Delicious December

Dear community,

Decorating our tiny tree!

Last night, chatting with my sister-in-law at her cabin, we remembered Eri. We talked about the precious women and men, like Eri, who surround our children, speaking truth into their lives and loving them for who they are. We are grateful. We miss her.

Today, the brink of the new year, Ryan and I look back to remember the rich heritage that surrounds us, and we look forward with "bright hope for tomorrow." Thanks for praying us this far! We're so excited about what is to come.

We slipped from a warm cabin early this morning to watch the sun over a snow-covered beach in Sendai, northern Japan. The beach-snow tracked with many footsteps of others who came at dawn - the first sunrise of the new year is a sacred beauty in Japan. We give thanks for the beauty of the sunrise, the many blessings of the year past - the gift of our delightful new daughter, the life of our friend Eri, the rich visits with friends and family, the warmth of our home and table, and the restoration that our beach retreat affords. Now, we return to our Tokyo life, refreshed and ready to engage again.

During advent, one of our pastors spoke about the role of the magi. Recalling the advent story: the shepherds witnessed a stunning angelic miracle, dropped sheep and dignity and ran whole-heartedly to see Jesus for themselves, and then proclaim to the neighborhood their news. The magi, on the other hand, perused and researched for years to recognize patterns in the stars; traveled slowly, a great distance, with gifts in hand, and then returned home to further ponder their encounter with Jesus.

"Birthday Party for Jesus" outreach at our church

Japanese, in our pastor's experience, and in ours, tend to be magi rather than shepherds. Rather than the rough, eager enthusiasm of a shepherd, we see our friends and neighbors pursue a life-long encounter with the Messiah slowly, with much thought and research. More apt to ponder in their hearts than to broadcast joy to the neighborhood.


Prone to introversion ourselves, we understand this perusal. We are here, in Japan, for the long haul, to ponder with the magi. Although we welcome the shepherds with their contagious exuberance, we expect that our journey toward Messiah, across deserts and cultures, will take many years, filled with much study and contemplation. 

Welcome home

Dear community,

This morning, our dear friend Eri was welcomed home to Jesus. We've been asking you to pray along with us for Eri during her struggle with cancer in the past year. Today, she is free! We told E that we had a sad-and-happy thing to tell him, that Eri's body has died, but her spirit is now with Jesus. Sad for us, because we won't see her until we die, but happy for her, that she is healthy and strong, with a new body, and her same sweet spirit, made perfect. He thought for a while, and then in a tickly whisper in my ear, "can I tell you something happy? You know, when I die, I will get to see Eri in heaven!" Even in death, Eri offers such beauty and grace as we gather to mourn, remember, celebrate and anticipate when we're all together again.

Please continue to pray for Eri's husband Hideo, who is not a Christian, and who is facing much grief tonight and in the coming days. We will celebrate Eri's life at a service this Sunday night.

Advent is coming; all that is evil and wrong will be not only rectified, but actually undone, and re-formed into beauty and truth. Amen!

Eri, last winter, just before her first round of surgery

Newsy November

Our table in the fall

Our maple tree out front is in full colors, brilliant red and green, mixed with the wet-brown trunks, and the yellow ginko. My favorite colors, for sure! We keep reminding ourselves that winter begins in January in Tokyo - we're managing to stay warm, but this is only fall! 








Prayer update: Thanks for praying for our sweet friend Eri with us! Sadly, Eri's cancer is worse, and she's in hospital, struggling to breathe. Please pray for peace for Eri and for her husband Hideo. "Your prayers sustain me," Eri writes. 

CAJ and surroundings in the 1950's

CAJ's 65 years of blessing! This fall, CAJ approved a new head master, starting in the 2015-2016 school year. Dr Tom Norton graduated from CAJ years ago, and has been serving in various schools, including a Christian international school in Korea. This year, Tom has worked alongside both of us in the Bible and Guidance departments. We're sad to lose him on a daily basis in our offices, but glad to have his leadership for CAJ in the coming years. We're grateful to be at CAJ in the 65th year, and continuing on into the future!  

Bamboo dishes for our picnic lunch!

Neighborhood news: We traveled to an organic farm with our neighborhood friends this month. Basically, a chance for city folks to get out and play in the countryside. We're excited to deepen relationships with neighbors, and to invite a new friend from pre-school along too, Masato and his mother Maya (pictured next to us in the pink jacket). 
I (Caitlin) enjoy gathering with other Christian pre-school mothers to pray for our preschool, the teachers, the other mothers, and our children's school experiences. It is a blessing to be able to share with these moms, and definitely helps expand my Japanese vocabulary! In early December, we plan to host an open house for preschool moms. We plan to read the Christmas story and share cookies and tea - many Japanese don't know the meaning of Christmas, other than the advertisements in department stores and the jingle of holiday music. Join with us in praying for open, curious hearts!  

