April showers

Cherry blossoms in our park

"For Joy in our hearts, we need Light in our eyes" (Keller, God's Wisdom for Navigating Life) You know it's going to be crazy and different, but you're never quite prepared. This month found us with a crowd of new friends, stretching to let go of our kids in brand new ways, fuming outside of the district car inspection office, braving intense Golden Week crowds and finding signs of resurrection at Easter.

pre-school friends at our place

As I continue with the theme of wisdom, I've read that "wisdom is living in the present and thoroughly enjoying it" (Packer, Knowing God). It's knowing what you don't know. Confessing what you do know. Remembering that suffering points like an arrow to the path of Jesus (Keller). A friend reminds me that humans "are a  . . . cathedral" capacious to contain all the mess and beauty of the world (declaredominion.com). Please pray for us as we continue to work on our wisdom muscles. 

This month grew our capacities (as we mastered yet another realm of Japanese red-tape), our table (as we welcome the overwhelming number of kids and families we've connected with at our new elementary school), our hopes (as we watch CAJ students brave questions in Bible class), and our hearts (as we watch our first and third grader walk off to elementary school by themselves in the morning, meeting up with other kids along the way).

We once again engaged our kids in Lent. We loved the result, and will continue to tweak our practice each year. We read through nearly all of the story of scripture, and each kid took a turn illustrating the stories, composing an advent-style Lent calendar. We loved the way the story of scripture and anticipation of resurrection finally took center stage, while the chocolate and bunnies were a fun little post script to the season.

Coming up, we anticipate ongoing changes for Japan. As I write, the emperor is abdicating his throne and his son will take his place tomorrow. This isn't completely unprecedented for Japanese history, but it hasn't happened in more than 200 years. We're grateful to be in Japan in this time and place. Please pray that as Japan welcomes a new era, people will return to a timeless God. 

We are so thankful that we made the choice to switch schools. Thanks so much to all of you who prayed us through that decision! We're so grateful for new neighborhood friends, and new connections at our doorstep that are facilitated through the school. Please pray for new friendships and new connections. And for safety for school kids as they walk to and from school. In the opening weeks of school here, a 7 year old was raped on her way to school in a city 20 minutes from us.

We're anticipating our second semester of Japanese school and the close of the school year for CAJ. We're exciting that we will get to make a trip to see some of you this summer! We'll be in Texas, Chattanooga/Atlanta and Seattle in late June - early July. We would love to connect with you! Please join us in praying for the logistics and details of this trip!