5 Years

Dear Gail,

I'm sure that you know this, but Lauren and Justin just graduated!!!! You're looking on all of us and interceding and cheering for us, just as Jesus does.

I know that it pleases you to do his will. Now you can experience that intimacy first hand and be close to Him.

Being close to Him and, at the same time being far from us is still hard.,because we miss you.

We were able to celebrate Mother's Day @ Peter's cafe with Greg as usual. It brought back good memories of past Mother's Day@ Peter's with all of us.
I'm thankful for those memories...

Tomorrow is Father's Day and Devon offered to go to the morning prayer time with me as a Father's Day present
because he knew that it would bless me. It did, and it hasn't even happened yet!!!

We all miss you. Devon and I are going to practice driving this morning @ CSM then go to Farmer's Mkt, then breakfast.

Love you,

Jono

Thanksgiving 2011

Hello Baby,

Wondering what you are doing now. Singing a song, dancing around, watching over us? Yes, you are. Yes, you are.

Everyone is growing up well, not because life is easy or grand.
In fact, in a lot of ways, life has been hard, painful.

But not everyday is like that. Jesus rules over all of our days.
The sun still shines.

There was a great cause for prayer recently. You may have heard prayers coming in your direction, toward Jesus. I wonder sometimes if you hear them.

I hope you do.

You would hear your son still lamenting about his Mom. Still pained.
And growing up.
I'm sure that you are proud.
God has His mighty hand on Dev, allright.

I'm thankful for that. Very.

At 56, I am still growing and learning.
Mom said that after 57 years of marriage that her and Dad are still growing.
There Is hope for me.

BSF is great. Acts this year. It's like I'm reading it for the first time!
So Alive!

Jackie and I are close, learning and growing.
I know that you are happy and at peace.
That makes me both sad and happy at the same time.
but you understand. Always have. Always will.
That's what makes you, you.

Bye for now,

Jono

Four Years Plus

Dear Gail,

4 years have gone by now...That's a long time!!! I have realized lately that God gave you back to Devon and I by bringing us up here to Half Moon Bay. We had wonderful years together. Amazing!!!! We enjoyed life together up here for 9 years. Devon told me earlier this year that he could not have had more time with you than he did!!! What kid can say that??

I'm glad that we kept our life simple and pretty uncluttered. Although I am still full of clutter, our focus was not. I'm glad for that.

I know that you are watching down from heaven and enjoying being with Jesus, Grandpa, Uncle Paul Kumagai, Aunty Tye and all your other friends. I know that life is good for you there....You're still getting mad at Grandpa for trying to cheat at scrabble.

Devon is working his butt off. He took it upon himself to type up his new availability for his Manager and he was rewarded with 30 hours plus instead of 20. He is dependable. He is. I'm sure that you're very proud.

I've been learning just to keep trusting no matter what. God is shaping my character. Sometimes it seems so brutal, but as I learned in Isaiah this past summer, God is Sovereign!

This past year I was at Tioga Lake with the guys as usual and I could not sleep as I was among a host of zombie snorers including myself. Anyways I was up at 3:00. I thought just three more hours til fishing....What I am I going to do for the next three? I thought that I would pray for awhile, so I walked outside the tent and stood for about an hour next to the picnic table looking up at the sky and praying. I was a pretty night with the sky full of patchy clouds. For some reason, I stared at one small spot of blackness amongst the clouds, like for a long time, and there appeared a star!!!

I immediately turned around to see if there were any other stars peeking through the dark spots between the clouds, and....there weren't. What I saw was your face that that star looking down at me. It blew me away.

It was like you were saying that even though I can't see you, your love is always there. This pointed me to Jesus, very much the same way. That light that pierces the darkness.

I relayed this story to grandma and she says that when she is washing dishes, and she looks out into the stars from her kitchen window, she sees you in the stars.

Devon is going down on July 13-20 to visit family. Aunty Joy is taking the cousins to Knotts. It should be fun.

