Thoughts and Clouds

Sitting in silence in the early morning.  As I watch the sky and try to follow my thoughts, trying to be silent and wait, I see that my thoughts are like the wispy clouds that are floating quickly in front of the sun and then dissipating.

There are thicker, slower-moving, barely-moving, clouds behind those clouds, deeper thoughts I want to bring before God, but the wispy clouds keep distracting me.

Every once in a while there is a break in the clouds, both wispy, quick-moving clouds and thicker slow-moving clouds.  In those moments the sun shines brightly, warming my face, assuring me that there will be a break, there will be a time when my soul will find rest in God alone, when I will be able to hear my Savior's voice more clearly again.

Until then I will continue to sit in the silence-sit until there is silence-knowing that the sun is behind those clouds and that it is shining as brightly as ever, helping the clouds to dissipate.

Just a little thought

This morning as I was brushing my teeth I read this on my Oswald Chambers flip calendar:

"Satan does not tempt us just to make us do wrong things- he tempts us to make us lose what God has put into us through regeneration, namely, the possibility of being of value to God."

Hebrews 4:15  We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Then in Bible study, Mrs. Sakamoto and I studied the parable of the sower.  We talked about how temptations are like the thorns that strangle the plant once it has started growing.  Well, the temptations themselves do not strangle, our not resisting the temptations strangles us and 'make us lose... the possibility of being of value to God.'

What grace, that Jesus, our high priest, was also tempted and knows what we are going through.  Not only that, He also provides a way of escape, picks us up when we fall, and never leaves us!

What an awesome God we serve!

If you want to read a little about last Sunday's testimonies and sermons, click here.

The Mystery of Music

On Tuesday at Komyo Christian Church the guest at our Ladies' Lunch was my friend, Coco.  She is a musician, mother, wife, Christian, and recovering from an illness.  Music has played an important role in her recovery and I wanted others to have an opportunity to hear about it.  She was willing to share when I asked her!

(Coco shared about the day in Japanese here: http://coco-doco-cocoro.blogspot.jp )

I have been blessed by Coco's friendship and honesty, her love for God and her joy in Jesus.

I am thankful for the women who were able to attend.  I think we were all touched by Coco's sharing and singing.  I know tears came to my eyes several times, especially when she sang the song, "Nobody Knows."  I was actually surprised by the music.  For some reason I had expected something softer and light.  But, the music fit perfectly with the words and feelings behind them.  The song is in Japanese except for these words in English: "Nobody knows, Nobody never knows but Jesus."  Truth!





Here are a couple of pictures from the day:

Flat Stanley got to come, too!

One Year Ago

One year ago I was about to embark on a life-changing experience.  I had no idea what to expect.  I was nervous.  I was excited.

I got on an airplane and God opened my heart so wide it hurt.
One week, that's all it took.  One week and my life was turned upside down.

My heart is no longer in just two places, it is now all over the world, Peru, Haiti, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya and Brazil.

My perspective on my life has changed.  My perspective of my possessions has changed.

I am thankful for that week.  I will cherish it always.

I can't wait to have the opportunity to go to another one of the places where a piece of my heart dwells.
Someday!

Until then, I am grateful that Compassion International and World Vision keep me connected to those pieces of my heart.