I'll be Home for (a White!) Christmas...

Perhaps we didn't head to the home our extended families might have chosen for us, but we did go "home" to our Japanese church family for Christmas!

Christmas Eve, after a Skype date with Dan's entire family, we packed our bags and hit the Tohoku Expressway, south to Ohira, Miyagi, to Gospel Town Tohoku Central Church (ゴスペルタウン, actually pronounced "Gospel Town, for those of you wondering!) They had prepared a room in the guest house for our family to stay overnight (since it is a 2 hour drive and the Christmas Eve service started at 7 p.m.) and we had a few hours to rest and play in a familiar setting before joining the staff and residents (students of their Bible college program) for dinner. There is a living room and kitchen area where we were able to run, wrestle, and play, as well as lounge on full-size couches... it was a welcome respite from the hotel rooms and office, a brief taste of home for us, particularly Kai who could romp and be loud and run off some stink!

During our time living in Japan, our other English-teaching friends told us about this church in (literally) the middle of nowhere that they went to for worship. When we started attending, there were about six of us English teachers on a semi-regular basis. During our four years at the church there were many different gaijin that attended, in part because the head pastor, Nagai-sensei speaks fluent English and the congregation was exceptionally welcoming of us. Many life-long friends were made during those years and a number of tears were shed when it was time for us to move home. To be able to return for such a joyful time of the church year was a huge gift to us and served as a "mini-vacation" in the midst of our work up here in Kessenuma.

The Christmas Eve service is one of my favorites at Gospel Town because it is almost EXACTLY like the Lutheran service we have at home, with the exception of being in Japanese! We sang Christmas classics such as "Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel," "Angels We Have Heard on High," and "Joy to the World" and heard readings from Isaiah, Micah, and Luke. We even ended the service with a candle-lit rendition of "Silent Night." It's like the perfect fusion of worlds to me. As we walked out, the first few flakes of snow were drifting to the ground... we were going to have a white Christmas! Yata (yay)!!

After the service we put the boys down (way past normal bedtime) and they slept together on the same futon for the first time. Up to this point in the trip, Kai slept with his feet to the foot of the bed and Niko slept "sideways" at the head of the bed that they share. Last night, however, they needed to sleep side-by-side, but they did great! And God even answered my 2 a.m. prayer that Niko would sleep another solid five hours (it was Christmas, after all!) and awaken at 7... which he did, to the minute! Thanks, God! No request is too small, I've learned! :o)

When the boys were down, I wrapped the small presents that we had brought for Christmas from America and Dan gave a magic lesson to Nagai-sensei's 16-year-old son. It turned out that when we lived here he was so intrigued by Dan's magic he began studying on his own. So for Christmas Eve, he got a private lesson from Dan. Very fun to sit and watch/listen to. Towards the end, Dan showed him some newer material and I kind of doubt the poor kid got any sleep last night... his brain was working on overdrive trying to figure out what Dan did!

The next morning we got up to a very chilly room (thank heavens for electric blankets... we can't run the kerosene heater all night, as much as I wanted to!) and I went to build a fire in the living room. Yet another of my very favorite things about Gospel Town is that the buildings were built by Americans, so they actually feel like being in America. There is a wood-burning stove in the living room that we got to enjoy. It was wonderful. And Dan and I slept in the same bed for the first time since our first night in Tsuchiura upon arrival in Japan (2 weeks ago!)  When Kai woke up we all moved to the living room and opened presents, drank hot chocolate, and ate melon pan and apple fritters (thank you, 7-11.) Dan and I didn't have any gifts to open (we'll buy ours later in the trip!), but the boys enjoyed theirs and Kai was especially thrilled to get Megatron to add to his growing Transformers collection. Sometimes I wish my boys could stay young forever... Christmas is so simple and easy when they are little!

At 10:30 we dressed in our Christmas clothes and walked over to the church for the regular Sunday morning service (which coincided with Christmas morning this year). This service was much more typical of an average Sunday while we lived here (there were a few differences because it was Christmas). It brought me so much joy to worship with my Japanese brothers and sisters in Christ. It stirred so many emotions within me... It can be a very difficult thing to have to worship in a non-native language, especially when you are limited in your knowledge of that language, but I feel that my time in Japan really solidified my WORSHIP relationship with God. Dan was always really good about translating the message of the sermon and helping me read the kanji (written characters) in the songs so my spiritual edification wasn't completely neglected, but over time, I found I connected with God on a very personal, spiritual level through the music of the service. Today was like meeting good friend I hadn't seen for a long time. One of the songs we sang translates to "Lift Up Your Joyful Voice" and that's just what I did. I spent much of the morning in prayer and praise. I have missed this so much! Of course, I get different benefits from my home church in Cheyenne (understanding the words to everything and not having to translate a sermon ranks right up there!), but there is something special about a Gospel Town service. It was perhaps the best Christmas present I could have received today.

After the service we joined with everyone for lunch, a weekly event in many Japanese churches. The fellowship time is so important for their faith lives, as they are a significant minority here (less than 1% of the population is Christian). Today, since it was Christmas, they had a feast... Japanese style! I can't say I've ever seen most of the things we ate at a Lutheran potluck, but the spirit is the same (minus the green Jell-o... however, Dan just informed me he had purple Jell-o!) I spent the entire time talking with a few old friends and Dan met some missionaries that have been volunteering in the Tohoku disaster region since March. Dan finally had to cut the conversation short after I had talked for nearly two hours because it was still snowing. We had our drive home in front of us and we had no idea how much snow had fallen north of us. It was sad to go again, but we might take the opportunity to return in a few weeks while we stay in Misato. At any rate, it was a great trip "home."

The drive back flew by (the roads were fine) as Dan and I talked and talked and talked. Both boys fell asleep in the back seat so we got to reconnect for awhile as we drove north. Back at the hotel, our Christmas dinner consisted of ham and margarine sandwiches on white bread with mikan (mini-oranges) in Jell-o, but we were all happy. Niko got to enjoy his first non-cereal baby food today too... bananas!
 

A strange Christmas? Definitely. But one that will be remembered. We knew when we decided to come to Japan over the holiday season that we'd miss out on many of the "normal" aspects of Christmas, but we know we're here for the right reasons. And Christmas had a different focus for our family this year than it would have if we had been home. Plus we got Japanese "Christmas Cake" (since Japanese people think that's what Westerners do for Christmas... a strange mutation of the fruitcake concept, but I think it's somewhat appropriate... we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus tonight with Kai). A very merry Christmas for all!!