Rest of the Week (catchy title! ::snort::)

The rest of the week really is a blur.


Michael worked long hours on an exercise (Mon - Tuesday) and then getting things caught up from a DV the week before and exercise...as well as prepping for us to spend 5 days of leave. 


Wednesday, I had a mammogram scheduled...but the clinic had mixed up. There was no radiologist on hand. Sort of necessary.  I had decided to redeem the day by having lunch with Ruth, a friend just back from the states and then a pedicure with Jenn, friend I'm just getting to know.  When the mammogram was cancelled it turned into a terribly indulgent day with no "yuck" in it. LOL 


Much of my week has been spent with emails and Skypes as we prepare for Asia's PWOC conference.

It has been a joy to work with the workshop application team to pray over the conference and the presenters and topics.  The three of us are very excited at the way this is shaping up. As scheduled we'll have 15 workshops. Combined with the anointed worship and general sessions....and the otter like touch we're working to bring to the mix... honestly....I think this conference is going to bless our women. I think there will be something for all.

Friday, I took Stacia and Arielle to get pedicures. The ladies loved having Stacia in there and she really loved it as well. Unfortunately, I left home without my phone or camera (two items I always carry these days). I'll have to snap some photos of their feet - Stacia MIGHTY PLEASED. I know this is frivolous for a 6 yo - but honestly - can it hurt for her to love feminine touches? And it is simply something you do in Asia. I remember such in the Philippines.

I discovered on Friday that my ID was expired. Since we were traveling SATURDAY this was vital. I had just enough time to get it renewed - only because the office showed great grace and mercy.

Jared came home from his month-long gig living the high life.

Saturday, bright and early we left for Tokyo. Michael had promised Jared they would climb Fuji and this is IT if it is going to happen. They won't be climbing next year before we PCS.  Our plan:

Day 1 Travel - pick up Chris
Day 2 Sight See
Day 3 Fuji for some and sight seeing for others
Day 4  TOKYO DISNEY (our kids have never done Disney)
Day 5 - Travel - drop Chris off at air port

Chris? Did I say Chris? Chris is a friend from our college days. She was in our wedding. We love catching up when we can. The last time we saw Chris and Kevin I was pregnant with Stacia and we were in AK.  Her son works for an airline (YES - grand idea) and so Mom and Dad get to fly very cheap.....Chris is a mighty prayer intercessor and has a goal of interceding for Japan while here....and I'm thrilled.

BTW I'm falling in love with Tokyo. I could be happy HERE for 3 years.....dreeeeeeeam, dream, dream....


Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Summer PWOC - Breakfast and Prayer Walk

This summer our local PWOC tried something new. We usually break for the summer. This summer we planned a variety of activities. One week was a "drop in study". Our spiritual life chair is awesome. She found a DVD study that has various Bible Study teachers and wrote discussion questions. She alternated facilitators of the group discussion. This meant no one was committed "all" summer...and lots of new women led a group. Good on both counts.


One week a month we had Japan 101. We had a children's program with a variety of learning centers. Even our pre-school/ toddler crew enjoyed Japanese crafts and videos. For the adults there were hand outs and a panel discussion.  This format was fun and beneficial for newcomers as well as those of us who had been in country a while. It gave us the chance to sit and share the great things there are to do around here.  We discovered that doing this in June and July may not be the best option. August and September would probably be better....giving newcomers a chance to settle in to a home. 


One week a month we went off base and searched for adventures as a group. This was GREAT  and showed how truly easy it is to find fun and adventure in Misawa. 


The final week each month was Breakfast and Prayer. Tuesday PWOC had   Breakfast and Prayer. Tara, our Spiritual life Chair, has done a great job of changing up these breakfasts each month.  This month, after breakfast and corporate prayer, we participated in  a prayer walk.  We put various prompts and prayer focus' around the room. The women came in and went through the walk at their own pace. This was a wonderful way to incorporate individual prayer in our group setting.

Personal confession and forgiveness

Servanthood

 Communion

Cross, suffering, redemption

Salvation of unsaved friends and loved ones

At this wall we wrote prayer needs and promises/ encouragement from the Word

Below I've captured the promises/Scriptures to share. Several really ministered to me as we cleaned up - I have several sticky notes in my Bible and thought it would be fun to create a virtual sticky note. 

• God's peace which passes all understanding Phil 4:7-8 (x3)
• Do not let your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me  Jn 14:1
• Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord  Col 3:23
• Effective prayers of a righteous "woman" can accomplish much James 5:16
• I am with you to the ends of the earth
• My sheep know my voice; they will not follow a stranger Jn 10:4, 5
• Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Heb 11:1
• The joy of the Lord is our strength
• All things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose
• Wisdom - James 1:5
• The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick James 5:14 - 15
• The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the sou! Psalm 19:7
• Lord you search and know me.
• Our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond our comprehension - 2 Cor 4:17
• We have received a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude Heb 12:27
• I will never leave you nor forsake you Joshua 1:5
• Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
• Lord, you have been our dwelling place through all generations Ps 70
• How great are you O sovereign Lord! There is no one like you and there is no God but you as we have heard with our own ears. 2 Sam 7:22
• Prayer - To bring glory to God in all that we do - I Cor 10:31
• He has more than enough for me
• I Peter 3:1-4 - Wives be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of thier wives, be chaste, respectful, clothed with the hidden person of the heart, with imperishable beauty of a gentle, quiet spirit. 

Choosing Joy!

©2011 D.R.G. 

 ~Coram Deo~

 Living all of life before the face of God...

Parish Picnic

This year's parish picnic was FUN! We had one out at the park the first summer we were here, the chapel lot last year, and this year we were out at a park on North base again this year.

Service outside on bleachers.

