Overwhelming Joy

In December 2007, I had to take out a private loan to help with college.

I only needed to take out $3,000 but I took out $8,000. I wanted to buy a computer and I’m not sure what else I was planing on doing with the extra $5,000. But, the Lord knew.

He knew that I would need that money to go to South Africa for 2 months in the summer of 2008. He knew that I would travel to South Africa to meet two of my best friends, Hannah and Saige.

I thought that I was going to travel to South Africa and maybe meet my husband. But I am so so so so thankful that I met these two wonderful, Godly women. They speak such truth into my life.

Hannah is one of the most wonderful people who I have ever met. She encourages me so much in my faith. She tells me if I am being stupid. She tells me that it is okay to cry. It is okay to have feelings that may seem ridiculous. She dreams with me. We have only ever spent 10 days since South Africa in the same place. We talk MULTIPLE times a day thanks to amazing technology. She makes my heart so joyful. I love her so stinking much.

Saige is my twin. She is all kinds of random. We can chase dreams. We Facebook stalk. We text each other at hours of the morning that are ungodly and have beautiful conversations. We love to watch stupid videos. We love a good type scream laugh. We have only seen each other 2 times since South Africa but we chat all the time. It is like I never even left America. I am soooooo thankful for her.

In March, I am hoping to finish paying off that loan. It is bittersweet. Where I have come from since taking out that loan to where I am now. Where these relationships have started and where they are now.

Thank you Jesus for letting me take out that extra $5,000. I wouldn’t trade those two girls for the world.

Tags: amazing technology, BFFs, friends, godly women, joy, traveling

Sneak Peek

Today is one of those days that I want a sneak peek into the future. A glimpse of what my life looks like down the road.

Over the past year I learned a lot about being patient. I feel like I have become a more patient person. But today… I am not.

I want to look into the future 5 years from now when I am less than 2 months away from turning 30. (holy smokes)

I want to see what my life looks like.

Will I be married? If I am… what does that wonderful man’s face look like? Does he have dimples? Does he have blue or green eyes? Does his smile make me melt?

Will I have children? If I do… what do their precious faces look like? Do they look like me? Do they have crazy curly hair when they wake up in the morning? Did they inherit my crazy, loud, scream laugh? Or, do they look nothing like me and look like their wonderful father? Are they adopted? Are they learning to love Jesus?

Where will I be? Will I be in Japan? Will I have moved back to America? Will I have moved back to Missouri or some other state? Will I have moved to another country?

Or…

Will I be in heaven worshiping my wonderful Savior?

Today is one of those days that I just want a small glimpse into my future.

How about you? Would you want a sneak peek?

Tags: future, impatient, life, love, one of those days, sneak peek, turning 30

2012

Well it is a new year and I think that it is time for new things to accomplish.

Last year I had these things on my list:

* read through the Bible. Well I certainly read more than I did last year but I didn’t read through the entire thing.

* Do P90X Epic fail

* Go to a state I have never been to. I went to Nebraska for my cousins wedding in August.

* Keep in contact with friends made in Japan Well considering I am still IN Japan, I have kept in contact with a good amount of friends that left.

* Volunteer with an organization  I worked with Samaritans Purse when the earthquake and tsunami happened in March.

* Pay off $7000 in student loans I paid off nearly $15,000 this year. I have no idea how I did it.

* Write to Post Secret fail

* Send more letters I have two wonderful pen pals that I write with on a regular occasion. 

Looking back at my list, I see that I accomplished almost all of them. When I wrote that list, I was planning on moving back to America and not staying in Japan. But now that I have signed myself up for a 3rd year in Japan, I am not sure what this next year holds.

This year, I am having a hard time thinking of things that I would like to accomplish. But here are a few:

*pay off ALL student loans

*learn to knit some gloves

*read a series of books

*work out regularly

*read more of the Old Testament

As I get older, the more and more I think about accomplishing things, the more and more I just want to be in the Lord’s timing. This is where my word for the year comes into action: trust. I have to trust that the Lord’s timing is right and good.

What do you want to accomplish this year?

Tags: 2012, old testament, oneword2012, oneword365, pen pals, samaritans purse, student loans, trust

That little word

When I was in youth group we had lots of “team building” games on retreats and at camp. One of those games was the Trust Fall. Everyone lines up in two lines and links their arms together. Another person stands on a chair or a table and then literally falls back and has to trust that the people that they don’t know is going to catch them.

I always hated that game.

It is not that I don’t trust people, it just annoyed me. When people wouldn’t fall back and would chicken out.

But then I started thinking.

Isn’t that what I do with God? Don’t I “chicken out” at times? Do I really believe that he has everything in control?

Back in March 2011, when the big earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, I was given an opportunity to get out of Sendai. I chose not to. I asked God what He wanted me to do. I knew that the Lord would give me a quick answer because I only had 20 minutes to decide if I wanted to stay or if I wanted to go. I remember his answer: trust me.

YIKES. Okay… I will Lord, I will trust you. That also tied into my word of the year… delight.

