Dinner at Sekiya's

Aya had the nitsuke butterfish. She wanted to make sure that these pics got posted for the sake of John and Andrew.

















So Aya, Lisa and I get this txt message in the afternoon. I mean, based on this message, wouldn't you assume that Amber was going to be there at 5pm? Well, 5:40p comes around and my family is there and Aya arrives. She calls Amber wondering where she is. Amber said that she doesn't get off work until 6pm.




















As told by Lisa:
"I didn't even know James graduated." - Lisa. But James said he did send the announcement to them...but to the wrong address...not even the Houghtailing one, more like the Judd St. one.

Then James related something to the effect that he was supposed to bring something to them from the Ganigan's but he kept forgetting. "Good thing you didn't put it in the mail." - Lisa


"Mei sum dim sum." - Aya, apprently saying that that's the name of a restaurant.

"All the restaurants that begin with 'Golden' are good." - Jeff

"You ate all the cookies!" - Lisa, accusing Jeff of not saving any cookies that I gave during Christmas.

"How many shrimp tempura are included?" - Jeff to the waitress.

"He doesn't do that to me." - Gary, regarding certain advances that a certain male who used to be in Campus Life made toward Aya.

"The person with the donburi doesn't get the rice." - Waitress, you had to be there.

Aya's Description

This is what Aya put on her blog profile:

"Thankful for God's son Jesus Christ who gave me a second chance in life. Born and raised in Honolulu, HI. Married to a hottie."

Is it me or do you get kind of squeamish thinking of James as a hottie? :)

Jenn's Latest Prayer Letter

Aloha!! Just wanted to say i'm safe and sound here in Naga Philippines. I arrived in Manila on the 13th of January and at 5 am arrived in Naga from an 8 hour bus ride.

I just wanted to ask for your continued prayers for GOd's heart in and during staff training and preparation for the upcoming Discipleship Training school that begins on January 23rd. Please pray for unity both in the leadership and the school itself and continued reliance and dependence on God. His highest and best be done in the lives of each staff and student and those that He calls us to share the gospel to!

Also to thank you for your prayers....it was the most spiritual warfare travel i've ever experienced in my holoholo life. This is how it went:

I almost didn't get on the plane in Kona...plane doors closed and everything and they said i was already on the plane...when i wasn't. CRAZY!!! With many stairs i got on a plane but once in the plane i got to share about Jesus with a girl name Chiho that lives in Hilo side visiting her sister in Japan...though she didn't accept the Lord I still got the chance to share with her and place a gospel track in her hand before parting. Then in HOnolulu airport...i left my ticket on the counter when i was trying to get my miles in putting my stuff away thinking i had grabbed my ticket with my stuff and went on my way to get something to eat and realized i didn't have the ticket with me. Couldn't run for the life of me with my injured ankle...and by the time i got to the counter my ticket was gone along with my itinerary...NO WORRIES I HAD MY PASSPORT..PRAISE THE LORD....I had no control or no way of fixing it on my own...the more responsible i tried to be the more i messed up....i felt so helpless because i couldn't call anybody cuz I left my cell phone in Kona, i couldn't run to a phone or do something to where i could fix it because I only had a half hour to board being that it would take that long to get to the JAL counter to get a print out of my itinerary. God's grace pulls through for me once again! GOd was definitely there...As he provided this very gracious guy and lady at the JAL counter gate check-in that reprinted my passport and itinerary...something they wouldn't normally do...I realized even being responsible is a gift from GOd....it was definitely a very humbling experience for me...
In Japan...if God didn't prompt me to ask the counter the following morning what time the bus left...i would have missed the bus that took passengers to the airport because the time i was told the night before was 15 minutes off the actual time...it was a God thing that i was downstairs early...GOd got my back on that one too!!! At the airport I was given an opportunity to share what I do and share Jesus with a Filipino man name Ben though he didn't accept Christ another seed was planted...he received prayer and a gospel track...=) Then the bus to Naga...they almost made me pay extra to get on the bus with two luggages which i was never charged in the past 3 years i've been using their bus but they were gracious...Praise God! I didn't have that much trouble traveling before! God was definitely with me...thanks again for your prayer of blessings, favor, and joy in the midst of all this craziness....

staying connected,
JEnn

Eeewww

These pictures should, in some way, shape, or form, elicit some sort of reaction out of each of us. Let's just say that they aren't exactly Christmas Picture material.

Especially the nostril shot of Jenn...whoa...somebody grab her a Kleenex...

So Unfair

This is Wayne Grudem, the author of Systematic Theology. So unfair.












Andrew, John...when was this picture taken?

Hmmm.....

I would expect Bath & Body Works to name a bottle after stylish John, but Amber?!?

Found This In My Closet

In the Christmas of 1999, Amber gave me this album filled with a few photos of my students. Hope this brings back some memories for some of you. Why Amber and Andrew are touching feet is beyond me.

concerning the Millennium...

i want to issue a BIG MAHALO to Ben and Damien for inviting me to listen to two teaching CD's on the eschatos with them last night. we sat in Ben's living room and took notes to about 2.5 hours of Jeff Purswell teaching on the eschatology of Revelation 20 and other relevant issues. was awasome! one such relevant issue was a lengthy teaching/discussion on the Millennium. during half-time (our snack break between listening to the two cd's) we talked a bit about what our individual understandings and positions were on the Millennium.

we quickly realized that we weren't quite sure where we each stood, as more questions seemed to surface than answers. yet, as we continued to hash out our thoughts and questions to each other, there seemed to be more of a collective clarity as to the terms--i.e. pre-mil, a-mil, post-mil, dispensational pre-mil, etc.--as well as their broad implications...as good thoughtful discussion should. though certian parts were a great (and much needed) review for me, i mostly felt like i was trying to drink from the fire hydrant again...and in the end, felt like i was merely scratching the surface.

i would love to hear any feedback, resources, personal opinions and/or comments that you (the reader) could offer in assisting me to walk through this thought proccess. all i can say is that i was excited by last nights listening session! ...last night made me pull Grudem off the shelf and start re-reading section 7: "the doctrine of the future." Jeff Purswell clearly held to the a-mil position, and my initial reading/biblical exploration seems to have me leaning in the same direction.

damien and ben! i thank God for faithful humble men like you who are applying yourselves to studying and discussing God's word. thanks again for the invite! i am truly blessed!

"Eschatology is a central Christian Doctrine...it conditions all other doctrines. How will sin be overcome? How will the Holy Spirit complete his work in us? What will the church look like? Without a clear understanding of eschatology our Theology is incomplete."

~Jeff Purswell