"Kiseki wa okiru, shinjireba. . ."

Yes, that's the song that's been running through all of our heads this past week. . . the Japanese version of "When you believe" from "Prince of Egypt". It was kind of our theme song for the 3 days of Summer Kids' Club this year. . . Making pizza the second day -- these girls were so artistic!
Things went really well -- both the kids and adults had a lot of fun, I think (maybe the adults even more than the kids sometimes! ;-) I had the brilliant idea of a "staff wheelbarrow race", which I thought would be fun for the kids to watch after they were done theirs. . . think the kids weren't quite sure what was going on, but we had a great time! We also had team colours during the week, so the leaders got pretty competitive at times. . . This picture is us making garden stones. . . just like the Israelites!
Game time upstairs. . . duck, duck goose can work miracles. ;-) But according to the YMI team (from Canada and the States), since the kids didn't really say the words, you had to distinguish between the pat and the slap on the head, as to when / if you should run!! It was soo nice to have the church building this year, since before this, they have always used a community centre.
I was so thankful for all those from the church who volunteered their time in working with the kids, making meals, and just pitching in (especially the Sunday before when it looked like I was going to lose it!! :-b) It is a blessing to be part of such a family, and for connections to be built between the kids and people in the church -- I pray that those will continue from here as well. The YMI team was also amazing -- a group with servant hearts, wanting to be a blessing to those they meet here in Japan.
Just one of the things the YMI team added to our week was the "Pharoah Pharoah" (now "Paro Paro" ;-) song. . . the kids just loved it (as you can see in the group picture)! For the last afternoon, we went to the park, played some water games, had a watermelon breaking contest (the other kids "coach" the blindfolded one towards a watermelon lying on the ground, who takes a whack at it).
Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers -- God is so faithful, and He provides much more than we could imagine.
I leave Toyota in almost exactly an hour to go to the airport for Canada -- yay!! Can't wait to see you all. . . hoping you are having a great summer too!

to all of you. . .

. . . who check this space for random postings -- thank you so much! There's something neat about "connecting" with you here, even though I don't know when you come, or even who some of you are probably. . .
It has been a bit of a trying time for me here these days. . . in many ways, I guess. I think I realized today that I am being reminded I need to be a learner, who is able to admit my shortcomings. These past few days have been filled with a lot of great and fun things, a lot of hard work (I'm not used to that ;-) and finding out some things about myself that maybe I didn't really want to! :-s I guess I've always thought of myself as a pretty respectful person, and yet, many times that's just the image I try to portray on the outside, as long as I can "fool" the other person into believing my facade, I justify it to myself that everything is ok. Guess lying, even to yourself, always ends up showing itself. It wasn't like a "big event" that shocked me into the realization, but just the comment "You must be busy". It came after I had agreed to do something for this person, and I stood there impatiently while they tried to tell and show me how to do a very basic thing (as if I had to do it that "specific" way). It was obvious how I hurredly asked if I could take the supplies to my house to do the job (since I didn't want to wait around any longer). That's when the comment came, "You must be busy". It kind of made me cringe. Even though it was true, do I really want to be a "busy" person?! Too busy to have meaningful interactions with people, or feel like I'm always jsut rushing through something to get onto the next?
The other thing I think God is trying to knock into my head is the practice of humility -- an independent and strongly opinionated personality doesn't always readily accept the advice / good intentions of others, or recognize her "guest status" here in another country. How did Jesus ever humble Himself to the point of coming to this earth to live with us?! When things frustrate me about living here, I sometimes want to just "rebel" against them, and exert my individuality as a "Canadian". . . I think looking at my situation, I've had a lot of "freedoms", to continue life (at least in many ways) the way I'm used to or comfortable with, that many of my other friends who work at Japanese companies haven't had.
Seems like another twist in the road that I hadn't expected, but I hope that I will be able to keep my eyes focussed on the One who humbled Himself to the ultimate sacrifice for us. . . and take my cues from Him. Thanks for "listening" -- let's talk again soon. . . ;-)