Trust and Obey

Isn't it awesome when you know you are walking in God's way? When He lights a fire inside of you, makes you so passionate about something He has for you that you are about to spill over inside? Isn't it so great to know that what you are doing is God given and that you could only possibly do it with the grace and strength that God gives you? Pondering thoughts, huh?! "...my cup overflows" to quote Psalm 23:5. That is what God has done to me...made my cup overflow!! Not only has God been good to our family but He has been so good to me personally...a goodness I do not deserve! You see, I lead a Bible study on Monday evenings for some of the wives from both fighter squadrons here...and well, I have been blessed beyond belief!

In June, the woman that lead this Bible study left. Funny thing, God tugged at my heart (and my close friend's heart...who does the praise and worship part of our study)! Have you ever felt that tugging...the type of tugging that you push aside for a while because you think, "Nah...certainly not me," and then you realize that it IS God tugging and start to bargain with Him, "God, if you just let someone else do this, I'll attend, I promise,"...and then, you give up and OBEY...just as God commands us to do. It's amazing the peace, grace, blessings, strength, happiness, (I could go on) that God then gives you. It happened to me! I didn't deserve all those things, as I didn't obey right away, but he blessed me with them anyway...and does every Monday evening in a small living room on Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Japan...of all places!

Our group has doubled, thanks to God's working. I have learned so so much by leading this study...I have learned how to teach a group of women from different backgrounds and denominations; I've learned how to be more disciplined in a quiet time (something I continually work on); I have learned how much God helps us to learn and in turn teach others; I've learned of the happiness, pain, trials, griefs, and love that other women go through, and how, by looking to God and praying, they come out stronger on the other side; I've learned that my prayers that seem so unique are sometimes the same prayers others have in their lives (which is such a comfort that God gives me); I've learned how to grow so close to God it is as if He is sitting right next to me every step of my life. I have learned, how, even when I have "human hesitancy," to step out on faith and let God lead!

EXTRAordinary Days

Playing with Daddy

Playing with Uncle Ryan

I must say, this past week was wonderful! It is so great to have family visiting and super great to have Cody home every day. I know I enjoyed it and can only imagine how much Jackson enjoyed playing and looking at someone other than his mama!! I believe he enjoys a "change of face" (and pace) occasionally! Alas, as I write this post, I am thinking of how I will wake up in the morning to start my "usual routine" of my ordinary days. Oh, how I love those extraordinary days...I'm glad they come along occasionally!!

Discovering A Whole New World

This trip around the island has been different this time around with Jackson. This is now his fourth time to these places...however, some of them are new and it seems as if ALL of them are new to him! He actually seemed aware of the dolphins in the dolphin show at the aquarium, enjoyed sitting at the table at Pizza in the Sky and noticed and yet was hesitant about the butterflies at the Butterfly Garden. It was just so neat to see his little face light up (or sometimes just the opposite when he was "not so sure" about something) on this trip. Below are some pictures from our recent adventures with Uncle Ryan. We added a trip to the Butterfly Garden for the first time, which was a cool experience. And yep, that is a picture of one of those butterflies landing on Jackson's arm...one of those "not so sure" moments for him. He loved looking at them on other people!

Ocean Expo Park

"Wow, Dad, that thing is neat. Just don't let it get too close...'kay?"

"Cool, Mommy! Look at all those butterflies on your head!"

"Mommy, those butterflies were cool on YOU...not so sure about ME!"

Pizza In The Sky

I must say that we are taking our last tour of the island in true Okinawa style...in the heat, humidity and rain! After all, it wouldn't be the full Okinawa experience without all these things! We have had fun showing Ryan all of these sights and seeing them one last time. How we will miss these things, but are glad that some day, we can pull these pictures out and show Jackson that he too enjoyed discovering Okinawa!

In the Beginning...In the End

In the beginning of our tour here, we traveled the island to see what there was to see. We have been taking Ryan around to see the "sights of Okinawa" and, well, it is bittersweet. We are loving having Ryan here, because, as I said before, it is so exciting when someone comes to visit here...and definitely such a treat for us! But, as we are taking him around the island, we are reminded that it is probably the last time we will see these things before we leave...and, well, that is sorta' sad! We do love it here, and although we are excited to be moving on to new things in Europe, we are also sad to leave Okinawa and the close friends we have made here. Such is life in the military. Anyway, here are some pictures from what we have done so far...enjoy your "island tour!" Shurijo Castle...with the three of us!

Naval Underground Headquarters...Dad and Jackson

Southeast Botanical Gardens...Mom and Jackson

I'll post more of the "island tour" for you as we visit the places...I mean, of course the island tour is not complete without a trip to "Pizza in the Sky!" (For those of you from Okinawa, you know what I am talking about...the rest of you, it is a pizza place on top of a mountain that has a fabulous view of the north part of the island!)

Uncle Ryan Is Here!

Jackson met his Uncle Ryan (Cody's brother) for the first time this morning. At first glance, Jackson was quite unsure as to who this man in his home was, but he quickly warmed up to Ryan and now they are "old pals!" Ryan will be here for a week, so we plan to take him on the big "island tour" that we now have down. This will probably be our last trip to these special places on the island (aquarium, Shurijo Castle, Peace Prayer Park, Pizza in the Sky...for those of you who live here or have visited here and done the "island tour!") before we move, so we will cherish every moment that we spend at these places with Ryan. We are so excited to have him here visiting! As Cody would probably agree, anytime a family member of anyone in the squadron visits the island everyone gets excited for the person hosting the guest! It's quite a big deal for anyone to travel here!! I mean, after all, it is a good 9-10 hour flight from the west coast...but anywhere from 20-32 hours of total travel time (from door to door) when the trip is made. I believe we should be giving out gold medals to those who have braved the trip!

