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Martha or Mary???

These days I am soooo busy, but I am learning that God wants me to be a Mary in a Martha world. I am so busy with working full-time, helping with my pastor's family, trying to raise support to go to Japan, spending time with Pete, studying Japanese, seeing friends, reading good books...


How easy it is to let prayer get "squeezed" out. But I am thankful God has been gently, yet clearly showing me that "without Him I can do nothing." I need prayer just as my body needs air. Without it, I die. And I want to be praying for others faithfully, too!


Life these days is GOOD. I lack nothing, and I am growing in the Lord. There are so many things to praise God for.


Here's a cute photo of the Ohs (who I'll be working with in Nagoya):

I think it's funny that I currently live with five little boys and will soon be around a family with four little GIRLS.

If I go to Japan in April as planned, it's only 5 months away - yikes!!!!

My dear friend has gone home to be with Jesus. My last memory of him is lovely - talking and laughing at a diner together with my friend Elizabeth.

Stevenson, Jon, Jr. 33 of N. Wildwood, was suddenly taken on October 22nd to be with his Heavenly Father and his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. A 1992 graduate of Wildwood High School, Jonathan worked at various businesses in the county, most recently as an administrative assistant at Crest Community Church of Wildwood Crest. Beloved son, brother and uncle, Jonathan is survived by his parents, Jon and Marian Stevenson, sisters Jeni Richline (California), Judi Boyd (North Jersey), Jolene Harrison (Delaware), and brother Jeremy (Pennsylvania); nieces Sabrina, Jessica and Julia, and nephews Jared, Joshua, and Isaiah. Services will be held at Crest Community Church 5901 Pacific Ave., Wildwood Crest on Saturday at 2:30pm. Friends may call at 1:30pm. The burial will be at Tabernacle Cemetery, Erma, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hope Pregnancy Center, PO Box 767, Rio Grande, NJ 08242 or the Christian School Scholarship Fund, Calvary OP Church, 119 E. Rio Grande Ave, Wildwood, NJ 08260.

Life is Busy!

Wow, life is busy these days. I am working in Center City from 8-5 and live with my pastor and his family helping take care of five boys –yes they are all boys! I really need to post a photo of their adorable boys on this blog. They range in age from 1 to 10. Before living with them, I used to wonder how people could have so many kids. Now I really can see why having a big family is such a huge blessing.
Between work and helping take care of the kids, I try to fit in seeing friends and Japanese study when I can.
Things with Japan are evolving again – It seems as though there’s a high probability that I will go to Japan for one year instead of two. I am so glad God is in control of things and not me.

Favorite Photos of Japan

I was given a scanner so I'm using it to scan old photos from Japan. I lived there from 2001-2003 and am looking forward to going back sometime in the Spring. I won't be in the same city, though. Instead of Sendai, I will be in Nagoya. These photos were taken at a photo booth called "Print Club." They say Pu-ri-ku-ra for short. It's really fun! This is a photo of my host mom and her son. Here are more of my favorite photos:





This photo was what I saw every week when I left the class. The kids and moms saw me to the door and formally said good bye to me every week for two years! In the third pic the kids are wearing summer kimonos. They wear them to watch fireworks or to go to a local festival. They are so cute, aren't they?
I met Osaomi (bottom left) and Taka (bottom right) in Japanese class. The three of us were born in the same hospital in El Salvador! But God brought us together in Japan. The girl is dear Christina, now living in South Korea. The guy in the middle is Osa and Taka's brother, Takeshi.

I went to a shrine New Year's 2002. It is located in Niigata, Japan where my friend Chiemi lives.

This giant statue is a "goddess of mercy." I didn't like it very much, and I don't think many people in Sendai enjoyed having it in the city.

This is a "god shelf." I am not sure of its purpose, to be honest.

This is a family Buddhist altar to honor relatives that have passed away. It is called a Butsudan in Japanese.

BIG hair in Japan

I stole this image from my missionary friend Sue's website. She write that big hair for guys is "in" in Japan these days. Hilarious!!!

Christ Bible Seminary Folks, etc.

Had to post these adorable photos:

The little boy is a son of a Christ Bible seminary couple. This lovely lady works at Christ Bible Seminary, and we will be doing a lot of work together if I make it to Nagoya in March. Her name is Yasuyo, and she is an administrative assistant and a student at the seminary.

If Yasuyo sees her photo on blog, I hope she's not too embarrassed! We met in the winter when all the Christ Bible Seminary students came to Philadelphia for a vision trip. I am looking forward to seeing her and all of the CBS students again. Here's a photo take in January of many of the students:

So, these days I am busy babysitting the five boys I live with, studying Japanese every day, and job hunting. I am looking for a full-time job, and hopefully I will find one soon. No more piano teaching - it was really fun, though, to do that for the past two years.

For anyone who is following, Michael Oh and family returned to Japan a few weeks ago. They are well. I hope to be reunited with them soon. Lastly, YES I am still raising support for Japan. So far, it is going so well. Hopefully I will be able to go to Japan in March 2008!

Dear friends of mine...

Most of my friends are from Japan. I am so happy when I have the opportunity to be with Japanese people. Here are a few friends of mine.

