……beau†iful.surrender……

xanga...

2008-09-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

so I decided I need to change some things strategically to better reach the young people in Hong Kong... so I will be updating my xanga more often now. I will try to keep both up though!!
My xanga is www.xanga.com/Miwa_Chan it's so weird. My name was chosen without knowing I would be living in Hong Kong with the Chan's....

6 people got baptized today!! Praise God!!! 145 people came to our service!!

lastnight

2008-08-25T18:48:00.000-07:00

My Hong Kong mom and dad are always really concerned about my face. It's quite funny. My HK mom makes me herbal tea to drink to clear up my skin, tells me to drink water and she's taken me to get a facial to pop all my pimples (and this was one of the most painful experience in my life). But then last night, my HK dad want to do something, so he told me to go wash my face, then he popped some of my pimples with a needle and put Chinese medicine on it. -_-

ANYWAY, I can't believe that it is now almost September. Summer went by so fast... I feel like I should have done more, but at the same time I'm no superwoman so I can't do everything but still... I wish I would have done more outreaches and more street ministry... but I can't take back what was done already, so I gotta be concerned with today!!

My Japanese is getting hideous. I dunno what to do!! ahh!

the closing of the olympics

2008-08-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

I was tearing up watching the Olympics. WHY? It just touched my heart to see soo many people from different countries come together and be at peace with each other. One World. One Dream. It was weird being in the country where the Olympic was held, I live one station away from one of the events =D Anyway, I started thinking eschatologically... every tribe and every tongue confessing that Jesus is Lord. I don't think I can even start to comprehend what it would look like if everyone worshipped our God together, with one heart, one vision. Even the thought of it makes me tear up.

we have such an amazing God!

typhoon signal no. 9

2008-08-22T01:32:00.000-07:00

it's so intense! it's exciting! I love it especially because it really reveals how great and mighty our God is!

I will be arriving in Japan Sept. 7. I'm excited. It'll be a time to take a step out of what I've been doing from June and renew the vision and see what God's done so far in Hong Kong. I'm also really excited to meet the new pastors that will be the full-time pastors here in HK!!! yay!!

Sometimes I think I beat myself up over things... God was telling me something in my spirit, but I didn't trust my spirit enough... in the end it got revealed, but still! I want to be confident that God DOES tell me things! >.<

I need to practice... sigh...

praise God!

2008-08-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

I can't even tell you how much I've learned about... life in these past couple weeks (that I haven't blogged.. haha)

God has given me soo many different opportunities left and right! It's been a challenge, but it's been awesome! I've preached 3 weeks straight and I led worship for the first time in a LOOONG time today!

For those of you who are not familiar with JLH, it's a bilingual church. We have services in both Cantonese and English. From worship, to announcements to the sermon. So even though my Cantonese is VERY limited, we have amazing people who help me translate. =)

I never thought I'd ever preach. Especially in a different country!

Our church is getting refined right now and it's great! Now we have more people focusing on the vision of the church, it's so awesome!!!

family reunion

2008-07-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

I went to the CHAN family reunion yesterday. haha. It was a Chinese Style Banquet. IT WAS CRAZY!! haha.. it was fun though =D

So the other day, I taught 3 different lessons at the same time. One person bass. One person guitar. One person keys. That was tough. haha. I didn't think I'd ever do that one. XD

praying.praying.praying.

oh and I bought CONVERSE ALL STARS SHOES! haha. I gave in...

round 2

2008-07-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

2nd time speaking in church! whoo hoo!! It's amazing how God uses someone like me to speak to others!

It's been really cool being SUPER involved in this church, I never thought I would be like... IN it THIS much. know what I mean? well.. maybe you don't. but it's so fun! I feel so blessed!

everyone here wears converse all stars. and now some people from church are trying to get me to wear them too. and i think i might give in because i saw these really cute ones for really cheap... haha

life of love

2008-07-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

I think one of the main reasons I am here in Hong Kong is to have time to love on people. I've realized that many people here in the church are so busy and have so little time, that they aren't always able to spend a lot of time with each other. Or so it seems. My days get filled with lessons (which end up being a long event.. haha) and lunch/dinner dates with people from church. God's shown me a glimpse of how much he loves each one of them for who they are. They are all such beautiful people. Some are living in a lot of pain... and my heart breaks for them.

On a lighter note, my roommate is now back! for a couple days.... I hang out with her little sister more than her...

I saw Hancock with bunch of the younger people here, it was fun.... an interesting movie.. to say the least.. haha

update!

2008-07-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

I know I know.. I'm sorry... I will do better this week, I promise!!

