A Camera, a Tree, and a Family

It's that time of year again; time for the anual Christmas card photo.  This year we opted to do an indoor shoot in front of our Christmas tree.  For family pictures we used the timer setting on the camera.  This gave us the usual hits and misses.

The Hits...

 

 

The Misses..

My story

Someone recently asked me the story of my heart problems and how I could continue as a missionary despite it. It is a long story involving 4 countries and 9 cardiologist, so I’ll give you the highlights. It starts about 4 years ago when I lived as a missionary in the Philippines. I had some irregular heartbeats when I had a gallbladder attack, but after surgery it seemed to go away. 6 months later I had an emergency appendectomy and nearly died do to a heart problem during surgery. A couple of weeks post-op I began to have daily irregular heartbeats. We saw various doctors in the Philippines and tried a medication, but I wasn’t happy with them and the mediation didn’t work. A few months later we went to Thailand for medical checkups for the family. The cardiologist there told me I was at risk for sudden cardiac death and put me on a serious medication (listed side effects included: blindness, lung damage, death). After a week of thinking I could drop dead at any moment we decided to return to the USA. The cardiologist in FL took me off the medication and diagnosed me with ventricular tachycardia and a mitral valve prolapse with mild-moderate regurgitation. I usually have daily irregular heartbeats where it feels like my heart is racing and skipping beats. Many of them I can ignore. I sometimes feel short of breath. It can cause anxiety sometimes too. When I have a lot of them or a really long one I get really tired. A few times I have felt light headed and nearly fainted. The doctor, and subsequent doctors, told me “you’re fine until you’re not”. So, I am supposed to have yearly checkups, come in when things change and when I’m unsure go to the ER (sometimes ventricular tachycardia can lead to ventricular fiberlation, where the heart beat is so chaotic that it doesn’t supply enough oxygen to the body and if not immediately treated leads to death. So that is why if I am in doubt I should go to the ER, even though at this point it isn’t likely to happen). At one point when things were more frequent we tried a 3rd medication to no avail. Then we discussed surgery with a heart surgeon. He said I wasn’t a good candidate. Last year I saw another cardiologist here in Japan and he looked into ablation, but decided that it wasn’t necessary. So there you have my long heart story. I’m okay until I’m not! Lol!


All of this heart drama lead to a lot of thinking and praying about what life is all about. There were times when we really believed (even if it turned out later not to be true) that I could die at any moment. We realized that for all of us, whether we have a heart problem or not, the number of days we live is really out of our hands. Anyone of us could die suddenly in a car accident, for example. God is the one who sustains us. My husband and I talked and thought a lot about how we want to live our lives. We’ve decided that it isn’t just about how much time we have here on earth, but about how you spend that time. I want to spend it being faithful to what God has called me to do. I want to make an impact on eternity. Life on earth is but a breath and eternity with God awaits me. I’m living now for a better then.

In all honesty, it isn’t easy. I do feel sometimes like why did God call me, with my medical issues, my family’s medical problems and all my personal shortcomings to Japan? Surely there was someone better out there to do this! I get frustrated. I have culture shock moments. I miss having an oven, and a warm house, and a dryer and Walmart, and inexpensive produce year round. Even more than that, I miss my family. I even have moments of self-pity. I sometimes forget the big picture and start thinking about me instead of focusing on the big God who can do big things with small people. I guess you could say I am really learning that “his grace is sufficient for me and that his power is made perfect in my weakness.” I am so not the perfect missionary!

But there are also times when I look around me amazed that God would allow me to live here and to do this. I have no greater joy than sharing the love of Jesus and what’s more I’ve got people sacrificing their money so that I get to do that! I’ve had moments where I have looked around me and felt moved with compassion for the people of Japan. My heart breaks when I am reminded of the hundreds of people here that are so hopeless that they commit suicide. It drives me to do more to reach them. Besides that, I’ve got hundreds of people praying for me. I can’t tell you how humbling and how powerful it is to get an e-mail from someone saying they are praying for me.

So I’m learning to live with this heart condition. I still make some doctor trips and ER trips as I figure out what is normal for me, but they are happening less frequently now. I am learning to live with my limitations and adapt to my new situation. I remember at one point after my appendectomy praying that all of this medical drama would be over. God said it was not over (in fact it was just before all the heart stuff started) and he lead me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4…

“ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you… 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Cor. 4: 7-12, 16-18.

And that is what I’m trying to do, to fix my eyes on what is unseen. I’m not always successful. I’m not a super saint. There are others who have sacrificed more, have great trials, greater faith and greater victories. In the end it doesn’t matter where you live, what you have or how healthy you are. What matters is that you are where God wants you to be, doing what he wants you to do. When you are in that place you find peace.

Thanksgiving in Japan

There were never Pilgrims that sailed on the Mayflower nor the Native Americans who helped them adapt to a new land in Japan.  Thanksgiving is not a holiday here.  That doesn't mean that Americans living in Japan aren't going to eat turkey!  We did still manage to celebrate the day.  On the fourth Thursday in November we gathered in Tokyo with fellow American A/G missionaries for a Turkey dinner.  It was a great time to relax, hear what others are doing, and, of course, eat!  Getting together with fellow missionaries made being away from family during the holiday a little easier.

On the way home we stopped at Costco (yes there is a Costco in Japan!) and picked up 3 frozen turkeys and other supplies for our church's upcoming pot luck.  We got there 20 minutes before closing.  I raced around the huge warehouse like I was on one of those grocery store game shows, flinging food into the cart!  Thankfully, we managed to pick up all the necessary food before the store closed.

