Two deep

Blimin' heck, I'm weary. It was the last day of classes today, except we didn't have class; instead we went to a lady's house where we dressed in kimono and learned a Japanese dance. It was very enjoyable. Photos will be posted on my photo link(see right panel) asap!

There's been a girl on my course who I've wanted to get to know the whole term. But it never happened; I was shy, she wasn't so forthcoming, she made another friend, and I made other friends. But we had a great chat walking back from the place (in fact I had a great chat both ways; I'll mention the other one in a minute).She is lovely, straightforward, quiet reserved and serious, but has lived in a few countries because of having parents of different nationalities; I think she has had a hard life at times. She has puzzled me on some occasions, as she is quite a tough cookie. I found out she is good at Thai fighting. It was a real surprise. I heard though that she'd taken it up to get over a trauma from when she was younger. I was impressed with her manner, her honesty, and yet carefulness in how she said things. I know she doesn't like sympathy, because I offered that once before on something and it wasn't so much appreciated. So I didn't offer any as such, but tried to connect in other ways. We also exchanged news of our brothers and sisters. She didn't know I was going to be in Japan for longer than the the average year. I told her I was wanting to listen to God for my life, for what he has for me; it felt right to say that, then.

My other chat was with another classmate, from Asia, as we walked to the kimono house. Often in class my Asian friend refers to the big TV she wants in the future, or the food she would like to eat. I thought she was only joking. but today we chatted and she said she wanted to tell me a Chinese story. It was about a man who was so in love with his beautiful, slender wife that he bought her so much food every day, as gifts. She then became very lazy, and in the end made a giant doughnut for herself which covered her face, so all she needed to do all day and night was lie on her bed, sleep, and then nibble from the doughnut with her mouth when she was awake. But one day her husband returned to find her dead. She had been too lazy to turn the doughnut around, and her mouth was out of reach of the unnibbled parts. She had died of starvation! Lyn asked me what I thought it meant. Afterward, I wondered if I should share a Bible parable with her. She said she liked scary stories, or romantic 'what happens after princess meets prince' ones. As I was thinking about it, she asked me which of the big houses we were walking past I wanted to live in. I said I wasn't bothered by big houses. She couldn't understand it. She said she'd be content to die having just watched loads of films in a big house. I told her if all we want is big houses, and watching films inside them, we don't look beyond the four walls and see the wider world and be involved in it. She asked me what that else could be involved in life, and I replied: following God's will, and serving and helping people. This was alien to her. She laughed every time I mentioned God or Jesus. It made me feel sad inside, as she's a good friend. It made me see there's a long way to go. But now I know she likes stories that have messages.

I feel that people don't know about the church, and what God can do to transform lives. I wish they did. I guess each Christian is a part of this representation though; what we show is who we are. It's fun having God with us; it's also a serious and meaningful thing, to have him in our lives and our very souls, transforming us from people of nature to people of another realm. It's amazing. And we're all in this together (ie we all have hurts to be set free from, lessons to learn). I want church to be a place of honesty, for where the spirit of the Lord is , there is freedom.