Yesterday we took two vanloads of people to a water park called Summerland. Even though it wasn't very "summer like" we had a great time. (It helped that we had free tickets, so we couldn't really complain about the weather!) After we were all plenty waterlogged we left the park, stopped by base bought 3 Pizzas and some pop and took it back to the church for dinner. We ate and played some games and laughed so much my jaw hurt. Then our friends Carlos and Ikumi let Katie and Luke sleep over at their apartment. The kids love Carlos, he makes them laugh.

Today Jonathan talked about walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5). One thing in particular that he said, really made sense to me. There are two ways to look at "being good" (righteous). We can spend all of our time and energy trying to avoid "the lusts of the flesh" (sin) or instead we can concentrate on drawing close to God, following Jesus' example, and walking in the Spirit. The closer we are to God, the farther we will be from sin. The situation is the same but our focus is different. Lord help me to focus on You, to follow You, to walk with You.

I can hardly believe that in August we will have been in Japan for 3 years. Our reason for coming Japan was because the money was good, and we could save a lot. We always planned to do mission work once Mark retires and we had a goal of being able to largely support ourselves. (Mom and Dad Van had to raise support for more than two years before they could go to Africa, and we didn't want to have to do that.) But now I can see that God's reason (or at least one of them) for bringing us to Japan was to open our eyes to the great need for the Gospel in Japan; to give us a love for the country and the people.

Our original tour was to stay here for four years, and now we have to let the Air Force know what we want to do next. Mark and I want to stay in Japan for another 3 year tour and we have submitted the paperwork requesting that. Now, it is up to the people with power, whether or not our request is approved. But ultimately it isn't up to them, but to our Lord who holds the hearts of kings (and colonels) in His hand and like rivers of water turns it wherever He wishes (Prov. 21:1).

If you will... please pray with us concerning this request... and our future here in Japan.

I finally figured out how to post in the right time zone! Up until now, all my posts were reading Pacific time which is actually 16 hours behind us here in Japan.

Today was a good day. I got an email from one of the ladies I met while the soccer team was here. She plays on a housewives team in Ome and had come by to help with the elementary school girls soccer clinic last Saturday. Then on Sunday when I played in a game she was there to watch and even let me borrow her shin guards for the game. We exchanged email addresses. I invited her to come to church sometime. She wrote me back saying that she went to a Catholic school from preschool all the way through graduation, she always goes to church at Christmas time, and she would love to come to our church when there is an opportunity! I love watching God turn seeds into seedlings and eventually plants that bear fruit. I cannot wait to see what He will do with this seed and also many others that were planted during the soccer ministry.

Last night after the guys finished fighting World War II, Mark and I stopped by to see some friends. Carlos is Columbian and his wife Ikumi is Japanese. They came to our church and accepted Jesus on Good Friday. It has been such a privilege to watch God work in their lives over the last two months. They were living 2 hours away from the church with Ikumi's parents, and they didn't have jobs. Now God has given them both a job and also an apartment that is only 10 minutes from the church by car (20 by bicycle).

We watched a movie with them called Bruce Almighty which was pretty interesting. It is about this guy who gets God's job for a while, and what a mess he makes of everything.

Well, we got a new car and it isn't a Honda. But it is a cute little black Toyota Starlett Turbo GT. Mark's happy cuz it has POWER... what is it with guys and cars and power anyway?

Some of the guys from church are having a party at our house tonight. It is Pastor Jonathan's birthday tomorrow, so they are celebrating by playing a war game called Axis and Allies. It will probably take them all night to finish. What is it with guys and bonding and wargames anyway?

The Van Druff disease. It seems nearly impossible that we keep a car for more than a year or two. I think the longest was 3 years. WOW! Actually, our van gets really bad gas mileage but we can't live without a van, so Mark decided to sell his truck. He is looking for some very special little Honda. It has to be a Honda, and a stick shift, and sporty, and... and.... :-) I will use this car instead of the van to run back and forth to church. We should save a good bit of money on gas!

Well, the soccer team has gone, the dust has settled a little bit, and I have had a few naps to help me recuperate. Saturday and Sunday were whirlwinds with the girls doing a soccer clinic at a local elementary school on Saturday and playing a match between morning and evening service on Sunday. The girls at the clinic were 6-12 years old and they really bonded with the team. Many of the girls even came out to watch the team play on Sunday and then came back to the church for a grand finale reception. It was really neat to see all those people having a good time in church and also hearing one girls testimony about who Jesus is to her. What a blast. Then immediately following the reception Mark preached for evening service. He did a great job! Tomorrow Jonathan comes back... and all I can say is....Thank God.

I am officially old! Yesterday we took the soccer team to a "Christian" school to do some outreach. We shared testimonies, sang songs, did skits, and played soccer. Since several girls on the team are sick with colds, they asked me to play. They even gave me a uniform. It was fun, but today I can hardly move! I think many people at the school were really blessed by the teams ministry and they are looking forward to the next time we can come.

The Dr. called today to confirm that Katie does have strep, and now Mark who has been wrestling with a cold for over a week, says his throat is sore! With the soccer team coming in, there is a lot for me to think about, and I know the devil is trying to get me to worry about all the little details. I realized today (after stressing for a few hours) that I was looking at the wind and the waves (circumstances) instead of keeping my focus on the Lord, and in the midst of that I started sinking. (Stressing!). The Lord has been gracious to remind me that He is in control and that I am not suppose to add tomorrow's worries onto today's. Next week I will look back and be able to see how God wonderfully worked out all of those little details that I have decided to stop worrying about! Thank you Lord!

This week is going to be busy and fun for me. We have a soccer team coming to stay at our church from Southern California. They are called the Seahorses and they are Christians here to minister through the game of soccer. With Pastor Jonathan gone, it makes for a lot of work for me, but God has already shown that He will provide the energy and the resources I need!

Katie is sick today. Some kids at our church have been passing around strep throat, and it looks like it might have caught Katie. She has a fever,sore throat and is also throwing up. She was sick with a cold all last week. Praying that she gets better quickly.

CONGRATULATIONS to Katie! She did great at her recital and even won the "Student of the Year" award.

Today Katie is having a piano recital. Mark and I actually slept in until 8:15! Can't remember the last time that happened. We are going to go to Showa Park after the recital and ride our bikes through the park. It is a beautiful huge park with lots of flowers and pretty spots to stop and rest, but it also has some really cool playground stuff that the kids enjoy. One thing is this huge mountain of white trampoline like things. We call it marshmallow hills. Hope it doesn't rain!

Wow, I shouldn't have got so excited about the online booking. It seems they want a copy of our credit card, but the copy I sent them wasn't clear enough. So I sent them a brightened copy and that wasn't good enough either. By this time I was frustrated that it wasn't good enough that they had a credit card with the name Renee Van Druff, an address to verify the card, and I was trying to purchase tickets for the Van Druff family who could not possibly use the tickets unless we had valid passports with the name Van Druff on them!! I can't figure out how we could possibly be trying to scam them! AAARGH. Anyway, I took a black marker and colored the numbers on my card, took it to work and copied it on the brightest setting, and sent it again. I sure hope it is good enough! If it weren't for the fact that these are the cheapest tickets I have seen, I would have given up a long time ago.

Hey everyone... today I went online and booked our airline tickets to come home this summer. We will fly into Baltimore on July 17th! Yeah. Can't wait to see our family and friends. Some of you we haven't seen in years and others it has been only months or weeks. Either way it will be great to be together again!

I am going to try this blog thing to keep our family and friends up to date about our life in Japan.