Future plans! As we lean into life-long ministry, we're gathering a "cloud of witnesses" to pray for us and support us in our ministry. Particularly as we're moving more tangibly into areas like our local neighborhood and a new church plant, we feel the need for richer prayer support. Like last month, we're in the throes of many big decisions: buy a house, shift our ministry focus, Japanese school vs international school, summer plans, etc. Please pray for wisdom as we discuss, dream, and act. 

We're planning an extended trip to the States in May and June!
We feel called to be here long term, which means we need more accountability, more connection and communication with established churches, and more prayer support. We are working on pursuing community and church visits in May and June, and we'd love to connect with as many people as possible. Would you like to see us and hear about what we are doing? Let us know if we can connect with your church, small group, Sunday School, or community in some way, and we will try to visit, this summer or in the near future!

Do we have your address? We love sending new year's post cards! If you haven't gotten one recently, we don't have your current address. Please let us know so we can send you one this year! We'd love to get yours too, if you're sending them out! 

October ocher (E's current favorite color)

Sports day; can you find him?

Last night, our extended family gathered (even via skype!) to celebrate the 100th birthday of Nelle Caitlin's Grandpa Foxy, who went home to be with Jesus one year ago. We remembered the time he and grandma happily napped on newspapers right in the middle of a busy beachfront on Catalina Island. The time he gave away his prized new camera to a friend, keeping his old one for himself. The time my sister and I fell asleep on the terrible hide-a-bed in their Pasadena living room, listening to grandma and grandpa pray through the list of kids and grandkids by name. Grandpa taught us to love Jesus, to love each other, and to love Japan. We are here because of him, and are humbled and blessed to continue the good work he began. 

Visiting our dear friend Eri! 

We celebrated the birthdays of both of our older kids recently. We’re so grateful for healthy, compassionate, cheerful and interesting children! Please pray for wisdom as we learn to parent them better each day. We’re especially mindful of the many relational opportunities that come through our pre-school community; please pray for all of us as we connect with the other families and build relationships. Tomorrow, we will travel out to the country with friends to play on an organic farm. 

I'm two!

I (Caitlin) have found juggling my various roles to be particularly stressful recently. The transitions between parenting three wonderful but energetic kids, managing the day care at CAJ, keeping up with the preschool schedule and community, managing Japan Harvest publications and working at CAJ are exhausting. I love the various things that I do and the roles that I serve, but it is hard to keep margins and stay emotionally healthy. Please pray for wisdom about how to balance my various responsibilities.

Ryan lead worship at our new church plant;
yes, we meet in a cafe!

We find ourselves in the midst of many conversations about long term planning: should we buy a house instead of paying rent? Should we keep our kids in Japanese school or move them to American school? Should we continue to have both of us work and our kids in day care, or should one of us stay home full time? We need wisdom! We’re not rushing any of these decisions; please pray along with us as we seek God’s plans for us.

Birthday in the park with best friend Yui!

Our good friend Loren, Yui's mom  

We're planning an extended trip to the States in May and June! As we've come to understand the ways that God uses our particular personalities and strengths, we've realized that it's no accident that we live and work in Japan! Japan is no stepping-stone for us: our application for Permanent Residency in Japan was recently approved, and we're finding ourselves increasingly comfortable conversing at length in Japanese, and fulfilled in our relationships with our ever-expanding circle of Japanese friends. As CAJ students become CAJ alumni, we are blessed to hear back from them that we had a meaningful role in their academic, spiritual, and personal maturity. As we've come to see that we are called to be here long term, we've realized that we need more accountability, more connection and communication with established churches, and more prayer support (see the section above regarding stress!). We are working on pursuing community and church visits in May and June, and we'd love to connect with as many people as possible. Would you like to see us and hear about what we are doing? Let us know if we can connect with your church, small group, Sunday School, or community in some way, and we will try to visit, this summer or in the near future!

Two months!

Love to you all!

Ryan, Nelle Caitlin, and kids

Sunny September

It was one of those mornings. When the hot cereal burns to the pan; when the bathroom mat gets peed on moments after it comes off the clean laundry pile; when the baby cries and cries; when we forgot to bring socks downstairs with the rest of today's clothes; when I bump my head on every door frame even though I know I have to duck. And so we sat, sniffling, to take a deep breath before heaving all four of us onto the one bike, and the page falls open to this: "Faith is like grabbing on to that branch [when you've fallen over a cliff]. We just reach out for God. And he is the one who saves us. Our strong God is the one who rescues us--not our strong faith. Because faith isn't just you holding on to God. It's God holding on to you." Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones

kin mokusei

I wish I could send you a whiff of our yard right now! Fall is such a glorious time in Tokyo. The kin mokusei, orange osmanthus is blooming by our mailbox and it smells heavenly, mixed with the scent of smoky burned leaf piles, katori senko mosquito-repellant incense, and hot sun.

