The House Is Ready, Is My Heart?

Here we are in advent again.  Mom and I put up our tree and began adorning it for our celebration.  Just need to string popcorn for the tree and drape it on.  The window is festooned with wreath and blinking lights.  It looks festive in our living room!

We have begun our daily advent reading to begin to prepare our hearts.  We have stimulating discussion after breakfast as we discuss advent themes. 

 I have finished my Christmas shopping, also.  For those of you in the know, that can be an extremely stressful time for me.  This year I tried being more prayerful as I went.  Mom made gentle suggestions, but my parents made me take the lead, and I was determined to be mature and not meltdown.  God gave wisdom and protection.  I made it!

In the following weeks our schedule will be really busy with worthwhile celebrations.  But, we cannot lose sight of Jesus, God’s only Son, coming to our world to save us.  The awe of that must be supreme above food, gifts, and decorations.  So I must focus on the advent and keep focus, every minute on God’s gift to me of salvation through Jesus!  I trust you will join me in reflecting on the wonder of salvation this season. 

Moon Gazing

When I was little my mom sometimes took me for an evening walk in our neighborhood.  I cannot count the times she would point to the sky and say, “Jeffrey, do you see the moon?”  It sometimes took me a long time to see it.  She always had a thrilled quality to her voice as she beseeched me to see the moon. 

Last week she opened my window as she was bidding me good night, and asked, “Jeffrey, do you see the moon?”  I saw it and we did a bit of moon gazing together.  It is a simple thing, but an experience we can share.  I hear the shine of the moon in her voice, and see moon dazzle in her eyes.  I can even imagine her saying to her parents, “Look, the moon!” It always makes me smile. 

As I read the Psalms, I read passages about the Creator and how He holds all creation in its place, even the moon. I begin to understand my mom’s thrill at seeing the moon.  Even on a bad day God is holding the moon in place and Mom, too. He is holding me in place, always.  It gives her peace and me, too!

Serendipity

The other day I had a totally new experience.  I was at a mission meeting with my parents.  It was a long day of taking care of many details of mission business.  At lunch all the kids were with parents.  There were so many of them.  I enjoyed seeing them play and sing and cry.  It made our mission seem more like a family in some way.  I was twirling around a bit in my joy, and then there he was.  A one year old was looking at me.  He was standing close looking up at me.  The next second he had his small arms wrapped around my legs, hugging me in joy.  I was delightfully surprised at this development.  I could do nothing but reach down and hug him and give him love and thanks for his bravery to approach me.  Kids are often afraid of me because I am different.  Not so my dear, new friend.  We had a good hug and shared love.  This is so special to me because I have been praying for this boy every day.  Why, you ask?  Well, you see he, too, is adopted.  Today I am thanking God for this encouragement that He arranged to encourage me to keep praying daily for him.  My prayer is that he will always be sensitive to the prompting of God and be obedient to that prompting.  May I, too, be obedient to those promptings, for they can bring encouragement!

Keeper of the Keys

One of my responsibilities

 at home is helping my mom do the shopping.  I have been given the job of protecting her and assisting her when she is out and about.  If you know my mom this will stimulate laughter, because it would take a stupid person to mess with my mom!  I carry bags, and help her select food, and sometimes keep her on track.  Lately she has added a new responsibility.  I am the keeper of the keys.  When we get out of the car she asks me if I can put the key in my pocket.  The first time she did it, I kept taking the key out and giving it to her, but she explained that when we got to the car she would take the key.  I was nervous. Maybe I would lose it!  Mom just breezed along with no such worry.  When we got to the car she asked for the key, and I had it so we got home.  Since that first time this has been repeated often.  I have come to see it is a measure of trust.  I am nervous about picking out vegetables and meat, but this is on a bigger scale.  A car is costly, but Mom does not bat an eye.  The key is passed to me with the expectation that upon arrival at the car I will pass it back.  It is a reminder to me to live up to this expectation, and do my job well.  I am not expected to play with the key, I am expected to keep it until Mom needs it.  I am expected to be trustworthy and do my job, no matter how small it is. I am expected to be an adult and participate in the family. 

