Hoarding?

Japan has anti-hording laws. I stretched the limit today.  The chapel has been asked to provide 50 Transition Home Kits per week to families displaced by the Great Easter Japan Quake of 2011. You can see a sample of the list here (though we no longer have to provide the electrical).  This is one of our current mission outreaches. 


Many have brought completed kits to the chapel. Some have donated funds to purchase and deliver kits.  Today, Annette and I headed out as I had a lot of shopping to do.  At Homac we ended up with 7 cart loads and a big stack of plastic tubs. As we left each cart in the front and grabbed another one we received stranger and stranger looks. The manager was called. We kept shopping.  I was blessed to be able to call Simon, an American who has lived in Japan for decades. He talked to the manager/cashier and explained that all I was buying was going to Miyako City and that I had enough money in my bank to cover the charge. 


They called 3 cashiers and another man to help sort and load all of this. 

Annette wondered if it would all fit in the little Joy...um...nope. We called the Chapel and Mike joined us with our big van. 

Michael headed off to unload the van at the chapel. We went to the next store. We bought as many more items as we could find. Near the end of this store, Tara and son joined us.  

We went to one more store and then Tara suggested she take the remainder of our list and head of alone. We dropped off more thing at the chapel. Annette went home to fix dinner. I headed home to collect kids and head back to base for Youth Group and Bible study. 


When I arrived home our farmer's wife had brought these gorgeous flowers over....what a great pick me up! 

Tomorrow, I  head out again. PWOC is doing a group shopping trip for those who like to shop in groups or may be intimidated to purchase off base.  


For this one week, we will meet our goal.

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

Beauty and the Beast

Part of the Misawa Human Video team performed today in Chapel.  Jared was in this one. This was before Michael preached on Redemption and John 8 - the "woman" caught in adultery. I really loved how the youth's human video illustrated the sermon so well.


Earlier this month the other part of the video team led into a sermon with "Go Light Your World."  I love it when the kids are an integral part of the worship experience, vs. "Aw, how cute the youth are doing something" which doesn't tie in with the rest of the service.

Well done, team!

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

The Chapel Did It!

Misawa Helps is the name of the local volunteer clean up drives. "Have You Done It?" is the catch phrase, we have a big tally board on the main drag of the base (beats the DUI board that was there LOL), and there is even an AFN commercial. 

You must be 16 or go with an adult. Jared's trips have been with this program. I've not been able to "do it," as Arielle hasn't been comfortable watching the children for an entire day alone.

Today the chapel reserved seats on the buses. We actually had a chapel clean up day planned for Sunday, but the trip was cancelled and we moved to join with the trip for today. Jared needed a break. I went.  It's exhausting, back breaking, COLD, rewarding.....Today's mission was to our local beach.  The beaches are still littered with tangled masses of debris.  Our job was to take pieces of boats, nets, anchors, ropes, tarps, sails, tin etc out of trees, drag them to the road where the equipment can get in...and make piles of salvageable, burnable etc.

Three on the left are PWOC Ladies....Shining at Operation Tomadachi

Erika was one of my Tokyo traveling partners. We admitted we enjoyed ourselves today much more than our days of shopping and waiting in Tokyo. 

Michael in the middle....

Ruth and I

We were ready for a break. Akikosan came on this trip. It was fun to work with her all day....

I cannot tell you the number of piles of nets like this that had to be untangled and moved. 

Tired at the end of the day, but we had to go see the ocean (we'd been working on the other side of the seawall all day). 

The Whole Group

Somewhere during the day I decided to go to the onsen when I got home.  I was too cold and tired to go....but I soaked in a hot tub, got the sand and grit out of my eyes, ears and mouth and feel human again. LOL 

We'll do it again....maybe not as a chapel...but as a family.

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

Shikata Ga Nai

Michael got home at 10:30 last night - full day of chapel ministry, planning disaster relief etc. I had been thinking a lot yesterday about the fact that I was "supposed to be in TX" and had chosen to cancel the ticket as I didn't feel right leaving the children.

Around 11:00 p.m. I signed off Facebook and we headed to bed....

Then the earth shook! And I mean rolled a while, then SHOOK up and down, and rolled some more.  Umm....I was on the toilet this time....and I could hear things rattling and crashing...and Mike yelling to the kids, "Stay put, don't go downstairs".....I decided if the house was going to fall apart I did not want to be on the throne when it happened. The power went out...I staggered to the recliner at the top of our stairs and waited it out while watching the rest of the family in doorways....the phones went out...we covered the fridge and freezer....checked our home for damage...checked homes in the neighborhood, calmed children,  and went to sleep.

It was a 7.4 earthquake. We went out to get in the car to hear the AFN news....and could see lots of folks heading for the base and the loudspeakers warning of a tsunami. Michael finds it quite funny that he KNEW for the briefest of seconds I was considering heading down to the beach. In fact, I was near the car when he came back from checking the neighborhood and he said, "Absolutely not..."..... I innocently said, "Whhhhhaaaattt?"

