A Day of Thanks

This year I spent Thanksgiving with family and friends in SD. The day started with the traditional Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade viewing and running into the kitchen to check on the sweet potatoes during commercial breaks. Then we headed over to our friends' house. These friends and their entire extended family have adopted my family since we don't have any relatives here in South Dakota. A very few times while I was growing up we spent Thanksgiving with relatives, usually it was with the Sims' family.

Here is one of the three tables set up for the 40 guests!


We had lots of fun eating, talking, watching football (American football), bowling, eating and talking some more. Here are three of my little friends who enjoyed the Japanese candy I brought as well as learning how to write their names in Japanese.


It was a great day! I am truly grateful for my family, friends, faith, and so many other things that I won't take time today to list them all.

Of course, being in the US meant I didn't get to spend the day with my mission family. I am grateful for technology and the chance to see and chat with them while they celebrated on the 23rd.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Poetry

My favorite hymn of all time is "To God Be the Glory." (I do realize many people younger than 25 have no idea what a hymn is, but I love the old hymns as much as the 'new' worship music.:) The hymn is written by Fanny Crosby who wrote over 8000 hymns. Today I was doing a little reading about her and found her first poem. It is pretty amazing for an 8 year old. By the way, Fanny was blind.


O what a happy soul am I!
Although I cannot see
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be

How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't
To weep and sigh because I'm blind
I cannot, and I won't!



Just a little something to help you start to get into an attitude of gratitude as Thanksgiving approaches.

Thought from St. Ignatius

I am reading a book about Mother Teresa. It is filled with letters that she wrote to and received from her superiors as she was forming and serving as a Missionary of Charity in India. So much of what I have read has made an impact, but here is a recently read quote. This was written in a letter from Archbishop Perier quoting St. Ignatius.

"My only wish and desire, the one thing I humbly crave to have is the grace to love God, to love Him alone. Beyond that I ask for nothing more."

Oh to live with such a desire!

friends

As I have traveled around the upper midwest the past two months I have met many new people, shared numerous times about ministry in Japan, and stayed with a variety of people, some I have stayed with before and others were first timers. Overall, it has been a great home assignment so far.

A week ago I went to Minnesota and stayed with long-time friends. What a blessing those 6 days were!
I stayed with fellow missionaries...

Barb and I tried to buy out all of the tall-sized pants and jeans at Shopko.

I stayed with a college roommate...

We did a lot of fun things including a corn maze...
and breakfast with another roommate...


I also had dinner with another roommate...

She is also in ministry so we had a good time of sharing and encouragement.
Six of us lived together senior year so I have lots of college roommates!

And yesterday I got to visit with a best buddy from high school, junior high, elementary, well, since forever, right here in Madison.


I was reminded how blessed I am with such wonderful friends. Thank you, Jesus!

the harvest is ready

I have been traveling through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota for the past couple of months. I have watched the fields turn from green to brown as the beans, corn, and sunflowers matured and dried in preparation for harvest.

Everything was looking so good. Then the rains came. In October. The crops don't need as much rain as we've gotten this October. We've had a few days of no rain, in a row, so the farmers have been scrambling to get the soy beans harvested. Then the rain started again today.

As I was driving back from Iowa last night in the rain past all of the unharvested fields I thought of the well-known verses from Matthew. "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field."

I was thinking of all the things that can hinder the harvest, rain, broken tractors, snow, etc. There are also things that hinder the harvest that Jesus was talking about in Matthew. The main hinderance Jesus talked about was the lack of workers. I am sure we can think of many other hinderances, culture, prejudices, religion, etc.

There are outside influences the enemy uses to hinder us. There are also lies he tells us to keep us from participating in the harvest. "You are not called." "You don't know enough to talk about the Bible." "You are too busy." And so on.

There is another hinderance, comfort. It is uncomfortable to participate in the harvest. Farmers who harvest crops work long hours during the harvest season. Being a harvester for Jesus is uncomfortable.

What is hindering us from being harvesters?

Least Favorite Part of the Job

Part of being a missionary is asking for support. I do not know one missionary who likes this part of the job. But, two weeks ago I went to a conference put on by a ministry that helps make it a little bit easier.

Steer, Inc. is a ministry that partners ranchers and farmers with missionaries. I actually have several people who support me through this program. It is great to see people who desire to share God's Word around the world finding ways to make it happen. If you want to know more about this innovative program check it out here.

While at the conference I got to get together with fellow NAB missionaries (Lance and Debra Rundus), see people from supporting churches, and meet missionaries from other organizations.


We also got to hear some inspirational speakers, Kim Meeder (who I wrote about in this post), Mark Mittelberg, Brian Wechsler who is a representative from Village Missions, and Josh McDowell, who I did not get to hear since I had to leave early.

So, in the midst of thinking about the least favorite part of my job I got to be part of one of my favorite parts of my job, hanging out with other missionaries!

Just a thought

I guess I need to keep my computer connected to me at all times. (My mom thinks it is connected to me!) I keep having good ideas for a blog post and then I forget by the time I get a chance to write!

Well, here is one I remember.

On Tuesday I went with my parents to Sioux Falls to listen to my dad speak-he did a great job. I had not signed up for the seminars so while they had lunch and seminars, I went to Bagel Boy for lunch.

As I sat eating my sandwich, which was delicious, and reading my book, I also noticed a group of women having lunch together. It started out with two ladies sitting at a small round table really only big enough for about 3 people. In about 10 minutes' time there were six ladies sitting together talking and laughing and sharing time as they lunched. I didn't really pay attention to what they were saying even though they were loud enough to be heard throughout the restaurant.

Then I noticed another table of women. Three ladies sitting at a table large enough to hold at least 6 people. They were just eating their sandwiches and looking at that spot on the middle of the table where you look when you aren't quite sure what to talk about.

Two tables of women lunching together. Yet what a difference in how they spent their time together! Just something I noticed and found interesting...