I'm falling asleep................

Seriously, I have fallen asleep three times while typing report cards. I had to delete a whole bunch of funny characters on one of them because apparently my fingers just kept pushing buttons. HA! I decided I'd best give you an update on my adventure filled weekend.

Friday, after school, my plan was to drive North on the island to Nakijin, where I was going to camp at the "Baptist Camp" on island. There was a fireworks display at a park (expo for those of you who know) on Saturday night and I wanted a chance to explore the northern regions. I had 13 people, at one point, that were going to be coming up to stay. We all had different schedules and plans, so I was going to leave right after school or lunch. I wanted to hike a couple of the trails that I missed on my hiking day a couple weeks ago, so that was the original plan. The banana spiders and I, however, were not playing nicely with each other. I grew frustrated with the entangling webs and the huge spiders nearly falling on my head or arms. After about 30 minutes of that, I abandon that idea and decided to just get set up at camp. I arrived at Nakijin around 3:00 PM. I had time to settle in, set up my tent, and go off exploring. I rode my bike up a huge hill to check out Nakijin Castle. As I came down, I explored the village some and found a small little supermarket for the next day. I had no idea when people should be coming, but I assumed that around 6 or at the latest 7 someone would be there. I got back to camp around 6:30. Nobody was around, so I took a book and went down to the beach to cool off for a while. I watched this little guy fishing. I think he was trying to teach me what he was doing, but I just had fun watching him. I didn't really understand all he was telling me, however. After fishing some, I had a little something for dinner and then took a nap in my tent. Around 8:00 PM the caretaker of the camp cam over to visit me. She was concerned because none of my friends were there yet. We had a very broken conversation for over an hour, but I grew very fond of her in that hour. She and her husband (71 and 75 respectively) take care of this camp as their ministry. She sure did take care of me! She did her best to teach me some Japanese words. We both had some good laughs in the middle our attempts. She was a great sport none-the-less. Around 9:30 Max Cruzado showed up and I helped him set up his camp. He informed me that two people who were supposed to come weren't going to make it, but he didn't know about any of the others. He was going night diving, so after setting up his camp he was heading out again. Just as I was going to head to bed, Mary arrived to stay as well. The cabin Max had secured for us was air conditioned, clean, and well equipped. I knew someone should stay in there, so I was relieved when Mary arrived. See...I have very few fears in life, but geckos . . . .well, I don't like sleeping with them. I had seen several already in the cabin and I KNEW I would lay in the loft just thinking that I felt them crawling all over me - and I may have! Their remains were everywhere. As long as Mary was there, I felt released to sleep outside in my zipped up and gecko-free tent.

After a rather sticky night of sleep, I was up early and ready to go. During the night, I had heard Max return and dig around in some ice. I knew that meant he had caught something. He had two parrot fish and a red something or another. This huge parrot fish he donated to the caretakers and they fixed some fish soup for our lunch that day. Once done with breakfast, Max and I were planning to spend part of the day working to help out the camp. Our plan was to clear out a section of overgrown "stuff" to make it more manageable. I was dumb enough - about half an hour in - to say, do they have more for us to do when we are done here? This isn't going to take us that long? Well, let's just say I sweat more in those few days up there than I have in quite a while. I was dripping. It was hard to know if I was dripping from sweat or from the downpour of rain we had about 30 minutes into the task too. Whatever the case, I'm not sure I ever dried out. Along side you can see the before, during, and after shots of the project. While working, the care-takers did come and help, and 7 of our other friends showed up for the day as well. By the end, I was beat. I was sweaty, bleeding, and well bug - bit. Best of all . . . I DID have a gecko fall on my and run down my arm as well. See...that's why I don't like geckos! Mitsuko-San (the caretaker) had prepared a grand lunch of Max's fish by the time we were done. It felt good to sit and eat, but it felt even better to go jump in the ocean when that was over. We spent the afternoon snorkeling and exploring at the beach. Our plan, originally, was to go river trekking, but the rains just kept coming and going and coming and going. We decided we might as well just enjoy the day at the beach instead of driving more. After snorkeling, we took off for Ocean Expo Park to watch the fireworks. We had been told that we should be there around 9 AM if we wanted good seats for the display. We opted to chance it and leave around 5:00. I decided to bike over there so I could get home without sitting in HOURS of traffic (we had come car and space dilemmas too complicated to explain here anyway, and that was the best solution I could come up with.)

