A Home Away From Home..

Dear Everyone,

I'm here. I have finally arrived in Japan after a long and tiring period of traveling 1/3 of the way around the world. And I'm feeling great! I got to Leena and Hayoto's house around 9:00 last night and there were plenty of hugs to go around. I love my Japanese family and it was so great to see them again. Before I get to talking about where I am staying and my schedule for the next couple days, I want to share a few incredible things that happened once I left Hawaii. Shortly after my last post, pre-boarding for my flight to Osaka began. While I was waiting to board, I had an opportunity to talk with an older Japanese couple who spoke hardly any English which was a quite a time. After they boarded, an American man approached me and introduced himself. His name was Jason and he had overheard my broken conversation and wanted to see if I needed any help once I arrived in Japan. He had been living in Japan with his family for the last 10 years and remembered what it was like having trouble speaking and getting around. I had a chance to share about my trip and what I needed to do once I arrived in Osaka and he quickly offered to help me translate around the airport when we arrived until I got onto my taxi! What a tremendous blessing. I wish I could describe the sense of peace that God has given me since I left Atlanta. Everywhere I have gone there seems to be someone that I am supposed to meet and once I do, they help me in some way for my trip. God's provision is truly perfect..Once we landed and Jason helped me to the taxi, I noticed that the lady who sat across from me on the plane was sitting next to me on the taxi, and she spoke English. We had some great conversations throughout the ride and I shared about why I was in Japan and she seemed to enjoy listening. After our talk she offered to let me use her computer and I was able to email my parents and let them know that I had arrived in Japan safely. Thank you Lord! After a pleasant taxi ride and a great reunion at Leena's doorstep, I came inside to see my new home for the next several days. Their house is so cozy and I feel right at home. I posted a few pictures of what it looks like and I'm sure you will notice some the differences between Japanese and American homes! The architecture is very unique but the only real differences inside are me having to duck under every door frame and the style of toilet and shower. Once we had caught up for an hour or so, I took a shower and went immediately to bed. Now I am up and getting ready for a free day of getting acclimated to Japan again and doing a small bit of shopping and ministry preparation. Over the next few days I will be sharing my testimony, giving a presentation on Georgia, singing, and leading a devotional for the youth at a local church. God has truly blown me away on this trip so far and I just got to Japan. Please pray that God would give me strength as I adjust to the new time zone and that He would give me the words to speak as I go throughout the city over the next few days. Last but not least, are the shout outs for the day. This is a tradition that I started last year on the blog and is something that I want to continue for this year from this post on. There will be 2 shout outs per blog. And the first shout out goes to.... The Warren Family. Your support and prayers are deeply appreciated and I wish Michael could be here with me again. He was such a role model for me and I miss him dearly. I can't wait to sing some Journey when I karaoke and dedicate it to him. The second shout out of the blog goes to... Reid. Love you and miss you bud. You will be excited to know that I sat by a pitcher for a Japanese university on my flight to Osaka. They had just finished playing in a baseball tournament for Japanese universities in Hawaii and won. Even though I don't like baseball and he could barely speak English, we had a great time trying to talk over the course of the 7 hour flight. Hope things are going well at FBC this summer and I can't wait for Japresentation 2.0. Thank you everyone for all of your prayers and support and I will post again soon!

Only By Grace,
CP