The New Blog

I want to start by saying I am sorry.  I know some of you keep my blog as your home page or as a link on your own blogs and it will be troublesome to have to change things.  However, the new family blog is up and because it will be my job to manage that I will not be keeping a personal blog any longer.  This blog will gradually be disassembled and then deleted from cyberspace.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

 I am really excited about having a family blog.  As most of you know, I have kept a blog for almost 3 years now and have often considered it to be a great hobby.  Recently though, I began to feel that we were not using this medium to its fullest potential.  Our family has the wonderful opportunity of knowing, and continually meeting people from all over the world, therefore, keeping in touch can be quite a challenge – and even moreso when each family member is doing their own thing, keeping in touch by their own means, etc.

Between the four of us our audience is large and broad; ranging from close family members and friends to financial supporters and first time acquaintances.  In an effort to mainstream our keeping in touch efforts and to make them more effective we decided to make one family blog.

I think this family project will be lots of fun and I hope you too will find it to be fun, educational, and mostly, God glorifying.

 My page on the blog will mostly consist of personal stuff; my poetry, essays, devotionals, etc. So you can continue to find pieces of me there.  Also, the home page will be the scrapbook/journal of our everyday lives.

I hope you will continue to follow the life of the Repp family through our new blog found at www.jr4japan.wordpress.com

ENJOY!

Change is Coming

Change, it’s inevitable and every individual responds differently to it; some like it, some hate it, some thrive on it and others will do anyting to stop it from coming.  We are all somewhere on the continum because we all experience it and can’t get away from it.  Whether the nature of the change be positive or negative our emotions will sway like pendulums in the midst of it.

I must be one of the thriving types.  What other type would consciously choose a lifestyle that uproots the family every 1-5 years, not to move across states but across oceans and cultures?  I like change!  Whether good or bad it poses challenges that refine our characters, make us stronger, and show us a little bit more of who we are and who God is.

I have been blogging for 3 years and over that time this hobby has evolved into something other than what my first intentions were.  I wanted my blog to be an outlet for my writing.  A place to share my passions, philosophies, devotions, and creativity.  Somewhere along the line it became a scrapbook of events; not a bad thing – just not what I had originally intended.

My first goal in blogging is to bring glory to God.  It is in Him that I live, and move and have my being.  And therefore it is by Him and through Him that I want to live publicly through blogging.  I want this site to be a place that points to His work in my life, the life of my family, and the events that we are a part of.  I am not using this medium to its fullest potential and therefore it is time to make some changes.

I have talked and prayed with James about my passions/frustrations with blogging and we have decided to try a whole new approach.  Our blog is going to become a family effort, where each one’s gifts and talents will be used to make ourblog a fun, informing, inspiring, and God glorifying spot on the world wide web!

So please bare with us as we revamp the whole site.  I hope you will stick around through the mess of the next few weeks to enjoy the new and improved blog!

Happy New Year!

Hope the new year finds everyone well!  We are happy to be back into routine (whatever that means  )  We are looking at a very busy start to our new year!  Over the next 9 Sundays we will be speaking at 7 different churches.  Please join us in praying that the Lord will use this to raise additional support in order for us to return to Japan quickly.

 I don’t think any of us realized how knit our hearts had become to the Japanese.  We found ourselves VERY homesick for Japan over the holiday, and I think we were quite surprised by that.  Lately, our converstations have been permeated with stories and thoughts of our friends there.  I do hope we can get back by the Fall.  Please pray for us.

Just for fun…Here are two picts I just loved because the captured the essence of each of each personality:

My introvert…

And the extrovert…

Stop and Think

How often do you really stop and think about Christmas?  Do you ever stop and think through the whole story?  I must admit I have failed to slow myself down long enough to take a hard look at it this year.  Prompted by guilt I have rushed through the motions of focussing on my Jesus and felt no gratitude for the event that happened on the first Christmas morning.  I think my primary flaw has been to take advantage of my being state-side this Christmas.  To think that the atmosphere, family meals, parties, etc. would fill me with all the warm fuzzies that I love during this season but unfortunately, I have been left empty.  I felt more enthusiasm for Christmas in Japan (where only 1 in 300 people even celebrate) than I do here this year.

