INTERESTS

Today is my son's B-day. I want to do something special for him today. When I asked him several years ago what he was interested in, I remember he put his finger in the shape of a gun and let me know it was computer games, where they shoot stuff down on the screen. This year, I didn't ask him.

1 Keima's Interest...FPS?

Cockroaches showed me what they were interested in...and I hadn't even asked them for their opinion, I mused, frustrated, as I scrubbed the kitchen corner, determined that my son's birthday would NOT be ruined by an unwelcome appearance by a shiny brown intruder with long antennas!

2 Scrubbing Interest                                   3 Because of a Buggy Interest...

I'd grown up in hot, humid Okinawa where I was used to seeing these six-legged critters; but Keima definitely wasn't, and altho' he was usually a cool cucumber like his father, I heard him scream when he spotted those greasy brown fellers. They should make computer games of shooting down murderous pests with spray guns!

4 Interesting Cake!

Hey...Thank You God, for the idea, and drew a "Mini Beast" character on an index card, cut him out and stood him up on the front rim of my son's chocolate Birthday Cake the next day. Keima was then handed a certificate recognizing him as an Expert Ex-man (Extinguisher), told he was now qualified to claim his cake back from the critter....

Sometimes we mothers get kinda silly to find ideas for our children. But I realized this morning when Keima gave me this funny look, he's in his 30's now! Oh, June...

HEAVEN'S FRUIT

A fruity no-eat memory from a family meal in childhood days revived when my sister Joyce shared some fruit with me the other day, saying her friend told her not to eat it right now because it wasn't ripe yet. This is another "non-bookable" incident.

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Daddy saw I'd left my slice of golden peach untouched and asked me, "Junie, you don't want your peach?" At that time, my parents were speaking to us in only Japanese, so this was in Japanese.  I'd answered the Japanese way, which is responding to the QUESTION. "No." (In my mind, that meant, No; I DO want my peach!)

Daddy heard, "No; I don't want the peach." Well, you can imagine when, to my horror, he said, "Oh! Well, I'll just" and scooped the slice into his mouth!" I screamed and cried I was saving it and Mommy came running into the room. It took a while before everything got all cleared up, and we figured out what had happened.

Revelation 22:2 speaks of the tree in heaven that bears fruit every month of the year, whose leaves were for the healing of the nations. I am a fruit person. I have always loved fruit more than cake, chocolates, or ice cream. But I wonder what heavenly fruit will taste like.

And...I wonder what language we'll be speaking up there. I am sure, when we get to Heaven, there won't be any misunderstandings or communication tangles, like Daddy and I had! I am so looking forward to that. Aren't we all?

MOTHERS CAN BE CONSTERNATING

I'm pretty sure I wrote about this a l-o-n-g time ago. I mean, like in a "Come Into An MK's Kitchen" blog post back in 2002-ish. But I can't find a trace of it, and I've finished my Japanese writing about the old house, so...here goes.

I think all little folks find ways of weasling through those years when Mommy tells you to eat foods that make you develop facial wrinkles. My sisters and I did. There were 3 of us, and we thought we could outsmart our mother; there was only 1 of her. 

We couldn't be excused from the table until we'd eaten all our food. Well, I had the least dislikes, so I'd leave first; make some kind of excuse; and find some way to duck under the table, where my sisters handed me my sippy cup. I sat there with open mouth, and my sisters spoonfed me most of the foodstuff they didn't like. Oh to be sure, they didn't give me ALL of it; that would've been too obvious, and Mommy would've caught on right away. They just gave me enough to say they were finished with their meal so they could get up from the table. Besides, I had been washing everything down with my milk so would get much too full if they had given me more!

But one afternoon, Mommy asked us to help with the housecleaning too. I was clearing out the stuff under the kitchen table when I noticed a sippy cup...with cheesy substance inside...on closer investigation...phew! I'd forgotten it after one of my escapades and left it there! Mommy had seen it but had feigned ignorance and made me clean it up!

What could I do but take it the sink, spill out the putrid stuff, and admit my offense? Mommy thanked me for finding, showing, and telling her about it, but I'm sure she just wanted me to be the one to say...I tell you, sometimes, Mothers can be consternating.

Isn't that the way God is with us though? He waits and waits and waits for us to see and confess to our failings instead of accusing us of our woes immediately. We finite human beings would never survive if He'd treated us the way we deserved. It's not consternation; it's Grace.

