Caleb and Amy have Arrived!

Caleb and Amy arrived late last night and it is great to see them again!

The last couple days have been filled with reading, cleaning, resting, and spending time with family. Some of the activities have included finishing my reading of the book of Daniel, watching some episodes of "Remington Steele," playing some rounds of euchre, sorting Ethan's legos while listening to Adventures in Odyssey, and I going to Shibuya for a 2007 class reunion. At the class reunion there were about 17 of us and we went to Shabu Shabu Tabehodai which is an All-You-Can-Eat of meat and vegetables cooked in an iron pot. It was a good time to find out what my classmates are up to and how each of them are doing. It never ceases to amaze me how people remain the same in their personality and are only really change in the experiences that they have.

I am currently reading in Ezekiel and it has been a fascinating read! Ezekiel is a loooong book! It speaks primarily of how Israel has turned from the Lord and become the harlot. They have forsaken the Lord their God and have looked for fulfillment elsewhere. God says "Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where thy have gone...I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel... Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God" (Ez. 11:16-20)

Israel sinned against God and because of their great wickedness they were dispersed throughout the world. Israel did not have a nation but in 1948 God gave them the land of Israel once again. It gives me great comfort to know that God remains faithful to Israel even in their great wickedness because if God does not remain faithful in His promises to Israel I have no guarantee that He will remain faithful to me. Praise be to the Lord God for His never-ending faithfulness to His people!

Christmas Break 2010

Hello everyone! Thus far it has been great to be back in Japan and I am thoroughly enjoying time with family.

On my flight I was able to watch "Robin Hood" and "Salt," do five sudoku puzzles, read 5 chapters from a book authored by Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones, read Ezra and Nehemiah and also get a little rest. I flew JAL from O'Hare to Narita and was picked up by my mom and younger brother Ethan. We had a good long conversation and stopped at a Udon (wheat noodle) restaurant before arriving home.

I woke up at 6:20AM and then was able to have a delicious breakfast of toasted homemade wheat bread and blueberry jam with lemon-lime tea. We went to church by train and it happened to be potluck Sunday at church so I was able to spend some time talking with a number of people. I talked with Ken Nishiono, Dami, Scott, Ronnie, some guys from the Singapore team, David, and also with a Saito-san who taught me how to say "thank you" in 17 different languages!

After church I made applesauce with Dad in the kitchen and that night we watched the first part of Harrison Ford's "Sabrina."

Today is Monday December 20th 2010 and I'm looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for the rest of this Christmas Break!