What's a schedule, anyway?

As some of you might have already heard, I (Jason) am totally off of the night shift at the gym! Last week was my first official week (Although short, because we didn't get back in until Tuesday night from Colorado Springs.), and I have to say, it felt nice. Sleeping on a proper schedule, waking up between 8am and 9am (As opposed to between 10am and 2pm), and getting all my errands done in the day time is such a wonderful blessing! I don't think I need to bask in this any longer, but I have to say thank you for all the prayers.

The LORD has truly been working in our hearts this past month, and I can't help but share how He's been working! As stated before, the Summer months were a little difficult for me and Rachael, but after lots of prayer and meditation, it has been understood that God used that time to test our faith. Not only did that time of struggle strengthen our relationship with Him, but it also confirmed that our going to Japan is from Him. We have never been more confident of this mission to go to Japan than now... and it's only getting stronger! The LORD is good. Always.

I'll end this with scripture and a CUTE picture of Honey. This passage has been on my heart, because God has been showing me a lot in confidence and what to be confident in.

2 Corinthians 5:6-10, "Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."

Flashback Friday!

Okay, this is a random, short, and silly one, but still a flashback! hahaha



This is a picture of Rachael while we were visiting family in Boston. As some of you may know, Rachael and I will lock-up and semi-wrestle on occasion. At this point, I was always threatening her that I would give her a hickey on her eye. I don't think she ever believed me until she kept pestering me... so I gave her a hickey on her eye... as I promised. hahahaha. This was the aftermath of such an event. :P
(This flashback was actually approved by Rachael. hehe)

Go Tell It To The Mountain!

(I posted the pictures before writing for a change... not a good choice. hahaha. So comments will follow each picture.)
This lake is about 8,000 ft up towards Pike's Peak. As you can clearly see, the colors are gorgeous, and a whole lot more colorful than our Myrtle Beach trees. :)

This is Rachael on top of Pike's Peak, but it's really cool that you can see the weather line from the height we were at (14,110 ft).

Thought this was just a silly sign on the way up to the Peak.

We were taking pictures at the Navigators Headquarters. Standard pictures are boring... jump pictures, however, are AMAZING!

This is our fellow GO! participants. I'll give you who and a where they're going.
Top Row from the Left: H (Location Secured), D and L (Location Secured), Joe Hughes (Wife Julie in front with kids Paul and Anna; Sendai, Japan), Jaclyn Shelton (La Plata, Argentina). Bottom row (Besides Julie) from Left: JL (Location Secured), Kelly Leaver (La Plata, Argentina)

Beautiful mountain scenery from summit of Pike's Peak.

Again, Pike's Peak scenery.

Rachael and I on top of Pike's Peak. Good times.

Flashback Friday!

Okay. I'm going to begin a series of "Flashback Friday" posts each Friday where I recall a random event of the past and share it with the public. It may be significant, it may not. That's moreso for you to decide than me. Either way, it's a part of our past (or one of our pasts).

This picture is... me. hahahaha. While in Japan in 2005 with the Navigators, we played a "scavenger hunt"-style game where us foreigners dressed up like random people, and because of my long hair and beard, I was asked to be the homeless person. So, yes. That's me sleeping in a box in the middle of a shopping area.

Now for the funny part. A police officer was watching over the area and noticed me in the distance. At this point, I actually started dozing off because the students were taking so long to find me. The officer came up to me and was yelling something that I definitely wasn't able to understand. In Japanese, I was trying to calm the situation down by saying, "It's a game! It's a game!" So Mark Rood comes running down the shopping center to get the officer's attention to detail the situation and get me off the hook. The officer tried to clarify that I could "pretend" to be homeless, but I couldn't actually sleep in a box. So we moved post a little bit, and I just sat on the box instead. Once the students saw that Mark was talking to me and the officer, they realized that it was me. The reason why they didn't find me was because they were truly scared that I was an actual homeless person, and they didn't want to intrude on my rest. Out of this respect, they left me alone. The police officer even said I was scaring some of the parents of the kids.

What started as such a simple game ended up being a complicated situation and a scaring moment for half of the people in the shopping area. Good times. hahaha.

Bad Language, Listening to God, and Deer Hunting... Oh, My.

Yesterday was quite the filled day. Rachael and I actually woke up at a good time (Considering my sleep schedule) and almost got to church before the worship team started. hahaha. ALMOST.