This week has been the most crazy I think... 2 house parties at my place, lessons, worship practice, and I gave the offering message and the message this weekend. It was my first time to preach!! I was grateful that many people still came and I person got saved! PTL

My aunt and uncle who used to live in Belgium (now resides in Japan) came and visited their son (who works in Hong Kong) so I got to spend time with them and show them around Hong Kong. It was cool because I got to share with them why I do what I do and share my faith with them.

What did I preach on? Identity and self confidence. Getting to know some of the people here, I have noticed that many people struggle with this and how they fit in God's big picture. Many people find their identity and self worth with their jobs and/or their education level. What if they lose it? So that was my topic for the day. If you want to hear about it, just let me know =)

It was crazy though because I wasn't really nervous.. and God spoke through me... I didn't really do anything. It was my first time speaking!!! >.<

17 days already

2008-06-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

wow I can't believe it. I've been here for 17 days already! I feel like it's been going by really fast! I have been adjusting pretty well I think... it's been really fun.

Kiwi's mom took me to the hair salon their family goes to in the middle of nowhere and I got a straight perm, dye pink/red, and trimmed/thinned out my hair XD. The hairdresser scared me at first because I didn't know she was going to trim my hair and she doesn't speak English. She pulled out the scissors and I was TERRIFIED. I am trying to grow out my hair XD but I told her "NO CUT!!!!" and she understood. PHEW.

I taught my first bass lesson on Friday! It was only supposed to be one guy named Leon, but it turned out to be a party... 3 others joined. HAHA. It was funny. Then one of the guys went out and bought the same cheap bass that I have.

Church was awesome!! 2 people saved! Worship practice was fun, it was great to see Kiwi on keys and Leon on bass. And of course Janice leading and Jam playing drums :-) There are only 6 inputs... ridiculous. haha

We watched Kung fu panda today. HAHA

I SAW MY FIRST WILD MONKEY!!!!

2008-06-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

yes. It's true. One of my IMPORTANT mission is now accomplished. =D

はい。そうです。私の一つの大事なミッションがやっと果たせました！＾＾

This week, I am going to all the lifegroups and teaching them how to journal! I'm really excited! I really love journaling because I learn soo much during that about what God's doing.

今週はみんなのライフグルーブへ参加して、ジャーナルの仕方を教えます！楽しみです！私はジャーナルするの好きです・・だってたくさん神様から学べるから。

I went swimming with Kiwi's sister and mom this morning. I'm getting better at my nonverbal communication!

今日はキウイちゃんの妹とお母さんとプールで泳ぎに行きました。もっと言葉を使わないでコミュニケーションがとれました！

Today is Stage 3 of the Typhoon...

今日はステージ３の台風のお知らせ・・

I got a call from my cousin today that lives in HK and he said he wants to take me wind-surfing sometime!

私の香港に住んでるいとこから電話がありました〜それでウィンドサーフィングへ誘われました！

I started planning out different outreaches to do on Sundays for all of July and August! I'm so excited! And I think we're going to start doing McD outreaches and Uni outreaches too.

７月と８月中の日曜日に出来るアウトリーチの計画を立てました！楽しみ！マックと大学のアウトリーチもやり始めると思う！

I made some of the girls here cry from laughing with my horrible cantonese....

私の広東語で何人かの女の子達を泣くぐらい笑わせました．．

exciting!!

2008-06-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Pastor Rod came on Friday! I got a chance to talk about things over coffee so that was encouraging =) It was fun. I hope he thought it was fun... haha

ロッド先生が金曜日に来たよ！！色々コーヒーを飲みながら話せたから励まされました！楽しかった〜彼もそう思ってくれたかな。（笑）

Saturday was crazy. We had a meeting left and right, and church! Peko is a very gifted translator... I don't know what she is saying, obviously, but she's so passionate when she translates! I love it. Pastor Rod talked about being a worshipper like David. I think that was a very good message that my church needed to hear. They all have such great hearts! 4 boys (Leon's friends) and 2 women made a decision!! Praise God!!
土曜日はすごかった。ミーティングがたくさん合ったし、チャーチも！ピコは通訳上手い！何言ってるかさっぱり分からないけど、情熱ありながら通訳してる！素晴らしい。ロッド先生がダビデみたいな賛美する人の事話したよ。家の教会で大事だったメッセージだと思う。みんな素晴らしい心も持ってるし。４人男の子達が救われて、２人女性！神様すごい！

I am excited for what God has for this church. I am soo honored that God has placed me here to help start a number of things. I'm soo excited just being here!!

