Annie and I just returned from a wonderful, eight-day whirlwind trip to Los Angeles. I went to attend 3 friends’ weddings all within a week of each other. How many times does THAT happen? Eric said, “Sue, there’s no way that you CAN’T go!” I’m so glad that he encouraged me- it was wonderful to be part of such important events in the lives of special friends…
(I am so sorry that we couldn’t be in touch with more friends in L.A. Our lives were really focused on events surrounding these weddings, and being with my sister Beth who flew from Philadelphia to spend time with us.)
Here are a few highlights:
wedding #1: Tim and Wakako Clark – Tim and I came to Japan together in 1990- it was so great to see him married- a big answer to many prayers!

(Above: Annie with Doug Birdsall– he carried her for a LONG time when jetlag kicked in and she fell asleep during the reception. Below: some favorite Asian Access alumni)

Meeting with Uncle Mark (Eric’s brother) at CPK:

Beth, Annie and I spent a wonderful day in Santa Monica…Annie’s highlight was running away from the waves (and getting her jeans all wet)…

Our MSG (missionary support group) met to hear updates and pray for us:

I had a great chance to spend the day with my friend Gwen, and catch up with her family and the Bellers:

WEDDING #2 – Emi and Sterling

Here is a photo of Emi’s four mentors meeting to share and pray with her just before the ceremony; and Emi’s dad walking her down the aisle:

WEDDING #3: Sandy and Robert

Annie basked in the glory of being a flower girl…and had no apprehensions as she walked down the aisle. (Oh, to be young again!). Robert and Sandy both looked wonderful and happy; there is something to be said for small, intimate weddings.

Thanks, Beth, for coming to be with us in LA- it was so much more fun having you there!

Thanks to the Hogsheads and the Bernards for wonderful hosting. We are so thankful for all you did for us…

One of the things that we loved about Ushimado, our New Year’s getaway in Okayama (see entry below), was being surrounded by olive trees. This town is famous for their olive production. Not only do we love olives, but they are special to us because of Olivia…Her life verse is Psalm 52:8:

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.

Olivia is such a precious gift to us — we thank God over and over for blessing us with her as our third child. Her sweet disposition…her mischievous smile…her joy for worship and singing and clapping….she quickly endears herself to everyone. Here she is, flourishing under an olive tree (and even eating one or two!):

We’re so thankful as this new year starts for how God has fulfilled his promise of giving us olive shoots around our table (Psalm 128:2)…

We had the chance again this New Year’s vacation to get away with our friends the Thomsons. There is a prefecture nearby that offers “international guest villas” for very reasonable rent to encourage foreigners to visit their prefecture. So we’ve taken advantage of it a number of times, and this past weekend had a chance to go to Ushimado, a small town along the coast of the Inland sea, with the Thomson family for two nights.

Here are some highlights:

We spent the day on Saturday in one of our favorite little towns, Kurashiki. It is a quaint Japanese town on the outskirts of Okayama city.

Here’s Wendi reading a favorite pirate story to all the kids after a long day:

Eric went out to the car the second night and discovered– the stars! It had been a long time since we’d seen them this bright and beautiful. We all piled on coats and went out to watch. Here’s our “villa” from the night perspective:

On the way home we stopped at a little town famous for their delicious oysters. Who would have guessed –you could even buy soft ice cream complete with fried oysters stuck in the sides!

It was great to be with special friends in a beautiful part of this country to which God has called all of us.

Alas…Christmas really is over, and a new year…a new January has begun. Since college, I have noticed that this tends to be my “bluest” month. Maybe I’m not alone?

I usually love to keep our home decorated until New Year’s, and then I can’t wait to take everything down. But this year for some reason it seemed to take hours — days! — to put everything away. I had started putting away the Christmas tree ornaments and had to stop to get ready for our friends Bobby and Claire to come over. After we’d had dinner together, we all had fun doing Wii Sports… and then we noticed Annie busy over by the tree. I figured she was continuing to take down ornaments. But Claire went over to her, and found her putting BACK up the ornaments that I had taken down. She said it best: “I don’t want Christmas to end so I’m putting everything back.”

Claire assured Annie that Christmas doesn’t have to end — that EVERY day can be Christmas. This seemed to help her… eventually, the next day, the tree, and the rest of the trimmings, got put away in boxes, labeled, and placed high in the closets upstairs and the shed outside.

It has felt especially sad to put everything away, knowing that we will be back in America next Christmas, and not “at home.” In most ways, Japan really does feel like home, and it is where we have most of our family memories. We will need to create new traditions, and borrow some Christmas decorations, when we are back next year. But, in the meantime, I need to think about how to make each day, even dreary January days, feel special like Christmas.

