Santy Claus?

Believe it or not, this past week I met Santa. Well, I only briefly met Santa, but I had a lovely conversation with Mrs. Claus. Even as a kid I was never much into "Santa", but this sweet retired couple are just precious. While the original Saint Nicholas gave gifts anonymously through the cover of dark, this couple gives "secretly" through the guise of Santa Claus: distributing gifts including hugs, Bibles, crosses, a CD of Mrs. Claus playing piano, teddy-bears for kids with injuries/special needs ("you're the little bear, and God is the big bear, always with you")... however they can, they do little things wherever they are to share the love, but especially hospital/hospice visits. Anyway, Mrs. Claus was a pianist and elementary music teacher, so she was thrilled and felt a special connection: God speaking through us to bless others through music. So if you're in the area, keep an eye out for the Clauses this year! They've got some pretty great stories.And while their specific ministry is not one I can ever imagine myself doing...it's always fun to get to know some new people, and be reminded to never become too busy, distracted, or "just-not-in-the-mood" to reach out and love whoever happens to be around me today.

Anybody want to come visit? :)

I just heard about this the other day, and will definitely let you know when the official application website is announced. That's right, in an effort to boost tourism Japan is giving away 10,000 free round-trip plane tickets to Japan! Pretty awesome, right? So you should all come visit me. You know you want to ;) You could watch a sumo match, climb Mt.Fuji, take a peaceful stroll through some gorgeous gardens...I believe the only catch is they're specifically looking for people who will spread the word about how awesome Japan is: influential bloggers and such. But if you're interested it's definitely worth a shot, so I'll keep you posted whenever the application is released.

















The next big step for me to get to Japan is to complete my training (an excellent month of classroom and first-hand learning about crossing cultures), and the deadline to register is just 3 weeks and 3 days away! We're supposed to have 50% of monthly support pledged before registering, and I'm currently at 28%. Please pray with me this week for God to supply in His perfect way and time, and to guide my mind as I plan, my mouth as I speak, and my hands as I work during this coming week of support-raising. Thank you!

I'm like the flash!

I realized I haven't ever blogged about what I actually do now- oops! Partly because I had no photographic proof. But now I do! See? I loved having the opportunity this past week to share more with my home church about what I'll be doing in Japan and why. And that means I had some paparazzi handy, so now there's evidence that I really am raising support :) I love talking with people about Japan, how God's working there, and His marvelous gift of music.





Whenever there's a piano I always incorporate some music. (A simple arrangement of "Sakura" and Sinding's "Rustle of Spring" are two of my favorites: very different pieces, but fun to compare their themes of spring, hope, and beauty)

I'm always blurry in pictures because I move around too much (hence the flash reference), so my brother helped me stage a quick photo-shoot afterwards. Much better, right?