ここの教会で神様が何をしてくれるか楽しみ。ここに神様に送られて、本当に嬉しい・・色々スタートする事もあるし！

Sunday, we went bike riding. Okay seriously... who in their right mind would go biking from 1 to 7 on a Sunny 34 degree weather day? well. us crazy JLH people. It was really fun! Except one of the girls got heat exhaustion. I was so touched because the 2 of the young guys (15 year olds) from church took both back to our starting point... that's crazy! They both rode one, and then with one of their hands, control the other bike. I wouldn't have been able to do it. JEESH! Crazy kids!

日曜日に自転車に乗った！どういう人達が１時から７時に暑い晴れの３４度に行くの！？私達、JLHね。楽しかった！でも一人暑すぎて調子狂ちゃった子がいた・・２台自転車を戻さないと行けなかったから、１５歳の男の子達、２人が同時に自分のと、余分のもう１台を乗って戻した．．すご！私じゃ無理。

I love Kiwi's family. I pick fights with Cecilia (Kiwi's 12 year old sister) and her parents want to feed me soo many different types of Chinese food. I've learned the word "full" and say it 20 minutes before I'm actually full... or else they keep putting food on my plate!! Her mom tells me I need to take care of my face because I have pimples. haha...

キウイちゃんの家族大好き！彼女の妹、シシリアちゃん（１２歳）を辛かったり、彼女の両親がいろんな中国料理を食べさせてくれるの！『お腹いっぱい』って言う言葉を学んで、食べ終わる２０分前に言うの．．じゃないともっとお皿にのせられるから！お母さんによく私の顔のニキビの関係でいろいろ言われる．．（笑）

taken up to heaven

2008-06-19T10:07:00.001-07:00

My grandmother passed away today at 3:20PM Japan time. She was 91 years old.
私のおばあちゃんが今日、午後の３時２０分（日本時間）に亡くなりました。９１歳でした。

One of the reasons why I am doing ministry now is because of her. She had a great servantful heart and she loved the Lord. She encouraged me soo many times, when no one around me understood why I was doing ministry in Japan.
今私がミニストリーをやってる理由は彼女のおかげです。彼女は素晴らしい心を持ってて、神様を愛していました。周りの人達が私がなんで日本でミニストリーをやってるか理解してくれてない時に、なんども励まされました。

I will miss her dearly, but I know that she is in heaven with God and now has been reunited with my grandfather.

おばあちゃんに会いたいけど、でも今天国で神様と私のおじいちゃんとともにいるから大丈夫！

Thank you, those of you who prayed for her =)

彼女の為に祈ってくれてありがとう！＾＾

cultural difference

2008-06-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

I apologize for my inability to blog consistently...

This past Saturday was my first church service! yayee~! I played the piano. =) Monty played my acoustic and Dan played my electric. It was fun! I don't think I should sing for a while... singing those songs in Cantonese would be crazy... Dan spoke. He did very well! Both Dan and David (translating for the first time!!) were both nervous. But they did well! There were 41 people in church~

We went to a Chinese restaurant afterwards and apparently I will be going there every Saturday from here on out after church =P

I am excited to see what my life is really going to be like. The past few days was more of a "guest" status (and people here are soo giving... seriously) but now I can finally see what it's like to be living here and doing ministry.

I love the people here! I am excited to work with them!

I discovered one MAJOR cultural difference between Japanese and Chinese. what is it you may ask...

people in HK bump into you and step right in front of you with NO FEAR. haha. I probably got stepped on, bumped into, budged in front of countless times already. I need to be an aggressive walker. haha

I have a confession to make... I bought a puma bag. XD

red storm alert

2008-06-13T09:16:00.001-07:00

hong kong!!!

I can't believe it. I'm here. where? here. haha. Dan, Monty and I had completely different seats on the plane... haha. Did you know that for Asian flights, you can only bring 20kg COMBINED with your 2 luggages? Yeah. I'm glad I only stuck with one suitcase. I carried my guitar on... and added 3 kg to my backpack...

We arrived and it was crazy raining!!! Peko and Kiwi (my roommate) met us at the airport =) They're so cute.

