Yesterday after Bible study in our home, my friend stayed for lunch. We talked about questions Japanese have about attending church. Is it okay to attend if I'm not a Christian? How much do I have to pay the church? If I go once, does it obligate me to go forever? People have many misconceptions about what it means to attend a service.
Folks come for different reasons–curiosity, searching for acceptance, or thinking it will increase their chances of getting their child accepted in the Christian school where I work. I love it that God can draw people to Himself regardless of what their motives are in attending church or reading the Bible. My friend said, "At first I wanted to know about God. I ended up believing and now I want to tell everyone."
The people in our circle of influence are at all different stages in their walk with Christ. We are just so pleased God allows us to be a part of the process of recommending walking with Jesus.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Persevering
Saturday I was especially proud of two relatives who persevered in adversity.
My nephew is a runner....a very good runner. Saturday I got to watch him run against opponents from 7 or 8 other international high schools in a cross country race. The competition was stiff. The course was rugged. It's a challenge to walk on the course, let alone run it. But Jared persisted. He runs all the time and it showed when he crossed the finish line ahead of all but one other runner. I admire Jared's persistence and was immensely proud of his success.
I'm married to a man who also knows a great deal about persistence. For the last two months Russ has been experiencing a lot of pain in his left forearm. I rub ointment into it twice a day to help relieve the pain temporarily, but the only thing that will cure it is to not use it. He only has one arm that he can use and he uses it to do everything. To not use it would be to make himself immobile and that would bring on a host of other problems.
Walking with a cane puts so much stress on the muscles in his arm and hand that we've had to cut out unessential walking. But, he needs that exercise so Russ is working on walking without a cane! He says I shouldn't call it "walking", rather "shuffling." Whatever you want to call it, it's impressive. The layout of our house is such that one can walk through the kitchen, dining room, and living room making a loop. Last week he made three loops without putting any weight on his cane. Saturday he wanted to do it again. I wondered if he'd be up to doing three loops again since it takes so much concentration and stamina. Russ had something else in mind. He made seven loops!
They say "No pain; no gain." I think God has a different twist to that..."Give me your pain; I'll give you gain."
Beaming in Tokyo,
Flossie
My nephew is a runner....a very good runner. Saturday I got to watch him run against opponents from 7 or 8 other international high schools in a cross country race. The competition was stiff. The course was rugged. It's a challenge to walk on the course, let alone run it. But Jared persisted. He runs all the time and it showed when he crossed the finish line ahead of all but one other runner. I admire Jared's persistence and was immensely proud of his success.
I'm married to a man who also knows a great deal about persistence. For the last two months Russ has been experiencing a lot of pain in his left forearm. I rub ointment into it twice a day to help relieve the pain temporarily, but the only thing that will cure it is to not use it. He only has one arm that he can use and he uses it to do everything. To not use it would be to make himself immobile and that would bring on a host of other problems.
Walking with a cane puts so much stress on the muscles in his arm and hand that we've had to cut out unessential walking. But, he needs that exercise so Russ is working on walking without a cane! He says I shouldn't call it "walking", rather "shuffling." Whatever you want to call it, it's impressive. The layout of our house is such that one can walk through the kitchen, dining room, and living room making a loop. Last week he made three loops without putting any weight on his cane. Saturday he wanted to do it again. I wondered if he'd be up to doing three loops again since it takes so much concentration and stamina. Russ had something else in mind. He made seven loops!
They say "No pain; no gain." I think God has a different twist to that..."Give me your pain; I'll give you gain."
Beaming in Tokyo,
Flossie
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