college beach day

We had a fabulous day at the beach yesterday with several friends who are students at Chiba University. Isaac and Eric had been planning to take several guys surfing, and it worked out well for the families to join them. While taking small children to the beach isn’t easy per se, it was fun and a great chance to be together.
Yuya’s surf school:orange smiles:taking a break from surfing and entertaining the little girls:All the little girls enjoyed having all the big guys to take them in the water to brave the waves and fight the undertow. Noa with her daddy:Annabella with Tsuguru:We had a great spot with beautiful surroundings and good waves for beginner surfers. The weather was wonderful, with a lot of cloud cover and a nice breeze to cool us off. The biggest problem for me was that the sand was black and hot and really fine. I still haven’t gotten it all out of Noa’s swim suit. Everyone decided to dig a hole to bury someone. Eric lost in “jan-ken-poi” (rock, paper, scissors) so he had to be burried. Noa thought it was great!a kiss for the buried man:
group picture, minus babies Calvin and Martha, Sarah and Sara-Beth, and the rest of Eric’s bodyfriendsSweet Martha spent most of her day under the umbrella in her sand-free seat. She did better than I expected, sleeping well and entertaining herself with her toys and looking around. We did dip her feet in the water a bit and she managed to get a little wet and sandy while being held a few times. She did great, though, and was such a trooper.surfer girl!it was a long hike from where we had to park the car to where we set up. I was proud of Noa for walking the whole way back. She is really growing up!
You may notice in some of the pictures that one of the guys’ head is bandaged. Early in the day he had an accident with the surf board that led to he and Eric leaving for a few hours to find a clinic and get him checked out. Thankfully, he is fine and it wasn’t serious. Eric and he had a great time in those several hours one-on-one and were able to talk deeply about Jesus and the Gospel. We’re so thankful for God’s orchestration of the day. He protected us and allowed for us to enjoy Him in our fun and fellowship. I pray that the young men who joined us also saw Him, and are drawn into relationship with Him very soon. Would you pray with us for them?

Tags: Friends, Impact, Martha, Noa, Prayer Requests