Landed in the land of the rising sun: Okinawan version!

Hey everyone! I made it! Praise Jesus!!!!!


I made it fine through immigration and through the flights. I had some long layers, but thankfully i was able to sleep on the planes ride a bit more than normal!

It's much warmer (and "moist" in the air) here, and it's good to see everyone again! I even received a phone call from the main island from the spearmans.


We head straight into ministry today! I got to help clean a fan in the kitchen, and tonight we have an outreach with the university students from Ryukyu, for a sweet concert and dinner at the cafe tonight!

School starts this monday, (well orientation) and there are already a few students here. Another gets in tonight, and two more tomorrow. Looks like it will be a smaller semester of girls, and the guys (though there are still many in our group).
Please pray for the students and all the interns and teachers here. There are a few students who are teaching classes at the same time, i know they will need prayer and strength from God. thanks!

I'll put up photos later today, we are about to eat and the laptop needs to go off!

Praise the Lord for His providence, and for walking before me on this journey. i still don't know exactly what lies ahead, but i know He's going to be with me. Thank you for your prayers, and for the continuence of them. God bless you in them.

-'manda

fast arrival of God's leading

So,

This coming Wednesday, i head back out to Okinawa on my 1 year visa, to intern at the Bible college out on the island.

すごい～！

This is amazing! But all so fast too! (pretty much like it is everytime!)

I found out two days ago (i think two days) that i got my visa, and then the days following tickets were found that were cheap and from the airport near my home (usually too exspensive because it is such a small airport), and now i am flying out on wednesday!

My time at home here in Michigan feels short, but i also knew it would most likely be. I sort of have mixed feelings of sadness (to leave my family, whom i have become once again much closer with), excitement (to see friends and mainly to be back out there serving where I believe God has called me), and anxiety/fear (for the long plane ride, and not knowing how i will do as an intern).

All of these are okay though, i can handle it with Jesus. He called me to this, sent me out, He will be there right with me to go through it all.

Thank you for all your prayers, they really, i can't think of good enough words for it. But thank you, just know you are all effective through Christ in them, and that they are greatly needed and wanted. God bless you in them. Spend that time with Him (i know we can all lack in that area, as i know i do many times). keep coming when He calls, your going to be blessed beyond what you expect.

Well, now i'm just preparing to go, getting some last minute things, starting to pack up things being left, and things being taken. Spending time with friends and family before i go. it's nice that a lot of my relatives live so close, I can pretty much see them all before i leave again.

I've really been blessed while i have been home. It's really cool that i've gotten to share a room again with my sister. Things that i wouldn't have imagined to be even a possibility are happening, its really cool. Me and my sister have gotten really close, and it's neat to see the things that God is starting to do in her life. i've been blessed by it.

i forgot how funny my brothers are too, the random "fights" they get into over the last bit of a bottle of orange pop (yes, we say pop in michigan). i am never at a loss for laughs here.

it's cool, my parents are still neat (they won't ever be lame ahaha). my dad started writing this sweet story, his own take on "Frosty the Snowman: a horror" it made me laugh a LOT. He has a good sense of humor!

my mom is silly, she is keeping up with us kids and watching foreign dramas and things, including Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese (maybe i spelled that wrong)!

It's just been cool to hang out with all of them. I hope that someday they can come out to Okinawa and see it there, it really is an amazing place (especially the church family there).

Hopefuly, i will get some pictures up of what were doing here before i leave, they should be pretty funny.

Here are some that have been taken in the past month:

a sweet snowman someone in our neighborhood made.

pondering the path before him...don't worry, he has many more months before he melts (good ol' michigan)

i promised Tamiko i would build her a snowman, but i haven't done it yet....that's on my list to do before i leave)

my mom thought it was funny how i was reading one day. i needed light, and it was super comfortable after i accidently tipped over. :]

I like to leave my mom random photos on her camera.

us kids cleaning up after dinner...but-

in true Japanese style! : equipped with cute sponges with faces.

I love Japan ^_^

God bless,

-マンダ。

Prayers answered

Psalm 66

To the Chief Musician. A song. A psalm.

(parts of this psalm)

Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the

honor of His name; make His praise gloriouse.

Say to God, 'How awesome are Your works! Through

the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall

submit themselves to You.

All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You;

they shall sing praises to Your name.' Selah.

Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing

toward the sons of men.

Oh, bless our God, you peoples!

And make the voice of His praise to be heard,

who keeps our soul among the living,

and does not allow our feet to be moved.

You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went

through fire and through water;

but You brought us out to rich fulfillment.