THEY WEREN'T FORGOTTEN EITHER

Bouganvanilla;          Iwatsuki Iris

I found a folder of photos of flowers from the Iwatsuki Park. Now that we're down in Okinawa, I think these are going to get thrown away--but that'd be a crying shame! So is it okay if I post about something completely unrelated while showing these? The "completely unrelated" topic? It had to do with the tray Kinya brought in for my meal. Yes, it's getting to be that time of year my medicine mandates I stay in my air-conditioned room, where Kinya will be bringing my meals.

Let me take a little detour. The mirror section was removed from the old vanity, and it's been moved to the bedside to set the meal tray on. When I'm not eating, it's used for my laptop, Bible. journal, or reading/writing.

Popcorn Tree;          "Use even me Lord!" Morning Glory

It seems portions get smaller and smaller now; I can't consume as much as I used to when I was younger. But the important thing is to eat first whatever I like most. I used to leave it until last, until I read that's a sure way to gain weight, because your mind makes you eat everything else even if you really don't want it because it somehow equates that with getting what you really want, which you've saved for last.

Tulip Tonsils;          Trumpet Ruffles

So I decided, whatever I like most gets eaten first. That way, even if I leave anything, I will have gotten what I REALLY wanted. Besides, things taste better when you're hungry then after you're mostly full.

Post-Typhoon Photo

I didn't know about posting this last photo, since it's been posted many times before, and it's not a flower. When I got back to Iwatsuki, I saw how one blade of grass had been blown, by typhoon winds, to stand upright in one of the holes of a rock in the middle of the pond. Another blade of grass had split and fastened itself to it, resulting in a cross.

WHY CANDLESTICK？

I'm back in Revelation again. I was in the Gospel of John for a little bit. (I plan on doing Romans, Acts, and John in the future so am biting off portions of some of the longer, interesting chapters now so I won't have to do all of it then! I mean, have you seen how long some of those chapters are?! Hebrews and Revelations are long BOOKS, but most of their CHAPTERS are much shorter so easier to do.)

Right now, I'm staring at the words "two candlesticks" in Rev.11:4, reworded "lampstands". Something in me wants to stick to the original expression. NOT because I insist it's more accurate; it probably is closer to "lampstand" today, if expert linguists say that's the better word to use. But there are different reasons I want to learn "candlestick" instead. Can I share them here, in my personal blog?

Candles feel smaller, weaker, kinda like they might give off light more feebly than lamps, right? Well, I don't think there's a Christian around who hasn't felt too little to make a difference in this big, cruel world. What's one little candle? But God says let it shine. And the mental image that gets me all woozy is of the Loving Owner of the flame holding up a candlestick with his left hand, cupping it with His right as if to shelter it against any draft.

I don't get the same feeling with the word "lampstand". It's personal, not doctrinal; I won't disassociate with any Christian on the basis of this.

Seriously tho'. The other personal reason I prefer "candlestick" is because that word is used in verses elsewhere all over the Bible too, and I hear echoes in my mind when that verse is sounded, using "candlesticks", reminding me of the golden candlesticks of the tabernacle, how we aren't to hide candlesticks under a bushel but set it on a hill for all to see its light, how Ephesus was to be God's candlestick of truth, etc.... Can't "hear" those verses if the modern word "lampstand", altho' more accurate, is used. Like I said, it's just personal preference.

Candlestick or lampstand--whichever one will best help in our walk Home--just learn it! Either way, I've heard your grades at school improve when you do Bible memory. Don't ask me how it works, but altho' rote memory and creative powers seem to work diametrically opposed to each other, my times of greatest unfettered imagination in writing and drawing have been parallel to adherence with scripture memorization! And those who fear loss of mental clarity in senior years--hiding God's Word in the heart proves to be a treasure and a safeguard--CANDLESTICK OR LAMPSTAND!

*Disclaimer: I'm not advocating "using" memorization for these extras; God sees if real desire is to get scriptural truth or if the actual aim is for fringe benefits. But the heart focused solely on "getting God" can end up given some surprising perks.

It happened again. I was going to blog about Rev. 11:4 and ended up talking about memory work. Oh well; I guess God's agenda is more important than mine.

