May 29 2010
Meeting with Alex and how God provides
This week has been fairly nice on many levels. I was able to spend a fair amount of time this the week with my friend Alex from Columbia. It has been such a blessing watching him grow as a person and in his knowledge of God these last few weeks as he prepares to return home to his wife and son this weekend. We went over many of the basics of the faith. I could see a zeal for the Lord and his word developing in him. It is very exciting. We hope to continue to meet via Skype after he leaves.
We also were part of a pilot program to preview a bunch of videos called “God Provides” produced by Crown Financial Ministries. These are really first rate videos that explores what real faith looks like from many angles through key Bible stories. The ones called “Lifted Up” and “Abraham and Isaac” were tear-jerkers for me.
Another interesting thing happened this week. My son T-10 was part of the awards ceremony for his 4th grade class. It was really cool. He won a bunch of academic awards including getting the high score for the math Olympiads, being part of the 4th grade Battle of the Books team which got a silver metal and he was chosen as the student of the year for his home room. We were so excited. Anyway, it was kind of interesting. We had to go up for the final award because they honor the parents as well as the students for that particular award. Of course I forgot and wore the rattiest pair of shorts and polo shirt I had that morning (almost didn’t take a shower) because it was fairly early in the morning and we usually don’t have to do much at these events. Anyway, during the ceremony I was feeling some discomfort in my knee. Not too bad but it was getting progressively worse. By the time it was time for us to go up, I could barely put weight on it. It was scary. I managed to get up there with Lisa because I didn’t want to ruin this special day for my son. Anyway, after getting home, the situation got progressively worse. By the evening, I could barely walk. I borrowed a colleagues crutches. It made it hard to sit for a ministry meeting, etc. It was difficult. It was a struggle to even get from my office to the kitchen at home. I was thinking it seemed like swelling and inflammation and didn’t feel any structural damage so I decided to wait till the next day. Well the next day, while weak, I was able to walk and everything was slowly getting back to normal.
God really reminded me of something yesterday. It takes so little time for a situation to go from great to bad to great again. It takes very little for that to happen. This reminded me of how fragile we are and how much we depend on God to keep us doing the things that we do. Pray as I send Alex off on Sunday and as we welcome several students from the airport this week.
Today my son, T-9 became T-10. He had two of his buddies over for his birthday party and they had pizza, cake, played with their DS’s until the wii… I mean wee hours of the night (wii was played a little too) and fun was had by all. The last couple of weeks I’ve had the pleasure of being T-10′s Webelo den leader. It has been a blast watching he and his friend D work through some of the requirements and learn and truly grow. It was not too long ago that Jonathan as at this stage… or it seems. Actually Jonathan is now a teenager, spending countless hours studying about military history and the world… If you ask him what he wants to be… he would say to you, Ruler of the World. (I think tongue in cheek…). Our little one… it seems like she just came home from China and the precocious 7 year old is already talking about boys and wanting to dress well for them. What in the world?!?! Time is just flying. Lisa and I feel blessed to be able to be a part of all this but sometimes it feels like we are watching a car race running in front of us as we sit in the stands as spectators… the only think… we are actually in the race too, they are just moving that fast. Not too long ago, Jonathan and I read Ecclesiasties for our bed time story and I was really touched by its description of the brevity of life. Of how things go so fast… And his conclusion is it is all vanity… the only thing that matters is worshiping God. The fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom. I am really beginning to appreciate that as I clearly get past the half way point of my life.
Our little girl is truly growing up so fast. C-7 was in a concert this week at her school. She sang with her first grade class and she did it with so much dedication and purpose. It was a real blessing. Afterward, we snapped a bunch of pictures with the family. 
One of the cultural fixtures in Texas is football in the fall. Finally, the Yabukis were able to become a part of that cultural rite through flag football. T-9 decided he wanted to play flag football this year. He didn’t feel he was ready for the full blown tackle thing which they play in the local elementary school but we are extremely proud that he took this step. Playing on the YMCA Raiders (gotta love the name Uncle Allen), T-9 was able to play in the trenches on both the offensive and defensive line. While he is one of the smaller players on the team, he became quite adept at slipping his blocker and doing his patented spin move to get to the quarterback. I think he compiled between 5-10 “sacks” of the quarterback. In the second playoff game alone he had had four. On offense, we saw him taking on kids twice his size and winning… what a HEART! Watch out Demarcus Ware! Roy will be coaching basketball in the winter too… sports is coming!!!
