You Were Born to Be Loved

We were blessed to get connected with a women's clinic run by a Christian doctor and his Midwife wife for my pregnancy and Jillian's birth. From the start, and even now, over a year since Jill's birth, the way they care for women, both physically and spiritually has really impressed me.

 I've written a little about it before. I mentioned it here, but I never got around to writing all that I wanted about it. This week, though, I was reminded of the wonderful ministry the head doctor and his wife have cultivated over the years when I attended the final play group for the babies born in April and May of 2012.

The group flowed as usual: time for songs, a lesson on child development, time for tea, time to chat with the other moms. This time, however, when it began time to wrap up, the 2 teachers were joined by the head doctor and his wife to sing to our children. They sang a song that is very familiar to me; one I love to sing and hear. It goes "Kimi wa aisareru tame umareta..." "You were born to be loved." As they sang, Jillian, a lover of all things musical, crawled up front and danced. The scene was so precious to me: the doctor who delivered my baby, the midwife who cared for me while I was panic stricken that I would break this new life, were singing to my baby. I couldn't hold back the tears forming in my eyes as I snapped a few pictures to hold the memory always.

This same doctor sat with the women who were in recovery the week I was, a few of whom where at the play group, and read us Psalm 139. He told us that it was God who put our children in our lives; that He knit them together in our wombs. Then presented us each with a Bible bearing our name and baby's birthdate carefully written inside the cover.

I don't know how many lives this man and his wife have touched. Countless, I'm sure. I pray God encourages him and the women he cares for; that they would know, "They were born to be loved"; that they were "knit together in their mother's womb."

Easter 2013

Time for a photo post!

Easter was fantastic this year. Not only did we get to celebrate at church with lots of food, a skit, and a packed sanctuary; it was also Jill's very first Easter which meant lots of chocolate a ruffles. :)

this year's skit was an adaptation of the folktale, "The Three Trees." In the story, three trees in the forest hope for greatness, and end up telling the story of Jesus' life as they become a manger, a boat on a stormy sea, and a Roman cross. 

The craft used eggs and paint, but not in the usual way. Everyone teamed up to glue colored fragments of egg shells on to a picture that Stephen drew. I was happy to see the finished products displayed out front for people to see as they walk by. 

As for the baby....

She had a fun day too!

We hope you had a blessed Easter with friends and family! Let's continue to celebrate the risen King everyday!

Love, The Borbas

How to Serve in Japan?

A few weeks ago my small group at church was talking about serving others. As we went around the circle and talked about how we could serve people in Japan, something I kind of knew in a fuzzy way suddenly solidified in my mind: I don't know how to serve people in Japan.

The statement sounds strange. And it is.

I know how to serve people, I really do. It's just how to serve people in a way that is not burdensome.

For example, the other day I was walking down the snow-piled sidewalk. It had been a few days since people could get out to shovel so the snow corridor was even more narrow than usual. There wasn't even enough room for two people to walk side-by-side without scrapping against the snow walls. I saw an elderly woman walking towards me with a cane. I stopped to let her though before entering the corridor myself. This little old lady saw me stop and started hustling to get out of my way. Making a little old lady, with a cane, jog in the icy snow was not my intent. In fact, I achieved the exact opposite from my intent. I wanted to make this woman's day a bit easier, but ended up making it more difficult. It left me wondering it I should have run up and cut her off so she could take her time.

Other things, like bringing food to new mothers or sick people, creates a whole level of obligation. Dishes will be filled with treats for your family to say thank you. To me, it feels like it defeats the whole purpose of taking the food in the first place: lightening the load of someone in need.

I asked my small group about this and they were unanimous that these acts of service are appreciated. In fact hurrying down the road to get out of my way, or filling the casserole dish up with food is their way of showing appreciation. They were surprised when I said a "Thank you" would suffice in the States.

At the end of the conversation, I left with the same question I came with: how can I serve in a way that doesn't put extra burden on the one whose load I'm trying to lighten?



I'm not sure I have an answer. What do you think?

Skinny Santa Visits the Play Group.

Today, Santa came to Nishioka (our little corner of Sapporo, Japan). Not the fat jolly guy you'd expect, though. This Santa was a skinny Japanese man. It didn't matter too much though. The Nishioka play group was filled with joyous squeals as Santa danced, sang, and passed out presents.

Even my little one, only 8 months old, was quite taken with this Svelt St. Nick.

