More poetry musings pre-trip

9-24-26 This morning, I spent some time reading through my poetry notebook from less than a year ago when we booked our cruise to Japan. So much has fallen into place since then! I'm "scheduling" this to be posted while we are in the middle of the Pacific, since we won't have Internet access on board. Once we arrive in Japan, I'll fill you in on all that happened between LA and Tokyo!

11-10-25

My brain is overrun

    by the possibility

We've been talking about it

    for seven YEARS

        and dreaming about it

            for even longer

Wait until your youngest

    (which became Chance) turns 4

Well, looks like he'll turn 4 on the way over

    because the dreaming

        has turned into researching

        has turned into PLANNING

            with actual DATES

We're thisclose to booking

    a 16-night

        $4500 (total!)

        transpacific

        worldschooling cruise

    experiencing 3 Japanese ports

    and arriving in Tokyo in style

        (and not jet-lagged!)

Eeee!!! Is this really happening?

            Is this my real life?

Consecrate it all, Lord.

11-13-25

I used to view our potential year in Japan

    as a once-in-a-lifetime

            pinnacle-of-childhood opportunity

But I was also overwhelmed

                    (to the point of paralysis)

    about how to make that work for a family of 7

Two months seems a lot more do-able

                    (although still overwhelming)

        and can give us a taste

Maybe we can go back when the little 3 are older

Maybe one of the boys would want to return to study or on mission

Maybe Lucas and I can do a year as empty nesters

Yes, a year as a family would be quite the adventure

    but if it's so overwhelming that it never happens,

        then the dream becomes a regret

A scaled-down two-month adventure

    that actually happens 

        could be a memorable one-and-done

        but could also be a springboard for more

11-13-25

I get a little embarrassed

    thinking about the expense of

        a two-month-long international trip

            for our family of seven!

    but this isn't just a tourist vacation,

        it's an eternal investment

            in the lives we'll interact with

                on the cruise

                local Japanese (both there and here)

                missionaries

            in the connections it creates for Lucas

                both on the ground

                and back home

            in the way it opens our boys' eyes

                being in the minority

                gaining God's heart for the nations

                immersing in the language and culture

            in my roles

                as an intercessor for Japan

                as a connector with any future Japanese I meet

            in our family

                 with lifelong memories

                with a broader worldview

                with an I-can-do-it attitude toward international travel

Consecrate it all, Lord, for Your glory

                                and for Your purposes

12-23-25

I had said I wanted to be home

    in time for Christmas next year

        but maybe I don't...

Maybe physically removing ourselves

    from all the pressure of doing and spending

        is just what we need

I tried to be more planned

                        and do less

                        and buy less this year,

        but I've gotten caught up in all the hoopla again

It seems extreme to go to Japan 

    for a "reset"

        but then hopefully we'd come back

                                    more appreciative

                                and more aware of what truly matters

                                        and how little we really need

                                        in regards to activities

                                            and to stuff

In my "mean mom mode," I declared,

    "We're skipping Christmas next year!"

            (which made Cooper cry)

    but of course we're not skipping Christmas

                                        (the celebration of Jesus' birthday!)

                just all the commercialized, pressure-filled hoopla

I can't take it anymore!

    Japan (or Hawaii) is calling...

[9-24-26 update: We will miss the entire Christmas season in Kentucky. We do get to stop for 2 nights in Hawaii (since the multi-leg trip was the same trip as flying more direct and since Hawaii is one of only 4 states left out of 50 for me!). Lord willing, we'll arrive in Indiana on Christmas Eve, spend Christmas morning with my mom, then drive back to Lexington on Christmas day. A reset indeed...]

4-12-26

4 churches

    in 2 days

        over Easter weekend

Ashland

    for Resurrection Rally

        sharing the Gospel message and songs

            before the egg hunt

Southland

    for a baptism service

        cheering on

             one of my 5th grade girls

FAC

    for Sunday service and serving

        joining our church family

            to celebrate that "He is Risen indeed!"

Izumi

    for bilingual Japanese service and potluck

        sharing the hope of Easter

            with some who have never heard

4 churches

No competition

We need them all

Different types and sizes

    for different people

Happy Easter, indeed.

PLANE (and shuttle and train and bus)

Legs of our journey to Osaka:

Van to Indiana

PLANE (and shuttle and train and bus) to L.A.

Ship to Tokyo

Train to Osaka

Leg 2 is complete! We hit some traffic on the way to the Indy airport but got there in plenty of time. I was giddy— singing and whooping and cheering and jumping as we made our way through security. It was my first flight since 2017 (also from the Indy airport) and the boys’ first flight ever.

The whole crew! We managed to pack for a 2.5 month international trip with one rolling carryon and one backpack per person.

Shout out to my friend Anthony who rode with us and drove the van back to my mom’s house.

Indy!

Fascinated by the moving walkways

Calvin sat by a window and some friendly strangers

The boys were (mostly) well-behaved

On this trip, we’ll do 6 total flights from 4 different airlines. These first two were Southwest.

We were able to check 6 of our rolling carryons for free, but Chance faithfully pulled his!

Viewing our second plane. No in-seat entertainment, but that will be something new and fun for the longer flights!

Denver to L.A. had a lot of neat scenery! (And Calvin spied the NFL stadium for the Chargers and Rams)

He just did this on his own :-)

Welcome to Los Angeles!

Poor Colson’s backpack was extra heavy because it had our toiletry bag inside.

An Uber for 7 would have been very expensive, so we opted for public transportation! If we’re going to solely use it in Japan, might as well get used to it! One of the gals in our worldschooling group offered detailed directions to help us navigate the route (shuttle bus then metro train then bus then a short walk). She included pictures with highlighted areas and even tips on how to pay for multiple kids. Who needs Google maps when you’ve got Becky maps?! An Uber would have been $70x2 for all of us. We paid $1.75x6, a savings of $130! Yes! Plus, it was an adventure and good training for Japan.