Being a child of The King is no different. I am to take what is entrusted me and use it as instructed.  Plain and simple.  Help me, Lord be a faithful child!

Another Step In Maturity

The last couple of weeks have been full of life lessons causing me to grow in faith and maturity.  Many of the lessons I would never have chosen but they came certainly with God’s permission.  At times I thought I could not endure another minute.  Many times I did not want to endure another minute.  I confess to melting down and having selfish rants.  Surprisingly there were also times of steadfastness in my faith, and good decisions made.

So what did I learn?  The main thing I take away from this is that God is in control, all the time. He is not out of control for even one second. Therefore I must keep nestled into His wing of shelter, and trust.  Panic has no useful purpose for me.  It wastes my energy and that of those around me.  When I give in to panic, I am yielding control to sin. God has better for me.  So I will actively pursue the shelter of God’s wing, and let Him carry me through the storm.  He is able!

Birthday Gifts

In our family 4 out of 5 have summer birthdays.  We usually do a big birthday celebration for all of us in the summer.  We play games, open presents, and eat!  Crowning this is a cake and ice-cream time. 

One of the hardest parts for me is picking presents for my family members.  I love them and want to get it right!  My absolute favorite time is giving them those gifts and seeing their faces when they open them.  That is why I go through the pain of picking those gifts. To see their joy is worth it all.  This year I knew what I would get for them.  I bought the gifts, and then was rewarded with the joy it brought them. 

I am reminded God has selected gifts for me because He loves me.  He delights to see me opening those gifts and using them.  So I better dust off those gifts and used them.  How about you?

Yeah! Miriam is Here!

A few weeks ago we were honored to welcome one of our Brazilian friends to Japan as a mid-term missionary, assisting our church with sports evangelism. She had a rough start, even getting sick in the airplane and having to miss her connecting flight because of that.  But our God is mighty and here she is.  She has been enveloped into our family, and the joy in my heart is great.  She has left her home to come halfway around the world to share the love of Jesus with Japanese people who are dying without Jesus.  She must live alone, away from her family.  She must adjust to new language, new foods, new families, a new church. 

Is it worth it?  Yes!!!  It is always worth what it takes to obey God.  It is never worth the cost to disobey God.  Miriam, I am thankful you obeyed and are here in Japan to be part of our team.  Let us all expect great things in your ministry because we serve a great and mighty God.  Hallelujah!

Flexibility Chasing Me

I am a person who thrives on routine.  I do best when there is a strict routine that is followed exactly.  I like a set routine.  Do you get the idea?  Now we all know that life ALWAYS has changes.  They come flying at you causing you to be a flexible person.  I do not think I am gifted with flexibility. Therefore for me life can be so challenging. I am reminded about learning to be flexible as a part of maturity.

I am continually confronted with life situations that need me to be flexible.  If I am to function in life I must learn to be flexible.  It is time to wake up and know that life will not always go like I want it to go.  I must learn to take my plans more lightly and be joyful about putting my plans aside and embracing the change.

I am finding out that sometimes the change brings difficult things.  But sometimes the change may even make a trip for tea and a donut at Tully’s  an option.

God's Miracles

My dad preached about miracles Sunday.  It got me thinking.  I really like to define my miracles.  I ask God to heal my autism, to heal friends, to get visas, to provide more money or food or goods I think I need.  Then I am prepared to sit back and wait for it all to work out just like I asked.  What a spoiled child of God I am!  Who do I think I am?

I am thinking I need to ask God to open my eyes to see His miracles.  They may not look like I imagine them.  They may not meet my definition.  I am seeing that each day I rise up healthy is a miracle.  At the end of the day I survived the day as an autistic man without a meltdown.  That is miraculous.  Perhaps it is as much a miracle to live with autism in peace as it is to be healed.  Maybe I need to concentrate on asking for the miracle to maintain my solid faith as I walk through the trials of life.  Rather than asking for God to do a miracle and change my circumstances, perhaps I need to ask God for the miracle of godly contentment no matter the circumstance.  So while my circumstance may not change, my heart will change.  And of course that is a greater miracle.

