Merry Unexpected Christmas!

Christmas day is almost over here in Japan.  It has been a great day!  A completely unexpected day.  Actually, a completely unexpected week!

Sunday was an unexpected when I received a message that my coworker was not feeling well.  By 1PM it was obvious that he was not going to be able to make it to church that afternoon.  Thankfully, we had already planned the themes for advent Sundays, so planning a message in a couple of hours was not quite as difficult.  Everyone at church was understanding and helpful.  We had a good time studying about joy in the story of Jesus' birth.

Monday morning dawned with a snow squall and another not quite as unexpected message.  Influenza had taken down two more of the members of my coworkers' family, putting the count at 3.  I continued with my day off as usual which included tea time with a friend.  God prepared both of our hearts and she offered as I asked her to play piano for our Christmas Eve service at church!

With that unexpected challenge cleared, I was ready to begin preparing for the service on Tuesday.  I spent the day at church, reading, preparing, checking out the programs from the last couple of years, and enjoying delving into the Christmas story again.  My friend came to get the music and help me check the Japanese on the power point.  We had another good time of fellowship.


Unexpectedly, I had just enough cookies left at home to take to my morning exercise friends at the park on Christmas eve morning.  It was fun to see their faces and hear the "Merry Christmas" responses.


Our Christmas eve service was beautiful and full of joy.  I am so grateful for our church, the lovely people, and the wonderful celebration of our Savior's birth.

Following the service, my piano-playing friend came over and spent the night.  We enjoyed fellowship late into the night and basically all day today.  What a blessing to have a friend with whom I can spend a day sitting at the table, chatting, snacking, laughing, crying, and sharing words of wisdom.  An unexpected Christmas was just what I needed!


(Although, I missed hanging out with the Ewing family and look forward to our belated celebration!)

Parks

I love the park just up the road from me.  I has lovely tree-lined walking paths, a water fountain, and lots of friendly people.  I often run through the park on my morning runs, however, during the summer I run exclusively in the park so that I can drink water without having to carry it.

Over the summer this year I discovered there is a group of people who do radio exercises every morning at 6:30.  I have joined them and really enjoy it.  Many of the participants walk the paths before the exercises start.  Although, now that it is getting cooler and the sun doesn't rise so early, many are waiting until after exercises to walk.  That is when I have started running, too, actually!

I love running past people and greeting them.  Now that I have joined the exercise time, people know I can speak Japanese and have lived here for quite some time.  I think that gives them more of a willingness to greet me.

One of the men who has lived in the area the longest said that the park used to be a pond and a plum tree orchard.  There is a pond in the park now, but it is in a different location!  I am not sure how they moved the pond, but they did.  There are ducks that winter in the pond and a pheasant who makes his presence known every once in a while.

A couple of mornings ago the clouds turned pink as the sun was rising and the full moon was setting. It was really beautiful, and impossible to capture with a camera.  But, I wrote this haiku as I was walking home...

early morning sun
full moon swallowed by pink clouds
jogging in the park

Come visit and I will take you to meet my new friends at the park!

Immobile

As most people who know me know, I like to run. Basically, I like to move. I didn't realize how much I actually move until I became immobile!

On Monday, I fell down the steps into the garage at our apartment building. Thankfully, it was only the last 3 steps. It was a rainy day and my arms were full of laundry I was taking to the laundromat to dry. Thankfully, I had all of that in my arms because it kept me from getting hurt worse.

On Monday, I learned more about the kindness of my neighbors. I am thankful for Mrs. U who came running down the steps as soon as she heard the crash and then contacted my friend, Mrs. S, because she didn't know my contact info. I am thankful for Mrs. S who immediately ran upstairs when I called, first hugged me and then asked me how I was doing. She dropped everything and took me directly to the doctor's office. I am thankful for Mrs. T and her daughter who live next door and brought me dinner last night, who are taking out my garbage for me. I am thankful for Mrs. K, from choir, who lives 3 minutes away and is a nurse, and who stops by each day on her way home from work. She also brings me food and magazines.

Actually, Mrs. T's daughter had the same experience in November on a different stairway. Also, she is studying physical therapy! One of her professors worked in the US for 12 years and is willing to look at my x-rays and then talk to me in English about what I should do.

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of the kindness.

Most people also know that I do not do well at asking for help. Well, that has had to change! I even have to ask someone to check my mail for me. It has been raining off and on all week. I am a bit nervous about going down the wet steps on crutches!

I have noticed this unwillingness to ask for help affects my relationship with God, too. As my unwillingness to ask God for help increases, my distance from Him increases, too. He has not moved, I have. I think I know how to do the ministry where He has placed me, so I just keep on going, doing what I've always done, in my own power. I am not surprised when I fall down. But it doesn't always cause me to change my ways. Why is it I always have to end up in a pile at the bottom of the steps in order to wake up and pay attention?

I am thankful for God's goodness and kindness, His patience and His love. As I think about my ankle healing, I realize it is going to take time. For some reason I think my heart should heal overnight. Maybe my heart takes time to heal just as my ankle does...