Archive for March, 2008
2008.03.27:
９月に夢を見た。In August (before coming to Japan), I had a dream. This is what I wrote in my journal that day:
“August 31, 2007- I had a dream last night. I was preparing to go to STiNT- saying goodbye to people and doing some last minute shopping in LA. From where I was standing, I could see downtown LA (all of the buildings on the horizon). All of a sudden, there was a flash of light and everything went white. Some kind of explosion I think… When my eyes readjusted, I saw a HUGE cloud go up into the sky, and it began to spread outward too- like Hiroshima. As the ring spread towards us, people began to run. But they weren’t fast enough and it literally washed over them like water. Then I woke up… Maybe it had something to do with God’s love or… His grace covering Japan like the dust.”
I know… kind of a weird dream, but it was so vivid at the time that I wrote it down in my QT book and even drew a little picture of what I remember seeing. I hadn’t really thought about the dream until last week when I went to Haru Camp. The church we were staying at had CGNTV playing for most of the day (when we weren’t using the room) As we were finishing up with some last minute cleaning… I sat down to watch as a commercial for ‘Love Sonata 2008- Hiroshima’ came on. I was shocked… as they showed images from the real atomic bomb exploding in Hiroshima over 60 years ago… all the images from my dream came flooding back. They were the same… ‘oh wuhhhht~~’
I had no thoughts on going to ‘Love Sonata 2008′ to be perfectly honest… but I decided right then, to go. The commercial ended with this saying (in Korean):
“Scars that time could not erase, Jesus’ love will heal.”
“時間が消えない傷は、イエス様の愛で治られる”
I’m looking forward to seeing what God has prepared for me… and for the revival that will begin in Hiroshima this April〜！ (Anyone interested in joining me?)
2008.03.23:
“…today, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord” ^_^ My pastor at IBC says this at the beginning of every week’s sermon… (even when it’s not Easter) keke~ I miss that… but today, i was so blessed to really celebrate the resurrection of our Lord with my new family at Suita Church. I thought I’d ask several of our older, non-Christian friends to come to service (without really thinking that they would come, to be perfectly honest) but all four of them came today… ^_^ and I was kinda stunned (seeing them walk around like they’d been to worship a million times before) but so happy to share this day with them： かず、なっちゃん、ひら、じゅんぺい … 来てくれて今日ホンマに嬉しかった．
During offering time, Hosanna body worship team performed ‘Above All’ ^_^ and later danced around on stage during our last celebration praise time. ちょっと恥ずかしいけど (cuz I know you’re READING this!) But I was SO incredibly blessed by a particular brother on stage. The freedom… and the sheer joy radiating from his ear-to-ear smile as he jumped up and down, worshiping God…. is an image I’ll never forget. [名前], who just a few months ago, was wondering why he ever became Christian in the first place… recently reaccepted Christ into his life. Praise God for that alone… but seeing the resurrection so powerfully at work in someone’s life brought tears to my eyes~ ^_^
今日、ホンマに神様が誰かの人生の中で働いていることをジェンジェンの目で見ました．心から感謝します…
We sang a familiar song during our EM Bible Study this morning. “The Nails in Your Hands”… that rang so loudly in my heart today. And it goes a little something like this: ^_<
The nails in Your hands, the nails in Your feet
They tell me how much You love me.
The thorns on Your brow, they tell me how
You bore so much shame to love me.
And when the heavens pass away
All Your scars will still remain
And forever they will say
Just how much You love me, so I want to say…
Forever my love, forever my heart
Forever my life is Yours.