Westminister Cemetary finally did you right with the marker. It was nice to visit with Dad and Grandma on 6/6/11. I hope that you liked the flowers....

Love,

jono

Open Letter to Gail on Mother's Day 2010

Hi Gail,

We miss you. Devon said that he doesn't know I feel cause my Mom is still alive. Devon is missing you. Last night grandma called and then Auntie Joy got on the phone.

All I heard in the other room, was, "Yes, Auntie Joy", "Yes, Auntie Joy." It was like you were talking to Devon. I can just hear Devon saying, "Yes Mother." He didn't need a lot of talking to, as I remember, because you would just give him one of those 'looks'.

Like usual, Greg, Devon and I had breakfast. This time at Denny's at 5:45. We miss Peter's Cafe though cause that was our regular Mother's Day place.

I wanted to eat Japanese with Devon tonight, just like we used to. So you could have your fish. I have been enjoying this place called Tampopo in Gardena. Killer ramen. Here is San Mateo it's either Himawari or Santa's. Oh yeah, we went to Himawari and I was dumb and ordered the chili ramen, which I could not eat. Sorry about eating your ramen with the steam pork. That was a good choice.

I miss basketball with Special Olympics. The season was short due to budget cuts. Everyone misses you being there. You would be so proud to see everyone. We almost finally beat coach Greg's team, but lost by two points. Good game though. It was kind of sad that Devon missed most of the season due to work. He works most weekends.

In fact, most of the family hasn't seen him, cause he hasn't been down. The finish of his first year at college is around the corner. He has done well. He's learned the bus system, is ironing his own work shirts which he wears to school on work days because he has to go straight from the bus to Safeway. They seem to like him there.

He did quit Kuk Sool Won. He wasn't going any more. By the way, teacher Paul is going to become a master in October. I know that it would have meant a lot to him if you were there to see him get promoted. But I know that you are rooting us all on, and are so proud of us.

Devon made it through another year of BSF, and rarely complained. He always wanted to go the the fellowships for the free pizza. He liked snack time going to the Country Store on Alameda de las pulgas for his free snack. Next week is our last week in BSF.

It's almost time for Devon to register for CSM. Department of Rehab is not going to pay anything anymore because he's working. It's gonna be a challenge with so much more homework.

It's good that he is going to relax this summer and hopefully he will be able to get his license. In a few weeks he's gonna go with Michelle and Richard and Diane to Disneyworld. He's not going to June Lake for the first time....boo hoo!!! A lot of the regulars are not going to be able to go this year. Please pray for the time. The theme this year is called 'God Colors'. Leigh and Katie and their family and Derek are going to be in Mammoth. Hopefully we will be able to see them @ June.

I saw Adora today at church and she was wearing a necklace that you had made for her and she told me that when you gave it to her, you asked her to tell you where to put the clasp, so that she could decide where she wanted the necklace to fall on her.

Last weekend, I went down to see Jackie and I knew that it was God that had me go on that weekend, cause also I had a nice talk with my Mom, and got to talk to Mike a little, then asked Mike if he could help with some plumbing at Jackie's. He and I hung out for a few hours.

I bumped into Meg, Susan and Dennis, Penny and Allie, Marian and June @ Tito's. That was a very nice surprise.

Say hi to everyone up there, please tell everyone thank you for cheering us on!!!

It was nice to write this, as it seems like we haven't talked for a long time.

jono

how I have been

Hello everybody,


It's been a long two years without my Mom. I have been doing good in spite of the loss of my mother. I have a great dad, great friends and yes, a great girlfriend. With these people in my life, my life has been better as a result. Over the last few weeks I have been hanging out with my girlfriend. It's been a good experince just to see what it's like to have a girlfriend. She has really made me feel what it's like to be whole. I really apperciate the fact that she is there for me and i try my best to be there for her. I love you Michelle!

