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.
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