We actually made it to Expo in time to watch a dolphin show, explore in the native Okinawan Village for a while -- I climbed up in the grain storage house and then pretended to cook in the peasant's kitchen for a while. Later, we just staked out our piece of sidewalk and waited for the show to begin. It was a great evening and the sunset over Ie Jima was amazing. So relaxing and peaceful! The fireworks display was about 45 minutes long (one hour if you count the 15 minutes in the middle where they read names and regrouped for more of the show.) I was grateful I chose to bike. I was able to strap on my headlamp - walk my bike until I was out of enough traffic to start riding on the sidewalk primarily - stop off at the supermarket for some breakfast foods and a snack - and still beat everyone else back to camp by about 45 mn to 2 hours (depending on which car we were talking about.) By that time the wind had quit completely and it was humid! It was a less than enjoyable evening of sleep in my tarp covered tent. The tarp was removed around 2 AM, but it didn't really fix the discomfort much. I thought of just sleeping on a picnic table outside where it was much cooler, but the roaches, semis, and other bugs were plentiful and I didn't want to chance that. The next day, I rose early and went straight to the ocean to try to cool off. My plan was to hike and explore more places up north, but it rained on and off again all day. I climbed to the top of mount Katsu only to find that I was above many of the clouds and could only see that I was truly standing up on a high rock looking down at clouds below me. I could hear thunder rumbling and was completely drenched. I decided perhaps being exposed on a rock ledge like that wasn't a very good idea so I made my way back down. I decided it was going to be another one of those rain on and off days, so I changed plans and just explored. When I got home Sunday night around 8:00 I was rested, content and happy. Now, around 3 PM on Monday, I find I am not quite as rested.... I could use a good nap. The thunder and lightening we have outside make it a good afternoon to try to sneak a nap in, but my social engagements won't allow that to happen. We are learning about Billy Graham in chapel today and I hope to be allowed to present a salvation message on Wednesday or Thursday as I am given time. I introduced it today, but hope to do more in the coming days. It is hard to believe my time is already winding down. I have 5 days left and 3,100 yen to my name. My goal is to NOT have to exchange more money. We will see how I can do. 8 )

An Apple for the Teacher

1997 - 1999 I taught 3rd grade at OCSI. Then, a year later 2000 - 2004, I taught secondary students at OCSI. This means, that for several years in there I had a group of students that really could not seem to get away from me. I taught their grade school, then their Bible, or their music, or band, or social studies, or math . . . . you name it. These poor kids couldn't lose me. They became very special to me and a HUGE part of my life. To take you back to the apple comment, however, in the elementary part of OCSI the students are not allowed to eat sugary treats. That made giving treats for birthdays a bit of a challenge. I decided I would splurge and buy one nice apple for each of my students when they had a birthday. I really didn't know if any of them would remember that in later years or not, but sometimes it involved some very rushed trips down to the grocery store to ensure their days were special. Well, as we gathered for this special day, Corey presented me with a birthday apple to start off the evening. It was such a special gesture that really meant a lot to me.

