Reflecting on two years of life

Yesterday I had a two-year-review with my mission. Seeing as we've been here since December 2000, this must be about my eighth time to do it.

It's not my favourite thing to do, but I understand it is necessary. It can seem like just another form to fill out and another meeting, but it is a significant way that our mission cares for their members. 

Here's an example of some of the questions on the form we have to fill out:

In what ways has the Lord blessed you since your last two year review?

Here is a list of emotions (13 of them). From this list choose the emotions that have characterised your life since your last review. Feel free to add any that aren't listed.

Describe significant friendships in your life since your last review.

This is one part of inner-city Tokyo! I was standing
outside the coffee shop we met in when I took this.
It was later in the day and my phone didn't quite
capture that it was a gorgeous, sparkly day with
no clouds in sight. 

I wrote about it on this blog when I did it four years ago, you'll find a more of the questions we have to answer there  They are good questions, though they can be challenging to answer. They do force you think about your life, and not just your working life. It can feel a bit intrusive, but the intent is, as I've said, to care for us. Hopefully, if people are honest, it is a forum for potential problems or issues that need dealing with to be raised.

If you've read this blog for any length of time you'll know that I like to reflect on life, but reflecting over a whole two years is challenging. Especially when it's guided and quite specific reflection! But it's a good exercise to go through and I think I'm encouraged.

One of the things that came up while I reflected was that a discouragement I often feel is thinking that I'm a second-class missionary (or thinking that other people think I am one) because I don't have great Japanese and because I'm not involved in church-related ministry. My line manager did her best to knock that one on the head. I think it is a way the Enemy likes to attack me and something I need to be vigilant about refuting. I know and heartily defend the need for support missionaries, but somehow I still get personally discouraged. I really need to stop comparing myself to others, to stop envying others. I need to stop being so concerned about what others may or may not think, and just do what God has for me with the abilities he's given me.

On a lighter note, you might like to know where we did this. It was in a way that's not untypical of Japan: we met in a coffee shop. We live a long way apart and the office is a long way from me and I rarely go there. Not quite so long for my manager, but we've met about various things before and our meeting place of choice is a coffee shop at Ochanomizu, a bustling centre in the Tokyo metro area. It's been a while since we met there, so it was good to go back.