Yesterday we held in our hands the official paper that says we are staying in Japan until Aug. of 2007!! This is a huge answer to prayer.

Tonight at church we had the first Annual Grace Christian Fellowship Kids Harvest Festival. It was a smashing sucess. I don't know how many kids came (TONS and TONS) including about a dozen girls that I met through the soccer outreach that we did in June. It was great fun to see them all again. I invited them to my Sunday School class but their soccer practices are on Sundays. I am praying for more opportunities to reach these girls!!

I feel like continuing the glasses analogy... I've noticed after 5 days with my glasses that surfing the internet, working on the computer, or reading my small print Bible is quite uncomfortable without them. It is the same when the Holy Spirit changes you, you can't go back to your old way of seeing things... or if you try, you find it is quite uncomfortable. Over the past year or so, the Holy Spirit has changed my way of thinking about many, many things and I know I will never be the same; I can never go back to where I was before, and moreover, I wouldn't want to! (However, I wouldn't mind at all, going back to my younger years when I could see just fine without these pesky glasses!)

Tomorrow Katie and Luke go on a school field trip, called an "ensoku" in Japanese. Tomorrow morning, all the Japanese mom's will be getting up much earlier to prepare cute little lunch boxes for their children called "O bento". But, this mom, will get up 5 or 10 minutes early and make a ham sandwich for Katie and PB and J for Luke! I won't win any o bento contests, but I will get my beauty rest. (and I need all I can get) :-)

I'm almost 33. Last week, I found out that I need glasses. I have to admit that even when the eye Dr. told me, I wasn't convinced. I was pretty sure that I could see just fine. Even as I went to pick up the glasses I really didn't think they would do much for me. But, much to my surprise, I can't believe how clear everything looks to me now. And doesn't this happen to us spiritually too? We are going along just fine, thinking we are seeing pretty well, when the Holy Spirit decides it's time to clear up our vision a bit. Gently show us this sin, or that selfish habit. When it happens to me, I wonder, how it is that, what is so clear to me now, I never even saw before. Thank you Lord for clearer vision, physically and spiritually!!