Christmas over, the New Year yet to come. . .

We had our Kids' Christmas Party at the church on Christmas Day. It was a lot of work, but it was soo neat to see everyone working together. Seriously, it felt like the others from the church who were involved were making it "theirs", and not just "doing what they had to". From creating the "characters" for Mary and the wisemen, recording voices, and putting it all together with music, as well as other preparations on the day of, I felt blessed not only by the event itself, but also the fact that I sense growth in that area in our church. Growth in being a body, one body! I was getting a bit discouraged about how easy it is for divisions and misunderstandings to happen, especially between those who have been in the church a long time, and newer people, as well as between cultures. So, that made me especially excited. . . and realize that I can't help but give thanks to God for that!! Oh yeah, there were also 47 kids there, which is huge!! For the kids' club, we had up to 30 last year, nearer 20 this year, but almost all of my English kids came, and a lot from summer. A lot of them also came with their parents (mostly moms), so it was really great for them all to see the Christmas story unfold before them in words and music, and then play some games and create "Christmas tree cakes" (cut cake in cubes, cement together with whip cream into the tree shape, roughly, and cover with colourful candies -- and it tasted good too. I recommend it!) May the words of Jesus' love speak for themselves (and hopefully that includes using us!) Thanks for being so great God :-)
Today I'm in Osaka. It feels like a really loong time since I've been here. It's really good.
I can't even say how blessed I feel with the friendships that God has given me here, and the fact that after those first 10 months in Osaka, I thought I might never be back, and now here I am, with the chance to enjoy, be encouraged by, and hopefully encourage those very friends. Tonight Fusae (I call her my Japanese mom -- I've known her now for 4 1/2 years, and she truly has been a huge encouragement and support to me -- When I come here, I come "home" to visit!) said that she remembered when I was about to leave Osaka after teaching for a year, and how I cried during that last meeting. I felt like I was going to fall apart when I had to say good-bye to her. I didn't know it at the time, but she said that she had expected I would be much more "put-together" and not so emotional about the parting. When she saw those tears, it made her feel that Japan and the people really had become special to me, and that seemed to impact her deeply. I myself hadn't even realized at the time how much I had grown to love Japan and the people I had met. . . and how much I would miss everything.
I've been thinking a lot about the fact that I have a limited time left here. Well, it is still 6 months, but the way these past (almost) 2 years have gone, I have no doubt it will feel very short. Thinking about leaving is almost too much at times. Though I obviously will and can never feel completely "at home" here, I have felt such a sense of belonging here, and it's hard to think about that fading into a memory. Who knows if or when I will be back, but I pray that I will be able to cherish the memories, look forward to the hope that I know God has planned, and, most of all, to enjoy the moment. (And I have to say, there are definitely a lot of "things" -- mostly people ;-) -- that I'm looking forward to!)
After graduating from high school, I think we all realize that life is much deeper and more "raw" than we could have imagined. I think feeling deeper is harder, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

just a sneak peak!

"Nihau" -- from Shanghai! Yeah, just took a little "weekend-trip" across the Japan Sea to have a look around this city of 17 million (give or take). . . and what a trip it was!! It was absolutely fascinating to see (what little I could in that time) a tiny bit of where the culture resembles, and also how completely different it is from Japanese society. There were other places where it reminded me of home too. . .
This is a picture of the "new Shanghai" a view across the big river that runs through the city. The big tower with the bubbles (Oriental Pearl Tower) is a look-out tower that we also went up, and a very small segment of the rows of skyscrapers lining the horizon. The downtown is packed with them, and new ones being built like crazy. Glass covered concete masses reaching up into infinity, and cranes everywhere you look -- soon the tallest tower in the world will be completed here -- somewhere over the 500 metre tall one in Taipei. Amazing, eh?
A night view -- these pictures were taken from "Old Shanghai" on the opposite side of the river, an area filled with buildings of historical significance from a city with a long and colourful past. Apparently before the war, there were many more foreigners living here, especially British and French, than there are now.
The city definitely spends a lot on lighting for their buildings, driving through downtown was amazing as almost everywhere was lit up, and you could see huge advertisements flashing across the sides of buildings. You can also see the night cruise ship taking in the view. There are so many people who frequent this riverside walk that they are making the most of it, and during the afternoon we saw a ship with a HUGE plasma screen, we're talking 50 meters across, showing the latest cell phone ad. . . the cutting edge technology was amazing!
There are two very different perspectives of this city -- looking up, it is a city of the future, one in which humans almost don't even "belong", and when you look down, you are brought back to the stark reality of daily life. Life of transportation, by bike, motorbike, cars, buses, and all of those weaving their way in what at first seems to be complete chaos, but when you look close enough, you can see how everyone knows their place in the system, plays by the rules and it works, in an uncanny way. Since, according to our guide, Shanghai drivers hate stopping (well, that's probably universal, but exaggerated a bit more here), it is amazing how they will cut in between groups of people crossing the street, and wedge their way past slower cars. Lane markings, and especially turning lanes seem to have no meaning in most cases. Pretty fascinating to watch our driver -- you could tell he was experienced!
A visit to what we hear is one of the most famous sights in Shanghai. This traditional garden was filled with walls, small doorways and buildings in the traditional Chinese style with tiled roof, and spires bending upwards on the corners. The red colour, combined with the shapes, small bridges over the water, and rocks set in the garden brought out the beauty of Chinese architechture. These round doorways are so neat!
Junko and I. Junko is one of my students -- it was her first time overseas, which was really exciting! We had a really great time at this marketplace, checking out the little shops and just taking in the sights all around us. (with more to come. . .)

Emmanuel

God with us. I've been thinking about that a little bit lately. God with us. Beside us, around us, just with us. A pretty cool thought actually. One that I don't think about often enough. How easy it is to get busy, lonely, bored, feel empty and "unfulfilled". . . If I really knew that God was with me, with us, would I -- or could I -- feel that way?
God with us. . . in an encouraging word from a friend, in a smile, in our pain, in the rain, in chaos, in the faces around us, in the gifts that we give to those we love, appreciate, and sometimes even strangers. I have been overwhelmed with God showing Himself to me in the way many of my students and those from the church have given towards shoeboxes to send to those in other Asian countries that are not as materially blessed as Japan. It touches something inside of me to see their excitement, generousity, and the way I imagine it will reach out to a child, with a tangible reminder that Someone cares. . . still cares. . . has always cared.
How often do I have those reminders? How many times a day? How many moments are there when, if I was only looking, I would see God right here with me. . . and how I could share Him with others around me. Because God's not here for just a moment, He's here for all the moments. I want to spend more moments knowing and enjoying Him.
FLN (family life network) has been asking Canadians the question: "If you could ask God one question and knew He would answer, what would it be?" So, I thought I'd ask my students -- "I want to know about all the mysteries of the world" "I want to know why I'm here" "I want to know when the end of the world is" For me? I want to know when I get to meet You.
Guess that day will come, but in the meantime, why not enjoy God with me right here, right now? God with us. . . this Christmas day. . . everyday. . . every moment. Time to get together, I think.