I was greatly encouraged yesterday at our house church. We were studying the familiar first five verses of the Bible: In the beginning…(Genesis 1:1-5). This time I read the second verse with new eyes: “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” In the midst of the darkness — before light was even created — the Spirit of God was hovering. It reminds me of Daniel 2:22 — “…He knows what is in the darkness..” Even in our dark days, the Spirit of God is hovering. It is this simple, profound truth that can allow me to experience the specialness of Christmas each day, even in January.

Last night we celebrated new year’s eve at our friends’ the Thomsons home. We also celebrated Yasko’s birthday at the time.
We decided to do a theme night – Black and White! I don’t like to do themes half-hearted, so we had fun coming up with appetizer, cake, and gift ideas. (Actually we had ordered the gift for yasko a long time ago- I think that helped us come with the theme idea…)

Here we all are – (almost) all in black and white:

I FINALLY got to make an idea I had read a year or so ago…my friend Kris had to send colossal olives so I could do this…They’re mostly black and white (filled with Ranch-flavored cream cheese; the feet and beaks are carrots; the scarves are red peppers):

We ordered Yasko black and white plaid Sperry boots from Eddie Bauer in the US:

And we made her a “Vincent” cake- Vincent is her Boston terrier, much-adored by our kids…and luckily happens to be black and white:

The black icing helped add to the black and white effect:

All of our kids lasted till after 11 pm! We came home and got the kids in bed, except for Annie… our neighborhood temple iss lively for only night of the year…New Year’s Eve. It seemed that most of our neighbors were there, gathered around a big bonfire, waiting in line to be one of 110 people to pull the big gong in true Japanese ritual. It was loud, and Annie kept asking us to stop the big clock from gonging. She ended up sleeping in our bed until she fell asleep…
Happy New Year, my friends! Black and white is kind of fun- it might become a Takamoto New Year’s tradition…

Yesterday morning we had a special “kansha reihai”, or thanksgiving worship service. We combined our house churches, and had a regular worship service followed by lunch (lasagna made in the crockpot by 3 of us!). During lunch, we sat with people we don’t normally interact with each week and shared what we are thankful for over this past year. It was a really special way to celebrate our final worship service for 2007.

I recently read an interesting article in my favorite literary magazine, O (OK, so its not a literary magazine, but I still love reading it once in a while!). It is about a TV anchorwoman, Deborah Norville, who recently wrote a book based upon years of interviewing people on television. The book is called: Thank you Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work for you. Also based on research that has been done, she shares about what happens when people are grateful: they are more optimistic, more apt to help others, more joyful, and genuinely healthier…People who are grateful recover faster from trauma. Norville shared that become more grateful has changed her approach to everything, and made her appreciate “little slivers of life that might have bypassed me before.”

Good things to think about as we end 2007… so often I’m so focused on what’s next that I forget to be grateful. It is a discipline… and worth carving out special worship services to practice.
So, here are a few of the things that I am grateful for this past year:
–God’s providing a new car for us — the very one that Eric loved so much!
–Owen’s transition into Japanese kindergarten, and his language acquisition. His teacher told us recently that he is smiling every day now because he can communicate and has made many friends.
–The many new friends we have made as a result of Owen’s being in school. Most of my ministry energy the past six months have shifted focus to the moms and families in Owen’s school, and we’re so thankful for their openness.
–Our Asian Access family here: The Thomsons, Ryus, and Reiko. We continue to grow together in many ways, and we are so thankful that God has given us wonderful family.
–Friends and family from the US who have visited or cared for us in so many ways: notes, packages, calls, emails… we do feel really loved and connected.
–Ten years of marriage to a great guy…and three amazing children. I really am blessed. Thanks, God, for what you continue to do in our midst, for working and changing me, for your daily, unchanging care for me.

As I was reflecting on Christmas this season I realized that the excitement was missing. Maybe as parents we just relive the excitement vicarously through our children. Even the climactic event of gift opening is now overshadowed by the stress of untying all those silly silver wires and unscrewing those tiny screws to find out what batteries we don’t have. Maybe our job now is just to manage the angst amid the bustle and gratefully accept whatever bits of holiday cheer are handed to us.

Then it dawned on me and the truth of Matthew 6:19-20 rang clear once more, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.” What really floats my boat these days are not so much the amazing presents I receive, though the thoughtfulness and generosity of the presenter are still greatly appreciated.

What really got me excited this Christmas was standing in the back during our Christmas service and watching new believers praising God for the gift of Christ that they had recently accepted. It was in seeing in the same room those on their way to believing: neighbors we had invited, singing carols and hearing of the true significance of Christmas.
(the video below is from this Christmas service, in which our gospel-singer-in-residence, Jaye-san, did several Christmas gospel numbers. This will give you a feel of our service…and our kids dancing…and our neighbor friends sitting near us).

What brought tears of joy to my eyes was not the 42″ flat screen high definition TV (probably because I did not get one). No, it was caroling on Christmas day with our Kansai team, kids and all, at a nearby nursing home in front of 50+ residents and staff and then going around holding their longing-to-be-held hands wishing them, “Meri Kurisumasu!” and being met with similarly joyful tear filled eyes.