I also want to thank all my friends and family for your prayers, support, and love. you guys make me want to strive for better things since i know they are all are praying for me. thanks guys so much!


I want to thank one family member in specific and that's my dad. He is there for me and he is the provider. He loves me and feeds me. (No complantes about the food.) He also has a great sense of humor that makes me laugh. Thank you Dad for being such a wonderful father to me!

I hope I can see everyone soon. Until then, I will be writing on here.



Devon Yoshimine

Devon Graduation June 11, 2009

information

I heard information that a high place adminstrator told Devon's home school teacher, that Devon would NEVER pass the high school exit exam and graduate high school.

Devon has been a kid, that would never take 'No' for an answer. I wonder where he got that from????? After Gail's passing in June 2007, we had a meeting with school administrators and Devon had a choice of either getting:

1. His GED

2. Certificate of completion

3. His high school diploma

He answered right away. I want my high school diploma. I want to graduate and walk with my class!!!

The Lord provided people like Aaron Reed, his homeschool teacher, Lisa Mo, who graciously opened her home, Aaron's generosity to allow Gail to trade admin for tuition, Nancy Z who tutored him in Math, Brendan K., who tutored him Math, Sa bu Nim Paul Carmody @ Half Moon Bay Kuk Sool Won who taught Devon to do his best and never give up, Bible Study Fellowship and Taylor McCormick and learning about God and how to walk in His Ways, Grandma and Grandpa, who always got in Devon's face and JiChan and Baachan who came up over and over again just to be with us. Greg Lim's guys, group, the fishing trips with the guys, Jeff Bovero calling Devon up. The C-Pals and Big Wave embracing Devon and me as they always have. And Devon playing on the big couagars and learning what means to cooperate, trust your teammates, Greg Off, Jeff and Val Peck, Bob Deaver, the prayer team @ Mariner's and Anaheim, the Ladida group. Pam and Joey Sayles and others that have walked the walk. Family. Lo, Joy-JOy, uncle Mike workin out and listening, Auntie Katie and Uncle Leigh shopping and doting over Devon yet making him pick up poop too!!! Uncles and Aunties and friends that walked and continue to Walk.

God, you made all this possibe. You are the miralce maker. You are the one who can bring beauty from ashes. New life out of death. You are the overcomer. You have overcome. There is NO OTHER.

Love,

Jon

2 Years..retrospective from July 2007

Hi Everyone-

We are thankful to the God for seeing us through to this point...He has made good on His promise to neve leave us nor forsake us.

Every call, card, E-Mail, prayer and just hanging out has made us keenly aware of the goodness of God in our lives. We are living proof. That does NOT mean that our life has been easy. It hasn't. There are ongoing disppointments, grief, anger and hurt to process. We are grateful that we do not have to go through this alone, but you have reached out to us. Even the 'unspoken' and 'quiet' ways, have meant the world to us. We thank God for you.

I wanted to share with you something that Devon wrote shortly after Gail passed away in June of 2007. We were on our morning walk and he asked me what I was concerned about and I told him that I was concerned that I could not be both his mother and father, and that I didn't know what I was going to do about that. I remember it was on a Sunday morning walk. I suggested that he think of eveything that he could of what was important to him at that point of his life and write it down. I told him that I would do the same thing and that we would compare notes and then order our lives around those things that were the most important.

I am sharing the list that Devon wrote as a testimony to how Father God has provided for our needs.

From Devon:

"For a successful year, I need to......