ALLOW THEM THE BLESSING OF GIVING TOO

 "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Jesus went one step further. I see a lot of "acts of kindness" videos, and I think most humans--even Christians--limit the Love of God. Jesus realized true giving wasn't providing material needs alone but also giving out blessedness which included helping the recipient give! He approached the woman at the well with the request: please give me water. He knew this would result in her being blessed, and He wanted this for her.

Most acts of charity involve the giver "benefiting" needy person unilaterally.

It is comparatively easy for church folk to visit shut-ins and make them receive flowers or things to eat--this activity lets givers feel blessed. It is harder (thus almost never heard of) to spend time and energy thinking of a way to get that shut-in to then give his God-given abilities and serve God and let him share in the blessing!

Come--we need you!

By all means we should never stop giving out needed fish and bread. But by saying, "please", can't we do what Jesus did for the Samaritan woman at the well: reach out to others that they would receive the blessing of giving?

AWESOME AUTHOR

Ooh! The last English post I've done was May 11!? No, I haven't forgotten. It's just that I've been spending quite a bit of time with compiling material for my Japanese autobiography. I found over 60 pages I'd handwritten for a Japanese friend over 30 years ago and I have been reading through it, not only for the content but also to correct some of it linguistically to the extent I now know plus to put it into digital format. 

Would you pray with me in the making of this too? I say "too" remembering what a big struggle it was to do the family one in English. More than the mechanical, technical, linguistic aspects of putting this out, tho', the area MOST NEEDING OF YOUR PRAYERS is the constant pressure and wisdom to walk in the light. There are some issues...how should they be handled and be communicated about if at all, and if not, how to go about honestly saying nothing about it, if that would be ethically possible.

But, to brighten things up: as with our family history, I'll do the same thing now too. Back then, when I came across documents or photographs, things that reminded me of some things not necessarily "book material", I went ahead and shared it here on the blog--so you got a lot of extra explanation stories. As I've been writing, I've remembered other things I know will NOT go into the book.

So guess where you'll see them? Here.

Gotta say--this may sound ridiculously trite, but I am awed by how Great our Creator, Manager, Ruler God is. I get a headache writing one silly little book in one language under one hundred pages in one generation.

But He didn't even have to snap His Fingers to get files lined up and pages and chapters and covers organized into planets and solar systems and universes and eons and...well, then He chose to dip into one of those folders and wink the "Bible" into existence so we humans --other created beings--would have needed help; and THIS book (actually a volume of 66 books) involved utilizing not one, but 44 human authors, over hundreds of years and spanning countless generations-languages-cultures ...AND IT'S RELEVANT, APPLICABLE, LIVING, TODAY!

And God isn't even tired after putting out such a masterpiece. Isn't our God...unbelievably wow? I know. I stop trying to be a good writer sometimes, stop trying to pick good words, when I get floored by God.

OKINAWAN CAKE WRAP?!

I took these photos April 4, intending to do a photo story, then promptly forgot to post them--sorry!

1 Pastor Ishikawa brought Chiffon Cake...

2 Wait a minute...

3 Aren't those Shi-sahs...

4 Whale Shark...Angelfish

5 That's the Yanbaru Kuina!

INCLINES

Just a tiny marble rolling around on a slanted floor. Have you seen those toys where you try to get all the little marbles to fall in the right places by tilting the board?

Sometimes, I think I'm really BIG STUFF, dedicated to living for God. Then I have to laugh at myself. Unless God actually inclines my heart to want to seek Him, I'd probably seek to put myself forward, and that's all I'd think about! Who do I think I am?!

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is...well, the very beginning of the verse of I Kings 8:58: "That he may incline our hearts unto him..." prayed by Solomon, when he dedicated the temple before anyone even stepped foot into it.

Speaking of "inclines"...this isn't the verb, but the noun "incline". Here are pics of that incline where I had my spill last Oct., as well as the vending machine nearby with the Shi-kwa-sah drink.

JUST KNOTTED TOGETHER THEN

I'm glad I took a photo of it before.

I posted about my nephew coming to Okinawa on Oct. 28, and we'd gone to a nearby sushi store. It had been decades since our families had met on the other side of the ocean, but it wasn't like meeting strangers at all, and the Lord gave us a really enjoyable time. (I don't know why JOYCE is the one in the picture left holding the bag of take-out sushi I ordered! Sorry, Joyce!)