Come and hear, all you who fear God,

and I will declare what He has done

for my soul.

I cried to Him with my mouth,

and He was extolled with my tongue.

If i regard iniquity in my heart,

the Lord will not hear.

But certainly God has heard me;

He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Blessed be God,

who has not turned away my prayer,

nor His mercy from me!

So,

God brought my visa in!! I got an email yesterday from Okinawa saying it came in and was all set to be sent to me to get it stamped on my passport. Amazing, so amazing.

(I took a picture, but this was all i could do since i don't have the stamp/paper in my possesion yet)

thank you for your prayers, i seriously get so much blessing from them. Thank you.

Now i am praying for provision and when to leave. If I could once again ask for your continued prayers on this, that would be AMAZING. I really hope and pray God blesses whoever reads this and whoever prays for me.

Don't forget to fellowship with the Lord wherever and however you can find all along the way of the journies He takes you on (a good friend told me that). find ways to fellowship with Him everday, that's what He saved you for to fellowship with you.

God bless you (^_^)

-'manda (praising the Lord, wherever we go)

a blog?

i asked myself "why do you update this blog?". My reason when i started it, was to keep friends and family involved and up to date on my life. I wanted to share with them what God was doing while i was out in Okinawa.

Now that i am back in Michigan, and not actively involved in school or the ministry that was provided out there, i've started to wonder why i do some of the things i do. This blog was one of those questions

But i realized, i have this blog for the same reason as when i started it, my vision just blurred.

I don't post this to make myself look good, to impress people or to keep some "image" going. I sometimes like to tell myself that i have this super great image and i'm a really nice, outgoing person, but i'm not. I'm flawed.

But i've just found so much acceptance and love in Jesus recently, it doesn't even matter how flawed i am. I am completely accepted by Him, and am so content in Him, i find a deep assurance there in Him.

I post this as a witness to others and a reminder to myself when i look back, that He is always working in my life. And also to keep showing that He cares for a person like me: lazy and flawed, trying to change slowly.

i recently got my wisdom teeth out (just yesterday actually), and it was quite horrifying...(i really hate needles and operations). i was a bit traumatized when i found out i would be awake for it, and fretted over it in the weeks leading up to it. I got a nice distraction when i visited my friend kaela the three days before it took place.

The day i went in, as i started getting the shots (which "HURT", not make me feel "PRESSURE" ahaha they should just describe it how it is i think), i couldn't stop shaking. i could barely hold the pamphlet the woman gave me while she talked me through the next part of the procedure and after-care. while it was going on (the teeth-removal part) all i could do to stay calm was to keep my un-focusing eyes and thoughts on Jesus. I hummed (not too loudly) a song i realyl love through the operation, and it really helped.

the whole three days before and the day of, i didn't have a time in His word. He gave me a sweet heart check while i was visiting my friend, but i hadn't been in His word. Normaly, i do a good job of beating myself up over missing those times with Him, but after this surgery i wasn't really in the "mood" for beating myself up about it. I figured "i'll do that later". Now i clearly understand that my reading His word does NOT gain me goodness, or any special points with Him. But its important to me, and Him, and i know i need it.

But this time, i found no place for that, but this amazing overwhelming feeling of His love. I just felt completely and totally in love with Him. It was just amazing, so precious. and it wasn't because of anything i did, i wasn't even in His word that day. I just loved Him. He was there with me no matter what, and cared for me.

Psalm 119:71-72

I don't know how to explain that. He's just amazing.

Psalm 119:41-48

I get so upset with how hard it is to keep His commandments sometimes, that i forget that i love them. I love the way He commands me to love, its such a beautiful love! There is none other like it! It makes it so much lighter and not burden some when i realize i just love Him, and thats okay.

Psalm 139:16-18

He really loves me. the days fashioned for me, there all there with Him. He made them, i can't wait to find out what lies in the days before me ^_^

Here are some pictures:

(me and izzy had a Japanese lesson together "bento benkyo bento shimasu!!!")

(of course some artwork happened)

(i spelled egg wrong i think)

(we listened to a bible teaching on sunday morning, David Guzik!)

(my grandma gave me instant cooked bacon)

(cool old doodle i found going through stuff. appareantly studying was hard that day for me)

(i got this on one of my flights back, this is for you Tom Cotton)

(at kaela's house, her little sister, herself, and me. I don't know why they hang out with me)

[for friends in Japan]

(aannddd the car ride after my teeth were taken out. lotsa gauze stuffed in my cheeks, i couldn't focus my eyes either, straight on i was cross eyed ahaha)

thanks for listening ^_^ thanks for your prayers (alot)

-'manda God bless you all, He loves you dearly

Christmas, studying, artwork...