Forever my love, forever my heart
Forever my life if Yours… It’s Yours.
the new stinters from korea just arrived tonight~~ three girls, one boy.
which means, three girls at toneyama now. our new roommate majored in japanese (though i haven’t heard it yet), from seoul, and we’re the same age~! although we won’t be working on the same campus (she’s at kangaku) im looking forward to getting to know her better ^_^ slowly though… haha already YK and jennjenn’s ちがい at work. YK’s was the type to plop herself down in my room while i unpacked and rummaged through my things (trying to get to know me) while i put stuff away. kekeke~ good memories. she’s doing the same thing now with the new stinter. i think im more of the ‘get to know someone slowly’, from a distance… while i cook for them… type. haha~
we prayed a little bit for the new stinters tonight- that they would adjust well and quickly break through language barriers. how strange that ive now become the more experienced one, praying for, welcoming new stinters, helping them with japanese… -_- I NEED HELP WITH JAPANESE! まだ。。。
better go to sleep soon~ or at least play with our new roommate. ^_^ to be continued~
2008.03.12:
it’s getting noticably warmer here. it’s amazing how distinct each season it. in caifornia we only have 2… warm and cold. and it’s pretty random throughout the year. i’m looking forward to the cherry blossoms that will be coming out in a few days. apparently they’re only in full bloom for exactly one week. again… so exact. stay tuned for pictures on my facebook~ (or mebbe here… if i can figure this thing out)
finally finished my newsletter this morning! >_< gahh… i realize it’s mid-march already. every month it gets pushed back even a day or two, makes the next month that much later. i’m gonna have to do something about this endless cycle. but now that im done~~~ ^_^ at least i get a couple of hours before hurrying off to my next meeting at yamada tonight.
my roommate came back from korea last night~ (she was there for a litte over one month) it’s good to have her back and i’m glad to hear that her parents are doing much better. though it hardly seemed like i was alone for very long. had a few sisters sleep over here and there… and i feel like i was out of the country/city for most of the month myself.
ヨンギョンお帰り〜！会いたかった〜
ちょっと練習：
最近、ホンマに日本語勉強せーへん… ストレスになている…
時々、”あ〜ジェンジェンも今少し出来るやん”って思ったら…
something happens and im deflated again. keke
〜〜萎えるわ〜〜
話したいこと、考えることもちゃんと説明出来へんし… T_T
ここから勉強頑張るわ〜〜！
[for the non-japanese] im sorry if you can’t understand the japanese. neither can i. hehe~
just practicing ^_^;; bear with me while i try to become fluent.
[for the japanese] good teachers, be sure to point out my mistakes. just practicing ^_^
2008.03.07:
Having fun is hard work~ of course it wasn’t ALLLLL just playing, but it was all fun. in the past 2.5 months, I’ve been on a plane 10 times, a bullet train 3 times, and countless hours on the train/bus/car. so today, i rested… for the first time in what seems to be… the longest winter vacation of my life. Still have another month to go~! (school starts first week of April)
Went to Tokyo on Monday morning with all the STiNTers (minus Sooyun, plus a student). Was supposed to be there until tonight, but I cut it a few days short for a much needed snowboarding trip. hehehe ^_^ Came home (straight from Tokyo Disney Sea) around 12:30am wednesday night, woke up at 6am and went boarding with some friends near Pocchan’s hometown (Shiga) ^_^ Not very big, but personally, I liked it much better than the crowded slopes in CA. It felt like there were mebbe 100 people on the entire mountain… VERY nice (especially after a few days in Tokyo… the “most crowded city in the world”) I believe this… >_< *blah* Mebbe I’m more ‘country’ than I thought. I realized (in Korea and again yesterday) that 1) I gotta be near the ocean and 2) away from the pushing and shoving of people.
Snowboarding was GREAT~~ perfect snow (for most of the day), no people to dodge on the slopes, good time with friends… ^_^ great food
MY REST DAY:: What Jenn Does on Her Day Off
Slept in for the first time in awhile today~ *ahhh* ^_^ Did QTs, watched several episodes of ‘Boy Meets World’ hehe~ cooked myself some lunch *yaum*, did two loads of laundry, got a package in the mail~!! (filled with ALL KINDS OF GOODIES!) ^_^ made my day… watched another movie, cleaned the entire house, cooked some dinner *yaum again*, studied for 2 hours (good girl) ^_^, and now I’m writing a memo on my blog…
Gotta write my February Newsletter tomorrow~~ (again, if you use hotmail, you probably never received my January letter… cuz they all came bouncing back to me for some reason) Please let me know if you still want last (last) month’s issue… and stay tuned for February~!!