Sports Day

Sports Day 2008 was a success, PRAISE THE LORD! I was extremely nervous and excited knowing that it was my responsibility as the PE teacher to plan our school's annual Sports Day. This is a day all the kids and staff look forward too, so I felt a tremedous amount of pressure to not let anyone down! Furthermore, Sports Day is not just for our International School, but a BIG event for all the Japanese schools as well throughout this country! A BIG DEAL! With the Lord's guidance and God-given gifts he has given me, Sports Day was well planned and organized to the point where I sat back and watched everyone enjoy the day. For the first time, I felt as if the Lord had been preparing me for this day with all the job experience I've had working with kids. All the experience the Lord strategically planned over the past decade of my life proved to be the tools to help plan such a well organized and fun day for everyone! Job experience such as Prince of Peace where I was the Before and After School Director; My job at the YMCA as the Sports Director Assistant; My coaching experience and my years as an athlete during Jr. High and High School were so resourceful in thinking up sporting events and games for all the kids of my school to enjoy! I am truly humbled and thankful for all the Lord teaches me as I walk through this journey/season of my life. I am really seeking to see God in everything...that nothing is a coincidence and everything in my life has a purpose for the worship and glory of God...God causes everything to work together for His good (Romans 8:28)!

Sports Day Pics!!

Becky and I at Sports day. Becky flashing her gang sign, and I painted my face with the four colors that represented the four teams...Blue, Yellow, Orange, and Green! Any excuse I have to paint my face and I'm all over it!!

YAY for games!! The kids are doing a water relay race! I love watching kids as well as adults having FUN!

This boy David is in Kindergarten and he had an amazing jump!

The little kids being measured for their standing long jumps. They did so great!

The Director/Principal of our school is in the red shirt. He was about to pray for our day.

I'm giving instructions for the day's events and games

Our group photo at the beginning of Sports Day! We had such beautiful weather. I praise the Lord so much for the awesome, FUN day He gave to us.

More pics...

Rice fields that I walked past on the way to Torami beach in Chiba. So funny to see countryside with the ocean being about half mile away. It reminded me of Arroyo a little bit.

Black sand beach!

Me and Emily at Ichinomyia Beach. Very windy. The air was cold but the water was warm! The temp was about 75 degrees....ahhhh, so nice :)

Chiba Coast!

So as "Endless Summer" so eloquently quoted the phrase, "You should of been here yesterday," so I discovered the same issue when I arrived at Ichinomyia Beach. All the locals said, "You should have been here yesterday!" I missed the fun swell by a day! However, there were still some fun waves that came through and I enjoyed surfing! I couldn't help but think that this beach looked so much like the beaches in California...like San O! It was pretty crowded. But I am discovering that Japan has crowded surf...it is afterall a very populated country!!

The Bullet train to Toyko!

My first experience on the bullet train! Seriously, the coolest mode of transportation! It's like riding in a plane that flies on land. Emily and I got to Toyko in 2 hours where if we were driving it would have taken about 6-8 hours!