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I am furiously busy now -on Wednesday I received an acceptance letter from Wheaton College for admission to the Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies. So in addition to packing for my two months in Tokyo, now I have to make arrangements for a move to Wheaton Illinois from Seattle as soon as I return. I leave for Japan in just over a week on June second and I return on August 14th. The first day of Graduate student orientation is on August 25th, it is going to be a very hectic week when I return so I need to get as much done now as I can so I won’t worry too much while I’m in Tokyo. Please pray for me that I can get everything sorted out. I am so blessed.

The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4 that he has learned to be content in all circumstances and is enabled to live so through the strong arm of the Lord. Recently I have been learning a similar lesson about material possessions.

In April I was laid off which curbed my normally free flowing spending habits.  At the end of April our lease was up, Shaw and I moved into Peter Kwok’s townhouse. I am not exaggerating when I say that my new room at Peter’s place is less than one third the size of my previous room, and with meager storage space. In order to be able to move around I had to make decisions about what I should keep and what to get rid of. The week before we moved out I was busy on craigslist giving away things -tables, cabinets, my aquarium. Since moving in I have been busy selling things on eBay, tossing things and giving things to charity.

In two weeks time I’ll be heading to Tokyo to live out of a suit case, this is going to be the ultimate lesson in simple living. I have plenty of possessions that I’ll probably hold onto, like my books, but when I come back I’ll have more choices on what to keep and what to find a new home for.

Long term I would like to be able to move freely without the chain of possessions holding me in one place, each day I have to make choices in order to live more simply.

In a little more than two weeks I am going to be heading to Japan for two and a half months! There was an opportunity for me to go and serve at our Tokyo church and help out with the preparation for the Summer Mission Trip. I am really excited about the chance to spend more time with the members of BBC Tokyo and grow deeper in my relationship with them. I am also very excited to see how God is going to work this summer in Tokyo.

This past month has been very busy. My roommates and I moved out of our duplex and into another brother’s town house -I have been busy unpacking, repacking, selling, giving away and throwing away my possessions. I’m still waiting for word back on my graduate school applications to Wheaton and Fuller -please remember me in your prayers.

The graduate school applications to Wheaton and Fuller Northwest are finished. A claim for unemployment insurance has been filed. Sold some used things on eBay for over a hundred dollars. Attended a blessed wedding for one of my roommates and re-learned the importance of personal relationships. This week has not been a total waste.

There is a possibility that I might be able to go to China for a couple of months to teach English, I don’t know the details yet, but I’m going to look into it more. I also have to start applying to more job opportunities here in Seattle.

I have been rejected by the last four places that I’ve interviewed with. I don’t know if I’m depressed, but I’m definitely a little blue about this whole situation. Maybe this is just what I need, I’m definitely getting a lot more humble through this experience.

I’ve had a lot of time to be productive, however I haven’t made much use of the time that I have had recently. That is not to say that I don’t have a lot of things that I could be doing. So partly for my own benefit, but also for a bit of accountability I’m going to write my ambitions for this week here on the blog.

Recently my devotional life has really taken a nose dive. There isn’t a single source of blame, but I definitely think that getting up early would help, I also need to get out of the apartment so I don’t get sucked into some other distraction.

I need to finish my college applications. Since I haven’t been able to find a job yet, this only increases the urgency of applying to schools. I’m also going to apply to a few more schools than I had originally planned.

Our apartment lease is up at the end of the month, so I need to start packing up my belongings and getting them ready to move, I might even take a few boxes of stuff down to my parents place over the next couple of days.

Linked with packing, I also need to sell some junk that’s been hanging around the apartment. I have a couple of major items to sell -hopefully I won’t need to sell any more musical instruments.

I need to practice playing my bass guitar. I want to spend at least an hour a day playing the bass, this is probably the most free time I’ll have for a long time, I have no excuse not to play.

Learning Japanese is another big goal that I have. After going to Tokyo last year I got the initial inspiration to start studying in earnest, but I didn’t act on it. Since I have a lot of free time I’m going to put some effort and time into it.

Another goal that I have during this time is to live more healthy.  I would like to lose some weight and get in shape, so I’m going to start keeping track of what I’m eating and work with a nutritionist friend. I’m also taking more opportunities to walk and be active.

Finally I need to start doing some serious reading and research for my writing projects. I have a lot of great ideas, but I need to start backing them up with solid research.