While searching for "white socks" on my computer, this file came up. I'm not sure if I sent it with my Christmas cards in 2007 or not... but it sure was a walk down memory lane!
(The "new favorite hymn" is currently taped to my bathroom mirror. So powerful!)
My Best of 2007
Favorite memories from vacation
in Tennessee:
·
going to the library with my book-loving nieces!
·
riding the twilight hayride at Cade’s Cove with my parents
Not-so-favorite memories from
vacation in Tennessee:
·
that it turned into my “Club Med” vacation with 11 doctor’s visits
(the Japanese call it “human dock,” like a ship going into drydock)
·
not being able to see everyone I wanted to see
Heart-tugging moments:
·
hearing my nieces’ “See you when I’m 5!” and “See you when I’m 7!”
·
5-year old girl on our team exposing my control tendencies when
she asked, “Aunt J-, but why
don’t you want the others to get there before we do?”
·
3 ½ year old boy on our team saying, “But, Aunt J-, you are nice!” upon hearing me exclaim to
his parents that I want to be a “nice old lady.”
Best experiences catching up over
the years and miles:
·
Kuala Lumpur, September, Asia Area Retreat: late night
conversation at Starbucks and in a hotel hallway with a former teammate now in another
country in Asia
·
South Carolina, August: cousins converging for less than 24 hours,
with stories of the past months in Fiji, Japan, China and New Mexico
Most momentous life
occasion:
·
attending the high school graduation at our
missionary kid school (The class of 2007 was a class of one, but that one
graduate was a month old when I first arrived in Japan, so it was a pretty
special occasion).
Best sporting event I attended (of course the only sporting event I attended, and
that, rather accidentally!):
·
Karuizawa International Curling Championship 2007
New favorite hymn:
Best discipline of
this past year:
·
keeping a 1000 gifts journal, in which I list
the everyday gifts God gives me (I’m at
#1615 and counting, counting things like the early morning mist rising from the
pond I like to walk around)
Newfound brain exercises:
·
Codeword puzzles
·
Free rice vocabulary game
Favorite airport
trips of the year (driving to Tokyo/Narita airport an hour away):
·
finding a new back road to the airport, a 2-lane
tollroad with “Watch for Wild Animals” signs
·
driving one of the vans to pick up a new
short-term missionary family in August; the wife is one of the missionary
children I taught my first year here!
·
getting to listen in as I drove Dr. D.A. Carson
and my two conversationalist “plants” to the airport, after he spent a week
teaching in Japan
Farthest out-of-my-comfort-zone
experience:
·
interpreting from English to Japanese
·
learning to park the “tank” (very nice van) I’m driving for six
months while friends are away
New phrase:
·
“white socks,” referring to a long-ago friend who saw God provide
everyday things for her family, such as white Sunday socks for her little
girls. Looking for “white socks”
this fall has shown me more of God’s care and provision for me. So far, my “white socks” range from a jar of
special jam to the car above. Looking
for “white socks” has opened my eyes to God’s deep care for me.
Greatest lesson God
has taught me:
·
His perfect plan is just that.
Hardest experience
moving that truth from my head to my heart:
·
an allergic reaction to the Japanese sweet olive
tree in early October, recovery from which included steroids, antibiotics, a
nebulizer machine, and two months later, a visit to a highly-acclaimed medical
center near here. Today I feel great,
and I trust it continues.
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