::: one day :::

Josh Garrels: farther along 

Please click on link above, lyrics can also be found there.  The new album "love and war and the sea in between" is insanely good.

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Phew... a rough two months its been for me here in Japan as the "foreigner".  A deep valley I feel I have just passed through. Spirit heavy, emotions all over the place, heart discouraged, tested, tried... still always knowing God present, but struggling to "do" life as a "believer". Loving God with ALL that we are... I fall short of the full measure every day. The path is not easy... it's narrow...

Ichinoseki, Iwate, Japan

Two things remain strong in my heart and mind though..

I love Jesus + Japan. This is why I am here.

 Great danger comes to us though when we begin fearing man and not fearing God. This was my problem I think.  I do not mean He is a scary God, only that we should revere Him and that He alone has the power to give us eternal life or death. While the circumstances here have been difficult, I really needed my eyes turned back up to Him. I was so worried about respecting and honoring the people and being sensitive to the culture here, that I was conforming and forgetting who I was, and who I belonged to. 

 I am His!!!  

I can trust that God's perfect goodness and faithfulness will always see me through. Life with Jesus is good, brothers and sisters. Japan is a rich + complex culture, one I may never fully understand but I can have compassion for my brothers + sisters at this time,

without sacrificing "me" or losing heart.

He is personal and knows "my"and "your" name.

 Peace begins with a smile,

a smile I will cheerfully wear! 

Lets keep going together.

Greater things are still to come...

Temporary Housing, Iwate, Japan/ mobile cafe FUN!

" Love God, your  God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!" 

Deuteronomy 6:5