The story of how Japan came to be...

It was December of my second year in Ghana and I had to make a decision whether to stay an extra year or leave Ghana.  At this point I wasn't completely ready to return to America, but not completely sure if I wanted to return to Ghana either.  As I prayed a lot about it and looked into what I would do if I didn't return to Ghana nothing was grabbing my eye so I decided to stay where I was comfortable and remain in Ghana for a third year.  Little did I know this decision was all in God's plans to get me to Japan - the place I began to develop a passion for within my first year in Ghana.  

Now we are a few months into my third year and already thinking about what will be next.  Oct. 17 I began journaling my prayers, prayers specifically about where God would place me next, asking for peace and wisdom in this decision.  Throughout the next 10 days I was given great peace that God would take care of me and on Oct. 29 my passion for Japan returned as I was looking on the NICS (network of international christian schools) website just for fun and noticed a job opening in Japan.  Before this I was already thinking if I was given a choice of trying to teach a higher grade and this just happened to be an opening for a 4th grade position.  I happened to know the 4th grade teaching in Japan so emailed her right away and asked about this opening.  She was heartbroken to be leaving Japan, but needed to go back to America so she encouraged me to email the director of the school and ask about the position.  So the next day I emailed the director of the school in Japan and 5 days later I had a phone interview set up for the 4th grade position.  After talking to him I felt great about the school and living in Japan.  So after some more emails and lots of prayer I had another phone conversation on Nov. 18 in which I was officially offered the position.  This was exactly 1 month and 1 day after really focusing on praying about where God would lead me next after Ghana.  What an amazing God!  Whenever in doubt about this decision to move to Japan I look back on how it all came to be and know without a doubt that it is where God wants me because of all he did to get me here.

Other amazing God things...

*Some of my Japanese students in Ghana have been of amazing help after finding out I was moving to Japan.  They have invited me for dinner and told me all about Japan, in fact one of the families is actually from Nagoya where I will be moving too, such a small world!  My Japanese students have also been great at helping me learn some Japanese.

*Elyse, one of my roommates in Ghana, just got hired as the secondary math/science teacher at the school in Japan so we will once again be roommates!!!!  Amazing how that all worked out and the fact that I was the one without the roommate just waiting to see who would be hired for that last position needed.  Luckily now it gets to be Elyse :)

*My brother also shares a passion for Japan with me and will be traveling with me for the first three weeks exploring Tokyo and other areas before settling down in Nagoya to teach.  This is also a huge blessing because it means I get to fill his extra luggage with my stuff thank goodness.  Packing for all four seasons has proved to be quite the challenge.

*One of my Japanese families from Ghana is now back in Japan for a while and has graciously offered us to stay with them while we are in Tokyo and are so excited for our arrival.  I of course am super excited to be able to see them again and just having someone who knows their way around and can speak the language will be a HUGE help as we travel.  What a blessing they are to us!

So... Thursday (July 29th) is the big day I pack up my suit cases in the car and begin my next journey to yet again a completely different culture and rely completely on God through this transition.