The music was oh' so encouraging, uplifting, and praise-worthy, but having Jeff back was a treat in itself. Yesterday's sermon powerful! Especially convicting for me (Jason), because I've actually been trying to clean things up in my life as well; language slips, certain styles of music, less movies and TV, etc. The sermon hit all of those points for me, but the truly convicting part was "... it's permissible, but not beneficial." That's the kind of line one needs to hear to understand that what I'm doing right now is not drawing me closer to my LORD and Savior. Or with my wife. Or with my family. Or with my friends. Wow. There are a whole lot more important things in life besides entertainment. Even when he talked about politics, I got a sick feeling in my stomach. I guess this has just been an overly frustrating year when it comes to the political scene, but when it all boils down, is that truly helping feed my walk with God? Not that I can't be informed with the world around me, but to immerse myself in it, that might be a bit too much. Great sermon though.

As for Listening to God, the Navs gave us a very thick study of biblical individuals that were directly spoken to by God or one of His Angels. When you read them in succession, it really opens a door that you either ignored all these years or closed off. I don't even know how to describe it. It was like one second I prayed and read about Moses speaking to God, and then by the time I got to Samuel, It seemed as if God was directly speaking to me the whole time. Not with the exact words that were given to Moses, Hagar, Samuel and others, but the comfort and confirmation that one needs to know their mission in life and to never back down. It truly was a powerful experience in itself.

Lastly, Rachael went deer hunting with my uncle Chuck last night. She called me at about 7:30pm, which I didn't even need to hear her to know this, to let me know she just shot her first buck. Deer hunting is not my thing, so if I don't sound excited, that's why. hahaha. But Rachael was extremely proud of herself and couldn't stop evaluating the experience. Here's her and Chuck with the prize.

Sorry if that made you squeemish. hahaha. But it was truly exciting for both of them, and that means deer meat for everyone! :P

And here you go, the picture of Honey I promised:

Isn't she cute! Licking her chops and all. hahaha.

You be the judge...

Okay. We ate at La Pizza today after church, and every single one of us got calzones and strombollis. However, all of us but ONE got personal sized ones. Danny got a medium. The difference in size, you ask? HUGE.



Now, you be the judge. hahaha.

Getting A Bit Behind.

All right. Where do I start?

Rachael and I have been doing really well. Life has slowed down since the Summer, which is a huge blessing as well as a relief. We are finally able to see people we haven't seen all Summer long, meet with potential donors, spend more time in God's word, and just finally get life situated again.

Our Summer caused us to become a bit discouraged and even agitated due to the lack of response we got from family and friends, but I think we just got too over-our-heads and gave the whole situation to God instead of trying to control the matter at hand ourselves. We know He will provide... in His time.

Rachael's been busy getting in contact with friends and family back home, and we've been hearing wonderful responses from people we kind of weren't expecting. The combination of that and random people from work have been a huge encouragement! It made us wonder if our Summer was just a testing period for us to realize that the LORD is in control. Whether that's the case or not, Rachael and I are feeling so much better mentally and spiritually.

We are prepping up to go back to Colorado Springs for our last training session this coming Saturday (October 4, 2008), and the material we have received for preparation has been powerful, to say the least. One study is simply on Romans 14, with a title boldly called, "The Romans 14 Issue." hehe. Anyways, the "issue" brought to attention that is simply in the biblical text is that there are truly gray areas in our beliefs that we can't force down one-another's throats. Paul speaks of food in the text; eating everything or eating some things. Paul encourages the Roman church to respect the decision of everyone, whether you eat anything or only eat vegatables. To not pass judgment because someone's ideals are different than yours.

Verse 16 says, "Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil." After investigating my own life, I reflected on the times where I know I allowed my good to be spoken of as evil, due to my reactions and the words I used. I've truly lost friends, hurt family members, developed hatred and judgment due to my insensitivity. After this study, I've realize how wrong I really am some time. Not wrong in what I believe, but wrong in how I express that belief. As a fellow believer, I strongly encourage anyone willing to meditate on that Romans 14 passage and just allow God to speak to you.

I wanted to end this note with a smile, so I was going to post a picture of Honey, our dog. But unfortunately, Rachael took the camera with her, so I'll leave you with this...


This is a picture taken by my friend Norio during the Sakura-blossoming season in his hometown of Nagano. When he sent this to me, I thought he was lying when he said he took it, but when he expressed the beauty of the area while there, you could not even begin to deny what he saw... and what you are looking at.