Growing Up So Fast

Cody has been working on putting a video together of Jackson's First Days (still pictures and video) and still picture videos of Cody and him and me and him. Cody finished it about a week ago and we watched it again last night. As Cody headed off to go get Ryan at the airport, I stood and watched the actual video of our "pre-Jackson" hospital video, our visits to the NICU and our trip home and again felt that tugging at my heart! It is so amazing at the overpowering feelings that such a small person can bring into your heart! It was as I was watching the video of him stretch in his bassinette in the hospital that it hit me again at how quickly he has grown and how amazing still it is to watch him grow and figure things out on his own. I just loaded some pictures that I have taken over the last few days...and again realized all of these things, as these pictures show what a big boy he has become. So, here are some pictures of his playtime and all the crawling and standing he is now doing! He continues to capture my heart in new ways every day!

Jackson...in Real Time!

Well, it's official...we have a true mover in our home! I thought you might enjoy seeing Jackson's "so big" trick and a tiny bit of crawling. He became fascinated with the stroller wheel (yes, we store it inside, because, alas, the benefit of having a single family home on base for us, does not afford us an outside storage shed!) and then the camera cord, so I stopped it after that! Jackson is now crawling from room to room, cord to cord, table to table, cd case stack to cd case stack and is also beginning to figure out how to pull up to stand! I told Cody last night, "Well, we now enter the world of REAL bumps and bruises!"...you know, because up until now the crying for a bump was just a small bump! At least we're prepared for the bumps and bruises...right?? As I'm telling Cody this, we see this little hand reach up on top of the coffee table to pull down a binder. Yep, time for the "no don't touch thats!" Aside from that, we are very excited that our 11 month old (can you believe it?? 11 months old...sigh...where has the year gone??) has discovered a whole new world! It's so fun to just sit and watch him (and watch we must!!)!

P.S. On a totally unrelated subject, I added a link to the World Time Zone clock. So, for those of you in a country other than Japan, you can always know what time it is here!

On the Mend

As I got on to check everyone's blog sites (as I so often do before I update our's), I realized that I really should write some sort of post so that we do not lose our audience here!!

We are "on the mend" in this home. After three bags of cough drops, a bottle of infant tylenol, a bottle of adult tylenol, a bottle of Nyquil, a couple doses of cold medicine, three boxes of kleenex, about 6 sleepless nights, three mild fevers, a billion coughs and sneezes, one lost voice and a dose of the cold to each of the three of us...I have decided that this was by far the worst cold in the Blake history (although, I have probably just blocked out the others)! I am thankful now, and will never take for granted again, that Cody and I are generally healthy and RARELY get sick, much less sick at the same time (and, of course, we've never been sick at the same time with a child!)!

It was, however, a time of discovery for me as well. A time to figure out how to treat a sick child (and how it just tears your heart out to see them in pain!) and a time to realize that even though mommy's sick, still nothing stops...or slows down, a time to figure out that I can still cook dinner, vacuum and make the bed even after several days of no sleep (hmmm...maybe that's why it felt like this was the worst cold ever!), a time to discover that taking an hour catnap in the middle of the day can be such a lifesaver, and a time to realize, yet again, that I do not like seeing people I love not feeling well!! Thank you God, for the healing (and sleep) that our bodies are beginning to experience! I am truly greatful!!

A Banner Week

Cody called our last week a "Banner Week for the Blakes." I liked that title because it sounds so positive...and totally misleading!! However, it got me thinking of the positive things that happened over the past week. Let's see if I can even come up with a Top 10 list...here it goes...

Top 10 Positive Things in the Past Week:

10. We have spent lots of time together as a family (most of it within the confines of our concrete castle coughing and sniffling...buy hey!)

9. I'm glad we brought the recliner to Japan...it has been a great bed over the last week.

8. I'm glad we brought the sofa to Japan...it, too, has been a great bed this past week.

7. I am thankful for kleenexes...they truly help the runny noses we have had in this home..

6. The power of Tylenol, cough drops and warm washcloths is endless (oh, and so is the power of Puppy for Jackson!)

5. The lamp on our t.v. was quickly replaced...turns out that the electronic reps at the Base Exchange here do have a heart (so now, we can still watch t.v. as we lay and nurse our colds).

4. We chose the best and most popular carseat for Jackson (meaning we can't find the color we want in stock anywhere...but boy, is it a good carseat!)!

3. It is sunny outside (which means it's really really hot, but none the less, sunny!)

2. We can still communicate with the outside world thanks to the wonderful invention of e-mail (because without a voice, it makes it hard to talk on the phone!)

And, the NUMBER ONE positive thing about this week...WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY GOD EVERY DAY!

These blogs really help me to put things into perspective. Thanks for allowing me to vent online and realize, once again, that everything is fine and will be fine. This past week has just been a small hurdle to get over (that may be taking a little longer than anticipated!)