Looking back at 2014

Almost a year ago I wrote a blog post about what we were looking at 2014 holding. It's really interesting to look back at these posts each year and reflect on what did and didn't happen.

The biggest surprise for the year was finding that we didn't have to pack up our whole household and move out. Instead we've had two teachers housesitting for us. That was a great relief in moving back to Australia, but even more that we can look forward to moving back into the same house (just rearranging the three bedrooms on the second floor).

In the post I wrote at the beginning of the year I resolved to reflect on Hebrews 12:1-3 each month on this blog. I didn't do so well at that (next time I'd choose a whole chapter, three verses were too few). However, in an interesting turn of events I found out last night that a meditation that I submitted before Christmas last year to The Upper Room magazine is slated for publication this time next year. That little piece was based on Hebrews 12:1-3.

One of the other things I mentioned in the above post was that at the time it was easier to list the things we'd miss in Japan while we were away for a year. What was harder was predicting the opportunities, the good surprises. Some of those thus far have been:

The car friends bought for us driving at the front of the school
our boys have the privilege of attending for these 12 months.

• wrestling action for all three boys (and a significant gold medal for our eldest)
• new friends
• a house provided for much less than we anticipated and a car bought for us
• a trampoline (first time our family has ever owned one)
• many pieces of furniture and other furnishing that's been given to us for the year
• driving lessons for our 15 y.o. (on a family property)
• school camps/trips
• guitar lessons and his own guitar for our eldest
• opportunity for our youngest to try the trumpet six months earlier than his mates at CAJ in Japan can try band instruments
• a growing interest in cricket
• tickets to a live cricket match (World Cup, no less, in February)
• both younger boys will have iPads for school use for the next six months
• a growing first-hand appreciation for Australia (for our boys), including Western Australia
• growth in resiliency (at least I hope that is what we're seeing)

There's just a few that easily come to mind. We have much to be thankful for.

We're half-way through our third home assignment, the third individual year we've spent in Australia since we left for Japan in November 2000. It's been wonderful to visit churches and individuals who've travelled with us for the last 14 or 15 years. That's a significant length of time to maintain a relationship where you don't see one another so often. Such faithfulness is worth giving thanks for. That is one the purposes for us being here this year: to say thank you.

But ultimately I need to say thanks to God. Here is a phrase that is repeated many times in the Bible:

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever" NIV.(For an example, see 1 Chronicles:16:34)

And finally, I shall heap all the praise that people keep trying to heap upon us, back onto the true deserver of praise:

If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:11, NIV)

This time last year

Last year I was dreaming of an Aussie Christmas (not a white one), this year I'm living it. 
Last year I was shopping at 100 yen shops, parking my bike out the front, this year I'm avoiding shops and the crowds that go with them as much as possible.
Last year I was suffering a dreadful cold and asthma flare-up, this year I'm healthy and

Last year's Christmas morning tea in Japan.

thankful. 
Last year I attended a Christmas eve service with my family, coughing into the white mask that covered my mouth and nose, this year I'll go with my parents to their church early tomorrow morning before the home-based festivities begin.
Last year we celebrated Christmas day all by ourselves, this year we'll celebrate it with my whole family: my parents, two sisters and their husbands and children.

We enjoy Christmases in both Australia and Japan. We're not particularly homesick for Japan, but are enjoying being wholly present here in Australia. Yes, we've done some long drives to spend time with family, but I'm grateful that we are here to do it. We're usually not.

So, wherever you are tomorrow, I wish you a happy and blessed Christmas. For those we are missing loved ones, perhaps because you're in a different part of the world or because they are no long with us in this world, I hope that you are able to enjoy Christmas nonetheless, being thankful for what you do have, rather than being sad for what you don't.

If you can, remember that Christmas is a day of good news (see Luke 2:10-12). Jesus came that we might have abundant life (John 10:10b). Though that life will never be perfect this side of heaven, we can know a small taste of it by savouring the joy of trusting in Jesus now.

Books that have shaped me

I was tagged months and months ago asking for the ten books that have most influenced me because of how they stretched my thinking. This post has been languishing in drafts since then, occasionally pulled up and pondered. I've only come up with five, which seems crazy as I've read thousands of books in my 40+ years.

This is also an excellent book.

The Bible by God inspired authors (this really is in a category of its own and many of the following books were by those who were shaped by the Bible).

