Rocking and Rolling in Japan - Michael

It has been quite a show the past few days. It began with a base-wide exercise. We were pretending something bad was happening in the world and we had to get there to make a difference. This requires a whole lot of moving parts to work together. The day the exercise began, internet connectivity died. It was wild and slow from the get-go. My time finally came to do the formal part of "getting there," and they had

things flowing relatively smoothly. Went over to the Torii building to drop off all of my paperwork, and things changed. It began with a little shake. Usually these come and go fairly quickly, but this one did not. It took a momentary break that I thought was the end, but, no, it was merely reaching for the next gear.

Things got really wild for a long time. I began to wonder if the building was going to start coming apart. Fortunately, after what seemed like an eternity, it slowed and then quit.

During the shaking, there was a lot of shrieking and yelling - some of the women were shrieking, too. Others took a more laid back view. They went to the window to watch the street lights in the parking lot sway and toss about - you would think it would be the guys doing this, but you would be wrong. :) Soon, the lights flickered and went out - everywhere in the northern end of Honshu (Japan).

I busted out of there and went to the Chapel to drop off the rest of my gear, and then I headed for home to check on the kids. I found them a bit frazzled (OK, maybe a bit of an understatement) and hiding under the dining room tables. Well, not all of them were under the table. The house was quite a mess.

There was one bit of levity in the midst of all of this. Jared had come downstairs after the first tremor had past, and found everyone under the dining room tables. He stood in the doorway when the earthquake managed to grab that "next gear." Alex was screeching and contributing greatly to Stacia's angst, and naturally, Jared is trying to keep things from getting out of hand so he tells Alex, "Calm down, this is no time to get hysterical!"

Alex responded right back as books are falling off of the baker's rack, things are clattering off of the walls, our wind chimes are loudly clanging, "This is the perfect time to get hysterical!" Gotta love it.

That night the boys elected to sleep upstairs, but the girls were not interested. Rather, they insisted on sleeping on the floor in the living with the dining room tables placed

over them. It was well-worth the effort knowing they were going to sleep a bit better.

What is hard to conceive at this point was the devastation that resulted from this quake. We thought maybe we were in the middle of it or at least not far from it. None of us were even close nor could we imagine the immense amount of damage and destruction and the astounding loss of life that came as a result of this quake and the ensuing tsunamis. Even after watching numerous accounts on youtube, and various news channels, we have not even begun to realize how this is going to change life in Japan, forever.

Please pray for wisdom and strength for Japan's leaders and all those involved in rescue efforts; pray for grace, mercy and healing for those all who have been impacted, and pray that through this, many will come to salvation in Jesus.

Blessings

Michael

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Morning Thoughts

There is more than one way to skin a cat. FB server is down when I try to update.

We have heard that power, heat and internet is back on in Misawa and that includes the kids and Mike off base. It is such a relief to know they will soon have a warm house again. Drinking water won't be far behind.

I am still in Tokyo. I can't just hop in the car and go home as the route goes right through Sendai, the reactor area etc. The roads are impassable, there is no gas along the route etc. We are talking about flights, but waiting to get a green light. It is very hard for me to "stay out"! I want to be there, see if  I can help, drive through the area and take photos....but I know that Mike, Kyle and John do not need to have the worry of unaccounted wives on their minds...so we stay put. I am thinking we should go get provisions and be ready to take off when the word comes.

The photos of our area are unbelievable...and I continue to dance with God. Resting in His embrace of grace, moving as He leads, trusting He knows the steps, moving to the rhythm of grace...

Where was I? Those who know me know that I have a thing about leaving a sick child to "do ministry." It was hard to leave home with Jared sick.....and here I am doing ministry while my kids faced the quake alone. God is teaching me lessons, and I want to learn them deeply and not pass this way again.

They are doing great.

Pray for our 5 yo. When I was able to talk to her she cried. She said earthquakes "hurt" and she wanted me to come home. I told her all the right things...and am praying she find and experience Jesus holding her close...praying against a spirit of fear and for the spirit of a lioness to rise in her and Arielle, our "lioness of God,." praying for so many in Japan who are feeling fear...praying for a mass turning to God, regardless.

Hmmm loud speakers going off may be something I should listen to.

I will update FB if possible before we attempt to drive to Misawa so you can all pray. It takes 11-12 hours to drive from Yokota to Narita (usually takes 1 hour) so the trip home may be longer than typical.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Prayers Please

Stacia began throwing up an hour after I returned home. I am so glad I'm here with her. I HATE being away "on ministry" when the kids are sick...a personal thing.  We've been cuddling today and then I realized I have to travel again this weekend and sure don't want to catch the flu...or have anyone else catch it. Can you pray she perks up quickly, and that the rest of us don't catch it until next week  - which is my week in March at home.

