Day Five

May 5th

God continues to amaze me at showing to me more and more of His faithfulness and goodness. Today was a day of reunion for mom with some of her friends. Hiro had arranged for many of mom and dad's friends from Shizuoka to meet us at our hotel for lunch. Most of the people that came had been in the same church with mom and dad in Shizuoka when they were here. Mom and dad had most of these friends in a Bible study. One woman, Junko, brought with her some of the notes from dad's Bible study. Guess what book it was on? Galatians! The very book I'm preaching through now in Idaho. Junko gave me dad's notes on Galatians which I was very glad to have.

Each person shared something about where they are now and some significant memories they had of either mom or dad. I was brought to tears many times as each one shared something about how they had either come to faith in Christ or how they had grown in their walk with Christ. To hear how God used mom and dad in the process was so fulfilling and rewarding. I was, again, overwhelmed with God's presence with us and His faithfulness to us.

After lunch, Hiro took me to his house where he changed and we hung out for a bit. We soon headed to a Japanese restaurant for supper where I had some raw fish and raw squid. Yes, I really did eat it. It sure slides down easily. Can't say that I especially enjoyed it, but at least I ate it, which I never thought I would or could do.