I feel a....blog coming on!!! :)

Hey!!

I feel like I could blog and talk about this day, and so many things that happened, both good and bad, it would take like 4 or 5 pages to tell....but I will try to summarize.....

My life verse for today: Philippians 2:3 Do not be selfish: don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

I think a lot of today has to deal with being selfish, and wanting things for selfish motives and reasons. I think all I need to know is that I am a sinner, in need of a savior, Jesus Christ. In the bible Philippians 2:5-7 "You must have the same attitude that Jesus Christ had, though he was God, he did not think of equality of God as something to be cling to, Instead he gave up his divine privileges and was born as a human being, When he appeared in human form he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross."


Jesus was Self-less, not Self-ish I think selfishness is the root of a lot sins we commit today....we steal, cheat, lie, attack others, have anger, bitterness, envy, and pride issues, because we are selfish, and want to make ourselves look better than what we are, or we truly don't know who we are, because we don't look to God as the source of our identity from the get go.

Ok I confess.....My feelings were hurt. I feel left out, not belonging to any group or anything....so you think...no big deal, so what, get over it......and you're right for thinking that....ya know that's just life, people hurt you, whether on purpose or by accident.....but still they hurt you.....and sometimes when it's friends....it takes a while to let it all go, and look at the person, not based on anything previous....to truly forgive and forget.....all I can say is that throughout my life I need a lot of people to forgive me, because I've made many many mistakes, many things I have said wrong......and the only thing to do...is to forgive....I have to do my part to make amends, to admit I am wrong, to say I'm sorry....and to repent. but that in case: It is easier said than done.....but I truly believe that in order to forward in our spiritual lives we must learn the lesson of forgiveness. Lack of forgiveness creates a crack or hole in our spiritual walk with God that will continue to grow until it is mended or taken care of. Jesus....help me to learn the power of true forgiveness.


Genesis 50:17

This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

Forgiveness is something we need to do: As Joseph's brother did in the bible, humbling as it was.....we are do that to others, weather they need it or not, whether we feel like it or not.....better to forgive sooner than later.....As God has forgiven us, so we should forgive others.....I know it is easier said than done, but better done than not done. Lord forgive me of my selfishness today!!!

Over and Out,

CH

Realizing things about life a little at a time today :)

Hey folks!!

I'm blogging again. I feel like maybe I should be blogging more, and I would but I don't have my computer around or internet access to do so, at the moment I am thinking "ohh, I should blog about this..." but ok here goes about today's story. Let me first preface though, I just came back from Japan not even a week ago, still a little jet lagged, (everyday I want to take a 2 hour siesta) hee-hee!! but I have applied for over 6 teaching jobs, waiting to hear back, and so I had an interview for one of the jobs here, and I think it went ok. I don't think I'm the best at interviews, but it is over now....but the story I want to share happened just before my interview. I was talking to my sister on the phone in the parking lot (probably people driving by thought I was a little weird, but anywhoo...) and I was like just pray for me right now! and she did, and then I was a little less nervous about the interview, and then I said something, I don't even know where it came from....I think Pastor Grogan has said this before, but I said it out loud to my sister.... "ya know I'm working for Jesus if I get this job or not....whatever I do, I gotta work for Jesus....because I was just talking to her about how I wanted to just share Jesus' love and his salvation with other people, doing ministry full time, that's where I think God is leading me, that is my heart's cry, I truthfully want nothing else in life.....but when I said that to my sister, she was like "yea you're right!" and I can't even explain the confidence I had come over me, like this peace, that everything would be alright no matter what, no matter if everything in life came down on me!!

I have to be working for Jesus wherever I am at, like at church, at school, at my job, in class, cleaning the apartment, to be working for Jesus, and do things right and do them with excellence. I want excellence in all that I do for Jesus, not just a little work here, and a little there.....dude...Jesus deserves my best and so do other people, and my job, and everything else in life. Jesus has given me new life, and I am do be a steward in ALL that I do, and do it unto the Lord....the bible says in Galatians "whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God!" DUDE!!! JESUS IS THE SWEETEST THING!!!!!!!! :)

Over and Out,

CH
aka pdiddy
aka pudd

I LOVE TO LOVE!!!!!

If my life could ever be summed up in a few words, it would have to be.....that I love Jesus with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and also that I truly love other people!!! SO SO MUCH!!!!! It brings me to tears, how much God just simply loves us, and He loves for us to love Him!!!! I'm in awe of Pastor Grogan's sermon on Sunday and I pray that it will never leave from me....he said God isn't after our money...He's after our life!!!!! DUDE!!!!!! I LOVE JESUS!!!! I just want to run right now and shout it in the streets!!! GOD IS SOO GOOD, and just amazing!!! looking back in my life and even now in Japan, how I got here, and how God has provided, I am overwhelmed, and in awe of God's provision!!!! I AM SO THANKFUL AND GRATEFUL FOR JESUS!!!! GOD IS EVERYTHING TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY BRAIN....It thinks WAY to much I think!!!! :) hee!!

