the following reflection is written in 1997 before we moved to Half Moon Bay. It was written after a reflection that Gail had after reviewing her life from 1989-1997.
Background: Two great guys, Bruce and Brice, together with Gail and I purchased a 5 bedroom home together, within 2 miles of our home church in order to live 'in community'. We wanted the house to be used as a 'safe house' where anyone could just drop in and be welcomed with the love of Jesus......It was lovingly referred to as 'the Ark'
'Ark Memories' .....by Gail Yoshimine
tears of gratitude......
realizing God's goodness, God's love, God's power in and through faith community.
'the Wee three,
Brice, Bruce, Jon and me
willing to follow the Mighty Three in One
the Father, Son and Holy Spirt
into joining our lots and less of faith, monies and friendship
to seeking to share our hearts
to seeking to make a home together
Reflecting on God's faithfulness fills me with awe and wonder
Remembering God's planting seeds, watering, weeding
and bearing fruit...
at our home, in the Ark!!
Community in Christ poured into us.....
courage to color beyond the lines-take risks, bring life to ideas,
bring others onboard
Strength to persevere-to swim upstream, withstand the darts of the enemy, and keep striving adn straining in prayer for
the Lord's presence
******
Reasons to celebrate and the place to come together to do just that!!!!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Senior Pictures
Last night Devon and I went to Sears to get his Senior pictures taken. He was such a champ.
He had a very proud smile. Like he had accomplished something and had a deep sense of satisfaction.
It was not a haughty smile. I loved it. Gail loved it too.
I became very sad during the day @ work thinking about the fact that Gail would not be with us.
Gail would have loved to fuss over Devon as he put on his new clothes and his cap and gown.
I called a friend, Lisa and cried for awhile. She too was close to Gail and knew what I was feeling.
My boss Sam, walked into my office while I was crying too and I shared with him about the pictures. He was very understanding and compassionate.
As picture time came, the tears wore off and the excitement came.
Devon looked so good in the brand new clothes!
His Grandma and Aunty Katie bought the new clothes for him when he was in Huntington Beach during Easter break. They spent about two hours with the family having him try on different shirts, slacks and jackets. He was a good sport.
They loved Devon by fussing over him. I'm sure that he ate it up.
He will also wear these same clothes to the Prom on May 2nd @ the Exploritorium in SF.
If you would like a picture, please let me know. I have a high resolution cd.
I want to thank all of you who have been there for Devon and our family in our journey to see him to this point of graduation.
It was not a foregone conclusion.
God knew what He was doing.
And here we are.
Amazing!
Love,
Jono
Thursday, April 23, 2009
together time
Early on in our grieving process Devon and I made a list of those things that are important to us. One of the reasons for this was to order our lives around those things and people that were them most important.
Over the last two years, my time and effort has been on trying to build in a controlled, predictable life for us to live in, protected. I have found myself frustrated when things don't go my way, etc. Sometimes I feel that I have been focussed on obtaining certain outcomes at the expense of simply enjoying/living life.
I realized that I need 'down' time with Devon besides our walks. The other night we laid in bed together and were talking about what we had learned from the testimony of a friend that had to serve time in San Quentiin in order for the Lord to do the work that He wanted to accomplish.
We started to talk about the reason that we have suffered loss and how the Lord might want to use that. It was nice 'together time.' Devon said that the Lord wanted to use us to bless others that have also gone through a loss.
A verse that has come to mind this week is:
"The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing"
Zephaniah 3:17
Thursday, April 2, 2009
update
Hi Everyone,
It's been a while sine I wrote on the blog, and for that I apoligize. Life has been fairly well regarding school (to an extent) and home life. Wow, how time flies! It's almost been two years sine my mom (Gail) passed away. The two year mark will be on June 7th, 2009. :( I know very sad. I know she is in a better place and she has it good, but my father and and all of you who are reading this are the ones suffering the loss. I wish she was still around to see me graduate and make my way from becoming a humble school boy, to a young man. I hope my efforts to be a a nice young man will make her proud. It's hard to praise and thank God for the life she lived when I also look at the fact that she was still very young when she passed away. She was a angel in the flesh. Now she is gone from this earth. now the more I think about it, the more frustrated and angry I become at God. I ask him why did you have to take away my mom and my dad's wife? I get so furious at times that whenever someone refers to me as a Christian, I wince. I wince because I don't want to do ANYTHING with God at times. Then I slap myself in the face and say... if God could get mehrough this far. He could still carry us through for the rest of my life.
Much Love,
Devon Yoshimine
It's been a while sine I wrote on the blog, and for that I apoligize. Life has been fairly well regarding school (to an extent) and home life. Wow, how time flies! It's almost been two years sine my mom (Gail) passed away. The two year mark will be on June 7th, 2009. :( I know very sad. I know she is in a better place and she has it good, but my father and and all of you who are reading this are the ones suffering the loss. I wish she was still around to see me graduate and make my way from becoming a humble school boy, to a young man. I hope my efforts to be a a nice young man will make her proud. It's hard to praise and thank God for the life she lived when I also look at the fact that she was still very young when she passed away. She was a angel in the flesh. Now she is gone from this earth. now the more I think about it, the more frustrated and angry I become at God. I ask him why did you have to take away my mom and my dad's wife? I get so furious at times that whenever someone refers to me as a Christian, I wince. I wince because I don't want to do ANYTHING with God at times. Then I slap myself in the face and say... if God could get mehrough this far. He could still carry us through for the rest of my life.