So I live in an apartment in New Territories in HK on the 29th floor. It's soo nice. It's like our own place. I have my own room! They decorated it with Donald Duck things for me (Kiwi's is Mickey Mouse all over) Another thing... we have a maid. WHAT? I know. Kiwi's mom lives in the next apartment building over... Kiwi doesn't cook. There's NO food in the house since she eats with her family. Kiwi is soo cute, I love her already =)

My breakfast this morning was chinese noodle soup with beef, 2 eggs and toast.
Lunch? Noodles. Dinner? a LOT OF CHINESE FOOD. Peko told me I'm going to get fat when I'm here. HAHA

I went shopping today. For shampoo, conditioner... soap.. I got nothing (considering I had only space to bring one suitcase)

My first public bathroom in Hong Kong was.... interesting. THEY DONT HAVE TOILET PAPER!!!!!! Like... they don't even have a toilet paper HOLDER. I'm sure they do in some nicer ones... but not at the McDonald's one!! Aiyah. haha

I have a window sill I can sit on at the 29th floor in my room, so it's a good place for me to sit and be with the Lord. So far, I have peace that I'm supposed to be here =)

forced out of comfort

2008-06-10T01:44:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful for my new church family here. Seriously, they’ve welcomed me in like I have been attending there for a long time. I was actually quite worried how things would work out, but I gave it to God before I left for Japan. He answered my prayers!

Right when I start getting comfortable with anything, God pushes me out. Typical. Now after I’ve made new friends, I am going somewhere else. Haha. Don’t get me wrong, I am super excited to go to Hong Kong!!! I get to make more new friends!! I never would have thought that I would end up in Hong Kong, if you would have asked me this a little over 3 months ago…

I think the last time I will be able to see my grandma alive is today or tomorrow… especially because I don’t know how long God has for her…

On a happy note, I need to condense all my stuff into one backpack and one suitcase… oh dear. I am bringing 2 guitars… (I don’t think this is a happy note. I won’t be able to bring all my purses and shoes….. haha)

Random note… I never thought that I would meet anyone famous on the train. But I did. Couple weeks ago, I was waiting to get on the Marunouchi Line with my mom after church, and as the train stopped infront of me, we both say Seiji Ozawa. Who’s he? He’s one of the most famous Japanese conductors!! Yeah yeah classical music… But he knows my dad and my uncle. So we said hi to him and introduced ourselves to him. It was weird.

It’s actually sunny outside today! That makes me really happy!!

9 days...

2008-06-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

until HONG KONG!!!! AHH!!! It’s like a building up moment. I am super excited. SUPER EXCITED!!

I had a meeting with Pastor Rod today to get the details of everything and it got me even more excited! I stink at memorizing songs, so hopefully I can learn 20+ songs before I leave for Hong Kong. Oh yeah. And guitar lines too. Haha. God, please give me STRENGTH!!!

I won’t really be singing in Cantonese. Pastor Rod assured me about that one. You know why? I don’t know how some of you guys do it, but seriously 6 to 9 tones?! I guess Lord could sound like pig or something, if you mispronounce it. Yeah. We worship you LORD could turn out bad. I’ll take some Cantonese learning course, so hopefully that will be good.

What else am I excited for?! I get to teach!!! I get to teach voice, guitar and keys!! (I only say keys because I stink at classical piano…) I haven’t seriously taught any of these, but I’ve always wanted to! I guess they’ll all be my guinea pigs.. haha.

On a different note, my sister and dad are here! Yay! My brother won’t be able to make it out here in Japan, which is a bummer. But I am glad that my grandma is able to see them. My sister was holding back tears. I think it’s a shock when you see someone you love, who used to be healthy, but in this physical stage. So how is my grandma doing? I can’t really say. But I don’t think she’s getting any better…

ending on a brighter note... I LOVE JESUS LIFEHOUSE!!!

with a thankful heart

2008-05-30T19:25:00.001-07:00

I don’t think I can thank God enough. I have now been in Japan for 2 weeks. Wow. It went by really fast. I am thankful that God has given me an opportunity to meet all these wonderful people that I have. This opportunity to serve with people who are passionate about the Japanese people. God has enabled me to make awesome new friends. I love them to death already. I am also thankful that my mom is here with me right now to encourage me. I am excited that my dad and my sister are coming to Japan tomorrow.

One thing I am not thankful for is my stupid accent that is changing. I don’t speak proper American English anymore. Being surrounded by Aussies and only 2 British and 3 Americans doesn’t help me much. I have now started saying things like “how ya goin?” To adding “hey” or “ey” at the end of phrases. I am staying away from saying “mate” or “heaps.” I am becoming more de-Americanized with my English everyday. Hahaha.

I leave for Hong Kong in less than 2 weeks now. I had a meeting with the worship leader here in Tokyo yesterday for a little training and casting out the vision. So it looks like I will be playing lead guitar as well… please pray that I will be able to do it! (I am NOT a lead guitarist.. I am a rhythm guitarist…) I think I need to invest in a small practice amp, so I can figure out all the little ditty with my guitar pedals. I am also not good with memorizing lyrics. I will not be singing in Cantonese for a while because of the tonal thing… I don’t want to hurt anyone’s ears yet. There’s 7 tones in Cantonese… in Japanese… there are none!

