I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!

Since my last blog post, my life has settled into a fairly dull routine. I am always either studying Japanese or feeling (somewhat) guilty for not studying Japanese. They tested my Japanese in late December and declared me to be where I should be given how long I’ve been studying. So at least there is progress! 

Studying a language full-time for a year can feel rather isolating – similar to being in graduate school, except without all of the classmates. It’s too easy for an introvert like me to turn inward and live on my own little island. Now that it’s late February, there are a number of things that I need to start doing in preparation for moving to Tokyo: updating my household effects inventory, updating my will, filling out the housing questionnaire from the embassy, working through the bureaucratic joy of requesting other training that I need to get done, etc. Not to mention spending time with friends while I still can! But prior to now, I have had too much solitary introspective time, which can sometimes lead to self-absorption and/or self-pity.

The other day, I heard a sermon on Abram and Sarai and God’s promise of a son despite their advanced age. The pastor discussed the tension between God’s promise and our perception of “reality”. Abram and Sarai knew they had God’s promise, but they didn’t see how it could be done. So they took matters into their own hands, and Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. But in God’s good timing, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, and from Isaac a nation was born.

When I was younger, lots of friends would seek to assure me that I would get married someday. (Those assurances stopped around age 35, but now that I’m heading to Japan where many women frequently wait until nearly 40 before getting married, there has been a resurgence in the hopeful comments.) Lovely, well-meaning Christian friends would tell me that I would get married and that I needed to trust that God would fulfill his promises to me. My response was simply (and not very graciously) that nowhere in the Bible does God promise me a husband. It was a conversation killer, but there you go.

But as I once again listened to the story of Abram and Sarai, it occurred to me that maybe while I'm noting what promise is NOT in the Bible, I am essentially ignoring the promise that IS in the Bible: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11). The question becomes, do I trust what God says? Do I believe that He has a good and perfect plan for my life – whether in singleness or in marriage, with children or without children, whether in the U.S. or in Japan or in Brazil? I ask myself these questions and I find that I am like the father who sought Jesus’ healing for his son: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

“Hallelujah! He has found me; Whom my soul so has craved; 

Jesus satisfies all my longings; through His blood I now am saved.” 

(All My Life Long)

Japanese technology

Japan is famous for its technology, but there are 3 things that I am particularly looking forward to trying out.


Toilets - Apparently, Japanese toilets are amazing! You can choose the temperature of the seat, and sometimes you can choose sounds to use as white noise. If you want to be really clean, you can choose the temperature of the water and the temperature of the air that dries you off. All of this to create the most pleasant bathroom experience imaginable.


Vending Machines - More specifically, the vending machines for alcohol. Apparently, the machine scans your head and determines whether or not you are old enough to purchase alcohol. But I am betting the design is based on Japanese characteristics. Japanese typically have fairly large heads. My head is tiny. I can't wait to see if I'm "old enough" to buy alcohol from a Japanese vending machine!


GPS - I hear that you can choose not just what language, but also what accent. Australian English, British English, Southern US English... My Japanese instructor had hers set to Japanese but had to switch it to English because the Japanese was too vague. I imagine it's afraid of offending the driver. So if it's that accurate, then does the Southern US English say "Bless your heart!" when you fail to make a turn? Do they have Brooklyn English ("Do I have "Information" on my forehead?!?!")? How about Seattle English (gives directions to the closest latte)? Is the British English very proper? Or is it cockney? I'll need to try them all!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Where is the compassion?

In a recent post, I quoted John Stott’s description of sin as self-centeredness. “For God’s two great commandments are first that we love him with all our being and secondly that we love our neighbour as we love ourselves. Sin, then, is the reversal of this order. To put ourselves first, virtually proclaiming our own autonomy, our neighbour next when it suits our convenience, and God somewhere in the background.” This quote was the latest link in a chain of comments I’ve seen in the last year that basically put self-centeredness at the core of so many issues. For example, a year ago, when studying the concept of humility, I read something by CS Lewis saying that humility is not to think less of yourself than you are, but basically not to think about yourself at all – that is, selflessness. And I’ve read things by John Stott, CS Lewis, and others all noting the importance of selflessness in showing love to others.

In recent weeks, I’ve read a string of absolutely horrifying accounts of people turning their back on someone in great and immediate need, people completely lacking compassion. First, there was the toddler in China who was run over by TWO trucks in the presence of witnesses, and nobody came to the child’s aid. I saw some argument about how police there can be lazy and declare whoever is close by to be guilty, so people were afraid. But it was a toddler! Better to face injustice in this world than to lose your soul.

Soon after reading about the toddler in China, there was a (very fast) conviction in the Lululemon murder. Apparently, employees of the store next door heard the murder happening, heard the woman calling out for help, and turned away and went back to work. Why? Because they thought it could just be a drama. ARGH!! Who cares if it is a drama?! If it turns out the store employees have a tv that they’re watching, they’ll learn to turn down the volume to a reasonable level when you or the police come to check it out. A woman might have survived if only people hadn’t turned their backs.

