It's All a Matter of Perspective

Thursday morning at the breakfast table, we started talking about the trip that my son Travis and I had made to Malaysia and Australia last summer. Travis in all seriousness turned to his mother and said, "Mom, have you ever been on a missions trip?"

After several minutes of discussion we all agreed that although Deborah has officially only been on ONE "missions trip", and her trip looked more like this, 19 years was uncommonly long for one trip. ;-)

(This is a picture of Deborah, our four kids, a foster baby , our friends 2 kids, and a 15 year old who lived with us for over a year.)

It sure is interesting to hear how our kids, who were all born in Japan, see things.

As mentioned, we are planning to return to the States sometime during the spring to late-spring. Now we are all finding out "how we see things."

This is a decision made after talking with our pastor in the US, and the church leaders here. And of course, praying...and talking...and wondering...

Last fall when our pastor and his wife came to visit he challenged me to not limit myself as to what work I could do in the kingdom of God. At first I did not "have ears to hear" what he was saying.

However, after really considering every thing, and talking with the missionary we have been working with here, Deborah and I decided it was time to make a change. Although at this point we have no official job to return to in the States, we believe the LORD Himself will open a door that will give us a greater opportunity to affect the "mission field" of the whole earth even more for Him.

Please pray with us as we transition in the next few months. This is certainly not the easiest thing to do...

By the way, have you ever been on a "missions trip"?

Crashing into 2008

Unbelievably it is already the 18th of January! Where does each day go?
Honestly we have been running from one thing to the next since the end of December.
We helped a friend and her daughter do some moving and cleaning up of their house. They lived with us about 2 weeks. We also had a leaders retreat for 2 days during that time. And New Years Worship.

This is the girls and me in our "kimono" at the New Years Day service.


We went to spend 3 days at our good friends the Gordan's home 4+ hours from here. Our visit there was great other than me getting some stomach bug.

Then our oldest son Cody came back to visit from the States on January ninth. Which meant that we had our family Christmas then.


It was great to have him home. All the kids had a fun time with him. Here is video proof.


One bit of news that we need to pass on is that we will be returning to the US to live in mid-2008. Probably May or June, depending on various factors. Please pray with us as we take a huge leap of faith...going BACK to the US.

We will share a little bit more about this in upcoming posts.
Have a Blessed 2008!!

Christmas Take 2

Just the previous manger video with music.

Something Christmasy...

Just a short clip that the Lord helped me make.
I thought it turned out pretty good.



This is the Christmas tree we have used at our chapel for the last 12 or so years.
The small sign gives an explanation of each of the symbols.

Thank You for Your Prayers

Our Christmas get together went very well. Thank you so much for your prayers.
Here are a few shots of what happened there.



One group of children singing about the star that guided the Magi.

Here is a shot of the folks that attended.

Most of these people are not Christians. They our English students and/or the parents of English students.

Merry Christ-mas

Just wanted to post a couple of videos that I took outside of our home. Nothing too exciting but hope you enjoy them.



Not many of these around here.



Our annual Christmas program will be this Saturday the 15th at 7PM. If you think of us any prayers are appreciated.

The Ragamuffin Gospel

I want to introduce you to a book, and an author, that has had a great impact on my life in the last month. The author is Brennan Manning. You may have heard of him. He has had several extremely popular books.

"The Ragamuffin Gospel" is not a new book, but it was truly a god-send. I "received" it from my very good friend and mentor, Jerry Schroeder, when he returned to the States in September.

Here is part of the forward of the book:
"The Ragamuffin Gospel is written for the bedraggled, beat-up, and burnt-out.

It is for the sorely burdened who are still shifting the heavy suitcase from one hand to the other.

It is for the wobbly and weak-kneed who know they don't have it altogether and are too proud to accept the handout of amazing grace.

It is for inconsistent, unsteady disciples whose cheese is falling off their cracker.

It is for poor, weak, sinful, men and women with hereditary faults and limited talents.

It is for earthen vessels who shuffle along on feet of clay.

It is for the bent and the bruised who feel that their lives are a grave disappointment to God.

It is for smart people who know they are stupid and honest disciples who admit they are scalawags.

The Ragamuffin Gospel is a book I wrote for myself and anyone who has grown weary and discouraged along the Way."

IF any of those sounds like you, get a copy...you won't be sorry.
The cover of the new edition has a different cover. I scanned mine and posted the picture because I think the art on it is better than the new one.