I started feeling a little stressed after yesterday’s meeting but it’s all good. I need it. I have to really focus on practicing my butt of and singing these Hillsong worship songs. EEEk. It’ll be good!

Everyday is a gift

2008-05-29T04:24:00.000-07:00

Every morning is a gift

Not to sound cliché, but it really is. I’ve visited my grandma in the hospital about 4 or 5 times so far, being here for about 11 days or so. My mom and I have been praying that she could stay alive for at least another few days, because my decided he is going to fly out to come see her. We have no idea how much more time she has, but we’re praying. She hasn’t been able to talk, but I know that she can hear me praying for her. Her hands and feet are swollen from the lack of blood flow going through her body. She literally has no muscles left in her arms. Needles can’t go into her arms anymore. She’s not really “sick” with anything, but she is dying.

I think this has been really hard for me because she was one of the reasons why I am doing ministry. Her heart for people. Her devotion to God. I think God wants her home soon. She’s lived 91 years. My mom, my aunt and one of my uncles take turns going to the hospital EVERYDAY. My aunt goes at 2. My mom goes at 3. My uncle goes at 4. Some of my cousins have stopped by as well. And my uncle from NY. I try to go as much as I can. Every roundtrip costs me about $9. Train fares add up, unfortunately. But I want to be able to pray for her, every chance I get.

As I sit there and watch her drift in and out of sleep, I wonder what goes through her mind. Is she dreaming about heaven? Is she thinking about her deceased husband? Or missing the food she loved. Or going to church. Or reviewing her German. Or about World War 2. Or being able to talk. I take everything soo much for granted.

beautiful step

2008-05-26T23:20:00.000-07:00

I have no idea what is going to happen to me. But you know what? I love it.

I some how ended up in business class for my flight because of my long family friend Masumi works for Northwest! What the funny thing was, was that I left on Thursday, but didnt quite get to Japan until Saturday. The plane was flying over Alaska, and they decided to turn BACK to Minnesota. So I slept at home Thursday night... It was apparently a minor problem, but Japan wouldnt let us land because planes land every 3 to 5 minutes. I guess one of the hydro-something was broken, so we would be able to land, but would have to be dragged to the gate. SO that is why I did not quite get to Japan on time. One day delayed. But hey, I had no complaint with my nice seating arrangement. And my mom was with me. I watched Juno the first flight. Then Devil Wears Prada the next day.

None the less, here I am in Tokyo. And safe. hehe.

I got an opportunity to be involved with the preparation for the Hillsong Conference, so that was awesome!

The conference...
AMAZING! I was part of TEAM EMI SHIRASAYA along with Izumi and Yumi. haha. We were the right hand women of the event coordinator. That was a cool opportunity! I didnt realize how tall Joel Houston (from Hillsong United) was and he is a TALKER. Story after story after story. haha. The Watoto kids were SOO CUTE. There was a little kid named Junior who ran and gave me a hug before they left. He was telling me stories while I was hanging out with the Watoto kids =) I got to talk to Andrew Hoyes and told him a little bit of my vision, and he encouraged me a lot!! I was always sweaty by the end of the day... but being backstage and seeing everything behind the scenes was amazing!

Anyway, through the conference, God really confirmed my calling. I got to see part of my vision unfold before my eyes and I cried. haha. There were a bunch of people who came to the Lord in those 3 days, it was awesome! I love what God is doing here SOO MUCH!

Less than a month before Hong Kong!!!!

::i am trying to get online as much as i can.. but its hard because my grandparents dont have the internet... so i am sorry that i cant update more often!!!::

day one. 9PM

2008-05-15T23:15:00.000-07:00

I just pictured myself typing on the screen of a movie screen. You know what I mean? “Day One. 9 PM”

We got bumped to Business class! Yay! I got to the airport, and Masumi, our family friend since forever was working and kept telling my mother and I that there was a present. I had no idea what it could be. I just checked in my stuff and she started “escorting” us to the business class line of the security checkpoint. I was like “oh she’s being nice and making it go really fast.” Then after we both went through security checkpoint, she says “God has a big present for you! Take a look at where your seats are” I said “OMG! We’re near the front!” (In Japanese) Then she’s like “yeah, business class! And now you can go hang out at the lounge until your flight!” So that was totally awesome. Then Christina and Sam came to the airport to see me off ☺ That was really nice of them!