Much Love,
Devon Yoshimine
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Hero Tales
Our Heros. We are meeting @ LaDiDa Coffee House in Half Moon Bay. We will be using the Overcomer Series.
True stories of ordinary people who became Heros. Please join us.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Catching Up
Mom and Dad Yoshimine came up to stay with Devon and I between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. This was a welcome and timely visit for us this year. I work on Fridays of Thanksgiving weekend, so there are no trips down to SoCal for Thanksgiving. Since our move to NoCal, Thanksgivings have been small gatherings. It was a treat to have Mom and Dad with us. With Dad being almostg 85 and Mom over 80 now, it is really something for them to travel, but they do. And it is a big deal to us. This visit was a perfect segue into Christmas 2008, which was particularly lonely for me.
We didn't talk a whole lot. Their love was a quiet love, but it spoke loudly. We sat in the same room doing our own thing, keeping each other company as time passed. Theirs was a comforting presence to Devon and I.
The loss this past year, felt more 'in your face'. I felt empty, moving on into a New Year without my love, facing an uncertain future. I began to realize who and what I had lost in my relationship with Gail. I felt extremely 'poor'. Then God stepped in...in fact Mom and Dad's presence served to remind me of God's presence with me.....memories of how good God has been to me and how he had blessed me with such a wonderful, loving and fun woman, kind of overcame me...and filled me...It was his continuing revelation of his enduring Love.
I read Luke 2 before Christmas as the angel reveals some bewildering and amazing promises to Mary. He talked about the future and Mary's part in His plan. I love her response to her Lord: "May it be done to me, as you have said." I prayed this prayer about my (our) future with Him.
God gave me such wonderful encounters with family and friends during the visit to family down in SoCal. A nice walk to the Huntington Beach wetlands with Mike Toguchi, Vince Chiya, Devon an I. Touch football with the family. A lunch with guys that I met with for years when in their high school years. The annual Hunt Tamale New Year's Eve party and visiting with friends. A breakfast @ Corner bakery in Brea with Jeff Sano, Steve Yahata, Jordy, Devon and I to talk about the June Lake Fishing trip. Breakfast and a walk with Brian.
All needed. All good.
Then later in January, 2009, the Lord opened up other opportunities to share conversations with other widows and widowers. This has been very helpful for me because we are able to understand one another. I had a lunch, a breakfast, a visit, E-Mail conversations and a lasagna dinner with Devon and another family. A grief group is starting up at my church soon. I plan to attend.
Devon may have a similar opportunity. We recently completed an intake for Devon for a grief group of teens that have lost parents. I hope that Devon will have this opportunity. Please pray that this, or another opportunity.
Please pray for our Bible Study Fellowship study of the life of Moses. It has been the best study yet for me, even in Leviticus and Numbers!
We didn't talk a whole lot. Their love was a quiet love, but it spoke loudly. We sat in the same room doing our own thing, keeping each other company as time passed. Theirs was a comforting presence to Devon and I.
The loss this past year, felt more 'in your face'. I felt empty, moving on into a New Year without my love, facing an uncertain future. I began to realize who and what I had lost in my relationship with Gail. I felt extremely 'poor'. Then God stepped in...in fact Mom and Dad's presence served to remind me of God's presence with me.....memories of how good God has been to me and how he had blessed me with such a wonderful, loving and fun woman, kind of overcame me...and filled me...It was his continuing revelation of his enduring Love.
I read Luke 2 before Christmas as the angel reveals some bewildering and amazing promises to Mary. He talked about the future and Mary's part in His plan. I love her response to her Lord: "May it be done to me, as you have said." I prayed this prayer about my (our) future with Him.
God gave me such wonderful encounters with family and friends during the visit to family down in SoCal. A nice walk to the Huntington Beach wetlands with Mike Toguchi, Vince Chiya, Devon an I. Touch football with the family. A lunch with guys that I met with for years when in their high school years. The annual Hunt Tamale New Year's Eve party and visiting with friends. A breakfast @ Corner bakery in Brea with Jeff Sano, Steve Yahata, Jordy, Devon and I to talk about the June Lake Fishing trip. Breakfast and a walk with Brian.
All needed. All good.
Then later in January, 2009, the Lord opened up other opportunities to share conversations with other widows and widowers. This has been very helpful for me because we are able to understand one another. I had a lunch, a breakfast, a visit, E-Mail conversations and a lasagna dinner with Devon and another family. A grief group is starting up at my church soon. I plan to attend.
Devon may have a similar opportunity. We recently completed an intake for Devon for a grief group of teens that have lost parents. I hope that Devon will have this opportunity. Please pray that this, or another opportunity.
Please pray for our Bible Study Fellowship study of the life of Moses. It has been the best study yet for me, even in Leviticus and Numbers!
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