Hey everyone!!! I hope you are all doing well!! I can't believe it's the last week of July almost!!! Where does the time go??!!! GOSH!!! I am having so much fun here in Hokkaido Japan, it has been awesome, cool, fun, and just about every amazing describing word you can think of!! :) I have truly had the best day today...Church was awesome today!!! There was a Korean guest speaker and also 3 Korean violinists, which were very AMAZING....can I just tell you the music was just so relaxing and very inspiring to listen to, you know some music you have to have words to put with it to understand it....other times acoustic music is the sweetest thing there is!!!

I believe there are life lessons God has for us to learn along our journey of life here on this earth. I felt like God was speaking to me this past week, and from the mouth of a child. Fukumori's grand-daugters are here visiting, and Kokona is just 3 years old, and so beautiful and I was getting The Noah's Ark puzzle out to make it together. She helped me dump out ALL the pieces on the floor.....(it is a pretty big puzzle...considering all those animals!! hee!) and I started to help her make the outside edges first right....it's the easiest way to make a puzzle! but she kept grabbing and taking all the pieces from me...saying in Japanese words...."It's mine!" (I think)...so I kept taking pieces from her for like a minute or two, trying to make at least one piece....and then I gave up...and I was like thinking to myself..."well there is no use for me here, I can't help you when you, when you won't give me any pieces to work with!" and I felt like God spoke right to me, as this was happening saying...."I can't help you with things in your life when you don't share them with me!!" See I battle a lot with things of SELF....I let my flesh get in the way of things....so many blessings, so many opportunities, that I miss, because I do things the way "I" want to do them!!! "But GOD!! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING IT'S MY LIFE!!!" I have thought that before....like I don't want God's help.....and God becomes like I did.....but WAIT...you know the funny thing is....God has never moved from us....WE are the ones who have moved from Him!! I need to quit being selfish and just surrender to Him, and His ways of doing things.....and how long does that take?? Probably until I perish from this earth....and see Jesus face to face with all the angels in heaven!!!! I think pastor Grogan said before in one of his sermons "Dude...Life is not about You....Life is about serving others.....We need to let go...and Let God!!!"

BAZAAR WEEKEND!!

Hey folks,

I hope you are having an AMAZING day!!! If not....just look around you, go outside, listen to the birds, see the flowers, God made this day, and EVERY day for us to enjoy!!! :) We are a blessed nation for sure!!

I just want to update everyone on how things are going here for me, and what I've been doing the last few days. Today is Sunday...A team of 5 college students came over from Sapparo, about 2 hours away, to help out with the Bazaar this weekend, and to put on a kids' camp for the church!!! and I had NO idea what was going on...or to to be happening, or how I was to help out...but it turned out better than what I even expected!! Friday afternoon these students came, and were just serving helping to clean the church, and spending time decorating and cooking food for the Bazaar....it was just so cool to see them working, and I dunno, it almost put me to shame, seeing them work so hard, and me, I had no idea what to do...I helped out a little, nothing like what they did.....this team even brought puppets, and also did a skit for the kids too!! SO COOL! so all evening they were setting up, Saturday they came to help finish getting the church ready...probably over 70 kids came from all over town, some just to get food, but they indeed got more :) (at least they heard about Jesus!!) While the students came and paid to get all kinds of good home-made Japanese food....fried bread, crepes, Japanese noodles, Tacoyaki...(fried octopus) icecream, curry w/ rice, hotcake, juices, caramel corn, and home made cotton candy!! So much food...but also skits and stories about Jesus, and we practiced and sand two songs from sister Act II Joyful Joyful and O Happy Day....It was awesome!!! I only wish I could have video of it!!! SO FUN, AND FUNNY TOO!! :) and then, we had the kids back at 7pm to go to the chapel/church on the hill, to start camp, and hear message from the students from the university....and then today the students did human video in church....SO COOL!! I will have to put up videos for everyone to see!! It was a blast this weekend, probably the coolest thing I've seen or done yet!! God is moving in Japan, just pray for strongholds in shrines to be broken!!!! God has so much in store for this country!!!! I know it!!!

I probably have learned over 10 lessons about life and ministry in this weekend alone....to see ministry done by another Japanese church/college ministry was just amazing to watch, and see how they reach their own people....we Americans think we have it all figured out about how to evangelize people....when sometimes we forget to hear from God on how HE wants to use us to spread His Word to people of all nations throughout the world. I learned the importance of prayer....Prayer, really is like shield....like forgetting to take your umbrella with you in the midst or a huge down poor...or forgetting to put on sandals, when there is a blizzard going on outside....We have to be prepared, for whatever the day ahead faces...and can I just tell you, without prayer, you can easily get knocked in the face!!

