米の夢

Today was a pretty tough day. Crash staff are going on a retreat, and so the ware house where we usually work is closed for the next three days. So everyone is beginning work at the Asian Rural Institute. At first I wasn't sure what to expect of it, but as the day went on, I am sure that God has us doing work here for a reason. It started in our morning devotions. We read Ephesians 4:26;32. The passage talks about being angry but not sinning and forgiving others as God forgives us. Lately I have been having strange dreams, where I am in an argument with someone, either a family member or a teammate, and I have woken up very disturbed by these dreams and the person that I am in them. When I read this verse today, I felt my heart just beat really fast, and I was just so moved to pray that God would help me to see if I need to forgive someone in my life.

The day went on and was very tiring. Today we harvested potatoes by hand and pulled weeds in a rice field. We harvested potatoes in the middle of the day, and I felt very dizzy and sick with the heat. I am hoping tomorrow will be better for me, maybe that I will be more prepared. The latter part of the day in the rice fields was just beautiful. Akiko, David, and I got to the rice fields, took off our shoes and pulled up our pants and got down into the cool milky field where stalks of rice were growing. With my hands covered in sludge and the sun hiding behind a cloud, a cool breeze blowing through the rice field making the teeny leaves sing,  I thought to myself, "We are encountering a beautiful experience." It was just gorgeous. Very hard work, but gorgeous.

Rice Fields in Nasu at the Asian Rural Institute.

Today everyone got very dirty, so we went to the onsen again. Tomorrow our shift at the Asian Rural Farm begins at 5:00am, so I really should go to sleep. I am so tired haha.

I am seeing the importance lately of really having time with Jesus, please pray that I would be able to make time for this every day, because when there is less of me and more of Jesus, the work that I do becomes more and my spirit is lifted, no matter how I feel. Also please pray for my health, as I have been told I may be prone to heat sickness after only one day at the Asian Rural Institute farm. I want to do my best and be helpful wherever I am at.