1. Do homework and turn it in on time.
2. Feed the cats
3. Clean their litter box
4. Fill up their water
5. Make my bed
6. Go to Bible Study Fellowship and do my lessons.
7. Get good grades
8. To maintain a good relationship wtih God and follow Him and his calling.
9. To organize my homework.
10. To make sure that either I have my lunch packed or have enough money for lunch.
11. To be able to have all my school supplies before school starts.
12. To be able to be a impact in people's lives.
13. To spend more time with things that are important
14. To be able to be open my heart to new ideas.
15. To be able to stay strong for my loved ones
16. To be able to honor my Dad.
17. To become cool tempered.
18. To go deeper in my faith.
19. to honor God and His commandments
20. To grow more closer with God.
21. To stay in shape.
22. to be an active member in the church
23. To be able to go from ground zero to ground 10


The Father has been faithful. Devon set his mind two years ago to graduate. In order to do that, he had to pass the Math and English exit exam. He persisted and did not give up, even though Math is tough for him.

Devon was able to attend Bible Study Fellowship this year and we studied the Life of Moses and how God made a new and living way for his people that were trapped in slavery. There were numerous stories of how God was faithful, patient and provided for his people that continually complained and grumbled. They were great life lessons for Devon and his Dad. We learned that Moses had a personal ongoing conversation/relationship with God and walked in the Lord's ways. We learned about the offerings and rituals listed in Leviticus and how the sin offering was the first in a series of offerings and why the sin offering was the first one offered. It is because no matter hard we try, there is no basis to come to God with anything that we have done, because we are all sinners, all the time, needing forgiveness.

Devon was able to participate in a guy's group on Wednesday night @ Mariners church in Half Moon Bay.

Devon will be attendng Foothill College starting June 29th-August 6th. He will be a one year program called 'Transition to Work' Foothill College is in Los Altos. It is a beautiful campus with buildings right out of 'Sunset' magazine. It has a homey feel to it. Please pray for this transition as most of his friends are attending College of San Mateo. In a few weeks Devon will be trained on how to use the local transportation system. He will be taking two busses and a train to get to and from school. He will be picking up an important life skill.

He will soon be testing to obtain his learner's permit and hopefully will be able to obtain his driver's license later this summer.

Shortly after he finishes his first quarter @ Foothill, we will be travelling to Connenicutt to visit brother Jeff and Susan Yoshimine who recently moved from Santa Barbara. We have never been back east before. Our parents will be going also. I would like to attend a Boston Red Sox baseball game @ Fenway and take the "Freedom Walk' in Boston. Other than that, we will be just hanging out.

We are still processing our grief and walk it out. We covet your prayers as we walk our future out together.

I will ask Devon to share soon about how he feels about graduating and his future.

Love,

Jon

'Ark Memories' from Gail.....

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!!!!

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

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

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

Gail is still smiling down on us.

Thanks, Gail.

Love,

Coastside Cougars and Jon and Devon

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.

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!

So Empty and Yet So Full

I feel void of that listening ear....Gail had a good one...and it was always available...well almost...but there when I needed it...

Now alone and kind of empty....sometimes lonely, sometimes desperately so. What to do??? What to do? Where to go??? Now what???

I stop and remember....how I got here and who it was that got me here. And I don't think there's any miracle in that???

A sometimes 'silent' partner is still a partner.

I realize what I have is because it was freely given to me, without any expected in return. Love was given not randomly, but wholly and fully for me.

He is sitting by...hanging out..

There is much abundance here. What matter of love is this???

Hope for the Future

I am in the process of planning for Devon's future after high school. Sometimes it feels overwhelming because I haven't done it before. I want to do the right/best thing, but what is that look like? I don't know.

But I can't just stop there. There are two friends of ours whose daughters have already gone this path so I am meeting with them soon to hear how they processed the decisions that they came to.

Support services. A source for services/funding for individuals with disabilities is "Regional Center". Devon was a client when we lived in Orange County and then was reassessed 6 years ago and was found not to be eligible. His disabilities are not apparent. Anyways, I have contacted "Regional Center" to appeal the decision and they have asked me to provide all the information since the last test in 2002 so that it can be reviewed and a decison can be made.

Please pray for this outcome. It is not a dealbreaker, but it would sure be helpful.

More to come....

