Celebration of Love Meetings Update

"I am so encouraged." "I have hope for Japan." " I have never seen so many Christians all together in one place in my whole life." All these were comments I heard from my Japanese friends in response to their attending the Franklin Graham meetings in Tokyo November 20-22. It really was a great event which I believe will have a lasting impact on people.

It's hard to say exactly how many attended because many, like me, went more than once. In the two meetings I went to, the estimates were 9000 and 14,000. According to information from the Billy Graham Association (BGA), more than 1400 people came forward over the four meetings to make decisions for Christ. 41% of those were children under 18 years of age. In a country were there are few young people in churches, this was very heartening news. Fifteen of those who made decisions are connected to the church we attend.  

Another friend told me that she's been a Christian for a number of years, but Franklin Graham's message helped her understand the gospel better than she ever has before. Graham's style was very direct which was undoubtedly surprising for most Japanese, but enlightening for people like my friend.

Before the meetings I was praying with a friend to have courage to invite her parents to attend the meetings. She said it would take a miracle for them to accept, but they came!

On Sunday afternoon so many people went forward that the security guards threatened to close the doors since for security reasons that many people are not allowed on one floor at a time. Thankfully they held off until the last person made it in.

My personal highlights were:
• Sitting by two middle-aged women who became my friends. I hope to get together again with them soon.
• Watching missionary friend Ken Taylor enthusiastically lead the 1400-voice gospel choir in rousing praise to God. His wife passed away Oct. 19 and probably would have been a soloist if she hadn't been stricken with cancer. Ken still gave it his best and the performance was powerful!
• Listening to New Wings, an up and coming Japanese worship band, radiate the love of the Lord and sing beautifully.
• Observing the pleasure of the audience when the Tommy Coomes Band and others sang in Japanese.
• Watching all those Japanese go forward to respond to the gospel here in a country so resistant to the gospel!

Thank you for praying for Japan!

Setting Aside a Worry

I Need Thee Every Nano Second

The hymn "I Need Thee Every Hour" has been the theme of my spring and summer. It was such an eventful summer! 

June

We started off with the joy of my daughter's wedding. It was the most beautiful, amazing, and multi-cultural wedding I've ever attended. Since Christie and her husband are both deaf, the wedding was in American Sign Language (ASL). There was simultaneous interpretation for three groups of people all sitting in assigned seating so they could fully participate. Chul's family were in the Korean Sign Language area. Christie's Japanese deaf friends were in the Japanese Sign Language section. The rest of the guests watched the ASL or listened to the English interpretation. Since Christie and Chul are a part of the Messianic Christian movement there were Jewish elements as well. It was all so meaningful.

Arranging housing and transportation for around 20 people who came from overseas would have been challenging on any level, but was especially so with all the different languages. I worked on the logistics while trying to finish up my work at school early enough to give us time to enjoy our granddaughter who arrived with her parents a week before everyone else arrived. It was a lot to figure out, but so worth it!!

Christie really wanted to get married outside on the very spot we visit each summer for our mission conference and family vacation. Being the middle of rainy season made this a challenge, but God cleared the sky for that day and it was lovely. Russ usually sits in a wheelchair, but can walk on even terrain. The ground was not at all even. God worked out even that detail. I walked with Christie most of the way and then Russ waited close to the front and was able to walk his daughter down the aisle with Christie on one side and me on the other. It was lovely!

July

After Christie and Chul returned from their honeymoon and before returning to Seattle where they are making their home, they stayed with Russ so that I could make a two-week visit to the US to visit friends and supporters and attend my nephew's joyous wedding. 

August

Then just after I started back to school we received word that Russ' mother passed away. She was such a special lady. We definitely miss her, but she was ready to go be with Jesus. At 89 she had lived a full life and was suffering a great deal at the end. Russ made the decision ahead of time to visit her when she was alive (which we did last summer) rather than to attend her funeral since traveling is so challenging for him. I love this picture of Russ with his mom here on earth for the last time. 

