1. Coffee. I set the alarm early enough so I have time to percolate coffee before I need to leave the house. I love the smell and the comforting sound. If ever I feel guilty about loving coffee so much, I remember a display that I saw at Menno-Hof featuring John Funk, who was apparently as devoted to his coffee as I am. Funk (1835-1930), a publisher and Mennonite leader, is sometimes called the most influential Mennonite after Menno Simons. A co-worker asked Funk if he didn’t know that coffee was a poison. Funk, undaunted, is said to have replied, “If it is, it must be a mighty slow one.”
2. Mike and the train. We have to leave the house at 7:20 a.m. for my husband, Mike, to catch the 7:33 train into Tokyo where he works as chaplain and associate professor of Christian Studies at Aoyama Gakuin University. Then, I return home to the chaos of my teenagers getting off to school for the day. My family is my first “ministry,” and I thank God every day for the joy that my nuclear and extended family bring into my life.
3. Moses. Moses is our stoic and devoted brindle-coated Kai-Ken dog. He leads me into the woods across the street from our house. There, we walk, reflect and pray. Seeing the tall trees and big sky above continually remind me of God`s abundant and generous grace to me.
4. The computer. Back at home, I sit down at my desk (the dining room table) to begin my job. I’m the pastor of the English-speaking
West Tokyo Union Church where I have served for the past five years. It’s a diverse congregation of 40-70 people. A third of the attenders are Japanese, some of whose faith journey deepened while overseas; a third are North Americans working in Japan; and the other third are made up of people from the rest of the world – Ghana, Malaysia, Singapore, Uganda, and the United Kingdom.
5. Family, friends and fellowship. My greatest pleasure in life is relating to the people in the congregation, my family and friends local and through Facebook, my neighbors, and other parents at my kids’ school.
