火曜日。

random thoughts:

reading: "Mere Christianity" and "The Hobbit"

(I read "The Hobbit" on my way to church on Sundays, I won't touch it the rest of the week.

I'm not sure when or why I decided it was "Sunday reading," but there you have it...)

song stuck in my head: "Rend" - Jimmy Needham

enjoying: the best green tea I've ever had...ever... 

musing about: the beauty of sleep...
(...maybe I am just missing my bed...)

thankful for: that giggly, girlish laughter

that can only be produced by friends who know 

exactly

what the other means.

I wish I could explain the simple pleasure of that first sip of coffee before or after a long day.  I know that most coffee drinkers know the exact sensation I long to describe, but I still wish I could capture its perfection.

Back home, in Tulsa, there was a specific coffeeshop that my friends and I went to often.  I admit that the atmosphere provided the primary draw - but I didn't mind the 45 minute drive just to get to Brookside in Tulsa to visit Shades.  A full bookshelf, eclectic furniture, art on the walls and live music on the weekends.  Last week, I found the place in Tokyo.  While looking for a location to host the OneHope focus groups, I wandered away from my friends from the YWAM team and Kohei to have a look inside a cafe across the street and, once inside, fell in love a little bit with Cat's Cradle: travel books & coffee.

Need I say more?
I've been back twice since.  The coffee is fantastic, the food is delicious, and the atmosphere provides a perfect environment for reading or studying - as I really can't focus well within my own room and must go out to really be productive.  Starbucks is often too loud for me to stay focused.  Anyway, I won't ramble anymore about a coffeeshop...I was just there last night studying. I finished a full unit for my Global University course. Yay!

Re-cap on the prayer notes I put up two weeks ago...since I failed to update at a decent time again!
- I'm still working on the OneHope groups and we've run into a few walls here and there with timing, but we did find a place to host the event.   Keep praying for favor as we advertise the event this week and for the actually showing of the film on Sunday.
- Susan is speaking at LOGOS today! WEBS at Waseda was so good two weeks ago, but last week the exams started so our friends have been busy studying.  The spring break is starting soon!
- The Power Praise Night was fun, it turned into a night of testimonies and it was nice just to be in God's presence with such dear friends!

We have some fun stuff coming up! This month we will have a chocolate making party at the Chi Alpha Student Center for Valentine's Day! One of the members of Chuo Seisho church is a cooking instructor and she will be teaching us how to make delicious sweets.  After that, we are going to watch the first Narnia movie.  Can't wait!

Annnnd, two of my friends from my first trip to Japan are getting baptized this month at GAP! Praise God -- I'm so happy to be back in Japan to share this time with them.  Six people in total are getting baptized that afternoon. It's going to be awesome! In Japan, it's most common for a person to give their full salvation testimony on the day of their baptism. I'll be sure to have Kleenex with me...

Keep praying about the focus groups - that happens this weekend - and please say a little prayer for me as I prepare to lead Bible study next Tuesday at LOGOS!

Until next time...
Amanda