This lady was my Japanese teacher, and her name is Yukiko. Now she's in Japan, but she'll be coming back to Philadelphia in five months. She is the best Japanese teacher. I miss her every day.


This is my friend Aya. She is soooo cute! I teach her English about once a week or so. Her husband is a heart doctor, so he came with Aya to do research at Jefferson Hospital.

This couple, Ayako and Hironobu, just went back to Japan. Their absence leaves a huge hole in my life. I hope to be reunited with them next year. They are now living in Osaka, not so far from Nagoya where I plan to go.

This cute gal is Yume and her dad is named Nobuhiro. He does biochemical research at Jefferson. We took a day trip to Lancaster and had a lovely day. Yume has taught me so much Japanese, although she's gaining fluency in English by going to a preschool in West Philly every day.
Maria and Ernesto are my friends from Puebla, Mexico. Even though they are working every day, I get to see them regularly. I am so thankful to have met them - they often remind me of my love for the precious people of Latin America.
I am so blessed to have such wonderful international friends. I am also thankful God has given me the ability to have friends with people who've grown up in such different cultures than my own!

What's new...

Well, it's been quite a past few weeks. Upon returning to NJ from Kentucky's wonderful conference, one of my dearest friend's mother died very tragically. The funeral was unbelievably huge. I think about 700 people were in attendance.
These days I am saying goodbye to a lot of Japanese friends. Several are returning to Japan, so I hope to be reunited with them if I go to Nagoya next year.
I am planning to take Spanish lessons over the summer. My Spanish has gotten to be quite pitiful because I am always speaking Japanese. It's just too hard for my brain to make the switch now from English to Spanish, so I am going to take Spanish lessons before I forget all the Spanish I once worked so hard to learn.
Japanese is an amazing language. I have come to love it which is amazing, because I hated it the first year. Now it's a joy to study. It doesn't frustrate me anymore. I can hardly believe it. I remember a time when speaking Japanese gave me a huge headache. I used to think I'd never learn it. Now reading it is another story, so I need to work on my KANJI. To read a newspaper, you need to know something like 2,000 Chinese characters (kanji).
I am looking forward to going back, but I will miss so many people...

New Attitude 2007!

I had the privilege of attending New Attitude 2007 this weekend. We heard messages from men such as John Piper, Al Mohler, Joshua Harris, C.J. Mahaney, and Mark Dever. Here are some photos of what it looks like to worship God with 3,000 other believers. It was one of the most wonderful weekends of my life and I am not exaggerating! We had such heavenly times of singing praises, hearing God's word preached with power, and fellowship with wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ. The theme of this year’s conference was discernment. The goal was to learn how to look at our relationships with others, our enviroment, our world through the lens of Scripture. “Discernment is more than what we should do or shouldn’t do as Christians. Discernment is examining what we think and do and say in light of God’s Word.” I am so thankful for events like this that remind me that a day is coming when the praises will never end, when cries of WORTHY will honor the Lamb for all eternity!

Here's a chorus we sang over and over that I so loved:

O Praise the One who paid my debt

And raised this life up from the dead!

John Piper preaching Monday night

We did have some silly and fun times, too. I had a great time of fellowship on the van ride down to Kentucky and back. Lots of good memories!

More photos of friends...

Visiting friends in NYC

I am so blessed to have so many beautiful friends that give me great joy. Here is a photo of my dear friend Saori and her family in Queens, NY. Her baby is named Karin. She's so cute!

Here are some photos from another party for Japanese friends at Young's house. It was a great Easter-themed party!

Heading Back to Japan

Here is a nice photo with my friend Keiko and my friend Beniko's two adorable children Yume and Taro.

I was approved as a missionary to Nagoya, Japan! I am so thrilled to be going back to Japan. Life is very busy these days. I have to raise support to go to Japan, so I am praying about that daily.

Above is a photo of the Oh family who I will be working with in Nagoya. I am crazy about their four little girls, all very cute and precious. Here is a photo of Michael who spoke at the Lausanne Younger Leaders Conference in Malaysia last September. What a privilege to hope to work with such godly people as the Ohs.

March Happenings

Cherry Blossoms in Japan!

I am still playing piano. I love Chopin!!! To the left are my dear friends Yoko, Erika,Young, Sueen, and Joe. Yoko (black and white shirt) came from Japan to help out at her parents' church in Philadelphia. She left in March and is missed very much!

My star piano student Gio...what a kid! He really is that cool. :)

Movie and lunch at Hironobu and Ayako's house.

More pictures of friends 2007

Here is a photo from a fun party at Mayumi and Eiji's house. We enjoyed Japanese food, games, and dessert!



Okay, Japanese people say that one of the most noticable differences between American and Japanese culture is the size of the food portions. This is definitely PROOF! Erika is holding a piece of chocolate cake almost as big as her head and Yoko is enjoying a slice of pecan pie.


Here are some photos from a Christmas party at Young Hwangbo's house.

Japanese kids are the cutest!

Can you tell that I love Japanese kids? I really enjoy having fun with Japanese kids (in case you didn't know). This little girl, Marine, is the daughter of my friends, the Uemuras, who just went back to Japan in the fall. I miss them very much.
These little girls are Hanako and Mayu who go to Proclamation Presbyterian Church.