Actually, just having the chance to catch up with all of them was one of the huge highlights of this summer for me. I loved hearing what they were doing and getting an idea of what life was like for them. It is so fun to hear the different paths they have taken and hear what they have been doing. Hiromu translated for the international space station?!? Maasa (formerly Martha to me) is an accountant. Lisa is in youth ministry. Saido is SO still Saido! He is working with a bank and has had many adventures in his life so far! Yuta is working at a golf course. Hayata is working an auto shop, but playing in numerous bands (with Saido.) Emily is working in physical therapy in conjunction with nursing homes in the area! Corey is working in engineering and has had internships basically around the world! Such vastly different people, yet we are all tied together. I am touched and blessed that these young adults took time out of their busy lives to come spend an evening with their old teacher. It was certainly a night I will remember! Proverbs 7:1 - 3 "Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands. Obey them and live! Guard my teachings as your most precious possession (KJV - the 'apple of your eye'). Tie them on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family. ..." It is my prayer that my students all have loved knowledge, but above all that they will remember to guard God's teachings as the "apple" of their eyes! Always!

Wearing Black - inside and out?

When a person has a "monumental" birthday - people jokingly wear black to mourn the loss of one's youth, right? Well, I took that seriously yesterday! LUNCH TIME

After school, where: they sang to me at devotions, brought in a cake -made by Suellen Hadley, wished me many birthday greetings and hugs, and my class led all of Chapel in singing "Happy Birthday" to me, I asked to go to lunch down at the port. Four of us were able to go. I had the Squid Ink Soup. Let's just say it was PURE BLACK! When I pulled the first bite into my mouth I was surprised by the very fishy flavor. After that, I was surprised by the interesting pieces of black stuff I was eating. Tentacles and all. Parts tasted like mushrooms - I ate all those parts. Others were a little hard to identify. I think I am glad that I have tasted it, but I may not feel the need to try it again. My teeth, my fingers, my chopsticks, my napkin, the splatter marks on my shirt....everything turned black! After lunch, I went back to school to practice with some other teachers for chapel today. Then, I took Dibbie and Noriko with me to Gushikawa Jusco Mall. We got Dibbie some new shoes to try to help her foot pain and wandered around some before returning home.

That evening, Max and Aidy had me over to their home for an amazing and wonderful evening. Aidy made many of my favorites and Max even prepared a Tako (octopus) salad for my special day. They know my desire to not have too many sweets and unhealthy foods, so instead of a huge cake they bought me a slice of Beni-Imo (sweet potato) cake. However, in an even bigger surprise they had found the black sesame dingo that I love so much and I ate that first. However, as I look at it - that was another black item. Perhaps I am in mourning at the loss of another year? So much black. I'm grateful to know that I have the light of the Lord. No matter how dark things seem (and really, they don't seem so dark to me at all right now), I know He cuts the darkness. He is our light to guide our way!

moldy shoes???

Good morning from a rather wet Okinawa, again. Monday and Tuesday found us wetter than most, but it has still been a good week. I am in my classroom preparing for the students to come in. This week in chapel we have studied Harriet Tubman and today we are learning about Gladys Aylward. Gladys has become my new heroine (which we are also studying this week in our classes.) If anyone gets the chance to watch the "Inn of the Sixth Happiness", I encourage you to do so. So inspiring to read what people have given up and done in their quest to win people for the Lord. It makes coming to a tropical paradise seem . . . petty. My kids remain sweet in my classroom, but I am becoming increasingly concerned for one of my student's academic abilities. I fear that 5th grade is going to be a bit too overwhelming, but there is not much I can do at this point about that. I will give all the attention I can to the child, but I have to leave the ultimate preparation work to the Lord. He is up to the challenge, I know. Because of the weather, it has honestly been a quieter week. Sunday, after church I actually came home after lunch and then just went to some friends' home to watch the movie I mentioned earlier. It was a slower day and I enjoyed it. Monday, I went up north to paint a bag with some Bingata art - - traditional Okinawan painting. My mom (who is out of the hospital and in a rehabilitation center now. She seems to be doing quite well. They warned that she could have to stay there up to 8 weeks, as they don't want to rush things though, so that is a bit discouraging. Her spirits seem high and all seems to be progressing. I really appreciate all the prayers and I do look forward to getting "home" to her when the time comes.) laughed and found it odd that I would get so crafty. It is QUITE out of my character to do something like that, but when I unveil the work later today, I will have to share my success (or failure) as the case may be. Yesterday, because of the rain again, I actually went home after school and slept ALL AFTERNOON long! I was beat! Saturday had been a glorious day of snorkeling off Max's boat again (seeing more clams and colors than I ever thought possible. If I hadn't seen the clams open and colorful like that I never would have believed it. Max tells me I was probably snorkeling for 2 + hours as he took Linda diving.) Even though I had come home and gone to bed very early on Saturday, I think the emotional strain of last week - along with constant activity - wiped me out. The nap yesterday was very welcome! Today? Who knows what the future holds, but it is off to a great start. I was able to go for a morning walk. I spoke with my parents and immediately got a phone call from Max and Aidy who sang to me to start my day. How special. I feel so honored! I have the feeling squid ink soup may be on the menu for lunch. Anyone want to join me???? HA! Oh, and my moldy shoes comment. I have no profound statement to go along with that. I had some shoes that I wore hiking last week. They were covered with red clay so I sprayed them off on Sunday morning. Due to our high humidity and the rain, they haven't really dried out very well. When I put them on to walk today, they didn't smell so fresh.... They may require some attention this afternoon! HA!

