.Ogres and Onions, from my heart to yours.

So, I have been thinking lately about ogres and onions. No, that's not the main point of my post tonight, but it does have some importance. In Shrek, he compares himself to an onion in having many layers. This is the point I want to use in my post.... Ogres as well as humans such as myself, have layers.... We all have different layers that we have to peel off, and more importantly, trust God to remove from our lives. With each layer that is peeled off, we continue to get to the heart of the problem, as well as the heart of the person.

As we continue to trust Him to grow us more and remove our "onion layers", there may be tears shed because of how much the layers hurt to remove, and the residue of that nasty skin (our sins). But the best part is once these layers are removed, God effects and grows in us from the inside out. He chooses to peel off our layers filled with hurt, and anxiety and pain and chooses to change them into good. He chooses to forgive us of our faults, but only through His grace.

I love that once He starts peeling us apart, He won't stop until we are finished. Until He's gotten to the heart of the problem and the base issue. Then He chooses to use the process to effect other believers through our story and how He has changed us. He is faithful to continue and finish the work He starts in us. I love this process, and the effect it has on each person involved. God so desires for the ugly layers of our past to be peeled away and for us to come to Him, imperfections and all, to be made new and made perfect in His sight and for His Glory.

.Matsumoto Day Trip.

The staff all got a day off so we went to Matsumoto City which is about a 40 min drive from Northstar. We all went shopping, went to Sushi, Starbucks and then fell asleep in these awesome massage chairs at the electronics store. SO MUCH FUN!!!! I love all of my new friends here in Japan. I am having so much fun.

.Cute babies at Northstar.

We have the cutest children at Northstar. Ezekiel will always be my favorite only because I am biased to my nephew. But Ken has the sweetest (and chubbiest baby ever).... Anne is so precious. I love babies, they are so awesome and such a gift from God.

.I made it to Japan.

So, I made it to Japan safe and sound. Long flight, long taxi, and I finally made it to NORTHSTAR last night around 11pm I finally got to go to bed. Only for a few hours because I woke up on my own at 4:30 am. Then at 8am I got to have breakfast with Seth and Hannah and Ezekiel and Mamiko and their friend from Gifu Yuka. Seth made pancakes, and being the first real meal in a long time (airplane food doesn't count), they tasted so good. : ) SMILES ALL AROUND!!!! And not to mention my little Zekie is walking... so crazy not seeing him in 6 months and a baby grows into a toddler. He's so active it's amazing. Then we all went snowboarding. Japan is rad... more again soon. We start training tomorrow.