I'll leave you with this darling video. This is fairly common around here.

Stacia told me this afternoon she "loves" being sick because it is "sooo relaxing to just lay on her futon." I know what she means.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Starting An Incident

Yep, my carrots nearly started an incident at Dulles airport and they certainly slowed me down. I had to get triple checked through customs. I tried to tell them we could throw my baggie of carrots away...but they said now that I'd brought them into America from Japan, they would have to be burned and I had to go through the quarantine. Waited and waited and when I finally saw the dreaded agent...she said, "Wait....did you buy these in the COMMISSARY in Japan?"  "Yes, Maam. I tried to tell all those other folks that."

She handed my veggies back and let me enter America. LOL

Did you realize I was gone? It was a QUICK trip. I flew to Washington DC on Thursday.  Friday and Saturday was Vision Summit and a PWOCI International Joint Board meeting.  It was a great time for us to meet the new International Board, to pray, fellowship and refine focus and vision for the upcoming year of ministry. I love serving with these ladies.  Being part of PWOC is one thing I will really miss when we leave the military.

We went to the Airlie Conference Center. Wow - this place is nice. Wooded land in VA, lakes, geese, squirrels, spring flowers, old buildings.....and AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL healthy food. It was AWESOME...if I knew what I'd eaten I'd try to find recipes.  Here are a few photos.

 Sunday a.m. I began the 27 hour trip home....arriving at midnight on Monday night due to the date line. It is a 14  hour plane trip from Dulles to Tokyo. There was a bit of weather in Tokyo and so we circled 4x before we could see to land. Pretty funny to watch the flight pattern on the map. We usually go straight in but this time it showed 4 circles around Tokyo. LOL  That took an extra 40 min in the air and meant I missed the last train to Misawa and the early train to Hachinohe. I was THRILLED to make the very last train out of Tokyo to Hachinhohe last night and made it home at midnight! 

Mike and the kids had a busy weekend too. Jared had the aforementioned soccer weekend. Michael took the younger ones to Sand Dollar beach, where they found THOUSANDS of sand dollars....and I guess no glass floats as no one mentioned THAT.  Sunday is always full. 

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Edgren Sports are DANGEROUS!

Jared had his first soccer game with Edgren High School this past weekend. They drove down to the Tokyo area to a Navy base. They won. 


Jared made the first goal (is that the right word for soccer? ::snort::) He followed that by being beaned in the head with the ball and suffering a concussion. Mike took him to the ER yesterday (Monday) so he could be cleared for practice and they said NO. Told him he has to be symptom free a week and he still has a headache. He'd appreciate prayers for quick healing. 


Who knew Edgren Sports could be so dangerous? 

Jared is the one holding the leaping Eagle. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Hina Matsuri

It's always fun to see what Akikosan has in store for us each Thursday night. This week, due to my upcoming travel, we met on Tuesday night. We reviewed verbs, nouns, body parts, days of the week....and then she brought out an activity.  (Of course we learned shapes, craft words and such as we worked).

March 3rd is Hina Matsuri Day in Japan. Girls Day..... For the past couple of weeks displays of dolls have been cropping up at the mall and in other public places. 

Some displays are elaborate but Akikosan said most are smaller these days. The practice is to put the dolls out mid-end of Feb. Parents must remove them before mid-night on March 3rd or it means the daughters will marry OLD. The longer the display stays up the later your daughter will marry. Of course, this practice has some religious roots, but we think it's a great holiday.

They have special treats, leave the dolls up a couple of weeks, and pray for all the daughters on this special day. We can do that.

Akikosan helped us make a set of Origami  Hina Matsuri dolls.  The black hats with sticks are men - the ones with tiaras and fans are women. We aren't sure what Jared's doll (the pink one with the top hat) really is. ::snort::  She left us supplies to make a set for each one of us.....

This is one holiday we plan to "Goeckerize" and adapt.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Locks of Love

We found a new hair dresser. She works on base out of her home. She understands fine hair like mine...and we had a good laugh over Arielle's THICK hair. Arielle has been growing her hair for a couple of years.

She followed Bre's foot steps and decided to donate to Locks of Love. Many don't realize that you can donate shorter amounts of hair which locks of love will sell for cash to make their wigs....nonetheless, Arielle had more than 10 inches to donate.  Below is a side section - the back was longer.

A goal met - Well Done, Arielle. 

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...