PMOC grilled. PWOC set up and cleaned up. Actually....my gals (and kids) ROCKED. I wanted to clean the bird poop and such off the tables....THEN we cleaned bugs, frogs, leaves and such out of the bathrooms. LOL

The service was great, it's always fun to have the whole parish together for a service. The weather was PERFECT...not raining, not hot or humid.  School starts on 30 August so everyone is coming home....and it was fun to catch up with friends I've missed during the summer. Great venue for catching up.  Another highlight was our FIRST registration to attend Asia Region Conference.  This was a great way to spend the day.

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

2011 Obon Parade

At the end of a very "work intensive" week, Michael suggested we meet to attend the Obon parade. This was a fun family outing. We picked Jared up and brought him along too. Here are a few photos from the parade. 

Stacia - just one of the crowd

Each float is pulled by long lines of people - some of them a bit more serious about the work than others

"Thank you for your Support ~ Bonds of Friendship" - the community here really does seem to appreciate all the efforts of the base community to be of help

Drummers - watch video to hear

Hydraulics raise and lower parts of the floats to navigate traffic lights etc

Sample of the Evening

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Hosting a Command Chaplain

Last week we were honored to have the PACAF Command Chaplain in town. This means he's a level UP from local....he oversees all the chapel operations in the Pacific (AK, HI, Guam, Japan and Korea).  


Our Wing Chaplain is TDY (out of town) and so it fell to Michael, the Deputy Wing Chaplain and Sgt. W, our NCOIC, to play host. I think they did a great job.  


This meant they spent hours of extra duty. Ate out with Ch. D and Sgt. U every night, took them down to show them the tsunami damage, provided briefings etc.  The entire chapel staff put in many extra hours to host DVs for the week. They done good! 


For ME it meant I ate out three times last week with them and various groupings of staff members. LOL I also got COINED - yes another USAF command coin. ::snort:: 


Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Stacia Turned SIX

This is a post about Stacia, but it will be hard not to write it about ME. ::snort::  Hard to believe our baby is six years old. Harder still to believe that somewhere in the last six years I've learned to be content if she is the last. I certainly wasn't content to have her be our last four years ago when we lost the twins.....but now I see...

It's O.K.  for God to be sovereign. It's O.K. to move into new seasons. It's a JOY to move into these seasons as Stacia's Mommy.

We knew last week would be busy....so we surprised Stacia Sunday a.m. with decorations and gifts. We asked what her perfect birthday would look like.  "Going to Burger King and taking the food to the Weasel's Den (indoor play area)." She was SURE.

Proving once again how uniquely she graces our family - she insisted she did NOT want one of our famous Ice Cream Cakes....she wanted an "Newman O cake".

We went about making her dreams come true.  She chose the flying pig hat.

Shaun the Sheep is always a hit

This thing says 50 PHRASES....and wouldn't be quiet all through the commissary. It was hilarious to see the confusion of the bagger and to reveal the mystery to her at the end. LOL

 Either too much cake or a REALLY bad hand of cards? 

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Lessons in a Storm or Where HAS De'Etta Been?

Blog readers know my motto is to embrace life in the fish bowl.....mainly because I was raised in the fish bowl...being a pastor's kid and a missionary kid....and then married into the fish bowl...it seems healthy to embrace it.

However, in the past few weeks I hit a spot where it seems unwise to be totally transparent.

Life has been tough...the Lover of my soul has met me IN THE STORM. Life has had a few unexpected twists and turns in the past few weeks. Enough said....but I CAN share

Lessons I've learned....

God faithfully prepared me with journal entries from the months prior

• "God will allow all to be shaken in my life so that which remains is stronger. His kingdom cannot be shaken. In times of shaking I'm to serve with gratitude." 
• Or: "Lord, help me be quick to look for you in unexpected storms." 
• Or: "My sheep know my voice and a strange voice they simply will not follow. Father, may I listen for and follow your voice alone."

I have felt these lyrics in  new ways the past few weeks.

Here before Your altar
I am letting go

of every motive, every burden , everything's that of myself

I just wanna wait on your my God

I just wanna dwell on who You are

Here in your presence

I am not afraid of brokenness

To wash your feet with humble tears 

I would be poured out till nothings left

It's possible to forgive instantly and walk in  forgiveness. Walking in forgiveness keeps channels open for God to work in hearts all around.

Leaders make decisions, fail, make mistakes and learn from them. 

I am NOT a perfect leader (knew that ::snort::), neither am I a perfect failure (need to remember this). I hear over and over the words God clearly spoke to me in moment of near panic over leadership responsibility, "I don't call you to be perfect, I call you to be faithful." That was good 2 years ago and it's good today. 

My words at WILD ring in my spirit, "Follow the heart of your king!"

I learned that I still want to be practically perfect. When all broke loose I was "weathering well" until Kari Jobe "My Beloved" came on. I was gasping and sobbing so hard I had to pull over at the train park (and don't think THAT wasn't shocking to kind folks in the park).

You're My Beloved

You're My Bride

To sing over you is My delight

Come away with Me my love...

I was gasping out, "No. I've failed AGAIN."  His words were sweet.... it's precisely in times when I feel least deserving I most need to embrace intimacy with Him. 

Again I heard  "let Me lead,"  "keep your gaze focused on Me," "dance with Me." 

Now is the time to STAND and FIGHT for the vision He birthed  years ago....

God  waits for us to say, "It's all YOU God or this is not working!" and He steps in and shows His stuff. I'm in awe.

NEVER say you will "never" do anything in ministry...there just is no telling where that sort of silliness will take you.  ::grin:: 

Finally, if God is sovereign...He is! That's it. Nothing more. This includes His hand in Air Force assignments, personality conflicts, leadership issues, health, natural disasters....He is sovereign.

New one introduced to me by a dear Sister/mentor

Choosing Joy!

©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...