And sadly, no list of horrifying selfishness and/or total willingness to ignore what’s going on in front of you would be complete without Penn State.  How many people’s lives were destroyed because a whole string of Penn State employees chose to ignore an eye-witness account (much less the previous investigation) and simply decided to say it shouldn’t happen on their campus? They told a predator to go elsewhere. Nobody bothered to find the child and make sure he got help. Nobody called the police to report a violent crime. 

Unfortunately, such stories aren’t really new. If they were, we wouldn’t have the parable of the Good Samaritan. A Levite and a priest both avoided the man in distress. - It could be a trap!  They could be defiled and have to go through a week of purification! – Instead, it’s the Samaritan who shows love and compassion to the man, risking danger and using his resources to respond to a need.

Of course, all of these examples are horrifying in their seriousness, but there are little ways that we turn our backs on people every day. Granted, we can’t respond to every need, but there are many times where a kind word, bringing a meal to a sick friend, or lending an ear to a person in the midst of a trial makes a world of difference in a person’s life. What a different world this would be if people spent less time thinking about themselves and more time thinking about others.

In the middle of all of the immoral and callous actions I’ve read about recently in the press, I did read one thing that made me proud. Recently, a girl at my old high school was stabbed repeatedly in the chest and neck by a fellow (mentally unstable) student. She survived because of the immediate actions of her fellow students to subdue the attacker and staunch the bleeding and the quick thinking of medical personnel. That’s one life that did not end, one family that was not devastated, and an entire school that does not have to hang its head in shame.  They can be proud, because they did not turn their back on a person in need or waste precious moments thinking about their personal safety. They showed love and compassion to a person in need. Praise God for these “Good Samaritans”.

Musicals!

The last 12 months have been The Year of the Musical for me. I saw The Lion King on Broadway last December, Wicked at the Kennedy Center for my birthday, and last weekend I went to see Les Miserables at the Kennedy Center. I think Les Mis was the first musical I ever saw in person. They're doing a 25th anniversary tour, so I took advantage of the opportunity to see it for the third time. I'm sure my neighbors are all thrilled that I did, since I've been spending a lot of time wandering around my place singing bits of songs at the top of my lungs - connecting random lines, since I never seem to remember an entire verse intact, and switching keys as necessary to get the song within my vocal range (especially since my favorite songs are not for 1st soprano).


If you want to revel in the moment with me (or have been living under a rock for the last 25 years and don't know any Les Mis songs), here is my favorite - "On My Own", as sung at the 25th Anniversary concert. Just for fun, you can also watch Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segel sing a bit of "Confrontation" (including the really, really low note!) and Idina Menzel (Wicked!) and Lea Michelle sing "I Dreamed a Dream". And then you can join me in wandering around singing Les Mis songs to the great joy of all the neighbors!

You are here

I go to FSI (aka: the National Foreign Affairs Training Center) about twice a month for Japanese Area Studies, where we get a little culture, a little history, a little current events. I think it's really interesting. When I was there last week, I noticed the site maps that have been placed around the campus. I loved them so much, I had to take a picture. 

Isn't it great! A site map that's blank. I love it! There are several ways I can think to interpret this. 1) Stating the obvious. "You are here." Why yes, I am. 2) Some sort of existential/philosophical interpretation. Am I really here? Where is here? Who am I? 3) A blank slate representing the no-man's land in which those of us at FSI exist - having left one assignment, but not yet at the next assignment. 4) They haven't gotten around to putting the maps on there yet.


I think I'm hoping for #1. Or maybe #2. 


Right next to this particular sign was a rather good coyote statue. I believe they're supposed to scare away the geese. This led an Air Force friend to joke that they (the Air Force) just have the Marines take care of the geese. And that led to all sorts of images in my head of 19-year old Marines with big guns and flame throwers and the like going after a field full of geese. Which is probably evidence of how burned out I was getting and why I decided that I needed to take most of this 3-day weekend to NOT study. I know; I'm a rebel. But I really do feel so much more energized now. I think I may actually manage to shove some more Japanese words into my head before the weekend's over! Assuming that I am here, that is.

My connections with Famous Authors

I am very excited for two lovely ladies who are about to have books published! 

The first Famous Author is my dear friend from Brazil, Jenny Spinola.  She’s an American from the small Virginia town where my mom now lives who met her Brazilian husband while she was a missionary in Japan.  (Three hemispheres!  One family!)  We met at the International Baptist church in Brasilia.  Recently Barbour Books picked up three of her books.  The first one, Southern Fried Sushi, will be released this coming Saturday.  Woohoo!  The book has been getting some lovely reviews.  The second in the series will be released in just 6 months.  So everybody rush to your nearest bookstore, computer or kindle and buy it!

The second Famous Author is Katy Pistole.  I don’t technically know Katy, but her mother was my mentor in the CS Lewis Fellows program last year and is one of the sweetest ladies I know, so I’m sure Katy is wonderful!  She has already published a series of four children’s books, but last night she won the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Genesis Award for Contemporary Fiction.  So her first book for adults will be published soon!

Congratulations, Jenny and Katy!