Exodus 8:2

Sorry to rely on pictures from the kids again, but this is interesting to me. The children have drawn pictures of me: their friend Stephen. I think the pictures are fine and all, but I’m wondering why I’m frowning in two out of three of them. Ayamei chan showed me one during class, and I was frowning in that picture too. So I said, “No, no—“ and erased the frown and replaced it with a smile. In two of the pictures (we’ll call them the “synoptic pictures” for anyone who gets that joke), my nose appears to closely resemble the hiragana character “mo.”

DK (who was having the children draw pictures of me) said that in two of the pictures I was originally taking a dump, but he told them that wasn’t good so I think they erased that part of the picture.

I don't often talk here about the ministry aspect of my job, and there are a lot of reasons for that, but today I will say this: Learning to love children as God would love them has been the most incredible thing. For all the Japanese bible studies or testimonies or prayers, I think loving these kids has grown my spirit the most.

Magnolia is a stunning film. Exodus 8:2.

In unrelated news, I now know enough Kanji to have graduated from the 1st grade. This doesn't necessarily mean I can read at a 2nd grade level, but I can totally read all the Kanji they can. Take that, dumb kids.