So I got in the airplane and I just was having a riot. I never felt like I had soo much room in my entire life. My feet can’t reach the seat infront of me, I could laydown completely… it was amazing. The food pretty good too… my mom was staring at me because she has never seen me NOT sick on the airplane before. This is my 3rd time on my flight to Japan that I haven’t been sick, and none of the times my mom has been with me. So it was really funny that my mom was staring at me eat. Anyway, I watched Juno because everyone was telling me that I should and so I enjoyed that.

I took a nap and woke up at 9PM, looking at the clock on my iPod and saying to myself “yay, a little over half way left!” Until my mom looks at me and said “Miwa. Did you know we’re heading back to MN?” I thought she was joking. Nope. She wasn’t. Apparently something meter was wrong on the airplane so we’re heading back to Minneapolis, and we’re going to fly out again tomorrow. We were at Juneau, Alaska. Thank the Lord that I don’t get airsick anymore. But I am now I am going to enjoy my cup ramen before we land back in Minnesota.

c R aZ Y

2008-04-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

What? Seriously!? I was in the recording studio yesterday from 7:30AM to 2AM. That's PRETTY ridiculous if you ask me. I had a break between 10:30- to 12 for lunch, but seriously, it was a long session, although it went really fast.
えっ？マジ？昨日、朝７時半から朝の２時までレコーディングしてました。結構長い・・１０時半から１２時までお昼食べる時間はあったけど、すごく長いセッションだった。結構時間がたつのは早かったけどね。

What am I recording? Well... my senior project. My senior project is to have a demo CD with 5 songs of mine written in Japanese. It was funny because my friends who helped me out all didn't know what they were hearing me sing. haha. Except now they know the phrase "Genki Dashite" which is kinda like "Cheer up!"
何の為にレコーディング？私のシニアープルジェクトのため。私のプルジェクトは私が日本語で作曲した曲をデモCDにする事。私の友達が手伝ってくれたんだけど、実際には私が何を歌ってるのかは全然分かってなかった。（笑）でも、今はみんな『元気出して』は言えるようになった見たい。

Since I sang for a huge chunk of that time, my throat is pretty shattered right now. I decided to put myself on vocal rest and not really talk for the rest of the day unless if I need to. My senior recital is in a week, so I can't be wrecking my voice right now >.< 長時間歌ってたから、のどが結構ダメになちゃった。だから、今日はボーカル・レストをする事にして、今日はあんまり喋らないようにする・・シニアー発表会が玲集だから、ちゃんとのどのお手入れをしないとダメ！！>.<

25 days and counting until Japan!
後２５日で日本！

<1 month left

2008-04-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

はい。そうです。もう一ヶ月ないです。ちょっと緊張してきました。今日友達とアイスクリーム食べて、近くの湖へいっていろいろ話したけど、ちょっとずつ寂しくなってきた。ミネソタではすごく良い友達や、先生達にめぐりあえて本当に私は祝福されています。日本や香港へ行ったら新しい友達をつくらないと。楽しみだけど、アメリカにいる友達がこいしくなると思う。やっぱり人との関係はすぐ近くならないし、誰かを信頼するのも時間がかかるしね。
Yes. That's right. It's less than a month. I'm starting to get nervous. Today, I went out for ice cream, went to a nearby lake with a friend and talked about stuff, but slowly I started feeling lonely. In Minnesota, I have a lot of great friends, teachers that I had the opportunity to get to know and be blessed by. When I go to Japan and Hong Kong, I gotta make new friends. I'm really excited, but I know I'll miss my American friends. You can't easily get close relationships or trust someone right away, it takes time.

でも、心配はない！神様が私のインマヌエル、ともにいる。
But, there's no fear! God is my Immanuel, God with us.

overwhelming thoughts

2008-04-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

This past week, I've been thinking a lot about different things and slowly realizing how drastically my life is going to change in 1 month and 3 days from now. I am going to miss a lot of things. I'll miss one of my favorite things to do... driving. But I shouldn't think about things I'm going to miss but look forward to what God has in store for me.　As much as I hate being content, at the same time I'm scared of being pushed out of it. It's hard though at times.
今週いろいろ考えていて、後一ヶ月三日に私の人生に大きい変化がある事を少しずつきずいてきた。いろんな事がこいしくなる。特に私の趣味、運転する事。でもそんな事考えていてもよくないと思う・・こいしくなる事を考えるんじゃなくて、神様が私の為に何があるか前向きで見ないと。満足で気楽な人生をおくるのは嫌だけど、同時にそこから押し出されるのも怖い。