That is until it was time to take a picture with him.

We managed in the end to get her calm enough to snap a pic.

Santa was sure a treat today. The main fun, though, was getting to spend time with Jilly's new friends (and their mothers).

Jillian and her friend M-Chan, born only 2 days apart. 

Being part of this weekly play group has been a great experience for me. It's nice to be connecting with neighborhood women in the same stage of life as me. I think we've even made a breakthrough. They've stopped referring to me as Chiyo's mom, and instead use my real name. I, in turn, get to use their given names too! Such a silly thing to be excited about, but I feel like it means I've made it to the inside of this group, rather than just being a foreigner watching from the outside.

Only in Japan: 3 Signs of Autumn

Image source: Trip Advisor

I love Fall. It is by far the best of seasons. Maybe it's because I lived through the death-heat of Fresno summers for 26 years and fall was always a welcomed relief. Or maybe because my birthday is snug in the middle of fall. In any case, I LOVE FALL!

The other day I realized fall had snuck up on me. I went for a walk and ::BAM:: Autumn! It's probably because the signs of Autumn are so different here from what I'm used to. Of course there's the typical changing of leaves, and crisp air, but there are no Halloween decorations on every house, no Fresno Fair, no Pumpkin Spice Lattes. It got me thinking, what are the signs of Autumn in Japan. So with out further ado, I bring to you 3 signs that Fall has come to Japan.

1-The familiar song of the sweet potato truck.

No ice cream trucks in Japan. But they do have guys who drive around singing through a speaker, selling roasted sweet potatoes. We've yet to purchase any, but I hear they're great. Maybe I'll send Stephen down next time I hear his song. 

2-Everyone starts wearing long sleeves and jackets. 

Yes, I know this is typical in the States as well. It's cold; you wear warmer clothing. But here, it seems like the change in clothes has more to do with the date on the calendar than the temperature on the thermometer. October 1, rain or shine, everyone puts away the short sleeves and shorts in favor of long pants, long sleeves, jackets, scarves, and hats. This year, there have been a few very nice, warm days after the 1st. The kind of days where a pair of jeans and a short sleeve shirt are perfect. Yet, we're are the only two people crazy enough to buck the trend and dress for the weather, not the calendar. It usually makes for very funny conversations with every person we see. 

"Eeehhh, samukunai?! (aren't you cold?!)"

"No, it's 75 degrees and sunny. Aren't you hot?"

3-I plugged in my toilet.
Yes, you read that right.
Without central heating, the bathroom can get mighty chilly and who wants to sit on an icy throne in the middle of the night. Not the Japanese! That's why many toilets here are heated. (LOVE IT!) I leave the seat unplugged through out the spring and summer, but once the temperature dips, our favorite appliance gets plugged in.

A day At The Park: Photo Post

One of the best parts of our job is getting to hang out with students. Just having fun and being goofy together goes a long way in building relationships and sharing the gospel.

After church recently, Stephen headed out with a group from church to see the cherry blossoms.

Enjoy the photos :)

Sandi's Visit (With Pictures)

We were honored to have Stephen's mom, Sandi, come visit us for 9 days at the end of June/beginning of July. We decided not to take vacation time, but rather to bring Sandi with us to teach English and use our time between classes and meetings to show her a bit of our new home in Hokkaido.

After traveling for 2 days( darn that international date line), She arrived in Hokkaido, Japan!

We had been talking about her visit in our English classes for a few weeks now. I think our students were as excited to have her here as we were! 2 women from our Thursday class in Chitose even dressed up in kimono for her to see!

Stephen was very excited to take his mom to his favorite ramen shop, Kiwami.

On Saturday, we took Sandi down town to see the big city! It's not Tokyo, but Sapporo still has lots to do and see.

Here's one view from the top of the famous TV Tower. If you could zoom in enough, you could see our house towards the hills in the back.

No trip to Sapporo would be complete without a picture in front of the Clock Tower.

Sunday, we brought her to our church to meet our friends.

then, Monday, we trecked out to Otaru to see the ocean.

little did we know, the ocean is not as accessable as we thought. After wandering for a few hours we found it!

We came home that evening to find that an English student left a gift for Sandi on our front door.

Before she left, the associate pastor, Akita Sensei, gave her a cake to thank her for visiting and taking part in English classes with us.

We are so glad we were able to share what we do with Stephen's mom in person!