It finally happened — we had our first one-day camping excursion in Japan! We’ve been planning this for a long time, but then came society shutdown of 2020 and everything changed :). Now that we’re in July, enough of the restrictions have been removed to allow us to go camping nearby. And we had a blast — and did all this for cheap! We enjoyed the sights of Mount Fuji, local wildlife, fun parks and of course the staple of any camping excursion: the campfire. We even got hit with a rainstorm in the night that really kept things lively. We ended up pulling out of the campsite early because of the rain, but it didn’t damper our time. We had an epic one day trip!
So now we can’t wait to do it again — but July has done nothing but rain. In fact other parts of Japan have been hit so hard that major flooding has happened. Our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected — we know what it feels like to (almost) lose everything. We were threatened with flooding just last year during the massive typhoon that brought so much damage to our area.
This year has certainly been a difficult year for many reasons, and never before has it been so apparent our need for God, his love, his protection, his care and his peace in our heart. The love of God given through Jesus allows us have peace in the storm and special moments together give us a glimpse of what eternity with Jesus will be like — away from pain and destruction, away from fear and viruses, where we can get lost in the moment. God gives us glimpses of eternity in everyday life, but it’s easy to miss if we’re not looking for it. Where are those moments for you? Is it out camping? Out in nature? Is it while driving or walking? Is it while putting on some great music or reading a good book? Singing your child to sleep? There are many ways this can be triggered, but it all points to the eternal purpose we have in God.