We'll All Look Different ONE DAY

I'd called him "My Funny Bird on Tengan River" and a few minutes ago found out he's called a black crowned night heron. Heron? But he's the size of a duck, and his legs are about 6 inches long. His beaks look sharp and pointy like a heron, but nothing else would've let me guess he's part of that bird family!

It was on the river that ran on the side of our new home in Okinawa I saw the bird. This week, I finally found out what he was. Mon, my sister Joyce drove me down that river towards the capital of Okinawa to apply for my passport renewal. The picture of myself ten years ago looks so different, I thought.

On the way back, she was kind enough to take the time to drive around the neighborhood where we'd grown up, and lots of old memories revived.

 

The way we found the place was because our home used to be behind a huge tomb. As we drove, we could see a little ways from the road--unkempt now because the custodian himself probably had need for a tomb himself--was a large stone structure.

"Joycie--the TOMB!" We turned up the narrow path and looked at the completely changed appearance of the place, the area around it. The only thing that looked the same was that you could look all the way down the hill and see the ocean.

So...we used to live...here?

When we got home, I saw a snail on the wall and almost said to it, "One Day, we're ALL going to look completely different.

You probably won't need to be lugging your house around on your back either."

I get in these moods.

えっ？！

Here are a few more in both languages--I wasn't sure if I'd posted it in English or not. The idea came to me when it started sprinkling as I was going home after finishing up my pool-walk exercise.

"Oh-oh; looks like rain," I said, and almost berated myself for forgetting to bring my umbrella. It would make absolutely no sense to any sparrows watching if they knew I'd paid money to get wet for a good while before that!

公園で一大事。人が、プールから家に帰るとき、雨が降り始めると、ぬれないように傘をさしたそうだ。プールと同じ水なのに。もしかして、人間は代わりに別のものを使っているのでは？池・小川を流れているのは、水だよね、私たち、公園の鳥・虫・魚・動物たち、騙されていないよねと心配し始めている。やれやれ。

I DREW CARP TODAY

This looks like a picture of the electric blue Kawasemi bird, doesn't it? Well, see that red lily pad he's looking at? It caught my eye too. It wasn't jiggling of its own accord. There were two carp playing with it. I guess it was their shiny red toy sailboat, and THEY were the tugboats!

Yup. We may not be charismatic, smart or strong; but maybe we can be used of God to move others along to live for Him. Maybe we can be like tugboats.