Why it's good even when it's not so good...

Well, it has been a while. Since I got back from my brother’s wedding, it has been pretty hectic and exhausting. But not so much for me as for two of my good friends here. One of them is Ann White. Ann and I were friends when we were at OC together and now she is here teaching English in a city about 30 minutes by train from the city where I teach English. She has been sick to her stomach literally for over a month and a half which is forcing her to make a trip back to the U.S. to see if her doctor can help her. She went through something similar about 2 years ago which kept her in the hospital for a whole summer. It wasn’t pleasant then and it certainly isn’t pleasant for her now considering she can’t keep any of her food down, she is incredibly malnourished because of this, she is always feeling sick, and the doctors here really aren’t helping any. Please pray for her – for her safety in returning to the States, for her doctor so that he can help her get better, and for her physical and spiritual well-being.
Another friend of mine, Blake Blackwell, just found out last Friday night that his mother has cancer. They had to do surgery to remove some of the cancer, but there is still more in intestines they can’t remove, so they will start chemotherapy as soon as she is recovered enough from the surgeries. Of course this is a very trying time for Blake and his family, especially since Blake is so many thousands of miles away teaching English here in Japan. Please pray for the Blackwells.
Many of you who read this blog know my two friends who need prayers and many of you don’t, but please join with me and so many others in praying for them.


Onto brighter things, I was reminded yesterday (yet again) why I am here teaching English and why I am so blessed by God. Above are some of my 6th grade students trying to make kanji with their bodies. They ask me “What day?”, I say a day of the week in English, and they proceed to make the Japanese kanji character for that day with their bodies. I seriously prayed in the morning before work that this game would be fun and educational for them (you never know what the “cool” 6th graders are going to decide to like or not). It was incredibly enjoyable for me, for the teachers I taught with, and for the majority of my 5th and 6th grade students. It was especially funny to watch them get creative while trying to make the kanji for Friday (金).

My brother's wedding

From left to right:
Crystal (stepsister), Brandon (stepbrother), Cindy (my mother), Mike (brother),
Brandy (my new sister-in-law), Jon (the smiling groom), Dwight (father), me,
Woody (stepfather)

Last Friday night, I had the honor of attending my brother John's wedding. Jon is the oldest of my twin brothers (by five minutes), is a year and 20 days younger than me, and is the first child in our family to get married. I can't express how happy I was to see him get married and to see him so happy. It was also a joy to see ALL of my family, tired and stressed from the travel time and the wedding preparations as they were.
I myself spent about three whole days traveling (by buses, planes, and cars) and two blessed, crammed packed days with my family. I left Japan on Wednesday afternoon and got to Richmond, Virgina by Wednesday evening (crossing the International Date Line keeps you in a very long day) where I was reunited with my whole family - mother's and father's side - and I met the bride-to-be for the first time in a whirlwind of two hours. Thursday was full of hanging out with my mother and stepfather's side of the family while spending $133 at Wal-mart within an hour and gourging myself on Mexican food. Thursday night, I went to a bar (don't tell anybody) for the after-rehearsal dinner-party with all of my family and the bride's family, watched lots of people get drunk while I enjoyed alcohol-free water (I still have no idea the reasonings behind getting drunk), did some line dancing in my flip-flops, sang some karaoke for the first time in the U.S. (I do it all the time in Japan and it is quite different than the American way), and just had a good time getting to know my brother's fiance. Friday, I hung out with my dad and his family, going shopping in the mall, swimming, and eating Subway (I love Subway!).
Friday evening was the wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. The bride was gorgeous, my brother the groom was handsome in his white coat tux and a smile that went from one ear to the other, and my other brother was handsome also as he was the best man. So I watched my baby brother, who is the size of a professional football lineman and sometimes as tough as one, confess his love and life to the woman of his dreams in the softess, sweetest manner. That was the highlight of the trip. After the wedding, we partied hard at the reception, dancing until we could dance no more.
The next day, I hopped on a plane and landed back in Japan Sunday evening. Whoa! Those were the busiest five days I think I have ever experienced. But every moment was precious, and I can't help but praise God even more for my wonderful family, faults and all. He has given me so much through them, and He gave me so much love and strength through them this past week. Thank you God. I needed that!
One major thought I was left with while being in Richmond, Virginia with my family and far away from my "home" in Oklahoma: home is where your family is. When I was with them, I knew I was home. But that is not my only family. God has also given me a "family" in Japan full of wonderful brothers and sisters and some parents in Christ. I am home with them also.
Praise God for giving me a home wherever I go in this world. It gives me a wonderful, tiny glimpse of what my real home is going to be like after I leave this earth.
Prasie God for His blessings, for hope, for family, and for home.

Bonding through Tacos

Mexican taco picnic
After going to the tea ceremony (read the blog below before you read this one), we had our nice little Mexican taco picnic in such a beautiful and serene place. Why tacos at a Japanese festival and for a picnic? Well, because we all like tacos no matter how messy and un-Japanese they are. In fact, 'messy' was the new English word for the day.
We all ended up having the time of our lives together. The Community Center women really enjoyed getting to know some new foreigners and I know that Blake and Ali had the time of their lives. How could we not have a good time considering that Yoko made a great first impression with Blake and Ali by giving them chocolate souveniers from a trip that she recently made to South Korea. It wouldn't have been so bad except that they were trick chocolates with spicey pepper flavoring in the middle!
All-in-all, we ended with Blake vowing revenge on Yoko, Blake being given the nickname of Harry Potter, Mariko making sure Ali didn't fall into the water that ran under the really small rock bridge we had to cross to get to our picnic spot, everybody bonding over a tea ceremony and a taco picnic, and promises being made that we would all do this again in the near future.
Praise God for continuing to open doors, especially in such an enjoyable manner.

Hanging with the Iitomi Community Center women

Well, last weekend was absolutely great! There are a group of women that I uh, er....sort of teach English. They call me their English teacher but they already speak great English. So anytime we meet, we just have long conversations that range from Japanese customs to American customs to hot guys to why I am a Christian back to hot guys and then to why I'm not married yet and then back again.
So anyways, these women are great! I love them so much. And last week they invited me and a couple of my friends to a traditional Japanese flower festival (this one was for azaleas). My good friends Ali and Blake and I met them after church and headed to this beautiful Japanese park that surrounds a shrine that is in turn surrounded by Mito City. This park is full of azaleas (which aren't in bloom yet) and the festival is held there every year. One of the members of the group was holding a traditional tea ceremony at the festival (she teaches many people this beautiful art), so we stopped there first and did that. The very women we were with had taught me the basics of tea ceremony before, but it was Ali (who has been here for 5 years) and Blake's first time, so many of the Japanese had a grand time teaching the finer points of a very old and traditional custom to a couple of Westerners who had no idea what they were doing. It was great!
Then we went from the traditional to the non-traditional by having a picnic lunch of tacos in the middle of beautiful Japanese park.