Since Michael--that's his name--and I both have this thing about preferring paper books to digital ones, one of the gifts he gave me was a metal cutout bookmark of the Boston skyline (yes; that's where he lives). I used it to keep place for Bible memory work so saw its shiny red tassel every day. Last week, realizing it had been almost half a year since they'd been here, I took a picture of the and e-mailed Michael hello.

I'd sent along a photo of the remodeled store we'd gone to, wondering if our families might be able to get together again. He sent a pic showing he'd already been seeing relatives on that side of the globe! Here he is with his sister's children.  (No, I haven't seen her since she was a toddler either! I wonder if her family will ever visit Okinawa.)

As I was thinking of responding,  I noticed...

that bright red tassel just plain came off! I don't know how it was attached, because it's not the frayed ends of the red cords of the bookmark, but clearly merely a designer's add-on at the very end (literally), to make the product more marketable. I liked the red tho', didn't want to do away with it entirely, so simply knotted the end and decided to keep using it that way.

God loves us, uses us broken, attached, knotted, whether we get it together or not...doesn't He? He just waits for us to turn our hearts to His love and surrender our lives to Him completely.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life" (Psalm 23:6)

IS DADDY 10 YEARS OLD IN HEAVEN?

I'm sitting in Daddy's Study looking around, wondering how they measure time in Heaven, because Daddy's been there 10 years today.  The signs and books in Japanese attest to the many years God worked through his life, I suppose, and the old photographs testify to how Providence moved through the century and in relatives' hearts to provide land and living across continents and generations.

Oh...that #1 Dad mug. Could it have been over half a century ago that Daddy was taking Joyce by the hand and leading her back and forth across the street so she would have confidence and be able to do it herself...how he pulled out a poor report card to cheer up Janice when she was brokenhearted about not getting the A she so wanted...Daddy showed me how to run the 400 meter and was proud of me after the race altho' I think about it now, and he might've been disappointed I didn't win but came in second.

I told Daddy I didn't want inheritance money, just his books. For months, we'd been sharing a lot of things in Lloyd-Jones' writings, and Daddy had even been mailing some of his hardcovers up to Koriyama, where I'd fallen in love with them. I was thrilled when he said he would leave me, not just his books, but his entire study. But he didn't put it in writing; I don't know how this will work out if powerful legal men step in. Well, whatever God wills will happen, so we'll just see.

At any rate, David Martyn Lloyd-Jones has ended up being a favorite author, and his book of sermons on Ephesians 1: "God's Ultimate Purpose", simply blew me away. I never thought I could love a book about stuffy doctrine, but this one just plain surprised me. And...if you've read my post "Lord Senility", you read about how I tore off all the pics my dad had on the books and in the study. But those were all dorky to remind himself not to take himself too seriously. This one's better, don't you think?

It was cool so we went out a little!

The weather forecast looked like I'd have to stay indoors for a few months and wait for the autumn...wait...NO!  The first few days of the week were going to shoot down into cooler temperatures when it would be okay for my medicine--YES! Impulsively, I shut off my laptop; asked Kinya if it would be okay to take a short jaunt outside; headed for my trusty push-cart, remembering to put my compact camera into its back pocket.

I wanted to remember to get snapshots while I was out. But, as I complained to Kinya, the camera lens just cannot capture vivid reds. It has frustrated me no end that the deep red hibiscus looks so blanched in photos. Well, I'll settle for the orange and yellow of the gladiolas spears growing by the roadside! These, to me, are just as attractive as the pricey ones sold in the flower shops.

Even my compact camera picks up the orange of the gladiolas, even if it can't manage red...what is that brick-colored thing in the back? Oh--the Okinawan Shi-sah. Only on this island would you find so many of them finding their way into unrelated photographs. This "Shi-sah" figurine pair guards a popular sushi store: the open-mouthed one invites good fortune while the closed-mouthed one rejects ill fortune.

Over the river on our walk home were the many " climbing carp", strung up in preparation for the popular Children's Day near the beginning of May. There are many carp in this river, not these colorful festive streamers, but real, live swimming creatures. Over half a century ago, this is where Daddy, not the carp, used to swim with the village children.

Nothing has changed. The God Who created the land, sea, skies, flowers, fish, creatures still lives and loves. And He is the Creator Who designed human lenses that capture vivid reds and offers g'zillions of them in pairs for free, unconditionally, to most human infants at birth.