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Friday, May 04, 2007

Fri, 04 May 2007 19:36:46 GMT

I am now done for the semester. Having just finished up my Hebrew test yesterday, I can now relax a little bit. Today I got the results back and got an A- (which is a total shock, since I usually do a lot worse than that on language tests). I attribute a portion of that grade to Mountain Dew. For the last quiz and this final, I drank Mountain Dew before the class at 8am. Both times, I got a good grade. This means that I potentially would have performed much better in all of the two and a half years of Greek and this whole year of Hebrew if I only drank some Mountain Dew beforehand to wake me up and get my mind running. There is a conspiracy to have all language classes at 8am, which doesn't help me since my mind doesn't start running that well that early.

Even if I know the material the night before, somehow it evades me in the heat of the moment the next morning. This is why I am so excited about finishing up with Hebrew class and finishing on a high note. If only this is the last language class I will ever take. Hello Japanese!! Unfortunately, the irony of God is opening future doors to learn more languages. This is impossible to imagine back in high school, since I never dreamed of being bi-lingual, let alone understanding multiple languages one day.

Am I pathetic? As soon as I finish studying for classes, I waste no time jumping into other books that I haven't had time to read during the semester. Finally, I get to read one of my preaching books that has been sitting on the shelf for months.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 01:38:33 GMT

I just received one of the greatest birthday gifts ever yesterday. The other great thing about this is that my birthday isn't for another month and a half (May 26th, just in case you want to shower me with more gifts; ha ha ha).

Recently I heard a friend tell me about an upcoming concert of Ben Folds. Not only have I wanted to see him live for a long time, but this is a special performance. It is at the Boston Symphony Orchestra where he will be accompanied by the Boston Pops! We will get to enjoy him tickle the ivories with the full orchestra joining in. The performance is May 9th, just after we finish our semester. What a welcomed treat to a heavy and tiring semester!

I think Miho will enjoy this concert more than others that I have dragged her too. While she doesn't really know Ben Folds, the music should fit her better than other shows. Last year I had her come with me to see Mae, Mute Math, Switchfoot, and David Crowder.

This is going to be great. I find him an amazing storyteller and songwriter. What a great wife I have! (Maybe it is simply payback for when she dragged me to see the Nutcracker ballet over a year ago) :(

Monday, April 02, 2007

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:40:37 GMT

The days of our Nissan Maxima have finally come to an end. Today I cleaned her out and said my last goodbyes. With over 198,000 miles, she has been a faithful car to us. After overheating several times on the way down and back home yesterday, we ended up being stranded in Wakefield and had a friend come pick us up. We were a little late to teach yesterday due to this problem. This morning I tried to drive it from the gas station that we left it to a repair shop. It barely made it the 1/4 mile, only to find out that repair shop is closed. When I went to turn it on again, I got nothing. I knew that this is the end.

Luckily, we were able to receive the Honda Accord this past winter. So, we are not completely stuck.

So many good memories with that Maxima. I remember driving it from Phoenix to Des Moines over two years ago. With tons of Mountain Dew and a stop over at my friend Luke's place in Denver, I made the 20+ hour drive. Miho and I made our cross country trek to Boston with that car pulling a small trailer of all our stuff. It reminds me of my best friend Dave, who sold it to me before he moved to Israel. I remember getting into a wreck just miles before we arrived at Cedar Point in Ohio. It's a good thing roller coasters can take away the pain of a car crash :)

We are reminded of how little we thank God when things go right in our lives. Months go by without any problems with our health, finances, car, etc. and we seldom remember God's goodness. But as soon as the stress and frustration hit, then we easily wonder what God is doing. In the midst of all that is happening in our lives right now, it just seemed like the most inopportune time to have this take place. Yet, in this tough moment, we know God is there for us and is faithful.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:53:57 GMT

It is hard to imagine that it has been over a month since I last wrote something here. Once the semester gets going, many things fall off my radar. Running has been one of those things that completely got sidelined for awhile. Luckily, I began to get back to the gym last week to start running and working out again. With my friend coming out from Des Moines to run the Boston Marathon in April, it reminded me of how I wish I had the time this year to train and join him. Soon enough!

As I hosted our visiting speaker for a preaching lectureship last week, I received one of my favorite compliments to this day. Crawford Loritts used to be the associate director of Campus Crusade and now pastors a large church outside of Atlanta. We ate lunch together and got to talk for awhile. The next day I introduced him to Miho. Instead of replying with something about my passions, gifts, interests, etc., he said, "Your husband smiles alot when he talks about you." As good as it would have been to have him tell her about my gifts or hear for missions, this reminded me of the love I have for her that is evident to others. I didn't think about my facial expression or non-verbal communication during lunch, but I guess it just expresses itself naturally. I just pray that I never stop smiling when I think or talk about Miho!

