Walking in His Grace

    God has been talking to me lately about walking in the grace He has provided for each moment.  God has given grace for today, for right now, and He will grant the grace for each day of my life.  It's so easy to worry about days in the future or fret about how something will turn out, but God wants us to live in the grace He has provided.
    In Matthew 6:34, Paul writes the same concept.

 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. 

Today’s trouble is enough for today."

     Someone once said that worrying is imagining the future without God.  The truth is God is always with us and He will care for us and help us through the most difficult situation. Worry is truly a waste of time.  In Philippians chapter 4, Paul says:

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,

 with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 

7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

    In the New Living Translation verse 6 says:

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. 

Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 

    Yesterday, we sent Kristi off to the airport to fly back to the Pennsylvania. Saying goodbye is generally hard for me, but I was really trying to walk in God's grace for each moment. At other times I have been so worried about how hard it would be to say goodbye or how lonely it would be without the person, that I have sometimes not enjoyed the entire last week they were home!  Every day I would think 'this might be the last time I'll do such-and-such with them'.  Well, I was determined to try really hard to trust God this time.  He promised that he would never leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5).  He has promised to be there with me and to walk me through every day.  He has told me to trust Him, so this was a good way to practice.  A few times in the last two days that Kristi was here I caught myself thinking the old lies "It'll be so lonely", "It will be too hard", "It's going to be terrible... But each time I was able to remind myself, "No. Kristi is still here, so I should enjoy the time I have and when we must say goodbye God will give us grace." 

      Although I didn't do it perfectly, God was faithful.  The actual farewell was not nearly as hard as the enemy tried to get me to believe it would be.  Although I miss her, life still continues and is good even though Kristi is not here.  Learning to walk in God's grace for each moment is a big deal.  In that way we could be worry free and content, even when going through the most painful trial.  On a much smaller level, saying goodbye to Kristi was a step toward that goal. 

     I pray that we would all learn to walk more and more in His grace for every moment! 

God bless!

 

Three Brides?

     On Sunday, August 12, 2012, Dad took us three girls to Osaka.  We went to Westin Hotel where they were holding a Bridal Fair.  Having weddings at hotels is quite common in Japan.  Dad often works at Westin Hotel as the wedding pastor.  On Sunday he had three wedding demonstrations, mogis. In the hotel were displays of several styles of how they could set up the reception room.  Kristi, Tiffy, and I spent the day looking around the hotel.  We admired the variety of tables and room setups, the displayed wedding dresses, and looked through collected photos from the many weddings at Westin Hotel.

 

     When we arrived, we girls and Dad walked through the hotel to find out where things were and what was available.  Dad soon had to get ready for his first mogi, so he left and we girls decided to go back to Osaka station.  We walked through the large electronic store, Yorobashi, and then wandered through a small portion of the shopping mall right next to the train station.  It was just before one o'clock and we were getting hungry.  Thus, we walked back towards the hotel where we bought an obento and something to drink.  Outside there were some lovely gardens.  We didn't walk through them this time (it was pretty hot outside), but I got a glimpse of them when buying lunch and through one of the hotel windows.

      By the time we finished lunch we were pretty hot, so we returned to the lovely air-conditioned hotel.  The main reason we had come to the Bridal Fair was in hopes of trying on one of the wedding dresses.  Seeing that there weren't many customers trying on dresses when we got back to the hotel, we decided to go down and see if it was a good time for us to get dressed up.  We walked into the room and admired the table setup before advancing to the beautiful wedding dresses in the corner of the room.

We looked at the variety of colors and styles for a little bit before one of the staff asked if we wanted to try one on.  Of course we did!  We each selected a dress and with the help of one of the staff we put it on.  We were then escorted to some seats where they did up our hair.  I felt like a princess with my flowing dress and hair done up.

     The three of us walked sedately out of the room to the place where they would take our pictures.  They were really kind and not only gave each one of us two pictures to take home, but also took lots of pictures on my iPod.  Dad happened to walk downstairs between mogis.  Just as we were in the middle of taking pictures, he arrived!  So we were able to get pictures with him, too!  It was quite amazing that he would just happen to come down at the perfect time! We didn't stay in the wedding dresses very long, so the timing had to be very exact!  Here are some fun pictures!

 

So cute!

 

Loved that dress!

Tiffy! You look like a bride!  I don't know if I can handle this.  

My younger sister is growing up!

 

We were able to get some group shots as well!  So fun!

After we tried on the dresses, we were so happy!  We went upstairs to look at the pictures on my iPod and talked about how fun it was to get dressed up.  Having some time to kill, we decided to go to a nearby coffee shop for a small dessert.  We got a small slice of bitter chocolate cake and split it three ways.  Delicious!!

    At 4:15 we met up with Dad and asked if we could watch the Bridal Show.  They let us sit in the back (or front, depending on how you think about it).  They played music, used lasers and spotlights to make lighting effects, and then had three ladies walk in and out displaying a variety of dresses, kimonos, hair-styles, and entrance styles.  It was quite fun to watch!

  

     At five-thirty we watched the mogi, where the wedding ceremony was acted out to show couples what they could expect of a wedding.  I've seen Dad do several mogis before, but I enjoyed seeing it again.

     While Dad was finishing up after the mogi, we girls wandered down to the room with the dresses.  We commented and admired them again just in case the staff wanted to offer to let us try on another.  Unfortunately they didn't.  But I can totally understand why they wouldn't.  Once Dad was finished we said goodbye and left.  We walked across the street to the Sky Hotel, perhaps the tallest building in Osaka.  At the top is a 360° viewing area where we watched the sun set over Osaka.

 

 Osaka

 

 

 

Getting dark

Osaka at night

      Underground we found a nice little restaurant where we had dinner together.  There were some really cool streets and shops in the underground section.

 

     By far the most fun part of the day was getting all dressed up in the wedding dresses!  Three brides?  Not yet, but some day!