Gifts come in all forms. When we open our hearts and minds to the giver of all the good and perfect ones we can experience all the excitement of Christmas as his children ought.

My seven favorite joys this Christmas:

7. Taking time many mornings (not every) to read Advent reflections and re-set my thoughts and heart that most mornings were ten steps ahead and focused on writing Christmas cards, making biscotti, teaching classes, cleaning up to prepare for Christmas parties…

6. Celebrating our ten-year anniversary with Eric in Kyoto. (more at Ten Years and Counting).
5. My Christmas English Bible and craft class…These thirteen ladies helped me to see the Christmas story with new eyes –their own– as most of them had never heard the real Christmas story before. It was interesting as they reflected on why God chose to tell shepherds first. A few of the pairs suggested: because as shepherds they would travel around afterwards and could tell a lot of people; because they were the only ones awake in the middle of the night (!); because they were pretty ordinary, and God loves to come to ordinary people. I really am thankful for that! The crafts came out really fun — snow people and fabric wreaths…and, more importantly, several of our neighbor friends are going to continue studying the Bible in January.

4. Our kids — they keep us on our toes alright! But they’ve brought us great joy this season.

3. While we were opening gifts on Christmas morning, there were a lot of wonderful wrapped gifts under the tree…but Owen and Annie spent a good hour playing with their stocking presents without thought of the gifts waiting right behind them. We know this naivete won’t last much longer, but it sure is nice to see them take joy in the little things….

2. The chance to comingle Christmas Day joys with our own family…our Asian Access American family who ate and celebrated at our home, as well as several Japanese neighbor friends who visited who have become very dear to us….

1. Truly, the highlight of Christmas for us was the one hour that we spent in the middle of Christmas Day at a nursing home. It was so clearly arranged by God — a neighbor friend works there parttime and set everything up for us. As we sang to two different groups of seniors, most of them in wheelchairs, it was hard to sing through the tears. We were particularly moved by Annie, who did not show any fear of these new senior friends, but boldly came over to one 95-year old woman, Hatsue, who I was talking to. Annie let Hatsue stroke her head and her face, as our new friend kept saying in Japanese, “you are so beautiful. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen a child?”

And as we were singing, it was Annie who went out at “worked the tables,” shaking hands with each, saying “Merry Christmas,” and giggling as they put pieces of Christmas cake in her mouth. Nothing can beat that for Christmas. We can’t wait to go back at Easter.

Our family joins in wishing you a wonderful Christmas holiday. We hope that for you too, it is the little things that matter that will bring you great joy.

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.

Owen turned five last week! We had a couple of different small celebrations that helped to mark the occasion…

On the night of his real birthday (12/12), all the kids took a bath before dinner while Eric was at a meeting, and then we had hamburgers, fries, and green beans– all of Owen’s favorites — and a kampai (toast) with dinner. After dinner, Owen opened presents from us and family members…The Santa beard was from Auntie Beth… He went to bed with the basketball from his Uncle Marky!

On Saturday night, we had our friends the Thomsons and the Ishidas over for a little birthday gathering… Of course, that meant on Friday night, after the kids went down, it was time to make his cake! In keeping with many other late-night cake endeavors, our friend Megumi was staying over..and of course, as she always does, stayed up to encourage. This time, Eric didn’t just design the cake- he also helped with the decorating…

It seems that no matter how much prep I get done before the kids go down, I am still always up until 1 or 1:30 each time I make a cake. This time was my worse time ever – 3 am! Megumi and Eric were right there with me the whole time (Megumi is trying to grade papers)…

What was our cake? It was Owen’s choice (though he seemed surprised- and very happy – to see it the next day!) – it was “Gekki Chopper” – the latest Japanese Power Ranger figure. Here he is (after a few hours, the cake started to seem like a real person… around 2 am a person I was rather sick of :))

We had a really fun party on Saturday night. It is great to have the Ishidas, our neighbors who are our kids’ Japanese grandparents… and the Thomsons nearby to share in our family festivities…With these two fun families, who could help but laugh all night?

The day after Owen’s birthday, he came home with a special framed card, note and photo from his teacher, Hirose Sensei.

We love her so much, and so does Owen (his first crush, perhaps?) But I was especially touched by her note to Owen. In addition to writing about how much Japanese he can speak now, she also wrote: “Whenever Owen’s friends need help, Owen is always nice and helps them. I really love this Owen who displays such kindness…”
Each morning as Owen and I bike to his school, we pray together. As I pray for his day, I always ask that God would give Owen a soft heart for friends who might be sad. Moms are never quite sure if their kids are really paying attention during prayer time, but I think he is… We’re thankful for Owen’s soft heart, and continue to pray that God would take this little boy who loves power rangers, karate, basketball and Legos, and give him a heart that loves the things that Jesus loves.