We awoke this a.m. still without power. I took Jared in to the chapel for an event. I spent a couple of hours trying to make phone calls to the states.

We settled in for another round of camping at home...but the power is now back on.  We live within 50 miles of a reactor. It was NOT damaged in the "great earthquake," but when these hit, they shut down the reactors and then slowly bring them back online. When they shut it down, we have no power.

Not much else to share...I had just quit the vertigo thing  I seem to have when the earth is moving under my feet every few hours. The last few days had been quiet. Some think we may have another big one in a couple days as that is the pattern of March 11th....I thought it quite funny to go to the EFAC (where they provide phones) and see the long lines in the Cafe that adjoins it....seems when an earthquake hits Misawa we head for coffee and pizza.

Which reminds me, Mike has just called to say he's bringing pizza and company home for dinner. I'm off.

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

Fellowship, Friendship and Funnies!

MOPS play date this a.m. - 20 still around. Small but powerfully fun and needed. 


Then we met a friend at Homac and helped her buy the Japanese laundry poles. We took advantage of the opportunity to buy dirt, more planters, and some plants.

Many hours of this day were spent in working out the ever-changing details of how this Transition Home Kit effort is going to work. It's coming together well.  I'm starting to really love the analogy of the man throwing starfish back into the ocean. When told the job was hopeless and wouldn't make a difference he said, "to the one I just threw in it matters."  I keep thinking about that....

Tonight, Akikosan offered to come with us on the first trip to deliver home kits. This is very good. She told me, "De'Etta San, I can read a Japanese map."  My "adventures" have made me an international legend. ::snort:: She also told me that what had been translated online as "rice bowls" read "Condoleesa Rice"....not sure how THAT happened but we had a good laugh about three of them being in the kit.  She is going over the list.

Prayers are appreciated...we're weary....but not weary in doing good.


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

Monday's Trip to Miyako City

Last week the chapel had funded a trip of veggies down to Miyako City. The gentleman who had organized that trip ended up taking a couple of more trips down. Various Christians on base simply gave him money to buy more veggies at wholesale to take on down. 


Monday Jared left early to go help load other donations into the vehicles. I met them to drive on town to the Produce Warehouse in Hachinohe. Nolan came with me. We loaded vehicles. Jared had to be here for human video practice, but Nolan was able to ride along to Miyako with the men. He got home about 10:00 p.m. 


Here are a few photos...and yes, I AM proud of my guys. 

Monday's packing crew

Here are some shots for Miyako City area....stunning really. 

New houses weren't spared

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

What do I feel?

Entering week three I find myself struggling with something a bit different. Where does my focus need to be? I want to be His hands and feet. I want to be salt and light. The sheer magnitude of what has happened, and is happening, in Japan can become my sole focus if I'm not careful. It's never far from my thoughts and prayers. It is bad for relief efforts and such to occupy so much of our time? I don't think so. Yet, I know that He has led me, and our family, to other priorities as well. I need His wisdom to discern where the focus should be....His clarity to know which opportunities are distractions and which are God-driven change of directions.

I also find myself tearing up at strange times....random times....If I think too much of those who have lost everything, when I hear of one more need, when I hear yet another rumor of what may happen to Americans stationed over here....emotions are close to the surface.

I've prayed for 2 years that God would give me His heart for Japan.  I struggle with a wide range of emotions...hope that the cultural narrative will change providing a bridge for the gospel, disappointment in those whose goal seems to be "saving face" more than helping citizens, astonishment and awe at the good I see in this lovely culture...and yet...knowing that this nation needs Jesus.

I've been frustrated at the ever-changing rumors in the military community. I've been frustrated at red tape that can't seem to flex to accommodate the current crisis. I've been in awe of godly chaplains doing all they can to serve the needs of their troops and their neighbors in this beautiful host country we live in. I'm in awe of so many on base who are giving day after day to local clean up efforts, giving time and money to buy food for stricken areas etc. The need doesn't end. It won't end for some time. Will the door of opportunity to GIVE end? I don't know.

I've been given projects to run with and am learning  sometimes projects take us places we don't expect to go.... God makes a way through red tape...compassion and mercy must be tempered with patience and understanding...sometimes things move so fast you wonder if you are guiding a program or being run over by a program.....

I find our plans to travel to see the girls' graduation sort of "up in the air" as no one knows what will happen day to day in Japan.

Through it all I pray for Japan to see the love of God....for us to make the most of this time in history...we dare not miss this opportunity to be His salt and light.

I also spent some time today meeting with our upcoming retreat speaker, changing details for that, preparing local PWOC board reports, preparing for an upcoming regional Skype Board Meeting, preparing for Bible studies...

Please continue to pray for Japan's cultural narrative to shift...allowing for humility and acceptance of gifts. Please pray for leaders to make decisions in the best interest of citizens and not out of a need to be independent and to "save face". Pray for Team Misawa - divided in location at this point....spouses in the states and spouse in Japan. Pray for military leaders to make good decisions and for those good decisions to be LISTENED to further up the chains of command.

This isn't very pretty...but it's real.

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