Our house is finally all down and on the way to the dump! Below are a few pictures of the process that was supposed to take 10 days, but ended up taking almost 1.5 months! They ended up firing the one crew and hiring another for the last week because they were working so slow and there were some issues. One late afternoon I checked on their progress and found a smouldering area on the land--dangerously close to a tree. I borrowed some buckets of water from my Japanese mom, but it required a hose and quite a bit of water. Before the episode was over, three different neighbors were helping with their hoses--quite the firemen/women!
The new crew is supposed to be done on Monday!
Last Sunday we had a beautiful sunrise service (at 8:45AM) up in the mountains near our Shioda church. The peach blossoms were in their peak and the sun was warm. We sang a few hymns, had a scripture reading and a prayer and then ate a bit of breakfast.
If you look carefully you can see the snow covered alps in the distance behind the peach trees.
This is a brother from our church and our Sunday school student. This brother and I are taking turns teaching him on Sundays. My reading is very slow and I don't know what I am reading most of the time, but he is patient with me and helps me.
Akihiro took these pictures on his Sunday afternoon bike ride with the two boys in the church neighborhood!
I am running out of clothes that fit my expanding belly and plan to investigate sewing options and shopping when we come home, but thought I would just see what is available here in Japan. The only maternity store that I know of had a wide selection of black, navy, and grey clothes, but with my coloring, and being summer, I couldn't get too excited about that color scheme! So, I went to another shop where they have regular clothes. Right now the style here is these long flowing tops--they look like maternity tops! So, I thought I would try that out. I found a few I liked and headed for the dressing room. I was proud of myself to remember to take my shoes off before I entered, but my glee ended soon when I noted the the space at the top of the door was quite large--so large in fact, that I would be flashing nearly the entire store with my upper body if I stood up to try the shirts on! Hmmm, what was this tall foreigner to do? Well, though the room is quite small, I did manage to kneel down and get the shirt on, but then to face the mirror was a trick! I was tempted to put my feet out the bottom space of the dressing room door, but thought people might really wonder--they were probably wondering about a few giggles that escaped my mouth as I thought about what I was doing and how it looked from the outside! My knees were sore by the time I tried on 4 shirts, but I did find one that fit and that I liked, so I tried to put on my own shirt and stand up gracefully as if it was perfectly normal to try clothes on in a kneeling position! It was a good thing there was no one waiting for my stall! Anyway, I will have a new appreciation for American sized dressing rooms and their doors--I just hope I remember to keep my shoes on!
We leave tomorrow for America. It is with excitement, but yet with apprehension. There is one face that I really would like to see, but I know is no longer there, but looking down from heaven. (Don't get me wrong, I am very excited to see the faces of family and friends and look forwared to the refreshing fellowship!) Our main purpose for this trip is to attend the Hospice Memorial Service for Mom after church next Sunday. I know it will be emotional, but pray that it can be healing too. I'm thankful that my energy level has returned nearly to normal, even though I am still having to eat every 2 hours to keep my stomach from being upset. I am so thankful to feel more like myself again! Trips home are emotional enough without the added hormonal mood swings and fatigue! I would appreciate prayers for safe travel and for an extra measure of grace and strength.