All I know, is that after watching this family for over a month, I have watched them pray, for just about everything, before EVERY meal....(um, and yes sometimes they even sing a song before they pray too) and even before they put the key in the ignition of their car, they pray for safety, and the pastor gets up EARLY every morning to pray....they are a praying family.....and God sees and hears our prayers....and surely answers us, in one way or another.....What if your prayers really did change your life, and every people around the world?? Would that change the way you pray or how your pray or what you pray for??!!! The bible says we have not, because we ask not. Have you asked....or prayed or talked to God today?!

God will answer you if you but ask....Matth 6:33 Seek first The Kingdom of God and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.

BIRTHDAYS AND RANDOMNESS!!!

HEY!!! Everyone!! I am in AWE of how many people have wished me a Happy Birthday!!! I just want to personally thank each and everyone one, for all the birthday wishes!! It truly means so incredibly much, especially being in another country!! AND thank you mallory for telling me skype with choir people!! I miss them so much! You the saying goes, you never know what you have, until it's gone.....for me that is people!!! People are so precious!! a person can never be replaced!! Things, are easily replaceable, but people, even people who have gone before us will never be forgotten, especially by God Almighty!! Who knows our Name, who knows our every thought, knows each tear that falls, and hears us when we call....(good song btw) God made each of us so unique so different!! What a great big mighty God we serve that he never gets to old, or lacks creativity, in that there is over 6,800,000,000 or 6.8 billion people on the earth right now!!! according to google stats!! haha!! AND...in all those people alive today, EACH and EVERY person is uniquely made and formed into the image of God!!!

This tells me we have a job to do.....to love and tell others they are created and loved so much by the God of the universe who holds the world in his hands!!! He made every person by his breath, and created us so perfectly and unique in fact, God took his own hands to form us, carefully sculpting everything about us, both inwardly and outwardly, humorous and funny, as well as nerdy and smart, and beautiful, and precious in His sight!!! We need to be who God made us to be, and then be BOLD enough to WALK in it!!! and not shy away from His calling!!! We need to get off the fence and use what we have to get in the game to win people to Christ!!! We cannot wait another day....we never know when our last day will be...We are blessed to be a blessing, Will we be that blessing to other people, to someone who needs a fresh word, or touch today?? Or will we stop and keep the blessing for ourselves??!! I have to get in the game folks!! No more sitting on the side lines, no more being a luke warm Christian....I've heard it said many a time before....You are only as close to God as you want Him to be!! AND yes this is so true!!! How close are we??!!! How close to you want to be??!!! I want to be so close to God as to smell the breath and hear His heartbeat!!!! But, that does come overnight, or instantly, it takes time to hear a heart, and to know a person and to feel their breath upon you!!! It takes diligence, patience, a stillness....but it is SO WORTH IT!!!! I wouldn't trade anything for the God we serve!!! God I need a fresh touch, I need a fresh Word today!!!! Help me to quite myself as to hear Your heartbeat and feel Your breath as I live out my day today!!!!!

SO AMAZING!!!!

Hey folks!!! I hope you having an awesome week!! as always it seems like the week just simply flies by!!! But just wanted to share a few things with you about what's been happening this week:

I've taught about 20 students English classes this week: I've been able to ride my bike around town, and also help out and sing some songs in English in church on Sunday, I get to sit in on the pastor's bible study which is pretty sweet!! and I get to eat some really good Japanese food!!! but besides all that, God is doing amazing things, not only in the church, and in people's lives in the community here, but in my life as well. I can't help but think how much God loves these people!! and he's sent me....over 6,300 miles to love these people and tell them about Jesus!! DUDE!! It's soo AMAZING!! Keep praying that lives would be changed because religion, both Shinto and Buddhism have such a stronghold in people's lives, even in the government!

BUT.....GOD IS SOO COOL!! There is an older lady in one of the English classes, her name is Yuko, she is so sweet!! she has three children all college age and older...and one of her daughters is handicapped. Well in Japan if your children are handicapped, it creates a bad stigma, and people don't want anything to do with it, and it makes it very hard on the parents. So Yuko every week meets with parents of children who are handicapped like hers and talks with them, like a support group. So, she found out that I teach Special Education in America, and wants me to speak at the next meeting they have on Thursday at 1pm!! What a SUPER COOL Opportunity to tell them about Jesus and his unfailing, all powerful, never-ending love for every person in the entire world!!! Pray that God would give me the words to say to them!!!! and I would know how to present the gospel, simply, clearly. I love you all so very very much!!! May God get all the glory both now, and forever!!! MISS YOU ALL!!!!

In His Steps,

Crystal CH :)