After chapel, I was sitting by myself, praying and waiting on God and I felt so weak. I felt so unworthy of what God has called me to do, whatever that would be. I prayed that someone would come up to me and feel led to pray for me because I felt like I couldn't pray for myself at the time. Within 5 minutes, Rachelle came up to me and told me that she wanted to pray for me. I was thinking it was a selfish thing to ask God for, but He answered my call. It's amazing to know that God cares for the tiniest little detail of our lives.
チャペルの時間の後、一人で座って、祈ってて、神様を待ち望んでいた時にすごく弱く感じた。神様が私にやってほしい事が自分にはできないって思うほど弱く感じた。だから、誰か私のとこへ来て、私の為に祈ってくれる人を送ってくれるように祈った。その時点では自分の為に祈れない感じをしてたから。５分以内にラシェルが私に来て、私の為に祈りたいって言って、祈ってくれた。私が神様に聞いた事が自己中心的だったけど、それでも神様が私の祈りに答えてくれた。本当に細かい物でも神様は私の事気にしてくれてるって本当にすごいと思う。

Right now, I'm still at a point where I feel broken. But I know that God is building me back up to be who He called me to be.
今はまだちょっと打ち砕かれた状態。でも、神様は私が使えるようにもっと強く立て直してくれてる。

All I Need is You LORD

11th...

2008-04-07T20:43:00.000-07:00

あぁ〜またやちゃった。
Ah~ I did it again.

１１個目のピアスを開けてしまった・・（ってか全部で合計１３個。２個はふさがちゃったけど）私の元ルームメートのベッキーと買い物行ってたら彼女が急にやりたいって言い出して、やる事にした。w今回からは空港のメタルディテクターに捕まるかも。
I got my 11th ear-piercing today... (well, I've gotten a total of 13. But 2 of them closed up) I was shopping with my old roommate, Becky, and she all of the sudden had the urge to get it done, so we decided to do it. lol. Maybe this time around, I'll get caught at the metal detector at the airport or something. :-P

We had a pre-graduating senior luncheon today. It was weird. I'm graduating.... COLLEGE. I still feel like I am a little kid. They had a few alumni speakers before we ate lunch and it was quite interesting. One of the people shared with us how her life sucks right now and is in a TON of debt. Great. It was a sad laughter afterwards. A lot of us didn't know what to say. It definitely didn't encourage me...
今日は卒業する学生さん達のランチがありました。なんか変。私もうすぐ卒業する・・大学から。まだ子供みたいに感じる。食べる前に何人か卒業生の人達にあかししてもらってなんか結構変わってた。一人女性が卒業後、人生が結構辛くてよくないって言ってて、結構お金に困ってるって。う〜ん。悲しい方で笑ってた。聞いてた人達は何を言えば良いか空気読めなかった。励まされたとは言えないね・・

まぁ〜人生いろいろ楽しみ！神様がいつもいてくれるし、心配ないから。
Well~I'm excited about life! God's always with me, there's no worries!

4 months ago...

2008-04-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

I was burning a CD for Adam, the lead guitar player from my One Accord, and it was really weird. I went through all my pictures and started reminiscing about everything we did in that 7 months. Four months have already passed since we OA' 07 disbanded. Well yeah. Disbanded. I don't like that word. Anyway, I feel like I've grown soo much spiritually during those 7 months. Especially because I HAD to have a close relationship with God, that wasn't an option. Or else I couldn't have done everything that we did during that tour. God gave me soo many awesome opportunities too! Reggie Dabbs is amazing, he's so great. I miss being a counselor. I miss those loud crazy junior highers. I miss leading 2000+ youth in a time of worship. I miss being on the road. sigh...
アダム、私が入ってたバンド、One Accordのリードギターリストの為に写真入りのCDを作ってた間にいろいろ思い出を思い出してきた。７ヶ月分の思いで。なんか変な感じだった。バンドが解散した時からもう４ヶ月経つ・・うん。解散。その言葉あんま好きじゃない。まぁとにかく、その７ヶ月間で霊的に育ったと思う。って言うか神様との関係が強くなきゃツアーの間やったこと全然何もできなかった。神様はいろんなきかいをくれたしね！レジー・ダブスは素晴らしい人だし。カウンセラーになった事や、よく暴れるうるさい中学生の子達、２０００人以上のユースと一緒に賛美の時間を持てた事、とツアーやってた事、全部こいしい・・ハー（ため息）

But because of all these opportunities, I'm here now. I had an opportunity to go to Osaka, and now I'm graduating. Whoa. Praise God!
っでいろいろ経験して今はここにいる。大阪へ行って手伝えたし、でもうすぐ卒業。うぁ。神様に賛美！

moving

2008-03-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

自分で引っ越しする日を決めるのは結構大変です。やっぱりみんな友達にちゃんとさよなら言ったりしないと行けないって事考えてたらひにちをのばしてっちゃう。でも実際にはまた今年アメリカへ戻ってくるみたい。
It's actually pretty hard to decide the date of when I'm moving. Having to say goodbye to all your friends and things like that make it hard and makes me want to move the date back. But it looks like I'll end up back in the USA by the end of this year.

