This post is long overdue. A lot has happened since we were figuring out whether or not we were still going to Japan, and how we might get here. But a door opened which we are confident is from God, and we since have moved to Okinawa Japan. This post is to briefly share how we got here.

1. Oct-Dec: Ups and Downs
2. Jan-Feb: An Open Door!
3. Mar-May: Preparations begin
4. June-August: Goodbye
5. Reflections
   1. Lesson 1: God's plans > our's
   2. Lesson 2: Connection before direction
6. Thanks for reading!

Oct-Dec: Ups and Downs

There were good moments in these months, but there was also a lot of discouragement. I had many plans and ideas, but none of them were working. Maths tutoring didn't work. I looked into church planting but that didn't feel like a fit for us. The opportunities for teaching maths in international schools weren't as plentiful as I had hoped, and there was one that looked perfect but shortly before Christmas my application to that school was declined.

I was seriously regretting my decision to leave my job. Teaching was the only thing that felt suited to and I felt very foolish to have left a relatively comfortable and stable job with no real plan.

But over Christmas, when I wasn't even particularly looking for it, by chance I came across another opening at the school where my application was declined before. I didn't think there was much point applying, because I'd been declined twice now, so I just copy and pasted the old one, and submitted that, and forgot about it.

I had said if we couldn't find we way to Japan by December we would prepare to stay in the UK and that deadline was approaching, so I reluctantly thought about going back to what I was doing before. I was trying to stay hopeful about Japan, but I was ready to accept it may have been a mistake. Plus, Blessed Bakes was gaining traction, and we were (and still are) excited what the Lord would want to do with it. So I thought, maybe God wasn't telling us to go, and we should try to rebuild a stable life in the UK.

Jan-Feb: An Open Door!

After wrestling with these among other things over the New Year, for the first time in a long time, I came to a place of peace. While I was still hopeful the Lord would make a way to Japan, I was content if He had other plans. Then when I least expected it I was invited for an interview to the school I'd applied for.

We were trying not to get ahead of ourselves, but after the interview I was convinced this was the perfect fit for me. The position fit my experience, the staff interviewing seemed to have a genuine heart for Jesus and I also learned that the majority of the students who attended did not come from Christian backgrounds. I had heard that international Christian schools can be bubbles where the majority of students come from Christian families. Our heart in going to Japan was to make disciples of Jesus, so to hear that this school was reaching those who had not heard the gospel and did not know Jesus made me more excited at the possibility of teaching there. For the next few weeks, we waited trying to be hopeful without getting carried away, then one morning I received an email from the school to say they were offering me the job! We felt sure this was a door the Lord had opened, which gave us the confidence to accept it.

Mar-May: Preparations begin

Over the next months preparation began. By this point I was learning doing things by my own efforts leads to frustration and spinning wheels, but following the things God was doing and led to peace. In December, I had started a TESOL course so I could have English teaching as a backup option. I considered finishing it even though I'd been offered a job, but it felt to me like I was trying to make a backup to God's plans, and that didn't feel like it came from faith. Plus, it was also taking increasing amounts of time and effort, so I quit without regret.

We also God's provision in a number of ways throughout these months as we prepared to go to Japan:

• We booked our tickets before the US-Iran war began which meant we got them before airlines hiked prices.
• The process of getting a flat seemed daunting, but it turned out another family at the school was moving out just before we were due to arrive, which meant we could take over their flat. It was close to the school, they give us a helpful discount on the furniture, and the also had a car to buy, which you need in Okinawa.

June-August: Goodbye

June and July were busy months spent mainly organising our worldly possessions while trying to maximise time with family and friends. The church sent us off with a time of fellowship and prayer, which blessed and encouraged us. We were shown a lot of love, by both church and natural families, which was an encouragement to us.

The final week before our flight from UK to Okinawa was especially chaotic, but then the time finally came to go. The goodbyes were difficult, and there were many tears, but we were confident that the Lord would was with us as went and would be with our families as we left.

After a long journey we were greeted with great hospitality. We were met at the airport, taken out for dinner and driven to our new apartment. It was a strange feeling driving along the Okinawa motorway that night. Even though we'd only driven down it once before (in a taxi as we rushed to church a year ago), it felt strangely familiar, and I felt at peace that this was exactly where we are supposed to be.

Reflections

So here we are. We felt called to Japan to make disciples of Jesus, and all I could really do was teach maths. I wasn't sure how all that would work, but now we're in Japan, and I'm teaching maths at a school with a mission to make disciples of all nations. So after all the wandering and wondering, it seems things have come full circle.

But the wandering wasn't wasted and I feel there have been many things the Lord has taught me over the past year and a half. So I'll close with reflections.

Lesson 1: God's plans > our's

The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. - Psalm 33:10

There were many moments of frustration and discouragement over the last year and a half. The source of so much of it was that I was making my own plans which ran counter to God's and then I would become upset when things didn't go how I want.

But I'm grateful that my plans were frustrated because that made me give up on them and look at what God was doing instead. When I stepped back and stopped trying to do my own things, I began to see all the things that God was doing apart from my effort. That was also when I realised that I don't have to worry about trying to make things happen, because what it's what God is doing that matters.

There's an encouragement and a challenge in that. The encouragement is that the burden is not on me to accomplish God's purpose. I can just focus on seeking God and trust that He will open doors and work things out in His time.

The challenge is that there is always the temptation to manufacture our own solution instead of believing that God is a more significant factor God than whatever circumstance we're facing. Then instead of being patient, and seeking God continually in prayer, and waiting for Him to open doors, we can be like Abraham and Sarah and try to force them open by our natural effort.

Lesson 2: Connection before direction

If God and what He is doing is what is important our number one priority is to seek Him and wait for Him to lead us in what we should do. But sometimes, I think even when we do wait on God and pray for His direction, we can treat seeking Him a means to an end, rather than the foundation of our life that everything else flows out of. We can seek God for direction, but put that before our connection with Him. But connection comes first, then direction.

We can't be ready to follow God while we're still set on our own way. We're only ready to receive direction from God when our hearts are surrendered to Him, and we're ready to go wherever he leads us, even if it's not where we thought we were going or wanted to go.

It's as we grow in our connection with God, especially through prayer, that He shapes our hearts, which prepares us to receive His direction. As we spend time truly seeking God the priorities of our heart are reordered, and our will becomes for His to be done. God answers the prayers He inspires, so when our hearts aligns with His so will our prayers, and we can ask whatever we wish and it will be done (John 15:7). It's one of those things that seems backwards to us in our natural thinking, but makes sense according to God's wisdom (like losing your life for Jesus sake to find it). Maybe this was why it was only after being at peace about staying in the UK, if that was the Lord's will, that the door opened to Japan.

Thanks for reading!

Thank you for your investment and partnership, especially in prayer. I pray this has been encouraging to you in some way. I hope to keep up this blog to share insights into Okinawa and Japan, and some other thoughts and encouragement, as much as I'm able. However, personal updates and prayer requests won't be on the public blog, so if you would like to receive our personal updates and the prayer newsletter please sign up to the blog and message to say you would like to be added to the Prayer Partner group. And please let us know how we can be praying for you.