The boys love “birdies”

All tuckered out. We reached our hotel at 6 pm, which is 9 pm Eastern time, plus an early morning and long day of travel

I love seeing palm trees! L.A. was actually the first place I ever saw palm trees (my sophomore year in high school at the Free Will Baptist National Convention)

We dropped off our bags at our hotel, and then I went with the middle three boys to a walkable park meet-up with several from our worldschooling group. We’ll meet the rest at a meet and greet on Day 1 of the cruise.

Carter's Pre-Trip Perspective

Carter, Age 14

What are you looking forward to on the cruise?

I'm looking forward to all the free time I'll get! We'll be at ports for 5 days and completely at sea for the other 11, and we also gain an extra 8 hours for going west a lot! I'll have fun eating at the Windjammer buffet, hanging out with new friends and watching shows at the theater, but I'm also hoping I can use a good chunk of my time to read and memorize more of the Bible.

What are you looking forward to in Japan?

 Going to all the Nintendo places that aren't in America! I like Nintendo video games a lot, and I've only been to one official Nintendo store in the US (and there's only one other one.) But Japan has several Nintendo stores, Pokemon centers, a theme park, a museum and more! I'm most excited for the giant controllers in the Nintendo museum, where you might need more than one person to hit all the buttons!

What are you nervous about?

 Mostly just being somewhere where most people around don't speak my language. I also hope I can make some good friends at our bilingual church.

What do you think about Japanese food?

 I like ramen and onigiri, but not sushi, so I hope I find some more food I like while we're there. But if all else fails, there's American restaurants there!

Can you read in Japanese yet?

I can read all the hiragana, so I can read a word and say it, but I don't know a lot of kanji or what most words mean.  

What makes Japanese difficult?

 Lots of the letters look similar to each other, many of the Kanji have 6 lines or more, and there's no spaces between letters, likeifyouwerewritinglikethis. 

How do you think you will be different when you come back to America?

I'll be heavier (with over 16 days of cruise buffet), but other than that I guess I'll have to find out! It'll definitely be interesting living over a third of Earth's diameter away from home, and I hope I learn things I won't forget! 

VAN and an opportunity for gratitude

VAN

then plane

then ship

then train!

   Quite the journey to reach our Osaka home base!

Leg one (VAN) is complete. We drove up to my mom’s house in Indiana to see her before we leave and because she is close to a larger airport.

   I am a “shover” by genetics and by personality and also a last-minute packer. It’s no joke to plan for a 2.5 month international trip for a family of 7 with only carry-ons! But everything in the house got to a point of “enough”, and I was proud of myself for not needing to run back into the house to get anything (Lucas has come to expect this of me).

    Well, tonight as I was reorganizing some of my shoved items, I realized that half of our toiletries didn’t make it here. I’m not sure what happened because these weren’t things I forgot to pack but things I packed that didn’t make it to the van. I think I had a pile, and it ended up going to an out-of-the-way spot in our house (to try to clear the way for the gal house-sitting) instead of the van.

    It was 10:15 pm when I realized this, and I was kicking myself on my way to a late-night Wal-Mart run for making such a dumb mistake. But then the Lord graciously turned my self-condemnation into an opportunity for gratitude. So all the way up and down the medicine and toiletry aisles, I thanked God that…

1. I realized it here in Indiana and not in LA (with no transportation) or on the cruise
2. I realized it in time to do something about it
3. Wal-Mart is a quick 5 minute drive away
4. Wal-Mart was still open for 30 minutes when I got there
5. There was a sing-along song playing when I entered the store
6. I was able to replace the forgotten items cheaply
7. I remembered more things I had forgotten as I walked the aisles
8. The things I bought and the things left behind are all useable
9. Mom had some shampoo and body wash I could use
10. Calvin was willing to put the soaps into the 3 oz containers (after he did the same thing at home this morning)
11. Even if I forget something, I can buy most things I need in Japan
12. I didn’t forget something more difficult to replace cheaply and easily (like my tall jeans or phone or passports)
13. I didn’t forget a kid (like in Home Alone)
14. My late night “emergency” Walmart run wasn’t really an emergency (as I was reminded when sirens and ambulances passed by on their way to a real emergency)
15. We watched a Survivor episode where a “moment of stupidity” for a contestant was chopping off a quarter of his thumb. My moment of stupidity was not nearly as painful nor its consequences as far-reaching.
16. I’M GOING TO JAPAN!

I’m sure there will be many more hiccups on our trip, so this was a good reminder that it will be okay, that I can choose gratitude, and that “even if”_____happens, God will walk with me through it!

The whole crew! And we’re off! When the boys start bickering, we turn on audiobooks, and like magic, everyone calms down. We did two Boxcar Children books —The Mystery Girl and The Mystery Cruise!

Our faithful driver! Thank You, God, for a safe drive! 

We asked, and You answered!

Back home again in Indiana! (I sang that loudly on the way to the bathroom). Lincoln’s boyhood home as well as my girlhood home! I talked with another few travelers. They were on a long journey—Florida to Michigan. But it’s weird to say at an Indiana restaurant stop, “We’re on our way to Japan!”

This is Colson’s “fang tooth” hanging by a thread. He wanted to wait until Mimi’s house since the tooth fairy is more generous here :-).

Sure enough—while eating a pickle chip, he felt something hard in his mouth. 

Getting some outside time to finish September with 100 hours outside.

The bottles that Calvin meticulously prepared this morning only for us to leave them behind