So this is late, but the picture is our bus ride from the airport-back when we were so naive...So this should not come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, but the fact that I have had Starbucks coffee 3 times in the last week has been one of the biggest highlights of this trip. Even better, I can order it myself. I begin this entry with this fact because it is safe to say that I am being stretched out of my comfort zone, and the simple fact that I can retreat into America-land for a tall soy latte gives me unspeakable comfort.
Let me just say I do not understand Japan. I don't understand why people will be offended when I don't finish all of my rice, why the way I eat with chopsticks is so funny, why we have to separate the trash into combustibles/non-combustibles/plastics/ and glass, and why it is a crime if you put a piece of plastic in the non-combustible can. I'm constantly being told to either talk more quietly or to move to the left- most of the time by Ariel, who is just as much of a foreigner as I am- albeit a more considerate visitor of Japan whom I love (Sorry Ariel).
While this may to the untrained ear sound like complaining, in a weird way I am grateful. I am grateful because this experience is probably the most humbling of my entire life. I am so clueless, and I look like a fool pretty much all of my waking moments. It is serving to teach me how foolish I am when I choose to depend on myself for direction as opposed to trusting the God of the universe with my life. So yeah, humility and the ability to laugh at yourself I am learning are key to survival in this performance-oriented society.
Also, God is working in the hearts of the students here. One girl who I was spending time with last week shared that she enjoys reading the Bible because no matter what her circumstances are, she always feels peace. And I'm thinking in my own mind that that is the peace of God that transcends all understanding. How cool! I have genuinely loved all of the time I have spent with the students here. They are so kind to us crazy foreigners, and we have had sweet conversations already.
So yesterday, Ariel and I were given the task with a few hours notice that we were in charge of the English lesson and game at the Shabe. We were slightly overwhelmed, and despite the fact that we are not very creative, we pulled something together and the students ran with it. It was pretty sweet to be entrusted with even a small task, but feeling that our efforts were useful for the ministry activities here. We had the students do commercials for the camping trip we are taking next week, and they did great. Check out the videos!
So this is a lot of text, and I congratulate anyone who made it this far. Thanks for your continued prayers and support.
4 comments:
Hey Meaghan, your growing experience is really cool to hear about, and cool how you are considering all your struggles as a good thing. That's something I need to learn. When I feel like I can't do something right, I tend to drown myself in negative feelings.. when I should embrace the "stretching" time.
You guys look like you're doing great so far! And if you ever are very discouraged, remember that everyone makes mistakes, /especially/ foriegners in Japan, and that God is bigger than any mistake, and makes a habbit of taking them and using them to do something awesome. Thanks for posting!
Hey Meaghan! Glad to hear that Mike and I weren't the only one's who felt that way in Japan... :)
So glad that you came, that you are being stretched... I wouldn't want anyone to have a "too easy" time here in Japan. Let the lessons that are harder to learn in American be learned here...
I hear you about the trash though. Just ask me about our cardboard and how long it sat on our balcony because I was too frustrated to try to figure out how to "put it out"... argh.
Life is good here and I am VERY THANKFUL to be living this summer alongside YOU!
Meaghan, I'm so glad to hear some of what you're feeling these days. As to feeling like a fool, remember: He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. And you're doing it, lady!
I've been big into Oswald Chambers lately. He once said that "If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you. God’s experiments always succeed. The one mark of a saint is the moral originality which springs from abandonment to Jesus Christ."
God is doing something in you that He's never done in anyone else before. It's totally original, just you and Him. What an exciting venture! Just keep giving yourself to Him. He'll make things happen His way, in His time.
Susan
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