Jon and Dev

Dear Mama

Devon has been missing Gail lately. He likes this song called 'Dear Mama' by Tupac. It makes him cry. That's good because Devon doesn't cry too much usually.

We are getting by ok. I probably don't ask for enough help when I need it. Gail seemed to be telling me early on, 'if you need help, ask for it'.

I'm meeting with Devon's vocational instructor on November 7th. We are going to talk post high school options for vocation and education. Devon, I think wants to go to CSM College of San Mateo which is cool. The fact remains that the cirriculum is college level and he will have to perform at this level.

One possible option is for him to take one or two classes and work. This way, he can ease into the college scene and focus on doing well. He certainly has the drive and tenacity that Gail had. He's like a bull-dog and doesn't give up easily. He is really resilient in a God-shaped way. That's encouraging. There is a CSM extension in Half Moon Bay, so it may be possible for him to take his courses here in town. At some point, I would like him to get onto the college campus.

Please pray for this transition.

We are wrapping up our counseling. The last time we met, my counselor asked about the future like Devon transitioning into the post high-school life and me transitioning into life without Gail and Devon. Wow. How is that going to happen? Please pray that I go the Lord with these questions and hang out with Him through this and get his take.

Thanks.

Jon and Devon

time out

Life goes on......



I like the fact that devon and i are continuing to walk together in the mornings. It's not a long walk, but it's important and something that we have been doing together on a regular basis.



I've come to take these walks for granted because they have become routine.



This morning, I was thinking about Gail back at the hospital and their was some grief and pain and then God took me sovereignly by the hand and showed me how our lives have been ordained before the beginning of time and how He made it possible for us to be here in HMB for 9 years being family. I again saw how loving he is and how he has taken care of us every step of the way and will contnue to do so.



Devon is a senior in high school now and enjoying school. He is taking the following classes:

Us Government

Mass Media

Weight Lifting

Workability

English

Independent Study



He gets to give announcements to the entire school on TV once a week a LOVES it. He's such a ham.



He's enjoying watching football these days and is a huge niners fan. We went to a recent niner/green bay game and he went crazy. Where did that come from???



Devon will, after two years hiatus begin BSF on September 30th. This year it is on the Life of Moses. I'm thrilled that he has an opportunity to do this again as it was great the three years that he did it earlier, studying the Minor Prophets, Acts and Genesis.



He is enjoying time with friends that seem to always like to come to our place. So we always have guys over. This weekend, we are inviting some girls over for a hoops activity and a barbque for some hang time.



He is also part of a team ministry to some elderly residents here in Half Moon Bay. Our sunday school class helps with this once a month ministry. Devon recently gave his testimony. If you want to hear it, you can go the Mariners Community Church Half Moon Bay website and go to the podcast on August 24th.

His testimony goes back to our days living in Anaheim when Devon accepted Christ at the Harvest Festival when he was about 5 years old. It's rich, and classic Devon. If you listen in, you'll get some laughs too.



Devon and I were all set this summer to go to Redwood Christian camp with family and friends, but the Lord had other plans for us as we went with our church high school group to work with the Navajo on their reservation in Arizona.



What follows is a snippet from our time there.

Elsie, the matriarch of the Navajo family gazed at the horizon as approaching storm headed toward us, and said, "It won't rain here."

"It will rain over there", pointing to her left, then pointing to the right, she said, "It will rain over there, but it won't rain here."

It poured down rain for two days in that parched, thirsty desert. The cisterns underground that catch the rain water off the roof were filled to overflowing. Wow. There were pools of water everywhere.

It reminded me of Psalm 84.

This 'interruption' in our work gave way to going under cover with our Navajo friends, the Codys and we talked and laughed and spent time together.

We all knew, that God was up to something way beyonod our limited comprehension. I knew that God was speaking to my barrenness and desert wasteland of my own soul.

He couldn't have ever spoken more loudly than he did that day.

