May 26, 2012
Today was definitely one of the most fun days so far! It was a blast! First, I was able to get up and run with a volunteer on site, Ken. We ran about thirty minutes and part of the run included a large bridge where we could overlook the ocean on one side and Ishinomaki on the other side. These runs are quite the adventure to see different parts of the city. Again, today’s weather was perfect. After waking plenty earlier I was able to complete more of a workout but I won’t bore you with those details. Amber, Austin and I had a debriefing/devo/planning time, the Austin and I went with Beth (one of the missionaries) to Aeon, a big store here in Japan. We started to make copies of Luke in Japanese and we bought some items for the Welcome Café party we had today for our readers, B1 members (the local mission), and friends from the community. We signed up several more readers which was super excited and had a very good time building the relationships we had already began. God definitely brought me a lot of joy today and I believe is bringing joy to the people we come into contact with. I was able to pray with a Tomoko about a major test she has tomorrow (she has been a Christian 5 years) and show her a verse from Matthew about not worrying, but trusting God. It was beautiful to see the change from stress to peace in her eyes. I will continue to pray for her and it was really cool for the Holy Spirit to be able to work through me. There have been countless stories like these where the Holy Spirit is working through each of us!
Today Kaori, one of Amber’s readers, was able to spend a very long time with us—it was so much fun! I am glad she wants to spend time with us. I hope and think she sees something different in us. We all care very deeply for her—today we got a good night hug, which in Japan is a big deal because of personal boundaries/respect in the culture. It is so fun how close we have been getting. One of my readers and I have also planned on going to the gym together and to a sushi bar, and I will be attending her school one day to learn Japanese. It is amazing to see how the readers want to spend time outside the classroom with us. And it is really fun.
Beyond the wonderful time with our readers, we are also enjoying time with the other volunteers. Ken, Mike McClain (which crazy small world—he has connections to Oklahoma Christian where my dad works and knows a good friend of mine from high school), Koichi, and Maya, along with Kaori, were able to go out to dinner with us at the mall in Ishinomaki. This was super fun, trying new foods, shopping a tiny bit, eating ice cream at Baskin Robins but eating flavors we do not get in the states as commonly, like green tea, or “pop shower.” After that the team along with Mike and Koichi got to go to “onsen” which is a Japanese form of bathing. Most amazing and relaxing experience I think of my life—or at least one of them. That was incredible and tonight was full of good times.
We are finally adjusting to the schedule and God is blessing us with some very good times where we are able to work for Him and enjoy fellowship with each other. We are finally getting used to the way things are here, and I think getting comfortable with the differences. I know I have felt much better today, and so has Austin because we talked about this, this morning. We are getting into a rhythm and it is really awesome, which we are extremely thankful for.
Matthew 6:25-34

Do Not Worry


25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?


28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.