一期一会

 

一期一会  or “One life, one encounter” is an old Japanese saying that basically means that every experience in life is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter and we should cherish each moment because we only get it once. 

I have always been fascinated by Japan and long to go there someday--partly because I have relatives who live there! So I have been attempting to teach myself Japanese for a while now, and I discovered that one of the best tools was to start keeping a journal. This started with very simple sentences...and hasn't progressed much beyond that. :-D  But I am getting a lot more comfortable with basic vocabulary and sentence structure! So I thought it might be fun to make a blog as another place where I can practice writing Japanese. While at first this will be just for me, I also thought that if anyone else does see this it may be some help in their journey of learning Japanese, as I will include new concepts as I learn them. [I know I will make lots of mistakes, so if anyone reading this knows Japanese...feel free to laugh or correct me.] But if nothing else, I hope or at least be of some encouragement to us all to remember the moments in our life that made a difference. 

I chose the name 一期一会 (pronounced "Ichi-go ichi-e​")  because I want to focus each post on describing a moment of my life. Particularly moments where I learned something or was able to apply something that I learned from reading a book (one of my favorite things to do), most important of which would be the Bible. Isaiah 55:8-11 says "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." From that I learn that, even though God's understanding and ways are so much higher than ours we will never fully understand them... we can still learn His ways and live our life as He created us to! Full of enjoyment of the beautiful world He made and with a purpose more special than any high aspiration of men. How can we do this? Because God wrote everything down in His book! He recorded His thoughts in such a beautiful, descriptive, and caring way, as a father would teach His child. And with every word we read, He teaches us through His Holy Spirit that lives inside of every born-again Christian. And He promises that His Word will not return "void." That means that we will not read the Bible and be left empty. Unless we choose to. If we ignore it's truths we will walk away empty, or "void" of anything that could help us in our life. But He is there to help us take the truth of His words and make it a part of our daily lives! When I read the Bible with an open heart to let Him change me... then all of the sudden I see Him everywhere! In every moment, every little encounter, every simple household item, every flower, every raindrop... and every moment becomes special. Because as Jesus said in John 10:10 "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." 

So here I go! Ready to learn something new! An new language, to better appreciate the land, people, and culture of another part of this world God created. And every day a new lesson for how I can live my life more abundantly through Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour! 

神のご加護がありますように kami no gokago ha arimasu youni (May God bless you!)