Our three day sojourn with 4 adults and 9 teens onto the Navajo reservation 30 miles east of Flagstaff, became walk of healing in the midst of great sorrow, for they had lost the martriarch of their family Betty, 6 months before we came to the Rez.

They were not sure if they were going to let us come because of their grief.

The very first day of work with the Cody family brought a sense of what our trip was going to be about as the patriarch of the family, Johnny Ray and I sat on a log taking a short break. He told me that he had lost his wife earlier in the year. I shared briefly about my loss as well.....

What flowed out of this was a wonderful three sojourn with the Codys through their grief. Indeed there were Streams in the Desert.

May these streams continue to flow into your hearts as the Lord who provides.

Love,

Jon and Devon

Navajo Family Times

hello everyone,

Boy was the trip excellent!! Me and some of the youth group from my chruch went to Arizona and worked with a Navajo family. But let me start from the beginning.

On Monday at noon was our flight out of San Fransisco. We arrived in Phinoex around 2:30. Then we rented a van and put our luggage, and 14 other people in the van. Then we ate lunch in Phionex at the nitourious Wendy's. Mmmm the chili was good considering that they have fingers in it. Just kidding. We met some people from this organization called Wondervoyage. The people were named, Shan, Jason, and a intern Shara. They explained the one rule that we had on the trip. The rule was not to act stupid. That was the one rule. Shan and his group had a different car. We went on Monday to a nice resort in Sedona. We debrifed about what we were here for and we were preparing our hearts for the next three days serving on the reservation. Then we unpacked, and relaxed for the next few hours. Then we went into our cars and went into the city of Sedona. We ate at this Chineese cafe all you can eat. After we went back to the resort. We had a oppurtionity to look at the stars outside of the resort after we got there. I was just in awe that God made all of that. In Half Moon Bay I can't see that in Half Moon Bay because it's always so dang foggy. Then we just hung out inside until 11 and the boys went into their room and the girls went into their room. What a relief!!! On Tuesday we woke up at seven a.m. and started to pack. After we packed and put our stuff in the car, we ate breakfeast at the resort. We left at eight. We arrived at the reservation a few hours later. I was suprised that the reservation like the houses were spread out. It was like a barren desert. To be honest it was kind of depressing. We stopped at a church were we were staying. We met the Monorch of the family we were working with. Her name was Elsie. She was the niceist person you would have met. Then after we unpacked and got settled in we went to their house/ranch deeper into the reservation. Their house was made of wood and cardbord which was shocking. But they each accepted us into the family like we were one of them which was really powerful and minisering. Once we got oriented and met the family, we had lunch. We had some true guinuine indian food called turkey sandwhiches, chipes, soda, gaderade, and water. It was tasty. After that they wanted us to tear down their old fence and put all the scraps of wood and metal into two seperate pials. It was hard work but we did if efficantley and quickly. Then that day we burned the wood and with the metal we threw away. Then we had dinner. We had some indian corn meal, and had some lamb I think. Then we had a oppurtunity to fellowship with the family and with one another. We were talking about ourselves and also learned about the way they live. Most of them have jobs have jobs in the nearest city called Flagstaff to support the family just to live. They don't have the luxuary like the rest of us do. They have t.v. though. They don't have running water though or fast food reasturant's on the reservation. All of that is in flagstaff. Some of the Navajo people do live in Flagstaff. But the people who live on the reservation just try to get by on minimum money, food, and get water from the water whole. I learned not to take my life for granted. I thought I had it hard but they really have it hard. One of the senior members of the family said there has been a death in the family. His wife died a few months before we came into the reservation. Just that we got invited in while their loss is still so fresh is a incredible honor and minsitired to me personally in volumes that words could not. I could relate to him in a sense because I lost my Mom just a little more then a year ago. Then after we felloshiped we went to the church and we debrifed and eventually went to sleep. The first night some kids claimed that I was sleepwalking which I usually don't. Well at least I don't think I don't. On Wensday we woke up at 4:30 and had to be at the family's home by 5:00. They were worshiping their God the dawn. The way it works is that we face the dawn with a fistfull of cornmeal and spread it down and across so in a way it symboylizes the cross. They just don't know it. Earilier the previous day we were debating whether we should perticipate in the ceromoney because they have obviously diffirent belifes about who God is. We decided to pirticapate in it unless God was calling us otherwise. See our reasoning is that we wern't worshiping the dawn, we were worshiping the God who created the dawn. In our hearts we were worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ and him alone and that's fo sho!!!