An update on my mom

I am running short on time, but I want to give an update on my mom. My mom had hip replacement surgery three days ago. Originally, all looked good. The doctors were extremely pleased and got her up on her feet early. As they tried to have her put any weight on her little (non-muscled) leg, it obviously collapsed - or so I am trying to understand from a world away. This motion apparently caused the femur in the good leg to shatter in parts and splinter (again - as I understand from a world away) Thus . . . I learned last night they were worried that she may have caused permanent damage in her "fall" and they needed to x-ray again and consider another surgery. That was where I left things when I went to bed last night. Moments ago I got off Skype with my dad. I learned that yesterday she was indeed rushed into another whole surgery. She was told if she didn't, she would probably never walk again - - the whole reason she had the surgery was so she could have continued movement and "freedom" and less pain. This news was very disheartening and sad. She is still in the recovery stages of that second surgery as I write this, but the known result will be a much slower and delayed recovery. Apparently, they needed to put an iron rod in and really wrap and reinforce the leg and hip joint. They will not allow her to put weight on her legs for a while. I just wrote the lighthouse in MN to let them know of my resignation - my heart longs to be there now to help - but all I could be doing is praying anyway. Today, as I prepared for chapel, I was presenting on John and Charles Wesley. As I wrote up my presentation yesterday, I learned that they grew up watching their father persecuted for preaching the truth of what the Bible Says. They were ridiculed and made fun of as a family. Their faith, however, was strong enough that both of the men grew up to be strong men of faith and continued to share the gospel. They had rotten vegetables thrown at them as they presented the gospel. My point today in chapel is going to be these are great men of faith because not only have they blessed us with their work (writing "O For a 1000 tongues to sing", "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" and 5998 more . . .) but they did so by persevering through obstacles and trials. James 1:12 will be our theme verse. We will learn how "God Rewards the Faithful" . . . I plan to ask the kids if they can relate at all . . .now we don't throw vegetables here - but... 1. Just yesterday I had a conversation with a little girl in my class. She said she prays because she is the only person in her whole family that is a Christian. She is 9 years old and truly loves the Lord, but her parents want nothing to do with it. She has no way to get to a church to grow, so school is all she gets. That's hard! 2. I think of my troubled young man and his persecution of all in chapel and in school. He continues to be defiant and difficult. I have had ALL of the middle school teachers come to me and express frustration and concern with their students and their lack of anything - - extreme ambivalence and lack of any emotion (other than resistance and anger). That is a form of persecution. If God can give me the words to say, I hope to say something about how we may not persecute others in the same way - but we can do our best to hinder the Lord's work simply through our attitudes. Maybe this will sink into Moana and he will notice what he is doing - and who he carries with him down that trail each day. 3. I think of my mom and her trials. She has been faithful. I know God is with her. I got a little note from one of my girls on Tuesday. "Miss Johnson, I will be praying for you and your mom. Just know that God is with you and with her no matter what." The first thing she did when she saw me yesterday was ask how my mom was. God is faithful. I may be miles away, but God is taking care of her and He is taking care of me! It is a blessing to serve.

