including eating at an inexpensive sushi chain, fell through at the last minute; and she had to return to mainland Japan without visiting.

I tried going out to church the first time since coming out to Okinawa--it was still a bit warm, but temperatures are coming down a bit, and it IS air conditioned at church, so the only place I will actually be in contact with the outside heat is the few seconds on the church staircase between the parking area and the sanctuary. This is a photo from our visit in Jan. We didn't know then that Shohei would be leaving us to train as evangelist in northern Japan.

I noticed a framed picture of the cross superimposed on the island of Okinawa and was told it was painted by Sze Wan, a person from Canada I'd met here when we visited then (Jan.23 and Feb.18 posts). I had to take a picture. But as I photographed it, I noticed the titles of the books I loved on the bookshelf.

The person who told me who that painter was and who I ended up getting in a conversation about those books is the mother of the young man talking with my sister Janice, visiting in Jan. from the U.S.

(Oops; next paragraph pic!)

Kishimoto-san, the person who gave me the ride, said not to make supper tonight, that she'd be coming at 5 p.m. with a gift. I could see the Father smiling merrily as she handed me through the door, a large plate of luscious, "Welcome to Okinawa" sushi.

Sorry. WE ATE ALL THE SUSHI before I thought I should've taken a picture first!