Now my father is struggling with his health. All these events have been a lot to process. So many times God has used the song, "I Need Thee Every Hour" to encourage me as my load was beyond what I knew I could humanly handle. I had more responsibilities, joys, and sorrow than could fit neatly into my life. I did make one adjustment to the words of the hymn. When I sang it alone in the car I changed the word, "hour" to "nano-second." " I need thee every nano-second..." I had to squeeze the words to fit the tune, but it works for me and is so true. I look back on the summer of Christie's wedding, my nephew Jared's wedding, and my mother-in-law's funeral with a resounding, "Yes! He has been with me every nano-second!"

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord.

No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee, Every hour I need Thee

Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby

Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain

Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will.

And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;

Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.

A Valentines Gift to our Children

Dear Christie and Joel,

We are so blessed to have you as children. On this Valentine's Day we wanted to share some thoughts with you. At this stage in life we no longer make you heart-shaped pancakes to celebrate the day or write you little valentine cards, but the one thing we have done since before your birth and continue to do to this day is to love each other. We've always felt that our relationships with God and each other are two of the most important gifts we could give you.

To celebrate the day this year, Dad and I went out for breakfast with friends of ours. We talked about things we appreciate in our spouses. One thing that comes to my mind over and over about Dad is how he seeks to be my biggest fan. He knows my faults better than anyone on earth, but, honestly, he never mentions them. It's not that he's dishonest, for you know the words "Russ" and "integrity" are practically synonymous. It's that he chooses to overlook my weaknesses knowing that I'm my worst critic and don't really need someone else telling me what I need to work on. Instead of talking to others about my faults, he talks to God about them.

In true iron-sharpens-iron style, he shares with me my blind spots when necessary, but he never brings up my obvious faults. This is true when talking to others about me and when talking to me directly. Because he's a truth-teller, I'm a better person for knowing him. Because he's become a gracious man, I have joy deep in my soul that comes from being completely loved and accepted.

You've probably heard it said that building a relationship is like putting money in a bank. Every kind, uplifting, and helpful word is a deposit. Every negative word is a withdrawal. Christie, as you anticipate entering marriage this summer and Joel, as you develop your relationship with your wife, I encourage you to be like Dad...full of grace and truth.

Happy Valentine's Day,
Mum

Welcoming 2015

Do you make New Year's resolutions? I usually do. This year instead of resolutions, I decided on three things I'd like to focus on throughout 2015. Already I've found concentrating on thankfulness, Scripture meditation, and organization is enriching my life in fresh ways.


Thankfulness
My whole life has been blessed. Every direction I turn there are causes for thanksgiving. I love how The Message in Lamentations 3:22-24 says:
God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left.

It's not like my life is simple and trouble-free, but it's blessed because God is with me. Each morning when I wake up after saying "Good morning," to Russ, I've been verbalizing aloud several things I'm thankful for and then writing them in my little thanksgiving book. It's not an original idea, but one you may recognize from Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts. My desire is to make thanksgiving the first words out of my mouth hopefully setting the tone for the day and blessing Russ at the same time.

Scripture Meditation
As an educational consultant, I often talk to parents about the power of copywork. I decided to put my own advice to heart and have been handwriting out verses. My thought is to meditate on one verse per month. I've already memorized my January verse Proverbs 20:24 (Contemporary English Version). How can we know what will happen to us when the LORD alone decides? It's short, I know, but I've had a mental block against memorizing anything new for a few years now, so I'm grateful. Copying out a verse before breakfast takes very little time and again it helps my focus for the day.

Organization
Those of you who know me well, may laugh at this one. The general opinion of those who know me is that I have an organizational bent. While that's true, some health issues in the last year have made this especially challenging for me. I've finally found some help with my health concerns and my mind is clearing up. I'm deeply grateful to the Lord for giving me my mind back! Now I have some work to do to make up for all the disarray that crept in past the organization guards while brain fog kept me less than vigilant.