But as for me it is good to be near God" Ps. 73:10: 2/25: I will not forget Your word

Lessons from the Master Teacher

God has been teaching me a lot about the importance of daily time in the Word and in prayer. In the last several months I have been getting to bed late because my dad is a night owl and I figure that I can continue working "just a little bit longer." What I have found is that I can't get up very early and the early hours are my best time for reading God's word.

This past week I have striven to wake up at 6AM each morning to dedicate time in prayer and in God's word and it has really been a blessing. I pray for about 15 minutes and then read in Proverbs and Psalms. One of my most favorite chapters in the Bible comes from the Psalms and it is Psalm 119. This man delights in God's word. He did not have the New Testament at that time. He probably only had the Pentateuch which does not excite most Christians so much as to say that it "delights" them. However, this man says,

"I will meditate on your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word." (15-16)

"Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors." (24)

"And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love." (47)

It is not out of a sense of duty in which he says, "I delight" but rather he says it out of pure joy at having found a good thing. My family would be the first to tell tell you that when I read a good book I turn the final page, put the book down, and rant and rave about how marvelous the book was and how everyone else should read it! In the same way, we should be excited about what the Bible says because it is a veritable treasure chest in every way.

Cooking Creations

Meatloaf
Jim Lahey’s No-Work Bread
Sandwich Bread
"Boiled Water" (Mediterranean soup)
Gaspacho
Spaghetti with Basil Pesto
Pasta with Pancetta and Pecorino

Meatloaf!

Jim Lahey's No-Work Bread
Gaspacho and Jim Lahey's No-Work Bread

Mom's Thai Noodles
Mom's Japanese Style Meal
"Boiled Water" Mediterranean soup
Mom's salmon in the pan
While I was frying this egg...the yoke popped out! I'm not joking either!
Mom's ramen special
Stephen's tofu katsu

Mom's indian curry
My Basil Pesto Pasta

Japanese Language Study

Currently I am enrolled at the Tokyo Academy of Communication language institute (in reality it is just a small room with 2 very AMAZING teachers). There are 3 other students besides myself:

an American single missionary gal named Holly who is an MK from Kenya
an American missionary named John with a wife and kids
an Indian who is Hindi, married to a Japanese and has a 7 month old daughter, his name is Vicrant and means the same as Victor

My typical schedule right now is Mon-Wed 9:30-1:00 group classes after which I have a 1.5 hour 1-on-1 session. The entire class is in Japanese and we learn Kanji, Japanese proverbs (kotowaza), do special task outings, and presentations in Japanese (some are impromptu presentations in which you have 5 minutes to prepare a presentation on a certain topic).

It is a 5-month program so it will go until June and I'd greatly appreciate your prayers as I undertake this task.

This is the sampling that we got at an outing to a お茶や (ocha-ya) in Ginza. We sampled 3 different types of tea and had some おかし (snacks) and learned about green tea.

English Teaching

My English teaching at UTSS has almost come to an end. I have only 2 more days left and then I will be completely done with my position there as an ALT. I have greatly enjoyed the experience I know that what I have learned there will be useful as I continue to teach students.

This Thursday and Friday I will be helping with some exams and essay writing and then I will say my goodbyes to the students and the staff that have been such a joy to work with.

Private Tutoring

I have immensely enjoyed my private tutoring a first grade boy. He is improving well in his reading and I have come to realize that it is far better to invest greatly into one student than to invest poor investments in many students. As far as tutoring is concerned I prefer a small number because it makes the rate of success better, the teacher feel more reward, the student more accomplishment and the parents more satisfaction. When I get the chance to teach whole classes again I will have to remember to meet each of my students on a 1-on-1 level at some point during my teaching so that I can find out how they are doing and how I can teach them better.

Field Hockey Coaching

The field hockey season has come to an end and I am so glad that the Lord provided for me the opportunity to work with all 18 of my field hockey members. The lady knights played well and improved a lot of their ball handling skills. We had a young team this year and no seniors will be graduating from field hockey so I am looking forward to seeing great things happen in the team next year. After the tournament, Mom and I spent the afternoon in Yokohama and Mom treated me out to Scandia which is a very fancy restaurant. It was worth the once-in-a-lifetime experience and after such a grueling day in the elements I was very exhausted. Being on one's feet all day and feeling the emotions of team competition can truly take a lot out of you.

A big anchor that is out of commission.

Hi-tech rikshaws?!

Landmark Tower in Yokohama

A Yokohama scene

The front

The menu

First time at Scandia

The appetizer

Black caviar

Ham and melon

Pickled herring and sweet onion

Salmon with capers

Chicken hors d'oeuvres

Before the escargot...

After the escargot!

My meal (Fish and Balsimico)

Mom's meal

The guy who was feeding the seagulls and gave mom some bread to feed the gulls with. He was such a cheerful/smiley guy!

Great shot of feeding the seagulls

In front of the Hikawa Maru that Grandma and Grandpa Swanson took on a voyage to Japan

Very interesting cigarette tray!

Specially made manholes

I couldn't help but take a picture of this. It looks just like the simple on those fancy toilets that have the sprays.

Nojiri Shoveling Adventure

I received an email from my aunt and uncle saying, "Would you be willing to come up to Nojiri and help us shovel your family's roof because the snow heavy this year?"

So I got a round-trip bus ticket from Ikebukuro to Nagano and back. I spent 7.5 hours shoveling snow off of our roof and when I was finished there was still 1 foot of snow on the roof. The snow in the back of the house was at roof level and it became very difficult to find space to put the snow. It was great being able to visit Nojiri for the first time in the middle of winter and also to spend some quality time with the Benedict family.

About 1/2 a foot between the roof and the snow on the ground.

The high walls of snow at Nojiri

The most difficult part to shovel. By the end, I was standing on at least 7 feet of packed snow. The black part is our roof.

In front of our 1st story windows

How much snow was on the roof: A meter, sometimes more.

Miscellaneous Fun Things

Reading For the Temple By G.A. Henty
3 mile runs along the river
Wednesday Night Basketball
Mom went to Gifu to spend time with Caleb, Amy, and Enoch
Dad went to Guam with his Far East Varsity Basketball team

Prayer Requests

That I will understand the Japanese sentence structure and be able to speak fluently by June
That I will be able to reach my goal of 1000 kanji by June. Presently I know about 200.
That I will be diligent in my Bible reading each morning
That I will be diligent in prayer each morning. I am trying to make this a habit and it is taking some time :)

Praises