Youth Game Night!

We just had our first tween to teen fellowship!

We had all the fixins for a junkfood junky (aka: teenager), pizza, hot wings, chips, brownies, cookies, and soda! Then Jason gave a message on keeping your heart clean from sin and rebellion. One of the troubled young people sought help afterwards; what a blessing! A couple of the teens brought some friends, we had a good turnout! We followed the service with the games! I had so much fun looking for and thinking up games for these kids. Thankfully we have a very good natured crew of kids who like to have fun! I was blessed to have grown up in church knowing what good clean fun was all about! We had the best teen fellowships and outings! So now I get to relive those good ole memories through these kids in watching them compete and go crazy! I've got a few more crazy games up my sleeve! When I run outa those ideas, I'll be giving my "old" teen director a call!

The first game: Sponge Relay!

Objective: Beat the other team in moving water from one bucket to the next with one sponge.

Team 2 were the winners~!

The night grew dark, the cameraman still needs to figure out how to take good pictures in the dark! So, we didn't get any pictures of the potato relay! That was a funny one too! The teams raced each other in transporting a potato between their knees to another bucket across the parking lot. If they dropped the tater, they had to start all over! It was rather comical to see the kids' creativity come into play!

One of our favorites growing up: Fruit Basket! This accounted for many a broken chair! We didn't break any chairs or backs, though we did end up with a few knot-heads!

Bro. Russell found a new way to play ping pong! Girls vs. Guys! You'll never guess who won? The Girls! Sorry girls, you've proven once again that females have WAY too much hot air to blow!





We had to add more craziness to the night, so..... we buried M&Ms in whipped cream! The kids raced each other in eating all the M&Ms, hands free! Made for great pictures!

I figured, with enough sugar in them, they would be crazy enough to go along with anything that was written out for them to do! So after popping a balloon which they had chosen, they were to perform the task written on a piece of paper that was previously inserted into the balloon. First, we had fun just getting some balloons to pop! Those balloons were pretty resilient! I went first to prove that I wasn't above getting in on crazy! Thankfully, I had a fairly decent one! I had to draw an ocean scene blindfolded or in the dark! I did quite well, if I should say so myself!



So yes, some of us were quite amused! Jonathan tries his hardest to whistle "Yankee Doodle" with a mouth full of Cheezits! Glad I was behind him! The crackers were flying, that's pretty much ALL he was accomplishing!

Zac was challenged to blow up a balloon until it popped! Of course, he was given the longest balloon in the bag! Poor guy, he's really trying, he's red here!

We ended up just calling it good before he passed out on us! Way to go Zac!

Daniel got to carry a partner across the room this way. I hope Jonah's back is okay!

Emily had to put on the first article of clothing she felt from the crazy costume grab bag! Next time we'll get everyone to do this! I've got to round up some more costumes!

Overall, we had a great time! Thanks all you guys for making it a great night! I got to let loose with the kids and be a kid again! That's the best part in working with kids, you have an excuse to act crazy and not like some stuff-shirted adult!

God's Beautification Process!

We recently had the opportunity to go to an Okinawan glass company. It was so cool to watch the workers pull the orange-red hot sticky glass from the kiln and work it into shapes: blowing it into a mold, hitting and shaping it, then heating it up again in the kiln to set the current shape. I was reminded of some verses in the Bible that I had memorized as a child.....

"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of
gold that perisheth, though it be tried in the fire, might be found unto praise
and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ."

As Christians, we liken our trials as being put through the fire. God is the master designer and we are but the creation of His hands. Let me illustrate..... I love typologies!

First, we started off with a hard clear stick of glass, hardened by a cooling.... As Christians, we can become hardend by a spiritual cooling. Hebrews 3:13 ".....lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." I have experienced this and didn't even realize it! As I read a little further, Paul writes, "....if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end...today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts..." We can become hardened as this stick of glass by allowing our hearts to become "cooled off" to our beginning in Christ. We can become critical of those around us, comparing ourselves with others, making up our own 'list' of what we feel is spiritual growth. We can quickly forget where we came from, what Christ brought us out from, and how long it took for us to make changes. We can become hardened by sin, though we may not even realize it's sin, hey, that's why Paul referred to it as "the deceitfulness of sin". We're teaching our children to keep or guard their hearts as written in Proverbs: "Keep thy heart with all diligence.."

In order to get the bead that we were designing, we had to get this stick of glass hot enough to melt, so that it would be pliable for molding it into what we had in mind. The Christian life is a growing process, a molding, or at least it should be. If you are not growing, then think again, you might have been put up on the shelf for another day! Don't you ever wonder that right when things seem to finally be going right in life, you get 'blessed' with another trial?! You are the 'diamond in the rough' and God is shaving off those raw edges to make you shine! Through just enough heat, the glass will melt and become very pliable, it may even start to drip if not removed from the heat in time. God as our Master Designer knows just how much fire to put us through, He knows what we can take. As our Creator, He knows what we're made of!

"...but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able..."

Our consolation is that God is in control! But it's not until we've exhausted all our power and ability, that He will take control. God will not force you to do His will.


Once the glass had reached it's pliable state, we had to constantly turn it back and forth to keep it even on all sides. We pulled it out of the fire to cool it off a bit, blowing on it as we turned it back and forth. We are held in His hands as a precious fragile piece of glass, melted by the heat of the trial, pliable in his hands for the molding process. He can shape us into the image that He so desires, as we move to His turning, yielding to the Holy Spirit. Paul writes:

"..... but though our outward man perish, yet the
inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but
for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory;..."

