Reutter's Life in Japan

In the big city, one of the hardest adjustments for large families is fitting into small places. Of course, you can find bigger places, but they come at a hefty cost and honestly, if you don’t have to live in the heart of the city, you can move to the outskirts and find a much bigger place for the same cost.

But at this point in our life, we needed to stay right where we are — in this community. So when we downsized from our previous place, we had to make it all work. Fast forward 6 months, we have felt what has worked and what hasn’t. We kept bumping into issues, especially in the limited space of our family room. So we decided to make our biggest change since our move, and one change led to another, which led to another, until eventually — well, you’ll see…

How about you? Have there been any changes that you’ve made to your living space that immediately made it better, whether it became more practical, more enjoyable or just nicer?

Our life in Japan is full of all kinds of amazing experiences and difficult challenges (like our 3 kids getting sick on the same day, for example). But it helps to know that all of it has a purpose and a goal. My life has been most changed by not just knowing about Jesus — but actually getting to know Jesus. So when I recently had a chance to preach at Paz Church, it was exactly what I wanted to share about. There’s a lot of things I get to do, but of all of them sharing about Jesus is always at the top of my list of favorite things to do. I trust this recent message from Paz Church will bless you!

Have you ever heard the saying When it rains, it pours? Well, that’s what happened recently as not one, not two but three of our kids got sick all at the same time. And wouldn’t you know it, it just so happened to be my week to preach at Paz Church as well! So in addition to my normal weekly responsibilities, I had a message to prepare and we had three sick kids.

But perspective really changed when Rebecca’s doctor recommended that she go to the hospital immediately. When you hear that, you drop everything you’re doing and make sure you do what needs to get done, no matter how busy you are at the moment. And that’s exactly what happened. This was not the week we had planned — but that’s how life goes sometimes!

For me, there’s nothing like getting out into nature that helps me connect deeper with God and have a time of life-recalibration. I like to do this at least once a year. I find a place within a days drive and book a place to stay where I can go around, exploring. All along the way I like to listen through large sections of the Bible, accessing my life and taking a lot of time to pray. I have my camera and drone nearby to capture the beautiful scenes and thoughts along the way.

These kinds of trips are energizing for my soul, and this year I went to the southern tip of Chiba along the Pacific Ocean and had a trip worth remembering. The footage came out fantastic and the experience has my family ready to go and try it in the future! What do you think? Would you want to go on Pacific Retreat in Chiba?

While Grandpa and Grandma were with us in Japan, we did a skit that my mother loves to do with the kids. She’s done this for years every time they get together, and every time we get a really good laugh out of it. This year we decided to record it and, instead of putting it into a vlog-style episode of Life in Japan, we decided to make it its own episode. Please enjoy Human Puppets by the Reutter kids.