Time flies when you`re having fun?

Why do we even bother saying `when things slow down` or `when life gets back to normal`? It never happens!

I had a full, enjoyable week just after CPI conference. I had my English classes as usual and they went well for the most part. Wednesday I made sure I took the day off (after spending the morning cleaning, doing laundry, etc) to relax and go watch a movie. Friday I did something new...

Waseda University in Tokyo has a campus near my house which I visited for the first time last Friday. There are two or three other missionaries who have been eating lunch weekly with some of the students for English conversation, they call it E-crew. It is specifically for English, so there is no Bible study involved, but it`s a great opportunity to break into their world and get to know them, and hopefully to invite them to various activities where they can meet Christians. I`m excited about getting more involved with this group. I do have a picture, but it`s not quite ready.

Saturday was Gospel Music Workshop day. We don`t have very many practices left already and some of us are a little nervous I think :-) We were missing some people this past week and everyone seemed tired. Please be in prayer for the last three practices: we need good attendance, energy, and atmosphere, but more than that we need to stay connected to the Japanese people who are coming. There will be several performances during the Christmas season that we are all looking forward to.

A few hours before last week`s practice my friends, Tomiko and Junko (starbucks), came to my place for cake and coffee. I think I was mostly excited about having someone to cook for!! They are fun ladies and we had a good time. Thank you for praying for them, please continue to do so. Pray for me as well as I look for open doors to speak with them and connect with them on a deeper level.

Yesterday was an early Christmas for me when a large box from my friends Mark and Heather Littlefield arrived! I must`ve looked ridiculously childish when I opened it. What can I say? Maybe I`ll never completely grow up.

This week is buzzing with activity and good times. My friends Chris and Regina Wright and their two sons, Jordan and Jason, (from Chicago) arrive tomorrow night for a six day visit! I will still teach my regular classes, and spend the rest of my time with them :-) I am grateful to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with them, the McDonald family, and Etsuko Asahi (she is from our church), and maybe others?

That`s it for now I think. I hope to have some new pictures up in the next couple of weeks. Thanks to you who read this blog and keep up with me in Japan. If you have questions or things you`d like to see in the blog please let me know, I`d be happy to oblige.

`Happy Thanksgiving, and in case I don`t see ya...Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Best Wishes`

I'm back

It's been a busy couple of weeks over here. Last week was the CPI (Church Planting Institute) conference near Mt. Fuji, for all missionaries, tent-makers, Japanese pastors and lay people, and anyone else interested in church-planting in Japan. The conference started on Tuesday and ended Friday at lunch. I definitely benefited and was challenged by Josiah Bancroft, whose seminars were the ones I attended the most. He spoke about Grace, and how grace works itself out in our relationship with God, with our families, with our teams, and then in our world. (Josiah has been a missionary to several areas, including Ireland) I was very encouraged and energized by the people who came from the States to serve in various capacities at the conference. They were great fun to be around. I also had the joy of meeting some new people (to me) who are working in Japan, including 5 french-speaking Europeans! I thoroughly enjoyed speaking French throughout the week and realizing, to my great relief, that I can still sound French.

Before and after the conference our missionaries from Hokkaido came down, some before, some after, for some fun times. When you're from the States living and working in Japan, you take advantage of the times you get to eat American food. So we feasted at Outback Steakhouse, TGIF's, Wendy's, and El Toritos. Yum!

Now it's back to work and classes this week and it's going to be full. I have classes today; Wednesday is always my day off; Thursday I have classes; Friday is yet to be finalized; Saturday my Starbucks ladies (Tomiko and Junko) are coming over for dessert and coffee, after which Tomiko and I will head to the Good News church for the Gospel music workshop. Sunday will be church and who knows what else; next Monday is my longest teaching day; and then next Tuesday the Wright family from my church in Chicago is coming to visit!! As you can maybe see...busy, busy, busy.

When life moves faster than we can humanly keep up with, it's absolutely vital to grab hold of the fact that we are human and in great need of a supernatural, super-energetic, super-organized, super-restful, super-enduring and purposeful God. I hope you can claim that too, as I imagine every one of you is getting busier by the minute with Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner. :-) As my friend Chris Wright always tells me....don't forget to have fun!!