A former student comes to visit

Yesterday, after teaching, I was in the process of making some copies when I was stopped by Mrs. Hadley with a young man. She asked me, "Do you know this person?" I had to look for a moment and then, thank goodness, I said "COREY?" Corey Henriquez was back on the island to visit. Corey was in my 3rd grade class and I taught him (like Lisa mentioned earlier) all the way through his 7th or 8th grade year at school! He then moved with his family to the states, so I never expected to see him here! Thanks to him, we are now trying to plan a former OCSI student reunion for next week. It is my prayer that many can make it and we can catch up on each other's lives!

A little 4th of July fun!

Because we are an American School, we did have the 4th of July off. That meant a day that we were all free to do a little exploring. There is an island off to the Southeast part of Okinawa, Kudaka, that is considered to be a very "holy" place for the Okinawans. They train many Yuta Priestesses over there and I've heard that many believe it to be the "birthplace" of all Okinawa. I am not sure what that means, but it is considered a special place. When I started planning I wanted to stay in a Minshuku (a tatami mat bed and breakfast house. Often you can get a room for 3,000 yen and then split the cost among as many people as you can have going.) Well, another missionary wanted to go and offered to make arrangements for us. We wound up having 4 people go to spend the night - but it wasn't a Minshuku. It was a huge resort with an authentic Japanese bath house (something I had managed to avoid all these years!). It sat up on a mega ridge and looked out over the ocean.

Once we got there, we learned the outdoor pool was closed, the buffet we were planning on enjoying was not included in our price - and I was too cheap to spend almost $35 for dinner - that was more than I spent in two full days there! However, the view was incredible. We had a tatami mat "bedroom", a wooden floored sitting room with two chairs and a mini table, a bathroom area, and an entry way. It was huge! The best part, however, was the view from our balcony! After all four of us finally made our way to the resort: Rashelle Hadley, Noriko Wada, Linda Griffith, and myself, we opted to go find some dinner. The place we wanted to eat was closed, so we drove around for a good 40 minutes (stopping for some lengthy directions part way through) and finally wound up just stopping at some cafe we found by accident. We had an incredible view over the Pacific Ocean as we watched the sun set!

Upon returning back to the resort, the decision was made that we would ALL go to the bath house. Oh the internal trauma that caused for me! I can't even change clothes in front of anyone! Oye... Being the cheap-skate that I am, however, I decided, "I have to pay for this bathhouse as a part of my resort fee. I had batter use it." With much fear and concern I decided to go. Okay, for those of you who haven't been to a Japanese bath house you need a little culture lesson here. Okay, yes, everyone is nude - - let's get that out of the way first. First, you go in and you are given this tiny little hand towel. You have to figure out for yourself how you are going to use that. Then, you have to go to a shower area. In this place, there were two rows of showers and little wooden stools in front of each shower. Basically, even though there are people around you and on every side (unless you can claim a corner shower which I did), you just go and do your thing. You are supposed to scrub yourself perfectly clean before going to the public bath. The towel is supposed to be for your hair to keep it from falling into the bath. Once clean from you shower, you make your way to a series of tubs all of differing temperatures - some very cold, some very hot. Here it was a natural hot spring - but it didn't smell of sulfur. It was HOT! I couldn't stay in the biggest tub for long. A part that this experience that kind of scared me was that there was a huge wall of windows looking out from the big tub. It looked out over the bay. What was interesting, was that we were there while the big fireworks display was going off near Kadena airbase (why they shot them off on the 3rd of July I will never know). Anyway, once you have cooked yourself long enough, you rinse off again, get changed, and head home. I have to admit, it left my skin VERY soft, and I was quite relaxed when returning back to the room. Will I do it again? Only if I have to, but it was not as bad as my mind had made it out to be for all these years. sigh....still traumatic to think about though.

