The Art of Surrender
Dear friends,
It is absolutely insane to think that we were in Japan two months ago.... at times it feels like it has been way longer than that but yet at other times it feels like we just got home. Randomly I'll smell something and just about break down in tears because it reminds me of Japan and I miss it so much, or a memory will come to mind and I'll just have to sit and ponder it for a while. So much happened in Japan and this trip will always hold a special place in our hearts. Thank you so much for how all of you have prayed and encouraged us!
I hope to share some specific stories of adventures we had in Japan but for now I just want to share a little bit specifically about what I learned while I was in Japan and since coming back. It is also a little bit of a recap of what happened to us so for those of you who have been reading our blogs it will be a bit of a review.
As we got ready to go we had planned originally to serve at a guest house in order to grant the missionary family living there a rest period, but God had other plans. The morning after we arrived we met with our coordinator and found out that multiple teams who had originally planned to stay at the guest house while we were there had cancelled, this meant there was much less work than anticipated but a big need had come up in a northern city called Aomori. We had the chance to completely switch our plans around, instead of being mostly self directed we’d be with teams, instead of being in a city in the greater Tokyo area we’d be just outside a smaller city in a relatively rural camp setting, instead of working with adults we’d be with a lot of kids. It was a drastic 180 but we really felt God’s peace as we prayed about taking the bullet train to go up north. God really prepared us for this shift, our coordinator on homeside had really emphasized our need for flexibility and adapting to circumstances we weren’t expecting. Jared and I were excited that God took our plans and changed them because He had better ones. I felt so blessed that as we submitted ourselves to God’s plans we experienced things we never thought we would get to experience and we gained insight from so many different people from so many different places around the world. When we returned home life seemed to hit me hard, it felt like all of the sudden things were spinning out of control and I was so confused as to why I had so much peace in Japan; a place where I knew nothing, but yet when we got back to Three Hills; a place that I was familiar with and felt comfortable in, I was an absolute wreck. It took me a couple weeks after returning home before I finally learned what God was trying to teach me. When I was in Japan I had realized my need to submit everything to God, I had no idea how to control the situation so I just left everything up to Him, but once we got back I immediately took up the reigns again and went back to trying to control my life and everything in it, I thought that if I just gained control I would feel at peace and not stress but in fact it's the complete opposite, when I totally surrender my life to Christ, let Him have control and rely on Him for everything only then will I have peace. I am so thankful for a gracious God who has so much patience with me as I struggle to understand what He is trying to teach me.
It is the strangest thing loving two places so very much. When I think of Japan I desperately want to return and yet thinking of leaving Three Hills for a long period of time to serve in Japan full-time is just as upsetting. God has given us a passion and desire to serve Him overseas but regardless of how much we want to, and know we must go, it doesn't ease the pain in leaving the place and people we love and cherish so much. We know the process of preparing and going will not be short or easy but we trust that God will be with us every step of the way. We really felt that on this trip God affirmed that Japan is where He is calling us long term. At this point Jared is planning on finishing his electrical apprenticeship and I plan to finish my Ballet teaching studies, both of us have hopes of using these skills in Japan someday. After these are complete we hope to attend two years of Bible college. Lord-willing we would love to go back to Japan each summer before we are able to go full-time but of course we are keeping our eyes fixed on our Heavenly Father as we navigate this path of preparations.
Moving forward we're thinking of starting an email letter which will contain very specific ways to pray for us and more personal aspects of our journey, we'd like this blog to be a way to share overviews of whats going on and just little snippets of our adventures, we're praying God will lead us in the right direction regarding these things. We urge you to prayerfully consider if you'd like to be a part of this community, we would love to start developing a team of prayer warriors and supporters. If you feel this is something you'd like to be a part of please let us know on Facebook or by email (lily.davison98@gmail.com). Thank you for how each of you have poured into our lives and encouraged us in many different ways. I'm so grateful for how God has provided us with such meaningful friendships and community.
In a lot of ways this path of (minimum) 5 years seems like forever, we pray that God will help us find the balance of working towards moving to Japan but also not making light of the ministry field we have directly in front of us now. We know we have so much growing to do and we're grateful that God's timing is the perfect timing.
It is absolutely insane to think that we were in Japan two months ago.... at times it feels like it has been way longer than that but yet at other times it feels like we just got home. Randomly I'll smell something and just about break down in tears because it reminds me of Japan and I miss it so much, or a memory will come to mind and I'll just have to sit and ponder it for a while. So much happened in Japan and this trip will always hold a special place in our hearts. Thank you so much for how all of you have prayed and encouraged us!
I hope to share some specific stories of adventures we had in Japan but for now I just want to share a little bit specifically about what I learned while I was in Japan and since coming back. It is also a little bit of a recap of what happened to us so for those of you who have been reading our blogs it will be a bit of a review.
As we got ready to go we had planned originally to serve at a guest house in order to grant the missionary family living there a rest period, but God had other plans. The morning after we arrived we met with our coordinator and found out that multiple teams who had originally planned to stay at the guest house while we were there had cancelled, this meant there was much less work than anticipated but a big need had come up in a northern city called Aomori. We had the chance to completely switch our plans around, instead of being mostly self directed we’d be with teams, instead of being in a city in the greater Tokyo area we’d be just outside a smaller city in a relatively rural camp setting, instead of working with adults we’d be with a lot of kids. It was a drastic 180 but we really felt God’s peace as we prayed about taking the bullet train to go up north. God really prepared us for this shift, our coordinator on homeside had really emphasized our need for flexibility and adapting to circumstances we weren’t expecting. Jared and I were excited that God took our plans and changed them because He had better ones. I felt so blessed that as we submitted ourselves to God’s plans we experienced things we never thought we would get to experience and we gained insight from so many different people from so many different places around the world. When we returned home life seemed to hit me hard, it felt like all of the sudden things were spinning out of control and I was so confused as to why I had so much peace in Japan; a place where I knew nothing, but yet when we got back to Three Hills; a place that I was familiar with and felt comfortable in, I was an absolute wreck. It took me a couple weeks after returning home before I finally learned what God was trying to teach me. When I was in Japan I had realized my need to submit everything to God, I had no idea how to control the situation so I just left everything up to Him, but once we got back I immediately took up the reigns again and went back to trying to control my life and everything in it, I thought that if I just gained control I would feel at peace and not stress but in fact it's the complete opposite, when I totally surrender my life to Christ, let Him have control and rely on Him for everything only then will I have peace. I am so thankful for a gracious God who has so much patience with me as I struggle to understand what He is trying to teach me.
Moving forward we're thinking of starting an email letter which will contain very specific ways to pray for us and more personal aspects of our journey, we'd like this blog to be a way to share overviews of whats going on and just little snippets of our adventures, we're praying God will lead us in the right direction regarding these things. We urge you to prayerfully consider if you'd like to be a part of this community, we would love to start developing a team of prayer warriors and supporters. If you feel this is something you'd like to be a part of please let us know on Facebook or by email (lily.davison98@gmail.com). Thank you for how each of you have poured into our lives and encouraged us in many different ways. I'm so grateful for how God has provided us with such meaningful friendships and community.
In a lot of ways this path of (minimum) 5 years seems like forever, we pray that God will help us find the balance of working towards moving to Japan but also not making light of the ministry field we have directly in front of us now. We know we have so much growing to do and we're grateful that God's timing is the perfect timing.
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