I Am David by Anne Holm
Suffering by Edith Schaeffer
Pilgrim's Progress (Children's Version) by John Bunyan
Second Mile People by Isobel Kuhn
Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels

I've read many biographies and autobiographies that have influenced my life. Here are some I can remember reading about:
Corrie Ten Boom The Hiding Place
Isobel Kuhn
Hudson Taylor
Annie's Coming Out by Rosemary Crossley and Anne McDonald
Lewis Braille

A couple of other non-fiction books come to mind here:
The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Prayer by Philip Yancey
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey
Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado

Other books that I might add here are fictional books that I've loved or been moved by, but I'm not so sure if they've stretched my thinking quite as much as the above did at the time I read them.
Heidi
The Billabong series by Mary Grant Bruce
Nancy Drew mysteries
Colleen McCollough series about Rome
Bryce Courney's The Power of One, and others of his set in that era of South Africa

All in all, books in general have shaped me in so many ways that it's nearly impossible to pinpoint those that have influenced me most. I can't imagine life without them.

On Holidays for an Australian Christmas

Our lunch-time stop on the trip up to Rockhampton. There's
been lovely rain along the coast recently and we enjoyed
beautiful green along the road.

I'm well and truly into our Australian Christmas holiday mode now. Christmas holidays in Australia for me in the last 18 years has been travelling between our two family geographical areas: Toowoomba and Central Queensland (Rockhampton/Springsure). Granted this is only the seventh time but still...it's what we do when we're in Australia.

On Monday we came up to Rockhampton (it took 8 ½ hrs to drive it) to stay with David's mum. I realised how tired I was. I was really flagging by the time we arrived. 

So Tuesday we did a little bit of shopping, and not much else. Oh, the boys played lots of Wii games (and were very grumpy as a result).

Menacing creatures. This farm has thousands of crocs.

Can't believe I caught this image with my smart phone's
little camera.

We watched them harvest some crocodile eggs.
It required several people in order to hold back
mum, distract dad, spot, and collect.

Gorgeous view on the coast. The water was beautiful in colour.

Yesterday (Wednesday) we got into our tourist strides. We visited a local crocodile farm, which was great (my boys had a great time asking questions and learning about these amazing animals). Then we had lunch near the beach followed by a swim at the beach close to where David grew up. A couple of his aunties and one of his cousins with her two children came also. It's been dreadfully hot, so it was wonderful to hop in the water. I'm not a beach loving person and would usually sit and watch. But we were so hot yesterday (around 35 degrees or more) that I was the first into the water! The water was as warm as a pleasant bath. Amazing.

Can you possible guess that this is the inside
of the caves. My smart phone camera
didn't cope so well with the low-light of the caves.

Today I ended up going Christmas shopping with my mother-in-law. She wanted help in buying our family's presents. I have to say I'm a little embarrassed, she was very generous! This afternoon we revisited the local caves. We checked these out four and a half years ago when we drove through here on our way to Brisbane at the start of our last home assignment. The caves are still beautiful. Bonus in this weather is that is was lovely and cool inside.

Tonight David's mum looked after the boys so we got to go out on a date to a local Malaysian restaurant. Yum! One of the downsides of spending your holidays visiting family is that David and I get little time to ourselves. It was wonderful to just sit and chat.

Tomorrow we drive for half a day west to the rest of David's family. We'll stay at David's sister and brother-in-law's place again (like we did in September) and have an early Christmas with them on Saturday. Looking forward to seeing them again.

Next week we'll head eight hrs south to my family and celebrate Christmas on the actual day with them. The first time in 10 years that we have done that (on the 25th) and the first time ever for our youngest. It'll be a great day.

But all that mostly to say that I won't be writing here much in the next couple of weeks, writing when I have the urge and the time, but not daily. Sorry folks, I need a holiday.

Some progress in post-tsunami reconstruction

Periodically we are asked questions about the reconstruction after the earthquake disaster (though usually only when we bring the subject up first). This is an extract from a newsletter about a small country town where our mission has set up a base that offers a Cafe ministry plus more to the surrounding residents:

In July I wrote that little progress seemed to have been made in Yamada towards reconstruction. That is no longer the case. Since September, the grassy weeds and bare foundations around Ippo Ippo Yamada have been replaced by construction equipment, piles of earth, ditches and workmen. The ground shakes constantly to the distress of café customers who wonder sometimes if they are experiencing yet another earthquake. Volunteers staying upstairs may be woken early as loads of earth are trucked in from as early as 5 am. The town is raising the ground level by between 2 to 3 metres. The prefab café may soon need to find a new home. Pray: 1. Despite the tsunami swept area of Yamada becoming a building site, new housing for displaced people is still a distant dream. After raising the ground level, it will take time for the ground to settle sufficiently to build on. Temporary housing units are intended to last 2 years. Nearly a quarter of the population of Yamada are still in temporary housing after 3 years 8 months. Pray that Ippo Ippo Iwate may be a light and an encouragement to people with an uncomfortable present and uncertain future. 

What's your image of a typical missionary?

Probably not this South American colleague of ours in Japan:

Or these?

The importance of having people who pray for you

Here is a video by one of our colleagues in Japan and he touches on the importance of missionaries having people who pray for them. Really good! (Just over four minutes.)

http://vimeo.com/112811754