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| Packed and Ready to Travel! |
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| Overnight Stop in Beijing with Friend Nancy |
August 26- 31, 2014...
In order to share favorites of returning, first I must go on a journey...
This time my travels took me to visit a friend in Shimonoseki, Japan. My friend Marcia has been asking me to come visit her for a few years now and so I was delighted when our schedules worked and I was finally able to make the trip.
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| Marcia shows me around her home... |
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| Welcoming Coffee |
Marcia and her husband Tony have been living in Japan for about 28 years church planting and growing in the Shimonoseki area. I had to smile as I considered the various friends through the years who have lived in Japan and y'all for the record you were right Japan was a wonderful, beautiful, experience!
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| A local specialty called Karasoba is noodles cooked on a roof tile. |
One of my favorite days was spent seeing more of the countryside with this beautiful group of women from the church...I had the privilege of hearing each of their testimonies and loved the opportunity to see their country from their perspective, the shops they love, the places they enjoy visiting-
Sitting on the cliffs watching the crashing waves, sushi on tatami mats over looking the ocean, and coffee at the hotel...
Orange ice cream in the "Badlands" I could have stayed there and sat breathing in the fresh air for hours
A visit to a traditional Japanese garden... I thought of my mother when I saw the beautiful red of the Japanese maples just like the ones we had outside our front door growing up in Napa.
There was a bride and groom having wedding photos done in the garden and she invited us to stay and watch and take a few photos of our own!
This area is famous for the fugu fish (Blowfish) that can be taken from the waters and they are very proud of the fish...it is a trademark everywhere you look.
I was able to join them as their church hosted an English Bible Camp in the mountains at a beautiful lodge...of course I HAD to find myself a Japanese baby to hold!
Our days ended with a last look of the Pacific Ocean and Japanese Sea from the vista point and then what better way to finish it off than to walk on the beach squishing my toes into the sand and letting the water lap at my feet as we watched the sunset...
Bags packed and at the station for the train trip back to Osaka and the flight back to China.
The final string of chords fade away, “Open the eyes of my heart, I want to see
You, I want to SEE You.” See Him
through the hard, the long days and longer nights, the holy and the beautiful,
the everyday, the smoggy skies, the tough places, the sweet refreshment of a
quiet moment, and the heat of a refining furnace. I glance around the small group, there are
eleven of us this morning, gathered together for a time of lifting our voices
in worship, the children love calling
out song numbers whether or not they know which song goes with it or not and
this morning they called out for this one, this reminder, this prayer. I stop for a moment to ponder the fading words,
allowing my thoughts to settle on a memory.
We sang this song several weeks ago gathered with more than thirty of
us, and as he quietly strummed the chords on his guitar Steven shared how much
he enjoys playing and singing this song of worship. Even before our walls were here or painted
with childlike drawings and scrawling scripts of “SEE.” As he shared and led us in worship he
encouraged us to remember to really listen to the words to engage in what we
were singing for so often we put our singing of familiar songs on auto pilot
and forget that we are worshiping the God of all creation. “To see You high and lifted up Shinin' in the light of Your glory Pour
out Your power and love.” He shared
with us that returning to a place like Maria’s brings to mind so many opportunities
and reminders for us to ask God to open our eyes and see so much. “And we
sing holy, holy, holy…” I so
appreciated the time of sharing that morning and in the moments that I had with
them those few days, the encouraging words, the tears, the hugs, the laughter,
and the joy of being on a journey together.
I needed the reminders because how many times do we forget that this is
what we are created to do? We the
created to bring glory and worship to the Creator,
to serve His purpose and plan, to serve Jesus in all that we say, do, and see
as we cry out a prayer that He will open our hearts to SEE Him in all of this. I know that I forget, I forget to see through
His eyes, I forget to ask for a heart open to receive that seeing and this
morning I am grateful for the reminder.
After Joe and David
left my office to return to the construction work they had come to do and of
course give some ribbing to the poor drill holding team member I could not help
but think of Joe’s comment. Yes, there is a streak of ornery, it runs deep, it
makes my blood pressure rise when I see things that just shouldn’t be, it sends
an irritated ripple through to my very core when I think of all the injustice,
the unfair, the things that make me want to scream. There are the moments when I know that my
response with that streak is on the sinful side, it brings out the sarcastic
remark, the eye roll that is not because I am teasing, or the harsh retort, but
there is the side that helps me work through some of the harder parts of life,
to tease, to laugh, to realize that I was created in the image of my Heavenly
Father… “I get it from my Daddy’s side.”