Family of 5!
photo credit: Rachael Alexandra Willson

The kaki persimmon tree near the kitchen window is drooping with orange fruit. Yesterday, Ryan and E picked over 60 kaki and put them in a basket outside our house with a "please help yourself" sign. They were gone within an hour! We love being in a place that is so markedly seasonal - hot, sticky peach season gives way to nashi asian pear, which cools into autumn kaki time. Hints of winter mikan oranges are on their way!

We're grateful:
1) Christian Academy has entered its 65th year! We're delighted to be part of the rich heritage of this place. But we're also looking forward to growth and new things to come. Read more about CAJ's 65 years on our Head of School's blog.

2) Ryan is teaching 2 classes of Bible, while overseeing the whole department. His new co-teacher is a veteran teacher, a graduate of CAJ, and has made a fantastic start. We're so grateful for good colleagues! Ryan is also teaching Industrial Arts again, which he is thrilled by. I (Nelle Caitlin) am still part time in the Academic Counseling office, and enjoying 1-2 days at home to catch up on the rest of life.

Loaded up for play time after youchien

3)  Work for Japan Harvest continues this year, although it is tricky to find time in between all of the other urgent moments! I love being able to contribute to the greater missionary community through sharing ideas about the nature and needs of missions in Japan. Please check out our pilot online version!

4) We made it through the second half of this month without Grandpa! We're very grateful that Grandpa Ethan Pettit was able to spend half of August and half of September with us, arriving two days before V was born, and then continuing on through the start of school and youchien pre-school.

So much else is going on, it's hard to pick and choose between all the stories; we hope you enjoy this snapshot of our month, and we love hearing back from you!

Every once-in-a-magical-while, this happens!

But, there is also a lot of this . . .

August update

The air is cooler, although the path outside our house still teems with kids in bathing suits and cooler-and-tent-laden parents on a saturday morning. Tubing on the river that runs along our path is one of the most popular activities in our town.

Sleeping sisters

I've been reading a book from my sister in law (very slowly - on page 201 after 2 years). It's about shame and courage, called Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. Brown talks about the courage to engage in relationships in a real way, allowing that real relationships require vulnerability, the openness to being hurt. It's a challenge for me, since I strongly prefer to avoid uncertainty, unpredictability and discomfort. Yet I'm growing to understand and engage with the inevitable cognitive and emotional dissonance that comes along with real relationships. A quote from today's reading: "The biggest challenge for leaders [or teachers or parents] is getting our heads and hearts around the fact that we need to cultivate the courage to be uncomfortable and to teach the people around us how to accept discomfort as a part of growth" (199).

One week old!

Thanks for praying for us as we welcomed our baby! Waiting is always a refining and exhausting process. Amusingly, our neighborhood waited with us, with many friends peeking their heads in the window every morning to ask, "mada? not yet?" She was born after a quick (3 hours) and straightforward labor. She is a calm and relaxed baby so far, patient with the intense adoration of her siblings and cousins! We named her Vera Izumi (means spring water or clear, discerning thinking).

As usual, the school year begins with an intense wave of work and renewed responsibilities. Ryan is delighted to be teaching industrial arts alongside his Bible classes again this year. There's something about smoothing and shaping wood to create new shapes, and seeing students wrestle with problem solving in tangible ways that accompanies the more cerebral work of a Bible or English class so nicely.

Thanks for praying with us!

1. We're so grateful for a healthy new baby and a wonderful little person to get to know. Please pray for us as we learn to parent three kids with wisdom, patience and humor.

Meeting grandpa

2. We're excited about our work for this year: Ryan will be teaching HS Bible and Industrial Arts; Nelle Caitlin will be working part time in the Academic Counseling offices, managing the publication of the Japan Harvest magazine, and getting to know other moms in the community. Check out Japan Harvest online! Please pray with us as we work out the details of our daily schedule for the new term.

3. Please join us in praying for our dear friend Eri; we've mentioned her several times in the past six months. Her cancer has returned, and she is now undergoing another round of chemotherapy. Please pray for her wonderful husband, Hideo. He is not a Christian, but is very devoted to his amazingly Godly wife. When our pastor visited Eri last week, Eri wrote (her vocal cords were removed in a previous attempt to eradicate the cancer): "She is now more convinced than ever of the power of prayer, and that she feels prayer has sustained her."

And then there were three!

She's here!

She's here! 

Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes. 

July 14, 2014. 3,800g at 9:45 PM after a quick and uncomplicated labor. Everyone is doing well!