Today, the Sunday after thanksgiving, we had a Thanksgiving themed potluck at church.  We were excited to see many guests, including several students and faculty from the University, joined us to taste the special American food.  For some of these guest this was one of the only times they had ever stepped inside a church.  We took time to reflect on what we were thankful for and enjoyed a worship service.  After service a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings was served.  Some international additions to the traditional feast were included thanks to our multinational congregation.

In between these events we even did other typical American things.  I did some "black Friday" shopping on-line for Christmas gifts for family members in the USA.  I got the added bonus of early bird discounts without even having to get up early as our time is 14 hrs ahead of Eastern Standard time!
We also set up our Christmas tree that we brought with us when we moved to Japan as it is our tradition to put it up on the day after Thanksgiving.  Now that Thanksgiving is past, we are looking forward and planning for ways to reach out to the University students this Christmas.

More Medical Drama

I haven't blogged in awhile, because life has gotten a little bit crazy. It all started with a phone call that I got from a classmate of Chris'. They were in an ambulance with Chris that had just left language school and were on the way to the hospital. Chris had been feeling poorly ever since his routine colonoscopy a couple of weeks previously. Then on that particular morning he had suddenly felt very bad, had numbness in his hand and feet and had started to faint. His teacher and fellow student accompanied him to the hospital and waited for me and the kids to arrive. I was so impressed that they came! Not only that, but a fellow missionary friend rushed down from Tokyo to help interpret. What a blessing! They ran a lot of tests, but didn't really come to any conclusions. After a couple more doctor visits and a couple more tests over the next couple of weeks they decided that he had some bruising from his colonoscopy and had chronic gastritis. They still aren't sure why he has tingling in is face, hands and feet. So tomorrow he is having an MRI to check his brain and the disks in his spine.

Meanwhile Addie's arthritis has been acting up. I took her to the local doctor. He is the head of Pediatrics at a University Hospital, however he is not a specialist in arthritis. He didn't really seem to understand the subtleties of Adelaide's illness. He told me that she just might have to live in pain. I was not convinced and decided it was time for a second opinion. Last week I went to see a specialist in Tokyo. After 2 hours of train rides with 2 little children and a short walk we reached the hospital. The doctor was fantastic! He really took time to examine Addie. He understands that kids with arthritis can still be somewhat active, even when they are in pain. He found 5 swollen joints. He was concerned that if we don't get this taken care of she could have permanent joint damage. He then ordered x-rays and other tests. He gave her some new medicine to take temporarily in addition to what she was already on. Tomorrow we go back to see if she can start ultra low dose of chemotherapy. Of course with this type of medication there can be serious side effects, but for some kids with arthritis they can be pain free!

Even while all this is going on we are trying to keep as normal a life as possible. I'm still busy homeschooling the kids. The school year ends in Japan in March and then starts up again in April. So I've been getting ready for the next school year too. After a week of rest Chris went back to language school, even though he still isn't 100%. He is also still teaching Sunday School at our church. We know that we are right where God has called us to be and are happy to be here. Still, all of these medical issues are a bit of a distraction that we would rather do without! We would appreciate your prayers for full health for all of us!

Animals Outside My Door

I just heard a cat fight outside. Chris said, “maybe it's being attached by the tunuki.” This reminded me that Chris and Addie spotted this animal in the garden across the street from our house a couple of months ago. It also made me think that this is one animal I had never heard of before moving to Japan and I thought, perhaps, some of you would be interested in it as well. If you want to just what in the world a tanuki is try this link...
http://factsanddetails.com/japan.php?itemid=888&catid=26&subcatid=164

A Typical Sunday

We start the day by dragging ourselves out of bed and into the cold air (we don't heat the house overnight and temps are usually in the upper 30's in the house when we wake up). Chris gets up first, turns on the heater in the kitchen and preps for teaching Bible study. Chris then drags me out of bed and gets in the shower, while I run around like a crazy person getting everyone ready for church. This is largely do to the fact that I am not a morning person and have a hard time getting out of bed. Lol!

We pile into the car, which anyone with young kids knows, is an accomplishment. Then we head to Tsukuba University where we pick up a student and bring him to church.
Chris teaches Hermeneutics (how to interpret scripture) as a a Sunday school class. Then we all attend the main service (the kids go to children's church after worship). After church there a light refreshments and fellowship. This week we said goodbye to one international student from Nigeria and hello to a new student from the Philippines. Our church has many international students that are frequently coming and going.

We get home around 1:30 or 2 and eat a late lunch. We watched My Dog Skip. I think this is the first movie that has ever made Addie cry. Still, it was a pretty good film. I brought down Stratego, a favorite board game, and played with Wesley. Hudson and Addie made a big bed on the living room floor with a bunch of pillows and blankest and pretended to be cats. Then they decided that they wanted to play Stratego. This didn't quite workout so well as Hudson (at age 4) doesn't like to play by the rules. LOL! Meanwhile, Chris went to the Joyful Honda (a home depo type of store) to pick up our next weeks worth of kerosene for our vented heater.

After he return we had the cock-a-leeky soup and salad I made for dinner along with some french bread. The kids played a little bit more and Chris and I discovered the fun in playing “scramble” together on our i-phones. Soon it was all hands on deck for a quick living room and kitchen tidy up. I vacuumed and Chris did the dishes. Once the kids were in the pajamas and had brushed their teeth, Chris read a portion of scripture to the family and prayed. Then he took the kids up to bed while I sat down to iron and fold a couple loads of laundry. Life without a dryer = lots of ironing. However, I have discovered that watching something on Hulu, makes ironing a less terrible chore to do. After some Hulu viewing with Chris we headed off to bed, and so ended a typical Sunday.

Wordless Wednesday: My Living Room Floor