I just heard from a friend in Okinawa today. She told me during our last sad days there that she thought she might be pregnant. She’s eight weeks away from her due date (with a second daughter!) and told me that she’s been able to wear the many, many maternity clothes I left behind.

This makes me very happy.

Wes concluded his series on the Sermon on the Mount this Wednesday night, and we both left feeling the weight of Christ’s words on remembering those who have something against you, forgiving them, and working towards reconciliation. We feel now, six months to the day after leaving Japan, that nothing remains to be reconciled on either side. And hearing from my friend, hearing that she and her family still care about us as we still care about them… this is a good thing. I worked on my scrapbook earlier this week and came across pictures we took as we traveled to another island with this family last year, and for one of the first times since we left, I can remember Okinawa fondly and even wistfully, without resentment and hurt. Praise God!

And the maternity clothes. I couldn’t pack half of what I wanted to take with me, and it broke my heart to leave so many of Ana’s toys, so many of Emma’s newborn clothing, all of those maternity clothes that I had gleefully purchased when Ana was no bigger than a bean… so many memories seemingly left behind in those emotional last days. So, to hear that those silly clothes are blessing someone makes me feel like nothing was wasted. And that makes me feel better. I think it’s all actually deeper than mere clothing, but I don’t have a pyschology degree, so I can’t explain exactly what it means. But I feel so much more at peace with it all. God is good!

Emma is ten months old today…