Another adult in the family

Today is Daniel's 18th birthday.  Seems a long time ago when David was watching the closing stages of the 1994 World Cup Final and hoping labour would hold off until the closing penalties!  It did - and started a few hours later!  Daniel came into the world on 18th July 1994.  Little did we know at that time that four years later we would leaving for Singapore with a nearly 4 year old and a 2 year old to start our adventure in Japan within OMF.  After some six weeks of orientation at the OMF HQ in Singapore we celebrated Daniel's 4th birthday and then a couple days later we found ourselves in Sapporo.  Two years of language study, seven years in Otaru, two years of home assignment and here we are now in our fourth year at Hiragishi (with double the number of boys too!)  In two days time we will mark our 14th annivesary of landing in Japan for the first time.  Neither of us had been here before, quite unlike most missionaries arriving here these days who have usually done at least some kind of short-term placement in Japan.  Our boys have grown up here and all have gone (or are still going) through Japanese primary school.  We have had rich and varied experiences over these years - many challenges, many joys, many things to learn.  We have watched our boys grow and the older two head off to India for secondary education.  Now we have reached the stage where our oldest boy is about to return to Scotland for university.  There are always changes.  There is no 'normal' - or at least not a 'normal' which lasts for long.  But it's a great life.  What could be better than to live in a land where so few know Jesus and be able to play just a small part in sharing Jesus with the people of Japan.  We enjoy our life here, though of course there are stresses, frustrations and disappointments along the way too.  As we look ahead, more challenges and changes await.  But we can look back over these years, the (almost) 21 since we were married, the 18 since we became parents, the 14 we have been in Japan, and can say that God has been faithful, he has been with us in this journey, and he will go with us as he goes with Daniel to the start of his new life in Glasgow from September.  There is much for which we can give thanks.

Together again

This blog seems to have gone quiet over the past two or three weeks. Two OMF Conferences, the older two boys returning from India, preparation for a one week trip to one of the areas devastated by the tsunami, plus all the usual things (and not a few extra too) have cut into available time. But here we go again. It's great to be together again as a family of six. Matthew got home just over a week ago and Daniel followed two days later having been away in the Himalayas for two weeks. The first week back always sees them indulge in plenty of sleeping plus plenty of trips to the fridge to see what might be there for consumption. A late birthday cake for Matthew was also baked; Daniel conveniently has his birthday during the holidays. The younger two of course are very happy to have their older brothers on hand, not least to go and play football! We really do live quite an unusual lifestyle with all the continual coming and going. But in an odd kind of way that becomes usual to us. Daniel and Matthew are looking forward to joining David as we go as a team of six people to Miyako in Iwate prefecture from the day after tomorrow. It's great to be able to do this together. Matthew will have the job of photographer and Daniel has the task of writing up a log of all that we do day by day. Although we have some idea of what we might be doing, flexibility is the key. Watch this space for some news of what we end up doing.

On the move - again!

It has reached that time of year again when our older boys are on the move, this time returning to Japan for the winter holidays. They are in Tokyo and will head up to Sapporo tomorrow - two other boys (as well as Mum and Dad) are eagerly awaiting their arrrival. It is always fun to have these weeks to be together and catch up. Schedules are adjusted; work commitments scaled back (somewhat); and precious time is spent talking and listening, often in the case of of teenage boys lasting late into the night! Daniel and Matthew enjoy the adventure of travel. They also look forward to such mundane pleasures as McDonalds in the airport, though it seems they checked out Starbucks during their stopover in KL. That seemed to be partly for the coffee but more for the wi fi connection (until they discovered the whole airport had wireless access). It won't be all rest though. Daniel goes back to mock A Level exams in late January so the textbooks will return too. However, before that we can enjoy Christmas together. Having said that though, just as two boys come back, one goes off for a football tournament in Yokohama. But that is another story which can wait for another day. Meantime we look forward to this weekend when we are once again a family of six all under the same roof.