My Challenge

One of my ministries is to participate in The Hallelujah Gospel Family.  This is a network of gospel choirs spread throughout Japan.  In addition to participating in the choir at my local church, I also write a short evangelistic message introducing one of the songs in the repertoire for the term.  This is published in a booklet each member receives with the song lyrics.  I have been doing this for several years, and the members of my choir enjoy reading it. 

Earlier this month our family was ministering in a church with no pastor about an hour from here.  My dad had me give a brief testimony.  When the service was done a lady came up to my dad holding her Gospel Choir booklet and said, “Is it really him?”  She had the page open to my writing.  My parents assured her I was really the writer.  She then shared how her choir had all been moved to tears upon reading my message.  She then went around the room showing others in the church my written message. I was encouraged to know people are reading it.  However, as I pondered this I was again challenged to write my messages to stimulate the hearts of those who are not yet Christ followers to plunge into faith.  Lord, help me a good steward of this gift You have entrusted to me!

Spiritual Up and Running

Of late I am having a great time in my personal devotions as we read through the Bible. We do it every year but it is not boring.  This year I am seeing how I often get great concepts from my reading.  Things I need to implement in my daily life.  AND there is  the problem.  How can I consistently get what I know in my head to be in my heart, and working.  How to get it up and running.  With a computer, you push a button and if you push the right set of buttons, you are up and running.  Spiritual life is different.  There are no buttons.  It takes much thought and energy to keep the focus where it needs to be.  No sliding by!  I cannot do this! God is steadfast, and keeps pulling me into account. So implementation requires me to go deeper into God, and know him.  More God, less Jeffrey works well.

That Big Bag of Expectations

This week I got to go to my sister’s house for the day.  We had some work to do for her so we went.  I always get excited about seeing her and go with a whole sac of expectations about the time.  I know in my head my expectations are unreasonable, but each time I go I pack up those expectations and drag them along with me.  Then, rather than enjoying my time, I am frustrated because my expectations are not being met.  So, I get to pack up my disappointment for the trip home.

This time I tried to focus on what we were doing, and enjoying that.  I tried to be more flexible.  So when a disaster in the kitchen delayed and changed the breakfast plan, I prayed, and waited without being obnoxious.  When the dog tried to sit on me, I was patient, and nudged her in a different direction.  When Mom and Abi went shopping for clothes Abi needed, I did not get mad, but prayed they would find what was needed.  When lunch was not to my time schedule, I waited and prayed for no disasters. 

At the end of the day the work was accomplished, and I was happy.  I had a pleasant day with my sister, and I experienced little frustration.  It was a good time.  I could thank the Lord for a good time.  Next time I do not have to carry the heavy bag of expectations when I go.  Thus the heavier bag of disappointment also is not on my back. 

Now, to remember this and do it!

Learning Obedience

A few years ago after the huge triple disaster in Japan, a team of Brazilian soccer players came to Japan to help recovery efforts.  These team members came for a bigger purpose, however.  They came to deliver the love of Jesus.  Yes, they were Christians intent on doing an act of obedience to the Lord.  They were men and women of faith.  They came at great cost to themselves.  Some were poor; others had wealth.  They all had Jesus. 

One day I got to ride the bus with them.  It is an experience I will always remember and cherish.  I was able to sit in the midst of these mighty men of God, and share in their passion for the Gospel.  Most were young and still finding their path in life.  They were a large team and it took much work to facilitate this event here in Japan.  Many contacts were made as a result of this team.  However, they could not point to any definite decisions or salvations from this trip. I think they were disappointed a bit. 

Six years later what do we see?  There have been decisions in people who attended the events involved in this team.  My family and I have made two trips to minister in Brazil.  We have friends in Brazil.  But what about the team?  Life has gone on with them. Some got married, some had babies.  Some became less passionate in faith.  To me, however, it is exciting to see some involved in ministry, and best of all some becoming missionaries.  It reminds me that the biggest work accomplished in that team was in their own hearts.  Learning obedience to the Master.  I view them as mighty men of God.  I pray we will always strive to be mighty men of God for His glory!