Then we had breakfeast which was cornmeal, eggs, becon, and indian oatmeal, which was not bad. Then after we started to do diffirent tasks. Some people decided to work on the house and some others decided to go to some other family's and do a little home improvement with other families. I decided to go help with the other family's. I went with three other boys plus two leaders, Craig and George, and we cut some wood and other material and we added some stuff to the house which is kinda like shop class in a sense. I loved to see the smiles on the Navajo people as we fixed their house and ministired to them at the same time. Then around noon we went back to the main base house to eat lunch. We had sandwiches and sodas again. Yeeehhh!!!! After that another group went to help the other families while my group and some other of the other of the youth group stayed back at the main house and cleaned up the ranch from the tumble weeds, sheep poop and horse poop. After that we put some of the wood we gathered from the fence on Tuesday into another pile and burned it. That took a few hours. Then we had a break. Then we countinued until dinner time with that same task. For dinner we had beef and beens and salad, cheese and cornmeal. It was pretty good. Oh did I mention while we were working it started to pour on us bullets. So we went inside to have some good old fellowship with the family and with each other. After we ate dinner we talked some more about their way of life and how they support each other and they said most of them have jobs in Flagstaff to support the family. We stayed there until 8 thirty. Then we went to the church and debrifed about our day as we were out on the front porch of the church looking at the stars. We were also awestruck that on Thursday would be our last day of working on the reservation.

When we woke up on Thusday we woke up at 8:30 and went on the reservation at nine. On the last day I had a feeling God was feeling us up with his energy and we did everything we could to help them because it was our last day. We cleaned the tumbleweed and piled it up and burned them. We cleaned the sheep pen, and other things with a smile on our face like we did for those three days. On that day it rained on us for a hour but we got to fellowship with each other again, which was nice. When it stopped we went back to work. I was entertaning the kids there, and keeping them happy while the parents were working with us. That really inspired me that the Navajo people actually worked with us dispite thier loss and did it also with a smile on their face. So while we were there to minister to them, we were also getting ministired to as well. For dinner we had lamb ribs, and corn meal which was not bad. Later they had some sheep head and other parts of the body that were to sample if we wanted. I was brave enough to have some of the sheep head. It was kind of rubbury but it was a good experince though. After dinner each one of the people from our youth group from mariners including the leaders shared about what we learned and or what we were thankful or what we got out of the trip. I was thankful and awestruck that they accepted us into the family as one of their own. I was also amazed that they worked alongside us even though they had a death in the family and the husband smiled while we were there. One of the Navajo women said the husband that experinced the loss has not smiled since his wife's death. And it was the first time he smiled since her death. Then after we all shared, which was good but totally unexpected, one by one each one of the family members got up and shared what they learned and shared what they were thankful for or whatever they wanted to say. The widower got up last I think and he shared his hurt inside and started to cry in front of everyone there. It was sad but I think it was a God moment at the same time because he was thinking probaly he was amongst friends and family. After each one of them shared we said our goodbye's which took mabye a half an hour. Then we headed back to the church slept. The next few days were just chill time. On Friday we woke up around seven thirty and we started to pack.

I want to go back.

Love,

Devon

High School Exit Exam Heaven...

Newsflash......Devon comes up big as he rides the coattails of the Holy Spirit and crosses the Math Exit Exam threshold!!! There's no looking back now, only thanksgiving to God and moving forward.

Hurray!!!!