Sunday, October 28, 2012
If you like to talk to tomatoes...
Friday, October 26, 2012
10 years!!!
Today is our 10th anniversary, and when I think about the last 10 years, I am in awe of how God has changed, challenged, and blessed us... what an adventure we've had! Things are super busy right now, so we're planning on properly celebrating (i.e. getting away with no kids) when we're in the states next year. But I couldn't let the special day get away without a little something, so here's a short look back on the last 10 years...
**Things I learned while making this video:
1. I struggle with digital media... I'm much more comfortable with paper, scissors, and glue. What seemed so simple in my mind ended up taking many many hours to complete. :)
2. We have way too many pictures... I wanted to include pictures of everyone who has been a meaningful part of our journey so far, and I quickly found that was completely impossible. So, this is just a random collection.
3. We have almost no pictures of just the two of us since we had children... this is something we'll work on in the next 10 years. ;)
Brian, I love you, and I can't wait to see what adventures God has for us in the next 10 years - please enjoy! :)
**Things I learned while making this video:
1. I struggle with digital media... I'm much more comfortable with paper, scissors, and glue. What seemed so simple in my mind ended up taking many many hours to complete. :)
2. We have way too many pictures... I wanted to include pictures of everyone who has been a meaningful part of our journey so far, and I quickly found that was completely impossible. So, this is just a random collection.
3. We have almost no pictures of just the two of us since we had children... this is something we'll work on in the next 10 years. ;)
Brian, I love you, and I can't wait to see what adventures God has for us in the next 10 years - please enjoy! :)
Friday, October 12, 2012
Firsts...
As I look back through the very random assortment of pictures we've taken the last few months, it seems our life has been filled with "firsts"... the first time of many new adventures. :) While "firsts" are sometimes a little scary or overwhelming, I'm so thankful we can always trust our God to be with us at every moment, whether we're feeling nervous or excited. Here are some pics of new adventures in the life of our family....
School started! Justin entered K-4 this year at Okinawa Christian School International. I (Julie) have already been serving on the OCSI board, and we are friends with many of the faculty and staff, but we are so excited to join this community as students and parents. Justin was a little nervous the first day, but after he got past his normal initial shy-ness, he is in love with school, his teachers, and classmates... let's hope this continues for many years. ;)
Noah also became a "big boy" this year and entered a 2-day program at the same preschool Justin attended. Noah was incredibly distraught when Justin started school... they became quite inseparable this summer. We thought he would have fun spending a little time with new friends while Justin is away. He didn't transition as quickly as we thought he would, but he's okay now... I think he is just too used to a lot of one-on-one attention. ;) I also think what thrills him most is that he now has a backpack, takes a lunch, and goes to school like his big brother. :)
We also had our first trip to the emergency room! Noah loves closing doors, and one Saturday afternoon as a typhoon was approaching Okinawa, Noah smashed Justin's pinky finger in their bedroom door. It was definitely a little scary, but praise God for helpful Japanese neighbors and google maps on Brian's iphone that quickly helped us get to the nearest hospital. Justin's finger was broken (it was quite a smash), and we're still not sure what the nail and end of his finger will look like when it finishes healing. But after the initial shock and pain, Justin's bandaged finger hasn't kept him from any of his normal activities. He's starting to get excited about the "new nail" we keep telling him will someday come, but I think he might grow impatient when he realizes it has to take time to grow and it's not something we can just get at the store. ;)
But through this process, it has been amazing to observe his growing understanding of God and how he works in our lives. As soon as the 'smash' happened, I started singing 'Jesus Loves Me' to Justin, and he not only stopped crying, but was very calm as we drove to the hospital. We kept reassuring him as we talked and prayed that day and throughout this process that Jesus is always with him and is helping his finger heal. The other night we saw a small improvement as we changed the bandaid, and his first response was, "Thank you, God!" There are no words to describe the joy that comes when you see your children genuinely express praise to and trust in our amazing God. :)
Well, this is definitely not as dramatic as the last story, but it's a fun part of our life in Japan. We love sushi, and frequently eat it at restaurants and at home. Noah was excited recently that we let him eat seaweed like the rest of us (he finally has enough teeth to chew it). And Justin was super excited that we took him to a kaiten sushi restaurant for the first time. If you've never been to one before, all the plates of sushi go around the restaurant on a small conveyor belt, and you just choose which ones you want to eat. It's very fun, but we hadn't taken the boys yet because we thought the temptation to interact with the conveyor belt might be too much to overcome at their ages. Justin was well-behaved, but he did get pretty distracted watching the conveyor belt, and ended up taking off more plates of sushi than he could actually eat. :) We will be in the states for 3 months next year to speak in churches, and I'm very curious to see how our 'Asian' boys survive without things like seaweed, Japanese rice, and sushi on a regular basis. ;)
And now for some very big news.... we are moving! Not away from Okinawa, but to a new house!!! For many years our church has been renting a house or apartment for the pastor to live in. We love our apartment, but it makes much more sense for the church to purchase a house for the pastor. So about a year ago, our leadership team prayerfully decided to start looking for a house or land. It has been an interesting time of waiting on God and trusting that he would show us where he wants us to be. At times it was pretty discouraging; when you looked at our budget and the area of the island our church is in (very expensive), it seemed we may never find what we were looking for. But we serve a God of surprises and faithfulness, and a few months ago, we found a house in our budget, only 10 minutes away from the church, and meeting and exceeding nearly all the criteria we listed when we first started this process. It was obvious from the first time we visited the house that God was leading us in this direction. It looks like the final papers will be signed sometime next week and we plan to move in the first weekend of November!!!!