The next day, after watching the sunrise from the balcony, we took the ferry over to Kudaka. There we rented bikes, rode all around the island, and managed to do some snorkeling as well. It was a beautiful and relaxing day! When we got back to the school the missionary staff, and some friends, had a fellowship barbecue to celebrate the 4th of July. We light some fireworks and enjoyed the evening together. God topped everything off with His own fireworks display that night!

Week 2 of Summer School comes to a close

I can't believe a whole week has passed between my postings! Time flew this week! Allow me to introduce you to my students

This is Kaito. Kaito was in my summer school class last year, but he didn't ever have much to say. This year, while he is still very quiet, he has made the effort to speak to me of his own initiative. He smiles a lot and has a lot of deep thoughts. I'm extremely proud of the work he is able to do in math. He is able to reduce fractions and is working on turning reduced fractions into decimals and percents.

This student(assuming this uploads the way I am trying to make it) is Brenda. Brenda has a huge heart. She embraces life and has an enthusiasm for everything. She is very kind and sweet.

This little spit-fire is Himari. Himari was in my class last year as well. She loves ballet and spends much of her free time in ballet classes. Yesterday we had a good discussion. We were talking about prayer requests as we were out on the playground. Himari mentioned that she was sad because nobody in her family loves Jesus except her. She cannot go to church because she is so young. Right now, she lives all the way down in Naha (for those of you not from the island that's a good hour drive from the school) and it would be very difficult for one of the staff to take her to church. We pray for her family to come to know Jesus. This is all the more important because as she grows up, she will need some support in her home. Today we thanked God for her strong Christian friends, however. She has a smile that never ceases!

This is Reibi. Reibi was also in my class last year. She asked me to pray because one of her cousins passed away yesterday. Her cousin did not know the Lord. Reibi is probably (next to Kaito) my most gentle student. She is quiet and reserved, but some of that could be a language concern for her. She has a hard time getting her thoughts out in English at times.

Last, but not least, is Annabelle. Annabelle is a new student to me, but she won my heart the first day. Like Brenda, she has a huge heart herself. She is kind, gentle, caring, and one of the first to want to lend a hand to ANYONE she sees that is in need. It is a treat to get to work with all of these precious children. They are in my room for various reasons: Some really need to work on bettering math skills, some need to really develop English skills, some just need to continue working - in general, and others are just here for the experience. I may only have 5 children, but I have some that fall into all categories. In my few days of school, I have been able to assess where they are at and now I am really trying to zero in and help them where they need it. I'm not sure what I can do in 18 days of summer school, but I will do my best! I spent about 9 hours in my classroom yesterday just trying to organize appropriate math materials for the kids. They are at so many levels, I wanted them to all be challenged and really grow and develop. That took a lot of individual work on my part. I hope and pray that I picked appropriately. This week, in chapel, we continued to study about God's faithfulness in keeping his promises to his famous followers. We studied Pocahontas and John and Charles Wesley this week. We learned, above all, that God is with us wherever we go (Pocahontas) and that God rewards the faithful (the Wesley Brothers). While I am still really struggling with a few students and keeping them involved, I did see marked improvement. Several of the students (even my 5th graders) are singing along with the songs now. Some love them so much that they won't stop singing them. At the beach today (I went with the students on their afternoon field trip because I promised them I would), it was fun to hear the little 1st graders singing "Hey, Hey, Hey . . . I'm not the same as I used to be." - knowing that it is Jesus that can change us! Then, they switched into "I am with you wherever you go. I am with you you are never alone. I am with you, wherever you go. My child I am with you." Not only did they sing it loud and clear, on their own, but some of the older children joined in. They are learning the truths!