There have been many great CD's released lately that I want to get. This has caused music to be on my mind recently. I've been listening alot to a band that I have just begun to really get into. I began to reflect on how I usually have a "band of the year" that I latch onto. While many bands I still follow over many years, there are usually at least one band that I begin to take an interest in each year. I am the type of person that remembers useless knowledge, especially years related to CD's I listened to or movies that I watched. So, here is my little list of bands that I have been hooked on over the past few years:

2007- Emery (Christian punk band from SC)

2006- Mat Kearney (Acoustic folk Christian singer from Portland)

2005- Mae, Anberlin (Two unique Christian punk, rock bands)

2004- British Invasion bands (I lived in the UK for 4 months and got hooked on some British groups) - Keane, Snow Patrol, Embrace, Damien Rice, Razorlight, etc.

2003- Shane Barnard (Worship leader from Texas)

2002- David Crowder (Worship leader from Waco, TX)

2001- Jimmy Eat World (best friend got me hooked on them, and the drummer was a part of the church I worked at in Phoenix)

2000- Blindside (hard rock Christian band from Sweden)

1999- Switchfoot (Christian band from San Diego, debut album is amazing)

1998- Waterdeep (folk Christian band)

1997- POD (hard rock Christian band)

1996- MXPX (first Christian band I ever really liked)

1995 and earlier- Notorious BIG, Snoop Dogg, Bone, Tupac, etc. (my rap days of junior high :) ) (who would've thought white kids from Iowa loved rap growing up!)

Friday, February 02, 2007

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 14:21:51 GMT

Miho and I are back from France after three weeks visiting churches, missionaries, and old friends. There will be more written about our trip soon. But, here are at least some photos from our trip. Enjoy.

France Vision Trip Photos

Friday, December 22, 2006

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 04:09:45 GMT

I feel like a bear who needs a month to simply hibernate. Since turning in all of my papers and finishing up for the semester, I have found myself finally get to sleep in and recover. No matter how much sleep I get, I still feel worn out, as if I need to make up for three months of sleep deprivation. It's been a joy not having to set the alarm for 6:30.
While my grandma might have been happy in the fact that I got a flu shot, I enjoyed tagging along with Pastor Dave down to a Cambridge clinic for the shot. This was a chance to catch up and have a good conversation. In typical Dave fashion, he asked some provoking things from me. Rather than feel defensive, this was a great opportunity to think about myself and share more of my background and thoughts on my life and direction. This conversation led to a long discussion with Miho about all sorts of things. I appreciate Dave for forcing me to think about some things.

Less than a week til we leave for France. I am curious to get some feedback and hear your opinion on something. If you were to visit somebody from another country, what you would consider bringing as a welcome gift? We have some books and things for some of the missionaries that we will be visiting, as a way to encourage them. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on what you would give. What is something personal? Says something about you or your culture? Represents your background? Red Sox fridge magnet? Harvard sweatshirt? Jar of Kim Chee :)?

My job has been providing me with great joy recently (not that I don't find joy othertimes). It has just been that I have had great conversations with pastors and have been sought out for help. Being a part of the Center for Preaching, I have a special platform to help pastors since I am associated with people like Haddon Robinson and Scott Gibson. Over the last few weeks, I have been able to help pastors think about finding illustrations for their messages, preaching on controversial subjects, and preaching through the entire Bible in a year. This allowed me to talk with our faculty and relay their suggestions, but also gave me a chance to think myself and give my advice to them as well (for whatever my opinion counts). In any case, my heart continues to long to preach and help others in their preaching skills. I came here to study with Haddon and become a better preacher and it is so amazing to see how I get to work alongside him, as well as study under him.

Miho and I have the privilege to speak and preach in France. She will be leading a Bible study on prayer. We will be speaking together in two youth groups as we share our testimonies and teach. I get to preach in French at a Sunday service, as well as speak at a men's meeting. Pray for us!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 15:31:18 GMT

FINALLY!!! I just finished my Hebrew final. By God's grace, I think I did pretty good. This has been my life for the past week in trying to review the entire semester to prepare. It's ironic how I hate languages, yet know several and can speak two fluently (and will be fluent in Japanese in the future, or else Miho will beat me up; j/k).