My complacency has been bugging me; big time.  So I had to step back and check my heart, then another step back and look at the really big picture; He is not just the baby in a manger but He is the Savior of the world!

In Philipians 2:5-8 we read that He gave up all of heaven and condescended to us, to abide with us, live a perfect life for us, and to give up that life on our behalf.  There is the manger, up to the cross – 33 years of his life lived out JUST FOR ME!  No self-seeking motives.  He gave up all of heaven to live a perfectly righteous life in the place of His bride, the church (of which I am one ).

Now, the climax of the story.  After the baby lives out this perfect life for me, He willingly dies for me.  I am not good enough to even pay the price of my sins on my own.  He pays the penalty for me, and all those who will call on His name, AND He puts our enemies in their place – under His feet.

 Yeah, that part where He shouts out, “It is finished,”  He was shouting I have won the war against sin and death, I am sovereign ruler – seated at the right hand of God the Father and the enemy is now under my feet! (I Cor. 15:20-28).   Three days later He rose from the grave – proving his vicotry over sin (I Cor. 15:55) and a few weeks later took his place at God’s right hand, where he now rules over the world (Eph. 1:19-21).

 It’s hard to see the conquering King in that stable scene we love to display during the holidays.  But if you stop and think; about the real event, the end of the story, the things he did for you, and the fact that the battles surrounding your struggles and sin were conquered on the cross (Rom. 8:31-39).  I think you will remember that the baby in the manger IS the greatest gift of all.

Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Need I Say More?

Some went down to the sea in ships…they saw the wonders of the Lord, his wonderous works in the deep. Psalm 107:23-24

 

G.M.C. – Not just for Cars

GMC is not only an acronym for General Motors Corporation, Mission to the World uses it to refer to the Global Missions conference held every-other year in Atlanta, GA.  It was amazing to see thousands of people, some missionaries, some looking for opportunities to serve as missionaries, and many faithful believers with big hearts for building the kingdom of God.  We were blessed to see old friends who share our heart for Japan and to also meet new ones. 

What an encouragement!

Another Awesome Weekend

 I had a really great weekend!  Jeneva and I boarded a plane on Friday morning and headed to Maryland.  It was a weekend I had planned a few months ago because I had frequent flyer miles that were burning a hole in my carry-on bags and I was eager to take every advantage of seeing family during this year of furlough.

Of course my favorite part was the day I spent with my grandmom and unfortunately, I was having so much fun taking in the moments that I didn’t stop for one single picture!  Grandmom spent all of Saturday with her oldest grandchild (me), her youngest grandchild (my cousin Travis, age 10), and her only great-granddaughter (Jeneva, also age 10).  We went to lunch, then the local High School play, “Father of the Bride”, and finished off the evening with a Pot-luck dinner and talent show at Travis’ church.  Nothing really amazing but just a wonderful, quiet, intimate day with my grandmom.

 Some other weekend highlights included:

A day with my brother Rob’s family.  His son, Brayden had a blast climbing in and out of the dog crate. 

A trip to the playground with Buddy (my dad’s poodle who loves sliding boards)

An evening playing Dance, Dance Revolution with my Aunt Amy

And the gorgeous Fall colors, and crisp, clear, cool, weather of Carroll County, Maryland in November!  Everytime I go home I realize what a beautiful place I grew up in, and of course when it was home I took it all for granted!

Wonderful Weekend

I have two of the greatest friends in the world and got to spend last weekend with them.  The three of us met in Charleston, SC, to celebrate Renee’s 40th birthday and 18 years of friendship.  It has to be up there with one of the best weekends ever.

                                 

We had two non-stop, fun-filled days of sleeping in, dining out for lunch and supper, walking cobblestone streets, browsing quaint shops, hanging-out in cafes, playing tourist to the historical tours of Charleston, catching a movie, and lots and lots of girl talk.

I could fill pages with how much these two people mean to me but I figured I would spare you the details that only matter to us and just share my very first blog post “The Cutlery Drawer,” written on April 15, 2005, to give you a glimpse into my heart for Julie and Renee.

First Blog Post Revisited

Friday, April 15, 2005

The Cutlery Drawer

I have heard many clichés that directly contradict my personal experience with friendship. Clichés like, “…the third party”, or “two’s company but three’s a crowd”. I discovered some friendships need a wheel or a crowd. Ours needed a knife!

