The weather has been fairly good, averaging around the 70s. You know, I don't believe that I've ever talked about the weather as much as I have living here where there are four seasons. "Cold" as I knew it in California, is not as "cold" as I know it here in Tokyo (and Japanese people don't even consider Tokyo "cold" as being really "cold" compared to other parts of Japan!) So back to what I was talking about...now that the weather is trying to stabilize into warmer weather, there are several days in a row where we go through 4 seasons in 1 day, and with the pollen or something going on since it's Spring, I have allergies and my body keeps flipping out trying to adjust to the weather. Therefore, I have symptoms of being sick but I'm not sick and the result is that I can't focus on what I need to focus. My throat was sore for a bit, my body was achey for a day, my nose never stops producing junk, half of my head is congested at all times and so my hearing has become impaired, and my sense of balance is off. I can't wait till it becomes hot. I'm even looking forward to the nasty humid heat because at least my head will be clear!
The other day, I sought out an eye doctor whose clinic is about 70 minutes away by train in another prefecture. My kind roommate decided to come along, which helped relieve some stress. Everyone there was shocked as to why we would go there hehe since it is really far. It is because, the eye doctor there specializes in the special contacts (orthokeratology program) that have been a part of more than half of my life. My eyes are so bad. Anyways, we got lost, wandered around the vicinity of the West Exit of the station for almost 2 hours because the clinic wasn't picking up and answering my calls (I called about 10 times)! We walked so far and for so long......I felt so bad for dear patient Amanda! Finally, so desperate, with each step leading to a crankier Sonya, we decide to ask a small English teaching center that we passed multiple times trying to figure out where we were! I burst in the doors without realizing that I am not prepared as to what to say, and see a woman and a man at a desk sitting opposite of each other. Words start popping out sporadically from my mouth, which has forgot to form full sensible sentences. To make it worse, I am talking in a small pathetic whining voice, which reveals my heart, that everything is about me. When I'm finished, the lady reveals in her polite Japanese English that she is in the middle of a class where she is teaching this man, so could I please wait about 10 minutes until the end of their class and then she will be able to help me. Sheepishly, I file out and wait outside with Amanda muttering about how the man gave me dirty looks since I interrupted the class he was paying good money for while admiring his sweet white audi that is parked next to us (I am so selfish and worldly). Then after a short wait, the man retreats from the classroom/office and smirks at us, and enters his car. The woman then proceeds to help us poor tired foreigners figure out how to get to our destination. Of course, when SHE calls the clinic, they pick up on her first try. Anyhoos, we got to the place, and man what happened inside that clinic, is another story for another day. Turns out (since this is getting way too long) I have not been washing my contacts properly, and my eyes have had an allergic reaction to the dirt and oil on my lens. So now I have these eye drops that sting for a little, which I have to apply 4 times a day for 3 months. Booooo...it's so hard to keep the time!!!
Today, Amanda and I hung out with 4 sweet girls. How did we communicate? Somehow by the grace of God. For seriously. Their English is so limited and our Japanese stinks. Add to that my inability to hear since my head is congested...it felt like a mess to me, but overall it was fun and I think the girls enjoyed it. We'll call them Ri-san, Eri-san, Kyo-san, and Sayu-san. Three of these girls work at a hotel that some of our volunteer teams stay at!! Awesome isn't it?? The volunteers have been able to reach out to share the love of Christ to the hotel staff. Their ages range from 20-23 hehe and they definitely are sweet girls. Please start praying for them, that the Holy Spirit would work in their hearts and that we would be able to communicate and build good friendships :) Arigatou gozaimasu (thank you). They took us to "Sweets Paradise" where for 80 minutes we could eat and eat and eat delicious food and desserts. I'm afraid I might have to skip a meal because of all the calories I probably took in haha. Then we went karaoke-ing! I heard a new song from the girls that I'd like to learn so that I can sing it when I go karaoke-ing with Japanese people another time! The song is called
Cherry by Spitz. You should try listening to it, it's pretty sweet.
Ok now for some photos from today's event (some are from Amanda)!
ok so in this picture of one of my plates ;) there was some strawberry shortcake, mochi, mont blanc cake, orange mousse, strawberry mousse cake, banana pudding, tiramisu, and 2 kinds of chocolate cake
in order: Sayu-san, Amanda, me, Ri-san, Kyo-san, Eri-san
Ok, I just heard a girl say this on the radio and it bugged me so much I had to discuss it. The quote is, "God never forgets about the desires we have." What's wrong with this sentence? To me, it sounds totally self centered - God goes around fulfilling OUR desires? Like he sits around at our beck and call waiting till He can seize the opportunity to fulfill our desires...Those desires that we have, (the ones that are according to His will) are given to us by God, and when that's the case, then of course God will fulfill these desires. And when He does, it is for His ultimate glory. Like Amanda told me that Francis Chan wrote in his book Crazy Love in summary, "this movie that our life is a part of, is not about you or myself. God is the main character of this movie, and in comparison to Him, we have like 1 second parts." Or something to that effect hehe. I need to read that book.
Now to finish this long compilation of several blog posts, I will share something I read in my Life Application Bible:
"The church at Ephesus may have been plagued by the same heresy that was threatening the church at Colosse - the teaching that to be acceptable to God, a person had to discover certain hidden knowledge and had to worship angels (Colossians 2:8, 18). The false teachers were motivated by their own interests rather than Christ's. They embroiled the church in endless and irrelevant questions and controversies, taking precious time away from the study of the truth. Stay away from religious speculation and pointless theological arguments. Such exercises may seem harmless at first, but they have a way of sidetracking us from the central message of the gospel - the person and work of Jesus christ. They expend time we should use to share the gospel with others, and they don't help people grow in the faith. Avoid anything that keeps you from doing God's work."
Wow if you read all of this, I would love to give you a hug!!!!! Have a great weekend!! Make sure you spend time to just meditate on God's Word and His love for you!! :)