５月１７日。本当は２９日にする事にしてたんだけど、いろいろあって、早くなりました。なんで２９日がいいの？って実は結構くだらない理由です・・
May 17th. Originally, it was the 29th, but a lot of things happened, so it's sooner. Why the 29th? Well it was a pretty pathetic reason...

９日卒様式、１９日誕生日、２９日日本って考えてました。そのほうが覚えやすいから。ね？結構くだらないでしょ？今年初めて日本で祝います。なんか変な感じ・・
9th is graduation, 19th is my birthday, 29th would have been Japan... that was my thought process because it would have been easier to remember. See? Pretty ridiculous. This year will be my first time celebrating my birthday in Japan. It's a weird feeling.

早く行く理由は何個かあります。Hillsongのconferenceが２１−２３日にあります。行くのが前から夢でした。後は、この方が香港へ行く日がもっと早くなるから。その方がもっと手伝えるし、アメリカにいてもどうせいなんにもしないと思うし・・
There are a lot of reasons why I am going sooner. The Hillsong conference is the from the 21st to the 23rd. It's always been a dream of mine to go. Also, this would make my departure for Hong Kong to be sooner. This way, I can help out as much as I can, and being here in the US, I probably wouldn't do anything anyways...

行き帰りのきっぷの方が片道より＄５だけ違うらしいです。なんかそれ変。それに３ヶ月以上どっかへ行くときっぷが高くなるらしい・・でも、アメリカにまた１１月ぐらいにちょっとだけ行きます。それから１２月にまた日本へ戻ります。こんなに飛行機に乗ってあっちこちのは初めて。って言うか２年前だったら全然ありえなかった（結構ひどく飛行機の中でよってました）でも本当に神様のおかげで大丈夫になりました！
The difference between a roundtrip ticket and a one way ticket is $5. That's odd. Plus, if you go somewhere for longer than 3 months, the price of the ticket goes up. But I think I'm going to the US in November for a little bit. Then go back to Japan in December. I've never been on an airplane so frequently in my life! I wouldn't have imagined doing that 2 years ago. (I used to get really airsick) But thanks to God, I'm totally fine now!

Can you tell that I wrote this first in Japanese? I didn't think I'd be able to do it!
最初に日本で書いたのきずいた？できるのは思わなかった！

welcome to my life

2008-03-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

so let's see how good I am at blogging. I used to do it all the time, but it was too much work so I stopped... but I'm going to give it another shot! I am happy that I got there still was a short blog name left for me to use :-)
ブログ書くの挑戦してみます。前よくやってたんだけど、めんどくさくてやめちゃった・・でも、もう一回出直ししてみる！ブログの名前が短いのがまだ残っててよかった〜

I'm going to try blogging in both English and Japanese. We'll see how that'll go. Maybe I'll add in Cantonese later too. haha. But sorry if my Japanese isn't as good as my English!
英語と日本語でブログやってみます。どうなるかな・・後で広東語も書いたりして。w私の日本語があんまりよくなかったらごめんね！

God is amazing. Seriously. I can't deny His existence in my life and He shows that to me everyday. He opens doors, He gives me opportunities. He's given me peace, joy. Who would have thought that I would be in Hong Kong helping out at Jesus Lifehouse- Hong Kong? Yeah. Well. God broke me down and is now building me back up. In a way, I was putting God in a box, thinking I can do this this this for Him because I thought I was able to do them. Yeah, I might be able, but with God's strength, I can do more than I can imagine. Wow.
神様は素晴らしい！マジで。私には神様の存在がいないって言えない、毎日私に現してくださってるから。ドアを開けてくれたり、いろんな経験を私にくださってる。私に平安と喜びを与えてくれた。JLH−香港で手伝わせてもらうとは全然思わなかった。そう。神様は私を打ち砕いて、また立て直してくれてる。なんか私が神様を箱に入れた感じがする・・だって自分が神様の為に何をできるか自分で判断してたから。まぁ、できるかもしれないけど、でも神様が私に与えてくれる力では自分が想像できる意外の物を私にできる。すごい。

Well. Here's my first entry!
で、これが私の最初のエントリーです！