Narrowing the focus Phase III (2010 to present)*

As I wrote at the end of the previous post—we came back from home assignment in July 2010 and our youngest son started kindergarten at CAJ. This was the moment I'd been anticipating and planning for.

Sub-phase A. Shakedown (2010 to about 2013)
I started with Japan Harvest and was barely into my second publishing cycle with the magazine when Japan's disaster of March 11, 2011 happened and I got thrown into the Managing Editor role, very much the deep end of the swimming pool. This, plus my inexperience with managing others, dealing with writers, working closely with a boss etc. meant there was a number of challenging times in this period. There was conflict, confusion, and regrettable mistakes . . . I had much to learn.

This was one of the annual planning meetings for the magazine. So thankful
for this team (which is considerably bigger now).

From 2010 to today I also grew the magazine team from 3 to over 15. I've learned a lot about managing a team and working with people in this period. During that period I worked with a team to make significant changes to the magazine to improve it on many fronts: including design, process, and content.

Sub-phase B. Supporting missionaries (2010 to present)

One of the my favourite changes I made was creating
"themed" issues. This is the cover of a magazine
from last year where I experimented with commissioning
a photo shoot for the cover.

This period was initially dominated by my work with Japan Harvest magazine, but also with publishing articles in various locations, including my blog. On a smaller, and more informal level, I got involved in the CAJ community and the JEMA WIM (Women in Ministry) community where I did what I could to encourage those around me, especially in the missionary community. I consciously chose to keep time available so I could say, "Would you like to have coffee?" That aspect of what I do gives me much joy, even if it looks like I'm just "being lazy and drinking coffee" as one of my boys once described it.

Friends sharing the experience of being wrestling mums in the stands.

I learnt that I needed to have a balance between working on my own (at my desk with publishing matters) and time with people. When I get that balance right, I work at my most efficient and happiest.

During this period I increasingly saw myself as part of the support team for missionaries in Japan. Rather than on the front-line, God has gifted me to support others. Discovering this has meant I've felt much more at peace.

Sub-phase C. Mobilisation (2013 to present)
Opportunities began to come my way to be involved in mobilisation for the field. I'd been mobilising prayer for many years as I published the OMF Japan Prayer calendar, but then I got to work on managing the 31 Days of Prayer for Japan booklet (pub. 2014) and it now has been translated, or will soon be in four other languages. 

Then in 2016 the field began work on renewing our website and I was involved in the initial stages in a focus group and eventually as content editor. In 2017, amidst the confusion following our field director's death and his wife's (my line-manager) ALOA, I proposed a blog to our field leadership and volunteered to manage it. They accepted my offer.

Screenshot of the OMF Japan blog that I am the managing editor of.

That pretty much brings me to today. I finally feel as though I've come to a place where God's been preparing me for. My husband reached this point much earlier than I when he was able to start full-time work at CAJ in 2010. The journey's been longer for me, but I now feel as though my gifts are being used in a more focused, productive way for the field; and I'm thriving, though no doubt there are many more lessons to learn in the future.

Praise God for all that he's done in me and how he's guided me through all these experiences and lessons. I have so much to be thankful for.
_____________________________________________________
According to the course instructions, I'm supposed to not just share this timeline with someone, but also talk about questions such as these with someone:

• Now what? 
• How will my reflections on the past affect my view of my current situation? 
• What do I want to do with my insights?”

Perhaps you'd like to have a conversation with me about these? Let me know.

*This is the third of three posts I've written about my life as an assignment for a course I did in April—processing my life in a specific timeline format that they gave us. The first post is here and the second here.