Once we had the bead shaped to our desired size, we added color through the same melting process. A little more heat would be required to add the beauty that would set it apart from the rest! One can think of a trial as God's beautification process, He has seen you as someone He wants to use. He's making you again into what He wants you to be. He's adding beauty to your life, by taking more of your will away and giving you His.

"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work."

I like the words of this song:

"He made it again, made it again, as it seemed good unto the potter, though it was marred, weary and worn, He took the clay, new life was born."

Well that brings up another typology...... for another day!

Japanese Naval Underground

We are making our way around the island, checking off our list of things to do. People have told us to slow down on our exploring, that we'll run out of things to do! I think we'll be visiting our favorite places regularly! We can explore this island and then venture out to the surrounding islands and Asia! My aim is to have seen China by the time we leave here. We visited the Naval Underground museum. I hope to do the actual battle sights tour with an American tour guide, but for this trip we explored with some pretty good guess work! Once again, we're reminded that we're in a foreign country, it's not as fun to go to museums when you can't even read half the stuff! Now I know how little kids and foreigners feel when going to museums! So the pictures below are just guess work until I go on the actual guided tour!

The entrance to the cave of Japanese Naval Underground Headquarters

I'm not quite sure what these folded paper chains are to represent. My guess is that they represent the good luck and well wishes for those who died, or maybe prayers that are said for those who gave their lives in battle? We saw these at the Peace Memorial Park and I've seen them hung like a lei over tombs and memorials.

The first room we came to was the signal room, hence the sign! There was limited signage, but thankfully it was in English too!

I think the boys would've loved to have made this their "fort" or hideout! They had fun going in and out of the rooms. We had fun trying to guess what things were! Though it was pretty well lit in there, I got quite turned around! It's a maze! You can't get lost, all the wings empty out somewhere along the way into the main corridor.

This was evidently an escape or entrance route, as seen in the picture. The Japanese have blocked off the entrances, so no homeless people can take up residence, or Americans get free admission to the caves! It looked as if they're still uncovering parts of the cave. These caves were originally inhabited by the Okinawan civilian refugees when the Japanese army forced them out of their homes and farms. When the Americans started closing in on the Japanese in the Battle for Okinawa, the Japanese deserted the Okinawan homes and once again pushed the Okinawans out of their cave dwellings. If a baby or child living in the caves got too noisy or cried too loudly, the soldiers would kick the family out on the street. The Japanese army fed the Okinawans lies about the Americans, causing them to obey them and even commit suicide for fear of being captured and tortured by the Americans.

These are tools, utentsils and medical supplies that were found in the caves. There wasn't much on display here. After visiting several Japanese historic sites, I am beginning to wonder if the Japanese take much pride in preserving their history! I know in the states, there would've been a setting to resemble what had once existed with life like dummies!

I thought this paper chain artwork to be quite interesting. Looks like Shuri Castle.

Cameron studies the wall. This was one of the inner chambers where the high ranking officers lived and planned out their missions. When the Japanese knew that they had lost the battle, they opted for suicide over surrendering to the American forces. The splattering on the wall are actually imbedded shrapnel from the granades used in their suicides!

As you can see, a lot of the passages are narrow with low ceilings and the stairways steep.

One of the views from the top of the hill where the Japanese Naval Underground is.

Okinawa Comprehensive Park

We try to make the most of our weekends as a family here in Okinawa. We've found another favorite spot, the Comprehensive Park. It's the largest park in Okinawa that offers a lot of family activities. The park has three or four playground, all different and fun. You can rent bikes or bring your own for the biking trails.

You can also rent paddle boats to float around the pond in. Kids can feed the carp in the ponds or the birds on the shore. The park is also on the water, (imagine that for island living) so people can comb the beach while visiting the park.

I've noticed tent spots and people with tents set up over a weekend, I'm guessing you can rent a spot for overnight stays. The park is so large that you could get lost! I believe it even has a little history/children's museum? It's hard to tell what certain buildings are due to everything being in Japanese! You can also buy snacks and drinks from a little shop. There are several ballfields as well as a circular bike track that looks more like a centrifuge or funnel?! I guess they have races here.

It has a large water park that we hope to visit in the summer once it opens. The park is pretty packed on Sunday afternoons, but a fun place to visit. We'll be frequenting this place.

One of our many trips to the Okinawan Aquarium

Welcome to the Aquarium!

Girls in their traditional kimono greeted everyone to the aquarium. I snuck pictures of them because I wasn't sure if they would charge you to take a picture of them with your own camera! That's how a few places have been!

The handling pools were great fun for the kids. The workers would push the drifters (runaway starfish) to the kids to be able to handle. The starfish look slimy or squishy, but they are as hard as rocks!

The boys operate the underwater camera, zooming in on different fish. I think they had more fun turning the camera on themselves through the glass and zooming in on themselves and other onlookers! Don't you just love kids?!

Now that's a big ole puffer!

Waiting for the dolphin show! It's Sea World style!

They were fun to watch! This is my favorite part of the aquarium visit!

Uh....SQUID anyone? It was almost as long as Cameron is tall!


I love sea turtles!

A view of the aquarium grounds, it's the third largest aquarium in the world! You can take the four or five flights of stairs for exercise, or ride the escalator to the top!

Okay, why have water fountains if you can't even drink from them?! Who gargles for kicks?!

This was a welcome sight for all the hot tourists in the summer, though the mist hardly even gets one wet! I didn't even get condensation on my camera~! The kids enjoyed it though!

On our way out of the Aquarium

The McGuires at yet another tourist attraction! We get around!

Family picture with the Pineapple! The McGuires were here, again!!!

We rode these little carts around the pineapple park with a little voice recorded tour guide. I guess the carts go by magnets on the road or something, there were not tracks or rails and we weren't driving it!
Taylor, Daniel, and Jonah take the back seat!