So it's been an action-packed fall so far, and as I look at the calendar, it will just get busier. Please pray for our family as we continue to adjust to new schedules and adventures. Pray for our church as we are taking a step of faith with our parsonage purchase. And pray for us as we enter a new neighborhood and seek God's guidance on how he is working in the lives of our new neighbors. Well, thanks for making it to the end of this long post... maybe the next post will be pictures of our move... yikes, I need to start packing! :)
Noah also became a "big boy" this year and entered a 2-day program at the same preschool Justin attended. Noah was incredibly distraught when Justin started school... they became quite inseparable this summer. We thought he would have fun spending a little time with new friends while Justin is away. He didn't transition as quickly as we thought he would, but he's okay now... I think he is just too used to a lot of one-on-one attention. ;) I also think what thrills him most is that he now has a backpack, takes a lunch, and goes to school like his big brother. :)
We also had our first trip to the emergency room! Noah loves closing doors, and one Saturday afternoon as a typhoon was approaching Okinawa, Noah smashed Justin's pinky finger in their bedroom door. It was definitely a little scary, but praise God for helpful Japanese neighbors and google maps on Brian's iphone that quickly helped us get to the nearest hospital. Justin's finger was broken (it was quite a smash), and we're still not sure what the nail and end of his finger will look like when it finishes healing. But after the initial shock and pain, Justin's bandaged finger hasn't kept him from any of his normal activities. He's starting to get excited about the "new nail" we keep telling him will someday come, but I think he might grow impatient when he realizes it has to take time to grow and it's not something we can just get at the store. ;)
But through this process, it has been amazing to observe his growing understanding of God and how he works in our lives. As soon as the 'smash' happened, I started singing 'Jesus Loves Me' to Justin, and he not only stopped crying, but was very calm as we drove to the hospital. We kept reassuring him as we talked and prayed that day and throughout this process that Jesus is always with him and is helping his finger heal. The other night we saw a small improvement as we changed the bandaid, and his first response was, "Thank you, God!" There are no words to describe the joy that comes when you see your children genuinely express praise to and trust in our amazing God. :)
Well, this is definitely not as dramatic as the last story, but it's a fun part of our life in Japan. We love sushi, and frequently eat it at restaurants and at home. Noah was excited recently that we let him eat seaweed like the rest of us (he finally has enough teeth to chew it). And Justin was super excited that we took him to a kaiten sushi restaurant for the first time. If you've never been to one before, all the plates of sushi go around the restaurant on a small conveyor belt, and you just choose which ones you want to eat. It's very fun, but we hadn't taken the boys yet because we thought the temptation to interact with the conveyor belt might be too much to overcome at their ages. Justin was well-behaved, but he did get pretty distracted watching the conveyor belt, and ended up taking off more plates of sushi than he could actually eat. :) We will be in the states for 3 months next year to speak in churches, and I'm very curious to see how our 'Asian' boys survive without things like seaweed, Japanese rice, and sushi on a regular basis. ;)
And now for some very big news.... we are moving! Not away from Okinawa, but to a new house!!! For many years our church has been renting a house or apartment for the pastor to live in. We love our apartment, but it makes much more sense for the church to purchase a house for the pastor. So about a year ago, our leadership team prayerfully decided to start looking for a house or land. It has been an interesting time of waiting on God and trusting that he would show us where he wants us to be. At times it was pretty discouraging; when you looked at our budget and the area of the island our church is in (very expensive), it seemed we may never find what we were looking for. But we serve a God of surprises and faithfulness, and a few months ago, we found a house in our budget, only 10 minutes away from the church, and meeting and exceeding nearly all the criteria we listed when we first started this process. It was obvious from the first time we visited the house that God was leading us in this direction. It looks like the final papers will be signed sometime next week and we plan to move in the first weekend of November!!!!
So it's been an action-packed fall so far, and as I look at the calendar, it will just get busier. Please pray for our family as we continue to adjust to new schedules and adventures. Pray for our church as we are taking a step of faith with our parsonage purchase. And pray for us as we enter a new neighborhood and seek God's guidance on how he is working in the lives of our new neighbors. Well, thanks for making it to the end of this long post... maybe the next post will be pictures of our move... yikes, I need to start packing! :)
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