My sweet girl

This week we will celebrate Rachal's birthday. 

 

Rachal's 13th birthday.

 

Where did my baby girl go? 

 

How can she be 13 years old? 

 

When did she grow up? 

 

Birthday cake with with Junko

1st Grade

 

 

Western Day at church

8 years old

 

 

Snow Day

10 years old

 

 

11 years old

 

 

 

Art Show at Beasley Elementary

4th grade

 

 

Rachal and Eli on a fishing dock in Arkansas.

10 years old

 

 

Last year, Missions Conference in Milford, Delaware

12 years old 

11 years old

 

 

 

 

 

Apple Orchard

 

 

10 years old

 

 

Summer of 2012

12 years old

 

 

Milking a cow at Mo Mo Land

12 years old

 

 

Spring of 2012

 

 

My sweet girl

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!!

 

 My prayer for you this year and always is that

 you will keep God first in all you do. 

 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

and he shall direct your paths.

You have changed from a little girl into a beautiful young lady. 

I am so proud of you.

 

Love always,

Mom

 

 

Matthew 6:33

 

But seek ye first the kingdom of God,

and his righteousness;

and all these things shall be added unto you.

 

 

 

Genesis 29:17

 

 . . . . but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.

 

It's all about the details

Language school update -

I am a Kumon Drop-out! 

Kumon is the language school Mike and I have been attending.  It is great for teaching you the details about the language. 

• how you should write the letters properly
• how to speak formally
• how to conjugate verbs
• when to use what particle

They assign 10 pages of homework every day.  They give test often to track your progress. It is a good program but I have been in Kumon for 4 months and I can not introduce myself, have a simple conversation, or even count.  I have been stuck on the alphabet for 4, F-O-U-R months.  Yes, I said four months!!  I am ready to talk, I want to talk, I need to talk.  I am a talker!!!  And they keep holding me back because I am not doing the correct stroke order, or my よ is too big and therefore has changed the word from hospital to hair salon.  At this point, I don't care.  I just want to talk!!

So this being said, I am dropping out of Kumon and starting private lessons.  I will have a 1 hour private lesson each week.  I will learn how to count, how to introduce myself, how to ask for help at the store .....  I will learn how to talk in Japanese!!! 

Last Tuesday was my first lesson.  Mike said if I didn't cry he would buy me ice cream.  ::My first lesson at Kumon was not the best.  You can read about that here.:: 

My teacher is in down town Fukuoka.  So I get to ride the train into downtown each week. 

The lesson was great!!  The teacher and I had a great time talking.  I worked on introducing myself, saying where I am from, and how to say what my job is. 

Now, the title of this post is, "It's all about the details" because it really is all about the details. 

The teacher asked me to say my name in Japanese.

 "My name is Cristy."

She asked me where I am from.

"I came from America."

She asked me what my job is in Japan.

" I am a housewife."

She giggled.  She said "Please say again."

 "I am a housewife."

She said, "Please say in English."

"I am a housewife."

She laughed and said, "You have been saying, "I am a prostitute."

The difference between the two words is one letter.  One little letter. 

Shufu - housewife

Shofu - prostitute

This one little letter makes a huge difference. 

But really in life, it is the small details that make all the difference.  You can go to McDonald's and get a hamburger.  A frozen, processed, ground beef and soy patty on a bun with a little ketchup and mustard.  OR you can go to Chili's and get a Big Mouth Burger.  100% ground chuck, on a fresh roll, with lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese. 

It is the same meal but it's all about the details. 

The details make all the difference. 

The adventures of a Southern Belle

I like to imagine myself as Miss Scarlet in Gone With the Wind.

::Which by the way my daughter does not like that movie.  I purchased it, here in Japan, all excited to have a girls movie day.  Eating popcorn, dressed in our PJ's, feet propped up and watching Gone With the Wind.  Oh, the drama, the cotton plantations, the war, the romance between Miss Scarlet and Rhett Butler.  We watched the first hour of the movie and Rachal was bored.  Said the words were too big and she didn't understand it anyway.  My heart was sad.  But I digress and back to the point of this post.::

I like to think that I am a true Southern Belle.  A true lady from the South.  So, like all good women from the South, I own a Moo-Moo.  At first I was hesitant.  I knew that ladies older than me wore Moo-Moo's.  I had debated with myself for months about purchasing one but after that  first moment I put one on I was sold.  I remember the day well, I was in Mobil, Alabama (see, I am a Southern Belle).  I was hot and put on this Moo-Moo and let me tell you, the sun did shine upon my face, the angels did sing and a breeze did blow.  There was so much room.  So much movement.  I felt alive and cool all at the same time.  OK, so maybe it was not that glorious of a moment but I was sold on the comfort and freedom.  You must know that I own a Moo-Moo and what one looks like to understand the rest of my story. 

 

You see they are big, roomy, comfortable house dress.

 

So this morning, I was trying to get my laundry washed and hanging outside before church.  I was also trying to get four children up, dressed, fed and out the door for church.  So I was busy, running around doing ten things at once.  Anyway, I was walking, rather quickly, through the living room and into my bedroom.  I walked passed one of our floor fans.  As I did my Moo-Moo whipped around the base of the fan and somehow I became caught on the fan.  {I told you I was moving quickly}  The fan began to tip over and make a funny nose.  I was also trying to keep my balance.  I was walking forward and the fan was pulling me back.  As the fan was tipping over I reached back to stop the fan from falling.  My thumb went through the safety guard around the blades.  The blades were still spinning. I could not get my thumb out of the fan (still behind my back, mind you) and I could not move as my legs are tied up because my Moo-Moo is still wrapped around the base of the fan.  My thumb was stuck now in the fan and the blades are hitting it each time they spin.  Then all of the sudden the blades stop moving and the fan makes a horrible screeching sound.  At this point, I remember the buttons to the fan are on the base.  I use my big toe and hit stop.  It takes me a few seconds to free my legs.  I finally pull my thumb out of the fan and then the pain sets in.  I look around to see the stunned faces of my loving family.  Mind you this all took about 30 seconds to happen but it sure seemed like a lot longer.  In the picture you can see where the fan blade came to a stop in my thumb.  I now know why my mom always told me not to play with the fan. 

I hope you can all get a good laugh at my

adventure of being a true Southern Belle. 

Proverbs 17:22

 

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine...

 

 

 

A vacuum

Another update on my Bible study with Junko.

Today we worked through lesson 7
Have You Discovered the Secret to Happiness?

We talked about what makes us happy.  {appear happy anyways}

• at age 3 ice cream and candy make you happy.
• at age 8 a new puppy will make you happy.
• at age 20 a cool car will make you happy.
• at age 35 a successful career will make you happy.
• at age 65 good health and a nice pension will make you happy.

You see how it is always changing?  So what in life can make us happy?  Truly happy?

The answer is Jesus.

At the end of the lesson we read that Pascal, the great French physicist and philosopher said,

"There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator Himself, made known through Jesus Christ."

Junko said, "I have been searching for a god to make me happy since I was a little girl.  My mother said god is in everything.  Sometimes I am happy on my face but I am not satisfied yet." 

Isaiah 58:11

"And the LORD shall guide thee continually,

and satisfy thy soul in drought..."

 

Please keep praying for Junko.