Know one likes being the oddball or that little nagging voice that says, “You’re different and you don’t belong here.” I’ve lived much of my life feeling anxiously misunderstood. But in spite of my insecurities I found a safe-haven, or more correctly, it found me.

In the fall of 1990, Julie entered my life. She saw me from across the room and decided to be my friend. She then pursued me with great vigor, visiting my office throughout the day and stopping by my dumpy trailer-home in the evenings. She lavished friendship on me, smothered me, that’s just her way. Like a kitten at play, she moved in from behind, pounced and latched on with all her affections.

That same Fall I met Renee. Our union was more like sand and water in a cement mixer. We had been “dumped” together on a rotten job. We spent 5 days bonding under the intensity and misery of it. By the end of the week a foundation had been poured, the concrete had begun to set, a friendship had begun.

I invited both Julie and Renee to spend an evening with me and in one miraculous weekend a three-cord friendship was formed. I can only attribute our ability to make and maintain a friendship of three to the Lord. It is certainly an anomaly in female relations. But for us, each woman has something unique and special to contribute and the dynamic has always lacked when the number is less than three.

We quickly learned that Julie and Renee “fit together like two spoons in a drawer,” Renee being the lover of affection and Julie being the lavish giver. The two of them would have to continually yank this cold introvert into their cutlery drawer, labeling me the “knife”. Together they’ve taught me the meaning of unconditional love.

I’ve never been one to readily show affection. I tend to stiffen when physical contact moves in my direction. I have never been able to explain it because oddly enough I do like a warm hug now and again. However, I cannot resist the urge to brace myself when someone moves toward me. I am very grateful for two special people who were never threatened by this cold, stiff, knife.

I often wondered at their love for me. I was a knife in more than outward displays. Often my opinions varied. My ideas and thoughts differed in ways that have made most people steer clear. I tend toward legalism. I like routines and schedules. Order and structure are my middle name! (More attributes of a knife-like personality) I will never understand their acceptance of my rigid ways.

The best I can do is imagine they found my ways quirky and endearing. I know they often laughed me off, teaching me to lighten-up and laugh a little too. But I prefer to think they needed me. Maybe I was their balancing factor, their voice of reason, the one to keep them in line. (Hey, it helps me to feel better that way!) I’ve often tried to figure out why they kept this knife around.  The truth is the whys don’t really matter.  But, maybe it is because there is a little knife in them too. I know they’ve pierced my heart with a deep, deep kind of love. “As iron sharpens iron, so one [wo]man sharpens another.” It takes other knives to keep one sharp. They’ve sharpened me in so many ways. Because of Julie and Renee I know how to laugh and to love, I know how to relax and to enjoy life and I know there is always a welcome embrace for even a knife like me.

Leaving a Legacy

My grandad passed away on Friday.  A shock, as doctors and near-by family members believed he was better on Thursday evening than he had been all that week.  Immediately phone calls went out and a flurry of activity began as we moved into the events that would honor the life of such a great man.  The weekend was full of laughter and tears as we shared the memories of his very full life (1 loving wife of 61 years, 6 fun-loving kids plus their spouses, 13 blessed grandkids – a few of them with spouses too, 6 cheerful great-grandkids, and an endless list of fortunate friends).

I don’t know too many families that are able to find joy at the memorial service of a loved one, but leave it to the Smith family to put the “fun” in funeral.  How could we help but find happiness in the celebration of his life.  He was a strong, quiet man, who often sat in the background of all the chaos and commotion that his kids and grand-kids could conjure, but his deep chuckle was always heard among us.  There was definitely a voice missing in the moments of laughter at each family get-together over the last few days, and each time I stopped to notice it the tears would roll across my cheeks.  A part of every Smith family memory includes the deep rumble of my grandad’s laughing contributions.  Oh, how I miss him!

Tomorrow we will celebrate this well-loved World War II veteran-pilot at his internment in Catonsville, MD – where his ashes will lie among the other veterans.  Then the great family he built will meet once more to share our love for Grandad and for one another.  As the dust of the week’s events settles,

I pray, especially for my grandmom, and all of us as we await to be reunited with him in heaven.