Today was a special day for Jonathan, C-6 and myself. We were able to do something a little different and I think we all came away with a smile. Andrea, a member of our church small group, has been a part of the ministry of Mission Arlington for many years, since she was 19. In fact, while she currently runs the mission’s clinic, she has also personally ministered at a particular apartment church the whole time. She has become a regular part of the community of that apartment. Now her and her family and another member of our small group, Leslie, continue to go to the apartment every week to touch the lives of the kids and their families.
My job was to go around taking pictures of everyone especially the families. Many of the families have very few pictures of them and so taking their picture is a very special thing. One little boy was having so much fun, he kept asking me to take his picture over and over again in funny poses. This will further the long term ministry of the apartment church as Andrea will be bringing these pictures for the families to take as a special gift. It made me very proud to see my kids getting into it and “making sacrifices” to do it. Jonathan was playing football with little Joshua (Understand Jonathan hates football… this was a image sacrifice in a big way) C-6 played with the kids though she cried a bit too because they didn’t want to play with her doing the stuff she wanted to do… Of course that is normal and you should have seen her before we went, we wanted so bad to go.
The people from the church were incredible. A couple of teenage girls were doing the manicures and pedicures… It kind of reminded me of Jesus washing the disciple’s feet. Some of the teenage boys were playing all kinds of stuff with the kids. Seeing some of the guys painting bag “pumpkins” and some of the gals face painting and shaving ice. It was really really special. Anyway, it seemed that everyone came away with a big smile.
One of the special things about being a father of two boys is that we get to do some fun “guy” stuff. My guys are not sports guys, but they both have a great interest in chivalry, games and other things like that. This last weekend the three of us shared something very special.
Finally he moves on to full knighthood, the full attaining to manhood, when I feel like he is ready, probably around when he is 18.
The rest of the day, I really saw a noticable change in both boys. It was really fun and I was really proud of them. It was a special time. We then proceeded to celebrate J-13′s birthday with a trip to the aquarium. The kids took tons of pictures. 
In many ways this has all the indications of being a very emotionally draining week for me and my family. So many difficult things happened (see Prayer needs below). There were some sleepless nights and lots more prayer than usual. Still, God is here and working and for that I am truly grateful. We have lots of huge prayer requests this week. Please pray specially. The next couple of weeks will feel difficult and the effects of the last couple of weeks will start to be felt.
God gave our DFW team a wonderful, wonderful retreat. We looked at a new strategy for ministry for the DFW area that incorporates what we already do but looks to expand on it using a new paradigm. We will need some prayer warriors if this will work, but if it does, it could be really special. Let me know if you are interested in praying specifically for this for the next year in a concentrated way.
We had a wonderful banquet for the Chinese EMBA students at UTA where they got to hear from a wonderful Christian business man who spoke at their level and also they connected well with their friendship partners.
My grandfather in Japan passed away today. I did not know him too well as he was always so far but I do know he was a very special man who was a huge influence for my mother. I’ll never forget his wonderful laugh, his constant smile and his deep but simple wisdom. I just wish I could have gotten to know him better. I don’t believe he ever knew the Lord. That saddens my heart.
depend on God’s grace.
The last couple of days I have been feeling a bit weary and tired. So many things have been happening, God has been working, and its been non-stop. As is typical after so much activity, even God powered activity, it is common to be tired and weary. It reminds me of the show down between Elijah and the priests of Baal and how he was a weary wreck after his major victory. Anyway, it has been a rough week and yet God was so faithful in allowing me some simple pleasures amidst trying to catch up with everything else.
(
The girls began the day decorating aprons to help out with their work. Modern art seemed to be the style of the day. Then the girls practiced some homemaking skills, making some delightful (and tasty) pretzel/kisses/m&m snacks. It seemed like a lot of fun. All this seemed innocent enough… but then they turned to the outside… and next thing we guys knew, we were caught in their trap. (Maybe it was the snacks)
J-12 & T-8 were seen “helping” with the outdoor activities (no way!). T-8 was hoisting the pinata and jumping on the trampoline and J-12 was seen DJing the nasty game of musical chairs. I even had to set up the pinata. It actually was a lot of fun. The girls really took to our trampoline.
First off, can it really be Christmas time again? It seems like we just put away the decorations from last year, and now it is time to get them out once more. This Christmas, we are planning a cross-country trek to Northern and Southern California. We are looking forward to enjoying the mountains, seeing lots of family members, and sharing about our work with international students at one of our supporting churches.
Powered by FireStats