March Greetings
My last post was back in mid-December and the new year is now in full swing! The spring season is always a lively one here at CAJ and students are hither and thither with Far Easts, Fine Arts events, filed trips, Senior Trip to Thailand, college applications, APs and all sorts of activities. And yet, "the Lord gives rest to those he loves!" It would be good to remember the first part of that verse as well, "In vain you rise early and stay up late…!" (Psalm 127:2). Allow me to share with you some of the adventures from the last several months.
Field Hockey season is finished!
Our team of 19 athletes completed the season with no losses and were Kanto League Champs! I hope to have another chance at coaching the Lady Knights next year.
Track Season has begun!
We have well over 50 athletes grades 6-12 on the team and I will be co-coaching with my dad and two other. However, Dad and I will be taking the brunt of the workload so please pray that we would have wisdom in how to coach so many individuals!
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| Track practice on the CAJ field |
Cooking Endeavors
I haven't had a tremendous amount of time to cook but I have had a few creations.
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| Dinner rolls |
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Indian curry with wild rice
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Class Reunion 2007ers
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| Ben |
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| Stephen |
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| Paul |
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| Yohan |
A handful of us 07ers got together in Shibuya to go to a coffee shop called "Mud." We had a great time of fellowship. While we were waiting for a couple of our group we saw some people doing open-air evangelism near the "Hachiko" intersection. There's seems to have been more of a hell-fire kind of evangelism but the gospel was going forth and I hope that seeds were planted.
Alumni Field Hockey Game
We had a good turnout of alumni for the alumni field hockey match at CAJ...
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| Former captains and current captain |
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| Our alumni/CAJ teams |
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| And we even had spectators! |
Christmas at Nojiri with Family
It was a great Christmas break: snowboarding, sledding, time with cousins, playing Euchre, playing with nephews, ofuros, wood stove, tea, quality conversations, walks in the snow. Ahh…all good things come from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows. Amen!
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| The snow in Nagano while on the road. |
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| Dad and Mom |
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| Speed Scrabble |
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| Sledding on Grandpa's path |
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| Noelle |
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| Being silly! |
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| Twice as silly! |
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| Ski/snowboard day |
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| View from the top |
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| My beautiful cousins |
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| Handsome nephew |
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| Look at that smile! |
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| Look at those teeth! |
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| Story time |
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| Noelle's birthday |
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| Anna and Sharon |
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| Anna and Grandpa |
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| Sledding with Enoch |
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| Caleb and family |
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| The Patriarch |
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| Our wood stove |
The Eby Tea
Every winter and summer my family celebrates the Eby Tea with my relatives. We make food, enjoy food and share stories, poems, jokes, and accomplishments.
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| Caramel fudge |
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| Salami treats |
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| Cobbler |
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| The best apple pie I've made yet! |
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| Cucumber sandwiches |
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| Homemade spring rolls |
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| Strawberry marshmallow treats |
Bible Classes
Teaching this second year has been so much easier than the first year. I say this not because the first year was unbearable so much as I know better what it is that I am teaching the second time around. I often would hear horror stories of "the first year" but I found that mine was not so bad. In fact, it was a great learning curve. And, on the second year…I'm still learning :)
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| 11th grade presentations |
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| Students in groups |
Tokyo's Big Snow!
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| The snow near CAJ |
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| Uh-oh! |
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| We need some sun! |
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| Another broken awning |
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| What a mess! |
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| People out with shovels |
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| Even Yamazaki personnel are chipping in! |
COETAIL
I am now finishing up Course 5 of my COETAIL class which is discussing the application of web 2.0 technology in the classroom.
I have one remaining blog post to make and a final course project which will be presented on Saturday April 26th at Yokohama International School (YIS) in front of my peers.
After this course is finished I will need to make a decision about how I want to proceed with the rest of my graduate level classes.
Personal Reading
Since the start of Christmas break I have been able to get in about 5000 pages of reading ranging from westerns, to Christian biographies, to some classic pieces of literature. Some of the more memorable reads have been The Grand Miracle by C.S. Lewis, John Hyde: The Apostle of Prayer, Count Zinzendorf: The Story of His Life and Leadership in the Renewed Moravian Church, What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey, The Brothers Karamazov and Jane Eyre.
Praises:
- God has kept me healthy this year thus far and it has been a tremendous blessing!
- I spoke in CAJ chapel on March 5th and it went well! It was on the story of the prodigal son.
- Field hockey season finished well and it was a relatively injury-free season!
- Almost done with COETAIL courses!
Prayer Requests:
- COETAIL graduate classes: that I will work diligently and shine the light of Christ in the class
- National Honor Society responsibilities: The spring is fairly busy with NHS applications.
- Bible Teaching: That I will continue to improve as a teacher and meet my students learning needs
- KCC Youth Group: The students have not been able to come for several weeks. Pray that they will have renewed interest in coming.
- Romans Bible Study: That Donnie, Joel and I will sharpen each other as "iron sharpens iron" as we study Romans together. We just recently finished Romans 11!
- Personal Devotions/Prayer: I just recently finished 1 Kings and will be continuing through 2 Kings. Continue to pray that I will grow in my relationship with the Lord so that I can be fed spiritually.
- Track Season: Wisdom as I coach in track