So as 2012 is underway, I am choosing the word Trust.

The verse that I am going to focus on this year is Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight”

Tags: 2012, Lord, one word, trust

Wrap Up

2011 was a year I will never forget.

So much change, unexpectedness and growth in the Lord happened.

At the end of 2010, I decided that I would choose a word to live the year by. I chose the word, delight.

I picked this word from one of my favorite bible verses, Psalm 37:4

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

I didn’t know that when I picked that word that I would have my world literally rocked on March 11 when my life changed. Experiencing a 9.0 earthquake and seeing the damage from the tsunami had me in awe of the Lord. How the Lord spared my life and then used me to help with relief efforts and then take up a job at my school that I had previously quit from.

I didn’t know that I would have to choose to be delightful in those situations. Bring peace and speak with a calm voice when talking to my family.

Because I chose to delight myself in the Lord, he gave me one of the best jobs that I never could have imagined having. He gave me some of the best friends as well. Friends that know my heart and allow me to share my heart with them. Friends that make me scream laugh all day long. Friends that encourage me in my faith. Friends that will be friends for a lifetime.

I am so very thankful for 2011. I am sad to see it go because it was such a great yet very difficult year. It will be one that I will never forget.

 

Tags: delight yourself in the lord, relief efforts

Thanksgiving part 1

I want to write about Thanksgiving here in Japan.

This is going to have to be a two-part blog.

First, I want to talk about having Thanksgiving with my students. No, it wasn’t a massive meal of: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, or even cranberry sauce, it was curry.

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I had such a wonderful time spending Thanksgiving with my students.

Part 2 is about all of the American’s getting together for an EPIC Thanksgiving meal of 150 people! Stay tuned.

Tags: Japan, love, teaching, thanksgiving

Give it Up

If you had to give up one thing today, what would be the hardest thing for you to give up?

Your iPhone? Your computer? Your job? Your friends? Your family?

 

Tags: Jesus, love, obeying

200?

According to my lovely stats, this is my 200th post.

Holy.cow.

I honestly don’t have any idea what I have written about in 200 posts. I hope that people have come to this corner of the web and have read my heart. My heart for Jesus, for loving people, and for the Japanese. I’m sure I have rambled on and on about wanting to get married, my life in Japan, my crazy adventures around the world, and my cute students.

The only thing that I wish I could share with you all is how much I love to laugh. I seriously love it. I love laughing with people and at myself. I find a lot of things funny. I love people that make me laugh. I love animals that make me laugh. I love that the Lord makes me laugh.

One of my friends told me this year that the best way to describe my laugh would be “scream laughing”. He is right. When I laugh…. I slightly scream but I am laughing. It is loud. It can be slightly annoying. And it is a true cackle.

What is something that you love to laugh about? Do you have a video or story to tell me to make me laugh? Please share.

Keep on laughin’ friends.

Tags: laughing, life

Potato Roast

Here in Japan, they have a fall festival at school. They roast sweet potatoes.

It was AWESOME.

Here are some pictures to show you what we did.

Momiji Class lined up to watch the roasting.

Nara class lined up to watch the roasting.

Fuji class lined up to watch the roasting.

Getting the fire started. I thought that my glasses were going to melt off of my face.

The older kids throwing their potatoes into the fire.

Potatoes getting ready to roast. We covered these up with about 12 more layers of straw. It was insane.

Then after the potatoes were done, we had to dig them out of the fire. Here is my lovely friend and coworker, Carrie, holding up some of the potatoes.

Getting ready to eat my potato. Please observe how black my hands are as well. I even had gloves on.

Then after it was all finished, we had to water the fire. My friend Joshua, is doing just that.

This was a fun event and very Japanese. Just something to show what we do here in Japan for Fall.

I still miss carving pumpkins and all things pumpkin flavored as well.

Tags: fall, Japan, teaching

Desires

The other night my friend Christina and I went out for sushi. I have found my new sushi soul mate since my dear Maegan went back to America.

Christina and I could eat sushi probably 5 times a week if you let us. When we go to sit down, we immediately look at what is going by and just start taking plates off of the conveyor belt. Then, we realize that we have 5 plates each in front of us and that we should get to eating. This happens almost every.single.time. What can I say? We LOVE sushi.

Anyway… while we were nommin on some raw fish, I started talking about the desires of my heart. Telling her how I want to get married. How I want to become a mother. Then in my head I was thinking of all of the other desires of my heart. How I want to see my Japanese friends come to know Christ. How I want to see my family turn towards the Lord and love Him with every ounce of their heart.

I then asked her: Do you think that the Lord puts desires in our hearts if they aren’t meant to be made true? How I want to be married and be a mother. What if I die before it happens? Would the Lord give me those desires?

I know that I can die at any moment. I know it sounds morbid, but it is true. Every second, I am closer to going to heaven. Closer to seeing Jesus on His throne. Closer to seeing those streets of gold.

What do you think? Do you think that the Lord would put desires in our heart if they weren’t meant to be accomplished?

Tags: desires, Jesus, love, marriage