I was telling Miho this morning that I don't really get nervous preaching or writing a paper. I had to preach 20 minutes last week without any notes and wasn't really worried about it. Yet, my stomach was all messed up this morning as I anticipated this final. Does anybody else feel like this or is it just me? Would you prefer writing a 15-page paper or taking a tough written exam? Miho, and I guess that many other Japanese people, are great test takers but have a harder time writing papers (especially in a 2nd language).

One more paper to go, which I am not worried about. I can now focus on my French and preparing some messages for our trip, as well as getting all the final details worked out. December 27th is coming all too soon!

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 22:52:25 GMT

If it is not working on one thing, it is another. You get finished with one big project like the all church retreat to just move right into the next big thing. Last week I was able to get back to focusing on my studies and was able to pump out two papers for classes. Two more papers, a sermon, and Hebrew tests is all that remains for this semester.

The next big thing that I have moved onto is not my studies but planning our next trip. Miho and I are planning on going to France right after Christmas for three weeks. Romantic getaway? Not exactly! It is actually our Vision Trip for our future ministry. We are torn between serving in France or Japan once we finish at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. This will be a chance to talk with missionaries and their organizations about how we see God wanting to use us in the near future. No brochure or website can fully give us a clear idea of who we might work with and what we might be doing. Miho needs to see things firsthand before up and moving our entire lives to a different country.

The great thing about this trip is also getting a chance to visit many churches that we have known over the past few years. We will be preaching and speaking in churches in Strasbourg and Clermont-Ferrand. While visiting all these cities for three weeks, it looks like we might only have to stay in a hotel two days, since we can stay with families and churches the rest of the time. Some of the organizations we plan to visit are: France Mission, OM, Greater Europe Mission, Christian Associates, International Teams, and TEAM.

We have planned that this trip for both of us will probably cost around $3,000. This means that we have just over a month to begin raising support to help cover the costs. We've been able to save some money, but it is extremely tough to do when you are only working part-time and paying for two people to study full-time. If you would like to find out more about this Vision Trip, please ask us. I just wanted to let all of you know about what exciting things await us as we seek where God wants to use us. Pray for our planning and preparation for this vision trip.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 21:53:14 GMT

The Highrock All Church Retreat was this past weekend. It was an amazing time to get to know so many new people in our church, make memories, and have fun together. All the hard work and time was definately worth it. Seeing Eugene do the running man in front of everyone made all the effort worth it :) Making S'mores and having a sing-a-long was a highlight for me.

I talked with the speaker of the retreat, Dr. Dave Horn, today. He just attended a meeting of key leaders at the Lilly Foundation in Indianapolis. This group gathered to talk about the state of the church, youth, community, and cross-generational ministries of the church. Highrock was brought up several times in the meeting by Dr. Horn. He reported how he saw the love that we have for one another, how we were composed of all ages and cultures, but were a close community. This group is trying to figure out how to help churches reach the youth and stay alive, while we appeared to be just that. A living, healthy community. It felt great to hear an outsider share his insights into our church and be moved by the glimpse that he saw in our lives.

Some close friends of Miho got married this summer. Out of the blue, we received a gift in the mail. They sent us a gift certificate to the Capital Grille. We finally had a chance to enjoy this meal. The amount of the certificate was huge, which meant that we had a golden opportunity to splurge. We both had amazing steaks, lobster bisque, salad, bread, and potatoes. What is crazy is that the bill was almost as much as we normally spend on groceries for an entire month! It probably won't be a long time we get have such a meal again. Enjoy it while we can.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 02:07:28 GMT

At the recent Catalyst Conference I attended in Atlanta, we set a Guiness Book of World Record. With over 10,000 pastors and young leaders, we started off the Friday morning session having some fun with airline pillows. For two minutes, there was utter chaos all throughout the arena. We had the world's largest pillow fight.

Here is a link to watch the video on youtube. http://www.catalystspace.com/content/monthly/detail.aspx?i=1152&m=10&y=2006. Another video they are featuring on youtube is the dodgeball champions, who happen to be youth pastors. They showed off their stuff, but then got slammed when an entire crowd had small squishy balls to launch at them. Mayhem!

The red balls served a purpose as they introduced the next speaker, Kevin Carroll. He used to work with Nike and was the man who came up with the idea for the "Tag" Nike commercials and the LiveStrong yellow bracelets. He talked about how creativity and imagination are crucial for your leadership, and had a book called "The Rules of the Red Rubber Ball."