Dear family and friends,
God continues to confirm in my life that HIS plans are better! I know this is no knew news, certainly not to me, yet He’s teaching me trust Him further, deeper, longer, and bolder in new and exciting ways.
Last January when Caroline and I went to Thailand we were supposed to spend the day in Tokyo. If you remember she ended up being very ill the last part of the trip and we spent the day in the airport. If it were today we would have never been able to travel home due to stringent precautions that the Japanese take with healthy travelers. I told her during that whole ordeal, that be it in my power, before we left Hawaii, I would take her to Tokyo. I started praying the Lord would let this happen.
Praying, dreaming, and my sweet man letting me try to move forward with some sort of plan, I made reservations at the New Sanno. The military has a few hotels around the world that give military families the opportunity for rest, vacation, a little R&R at a reasonable price. One of our perks. These hotels are in Hawaii, Germany, Korea, and Japan. Reservations at the New Sanno are coveted and people make plans early. When I tried to make plans in February I requested three dates to only receive one, and not really on the dates I’d requested. Ed needed to go to Japan again before we left so the goal was to get our trips to coincide.
When the children and I weren’t able to get there on time and had to cancel the reservations it was a moment that I had to choose to be grateful for all He HAD done and to know His plan was better. It is you know…
I started praying, researching, and asking around to try to find a place to stay that we could afford. It would be nothing for our family to pay $500 a night in Tokyo. When we arrived in Yokota Saturday night I decided we would stay there Sunday just to rest and make plans. In a guide book I found a positive recommendation for a youth hostel and called to find out they would be more than happy to accommodate a family. We had two options, rooms with traditional bunk beds, or a Japanese style room. I’d priced these and they were way out of our price range at other ryokan in Tokyo. When I called I found out to have the Japanese room you had to buy breakfast and dinner to go with it so I choose the traditional for the first night and Japanese the second.
We had a wonderful time in Tokyo and did many new and exciting things, but the blessing was at the youth hostel.
Caroline and I had done a little research last January so we knew we wanted to go up in the Tokyo Tower, visit the Hama Rikyu Gardens, ride the boat up the river, and see two museums. We always love to visit the museums!
I wanted the children to have a unique dining experience from the Japanese culture which is another blog in and of itself. I also wanted to take the children to the Kabukizi theater to see a Kabuki production.
So off we went checking off our list, enjoying the surprises along the way, and soaking in the culture. Yesterday the boys enjoyed all the restrooms as much as they delighted in the museum. There was even one sink that you washed and dried your hands in.
Yesterday we went early to get tickets at the theatre to run into several obstacles which precluded us from seeing it at all. I was so disappointed but the children quickly rallied and had such sweet spirits about the whole thing. “We can save money this way Mother,” one even said. We agreed to go back to the youth hostel early and enjoy our Japanese room, bathing (which is a big deal in the Japanese culture and quite delightful I might add), and we were going to snuggle down to read Les Miserable.
So here’s where God’s timing comes in. I met a woman last night that I wouldn’t have met if we went to the theatre and I wouldn’t have met if we’d stayed with Ed at the New Sanno as originally planned. She was the highlight of Tokyo. Masako lives on the big island in Hawaii, which I still find pretty funny. We’ve never been to the big island so Jesus made arrangements for us to meet in Japan. Less than 1% of Japanese people are Christians and Masoko helps make up the miniscule group of people.
Last night we spent the evening with her and she was more than willing to share what God has been teaching her. She’s written a book about her journey and it comes out on the 4th of December. We are praying for it, that God will use it greatly. It’s in Japanese but I think I’ll still order a copy. She’s done much research and studying and is continuing her studies. She is studying Japanese and Chinese congees along with God’s Word. Masako spent a long time last night going over congees and showing us what she has discovered. She believes that the original congees were written by believers before Buddhism took over the their nation.
The congee for the human soul are two congees put together, evil and speak. So in her book she has the congees in bold bright colors and then around them she has scriptures that back up what is true. Are our souls not speaking evil until we know Christ?
Salvation has is made of several congee’s including one that means tree, what our Saviour died on.
If I’d had paper I would have taken tedious notes. I’m not beginning to do this justice. We all were absorbing and delighting in all that she had to say. It was a holy moment and we knew it. There she sat in our Japanese style room with my little ones surrounding her in their jammies. At the end we all prayed together and were so grateful for the fellowship and worship. The evening compelled my heart to worship. Masako is very excited to give her book to her daughter for Christmas as she so dearly wants her daughter to know her Jesus. We are praying for this book and for Hannah. I can’t wait to see what God does…
Lord, thank you for the privilege of knowing this woman. Thank you for letting all of our plans fall through because your plans are better. Thank you for letting my children sit at this Godly woman’s feet to hear her speak of you and how she loves and believes in you. Thank you for the salvation that you brought on a tree. Thank you for being the rock of which water flows. Please use this book in ways that will honor you and bring you glory.
We are up in the friendly skies again, heading to Alaska. We can hardly wait to see the Smith’s. They are a believing military family that God has graciously planted firmly in our lives, again, and again. There is a hop on Friday to Travis AFB and then to Hickam, Hawaii. Praying for wisdom and how God wants us to play this one out. Ed is doing a last minute TDY to D.C. so he won’t be back to Hickam until Wednesday. My sweet neighbor from New Jersey lives outside of Travis and I would LOVE to see her, we’ll see about God’s plans. They are better you know!
Love in Christ,
Dinah for The Troops
