My last day on Island!

Yet another full and busy day - - What? I'm supposed to be packing? Oh . . . well, I'll finish this first.

This morning, when I woke up I wanted to get a "last walk" around the neighborhood in, and take some final pictures of the school. I thought things were looking pretty good because we were supposed to have rain (there is a typhoon lurking in the area). I set out pretty early and wanted to watch the sun rise up at Zakimi Castle.

This is where they Okinawan people used to store their rice. The ladder is down on the ground right now, but they would have to climb on up to get things out.

Once up on the wall, I noticed a HUGE grey rain cloud approaching. I realized I was about to get wet. I prayed and asked God to give me a nice afternoon (so I could enjoy some beach time with Lisa), but I also really wanted to take some pictures looking up at the school from the "bottom" of the hill. I know if He could part the Red Sea, he could part the clouds to keep me from getting wet.

As soon as I started walking home from the castle the clouds let loose! I was absolutely drenched and dripping in seconds. I walked for a good 15 - 20 minutes in the downpour. However, as soon as I got to Kanehide, the rain stopped and the sun came out again. By the time I got to the bottom of our hill to look up at school (where I wanted to take the pictures) the sun was so bright I couldn't even look at it. How like God is that? He not only parts the clouds, He shows His awesome brightness - at exactly the time I asked!

As the last day of school, I was hoping to make it a special day for my students, but we had many unexpected activities that kind of changed my plans. All week we have been having some amazing discussions about how special we all are in God's eyes, how God has made us all different, but sometimes it is a challenge to get along. We also talked about the power of words and why we need to be careful with what we say and how we say it. Unfortunately, today we had to have another discussion about this, but for a different reason. The other discussions came about because of our topics we were learning about in our reading curriculum. Today, however, we had emotional struggles between the girls in the class. I hope and pray that things ended well for all of them. They are a sweet group of kids that I have grown to love very much.

After school was out, I walked through the check-out process and then left with Lisa to spend the day with her.

First, we got our toes done! (Photos to come later...)

Then, we ate at the "Sushi-Go-Round" and got a "Quickly" at Jusco before heading back to school.

At school, I said good-bye to everyone in the office before getting ready to go down to the beach.

God was wonderful to provide and absolutely beautiful day at the beach. We stayed to watch the sunset!

Now . . . hours later, I still need to pack, clean, and finish laundry! Sleep? Who needs it! (me!)

I am extremely grateful to have been allowed to come back to this beautiful island and to serve at OCSI. Gail Anderson said it best; she said, "When you come to OCSI it is like you get attached to a bunji chord. You never know when it is going to bounce you right back here." Very true. I am blessed to have been allowed to return - I am tired, but blessed! Thank you all for your prayers.

Oyasuminasai!

Tuesday and Wednesday

On Tuesday of this week, my morning started quite early. I was honored to be able to have breakfast with Lisa Metz, one of my former students. It was a blessing to hear how she wants to serve God with her life and just learn all He is doing with her.

After school was done today, I went out for some fresh fish and seaweed tempura with Lynda and Alyssa. I was too tired to take a camera with me. The weather was threatening to rain, so Alyssa and I ran some errands in the early afternoon. I walked down to the beach and collected shells before meeting friends for dinner, going to Bible Study, and then out with a friend for coffee.

Again, I was too tired to even use a camera on Tuesday, so after pictures of Lisa, I have none...

On Wednesday, after school, I was able to go out for lunch with the Joslins and then run further errands on my way down to the airport to pick up Lisa Sorley. We were able to do some catching up and have a late dinner at CoCo Curry before ending the night. One short paragraph does little to express how extremely packed the day was, and how very tired I was by the time I got home. I do know I fell asleep on top of my bed, fully clothed, and with the lights all on...that should give a small indication of how I am feeling.

My Birthday 8 )

It was an awesome and extremely full day!

The teachers at devotions that morning sang happy birthday to me (twice because they had a hard time following the leader - or knowing who the leader was - so they "had" to do it twice. It was quite funny) and presented me with a cake made by Etsuko Oeschle. They asked which piece I wanted, so as a joke I said the middle one. They cut the middle out of the cake and presented it to me. 8 )

After devotions, the office staff sang happy birthday to me, twice.

One of my students remembered it was my birthday, so she greeted me as well.

After school, I promised my students that I would go swimming with them that afternoon, so I biked down to the lighthouse for an "Amerika Dogu" - it is like a corn dog, but like no corn dog anyone in the states has tasted.

After the lunch, I went to the beach to swim with the kids.

Following swimming, I stopped off at the sweet potato tarte factory (beni imo) and watched them make the tartes, chinsuko, and some sort of pie. As wierd as this sounds, I really enjoyed the experience! To celebrate my day, I bought a beni-imo soft-serve cone.

After biking home, I met up with Max who took me snorkeling out at Zampa Lighthouse. I can't believe I have never snorkeled there before. It was like swimming in an aquarium. There were more colors and clarity than I believe I have seen almost anywhere else. There were also a lot of fish, eels, jelly fish (not my idea of fun), star fish, and I found my first octopus (on my own.) Max was able to catch it again.

After our snorkeling adventure, Max did a great job of stalling for time because Aidy had planned a surprise for me at their house. The Rosenbergs (who were PCSing the next day) also joined the party and the Joslins and Junko were there as well. Aidy had decorated her home, prepared an elaborate and wonderful meal (complete with some of the "tako" I was holding in an earlier photo), and everyone really made me feel special. I was given yet another cake! What a day!

I was exhausted by the time I got home, but it was a great day!

Sunday, July 10th

Church - more food and fellowship - matsuri - sunsets and fireworks

These last several days, I have done an amazing job of packing every day to the fullest. I need to go "home" simply to sleep!

Sunday was an amazing day of fellowship and worship at Central. It felt so much like "old times" having Pastor Joslin there and just enjoying everyone's company. After church, nobody seemed to be in a hurry to leave. We all just stayed in the sanctuary talking.

Finally, someone made a move to head on out and most of the church drove up to the Chatan area to continue in fellowship. We ate together at a big Korean Barbeque place (with a lot of Japanese food).

After dinner, I walked over to Jusco where I was able to wander around a bit and attend an "ocean matsuri".

After the matsuri visit, I walked down to the boat marina near school and watched the sunset and stayed (and enjoyed a chance meeting with the Andersons) to watch the fireworks display.