So Christmas was fun. I got sooo much that i didn't ask for, didn't deserve, and am completely blessed by it all (and also overwhelmed!! i have too much!!)

(it snowed a lot again!)

I now own six bibles, two bible cases, and multiple notepads to fill with notes. Thank you everyone, i think i will be good on bibles for now (unltil these six fall apart ahahaa)

It was really good to see all my relatives and friends this year for Christmas. we had lots of good food, and good times laughing about our lives and things we do. I got to hear some pretty sweet stories about my grandpa's time in the navy when he was younger. He got to live on bermuda! (i think that's how you spell it).

lately, i've been trying to get back into drawing and painting. I used to be so brushed up on it, i feel so out of practice. But i don't want to lose it. As Amber was pointing out, i've come so far with it, it would be a shame to just lose it. And i know God can definelty use it, even though it's in ways i can't imagine or think up. (He used it in korea!)

I've also started studying kanji, my brother has shown me some of the ways he used to learn them (he knows over 2,000 kanji). It's a really cool way, i think it will work. i really want to learn the language, i know it's hard (i've already studied it for three years, though it's gone down to remembering hardly anything), but i also know i can do it. God gave me a brain, He gave me the ability to learn these things, and I know He will give me the capability to learn it all the way through if i just try my hardest and give my best. He's pretty darn cool like that.

anyways, i don't have a lot of photos at the moment (isn't too much i have done that is really that interesting to take a photo of), but i did get a camera as a graduation present from my parents (thank you guys, it's something that definetly blesses me) so i will have photos of whatever does happen in the future.

(here's one of me and my family though)

God bless you all, stay safe this new year's and last bit of Christmas parties and such. Praise the Lord, we made it another year huh! don't forget to look back and see what He has done this past year in your lives, im pretty sure you will be amazed, even if there were hard things.

peace in Jesus,

-'manda

snowing, winter, coldness, snowing...

So, Michigan is a lot colder than i remember it being.


I've sort of adjusted to it (sort of meaning that i can bear the coldness on my face and eyeballs now), but it's rather dry here too. Less dry than California was (and should be expected because its winter), but harsher on the skin than Okinawa teehe

Anyways, i've not been doing too much. just visiting people, eating, helping with some shopping, trying to recreate okinawa-dishes of food, walking the dogs in the snow.



i took some photos, and some videos (we'll see if those work).




(the front of our home)


(it snowed a lot that night)





(when they picked me up from the airport)


(cooking Taco-Rice with my little sister)


(the jello my grandma gave me)


(the path we walk the dogs on, before it snowed alot)




This wednesday, i got blessed with being able to fill in at my aunt's company as the receptionist ('manda gets to answer phones!) while they attend their company christmas party. then it's christmas eve at my other aunts house with our grandparents, and then christmas morning with the family, and dinner at my first-mentioned-aunt and uncle's home. We normally go to a chinese buffet on Christmas day for lunch, but this year my aunt wanted to cook and eat at their home (which will taste super good, though it's a little sad not to eat with the vietnamese at the chinese buffet...).




^_^ God bless you all, thanks for reading and following along with me in prayer.

Merry Christmas (stay warm wherever you are!)



-'manda

Graduation!

Well everybody-


I GRADUATED!!!!! I made it! やった!!!



This past wednesday night, we have a Bible study/graduation night. We had worship and a short message from pastor Tommy, because all of the graduates (four of us) all shared from the word.





Me, Christina, Tom Cotton, and Bu-chan (ahaha) all graduated together.








It was a really blessed night, it was a really cool thing to graduate here in Okinawa. I am so blessed by the people out here, and the things that the Lord showed me and did in me here. It is a place of wonderful memories and amazing works of God happening everyday.




(Bryce rockin' out)



(he graduated too ^_^)


(we started together, we ended together)



("oh, what a hunky man! he's graduated!")


Also, the update on my circumstance is this: I am back in Michigan!
I was going to update sooner, but i was keeping my coming back a secret to suprise a friend (yay surprise!).


It is snowy, and cold. VERY cold (though i don't get much sympathy from people here because i came from an island). it is good to see everyone again, my little brother isn't little anymore! everyone has grown and looks different!

I'm going to put up a post of our new home (They moved while i was gone), and of all the snow in my next post.


Thank you for all your prayers, i really appreciate them. I need them a lot.
stay warm, and stay in Christ's deep, great love.




(Oki semester fall 2009)



-'manda
(pictures curtousy of Tamiko Murakami :] )