Appreciate the small things

I caught up with an international friend over coffee today. We've not sat down to chat for ages, maybe a couple of years. The two of us have shared some adventures over the six years we've known one another. The most notable being getting lost in Tokyo on foot after a snow storm. 

Our catch-up was wonderful and typical for such an interaction (between two missionaries) went deep fast. She's a little newer at this missionary gig than me and wondered what advice I had for staying the course for the long-term. 

Here's one: Take moments to appreciate the small things. 

I'm not a big-city gal and miss the open green spaces. But I've found ways to cope in Tokyo. 

Here's a photo I took early this morning while lying on my pillow looking almost straight up. We have two windows in our bedroom and granted the view isn't magnificent (I can see two or three houses from my pillow), there is the sky. And sometimes it's just worth drinking in in the morning during our time pondering the Bible and praying together before our day starts. 

Here's more sky. I noticed this on my way home on Monday afternoon. I'd spent nearly three hours traversing the city on trains. In all that travel there is continuous city, a truth that can depress you if you let it. It was wonderful to find this sky after all that.  

Recently I've often walked past this little display of gorgeousness poking out of one of the local yards. The other day I paused a moment and snapped a photo to show you.