Eric and I had a chance on Monday to get away and celebrate ten years of marriage. Woohoo! Our friend Angela was staying with us and had kindly (naively?) offered to watch our chidren so we could get away overnight. Claire came and spent Monday with Angela and our three to help out… and we went to — Kyoto!

We have taken numerous guests to the most famous tourist spot in Japan, but we have never had a chance to explore it ourselves. It was SO MUCH fun to leisurely walk through small, packed antique shops, and not be afraid of grubby children’s hands grabbing something…We went shopping in two different antique districts…and then we went to Nishiki, which is a long shopping alley that sells all kinds of foods, fish, and wares…It felt like REAL Japan…

At night we went to dinner and then walking through Gion, which is the very famous geisha district of Kyoto… it was really fun to see several maiko (geisha in training) darting in and out of the very classy-looking locales that tourists are not permitted to enter…

The hotel, the Westin Miyako, not only upgraded our room but also sent a special cake to our room… I even had a chance to kiss — Santa Clause– in the hotel lobby!

One highlight our our anniversary celebrations is our “Ebenezer Notebook.” We started it our first year of marriage, based on the Old Testament verse:
I Samuel 7:12 – Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, [a] saying, “Thus far has the LORD helped us.”
On Tuesday we spent time writing in our book – reflecting on how God has blessed us, and helped us this past year. Then, as we read through the previous entries, it was so amazing to remember specific ways we have seen God’s hand on our lives. We felt — we feel- incredibly thankful as we see the myriad of ways that God has worked…the many many special friendships…God’s provision time and time and time again.

We came back refreshed. And thankful… and wanting to keep counting.