Windy Day Faith

Today is a windy, windy day.  Things are blowing around outside.  Shudders and windows clatter in the assault.  I see dust in the air and who knows what else.  Then Dad says time to run.  I think, “I am sure the noise of the wind made it sound like he wants to run now.  It must be a mistake.”  But, alas, it is no mistake.  We are getting ready for a run or is it a fly?  We get all put together and open the door to a blast of cold air and off we go.  I am not sure about this.  Will I survive?  I have no idea, but Dad says let’s go so I go. 

Hmm ... kind of like walking by faith with Jesus day by day.  Danger is everywhere.  I can imagine such terrible things that could happen to me.  But Jesus says, “Come now and walk with me,” so I go.  That is the walk of faith.  Leave it to Jesus.  He knows best, so trust Him and obey!

I have lived in the same house for 31 years.  For the most part my neighbors are the same ones who were here when I came.  They have helped me and been good neighbors to me.  They are so special.  They care about me, and I care about them.  Now they are getting older and having health issues. It hurts my heart to see this because they have not taken the time to know Jesus.  They somehow think they can manage on their own.

Of course they cannot manage on their own.  Like me, their own resources are not enough.  They will never be enough.  I know Jesus who is more than enough. The problem is how to tell them about Jesus in a winsome way they can understand.  I feel compelled to share with them. I am here for the purpose of telling them.  How do I do that when I cannot speak?

God calls me to obedience.  He calls me to love them.  He calls me to believe He is enough even in this situation.  So I will trust God.  I will love them as God calls me to do.  I will trust God with the results.  I will expect to spend eternity with them!

Joy Overflowing Pain

I have been reflecting on our past short home assignment.  We were in many churches and found joy in worshiping with them.  This time, however one stands out to me in particular.  That is Grace Church, Salida Co.  We were not scheduled to be in this church because our time was so short.  But then, God had a different plan. Our last Sunday was in Salida because my dear Aunt Sheri moved to her heavenly home.  As you can imagine it was a difficult and emotional time.  I loved Aunt Sheri so much. 

Grace church set the tone for her Celebration of life on a Friday evening with truly    celebration worship music, reminding us about our hope and joy in Jesus.  On Sunday, however, I was tired and morose.  I did not want to face another service.  We arrived while the worship team was rehearsing.  My Mom wisely suggested we slip in and listen.  It was lifting my spirits.  Then Mom said I could stand and worship as they practiced, and I did.  I felt such joy as I let the music wash over me and carry away my moroseness.  I danced with all I had to that music.  It refreshed me and I felt I was able to let go and just focus on the Savior.  I was truly prepared for the worship service. The worship leaders thanked me for participating, but I should have been thanking them.  A difficult, sad day was turned to a joyous offering of praise for me that day.  I found that even in the bleakness of painful loss joy can flood my soul as I focus on worshiping Jesus.  Thank you Grace Church, Salida for allowing me to join my heart with you in joy amidst the pain.  It made Heaven seem more near and precious.

Psalm 30:11

You have turned my mourning into dancing…

Holiday Reflections

The Hills of Japan hope you all had a Merry Christmas.  We are thankful for each of you, our friends and family.

This year our Christmas also carried a portion of sadness as we missed our loved one, my cherished Aunt Sheri.  She went to reside in heaven in November, and the hurt has healed very little for us.  But this year I thought of a baby born and celebrated, but I see beyond that baby to a cross and then an empty tomb.  It is empty because a risen Savior needs no tomb any longer.  His coming, death and resurrection are the foundation of our hope and salvation.  He destroyed the power of death, so I can remember the separation from dear ones is only temporary.  We will rejoice together with them soon in eternity.  I can have joy and peace even in loss, for this is temporal.  Christmas gave us Emmanuel, God with us, even in loss and pain.  So we you hope you had a merry Christmas and a new year full of joy and peace because God is with us every step of the journey!