My name is Stephanie and my dad is the assistant president of Toyota.
I'm not sure I need to know any more Japanese than that…
For years, my dad has brought back stories and chopsticks from his ten day work trips that seemed to last for ages. Now, it's my turn to buy black-black, enjoy the bathhouses, and attempt to learn the language- on a trip that is both going so fast and seeming to last for ages.
I am hundreds of miles from any city my dad has ever visited here in Japan, yet something about being here connects me to him in a way only travel into the unknown can. Every cultural norm and
meal placed before me gives me a glimpse into something that is so very much his world. Each language lesson peaks my interest a little more and creates a new question to ask him.
My team and I wandered the streets today and it was as if I had seen these memories already. The children in their perfect school uniforms, walking two by two- memories I had from pictures shared from my dad's trips and now own in my own right.
Seeing this country creates a new bond between my dad and me, ya know because looking exactly alike just wasn't enough. I find I can't do anything without wondering if my dad has done it too and what does he think about it?
Month five, Japan. It's a condensed and concentrated taste of what this race is all about. Growing closer to and knowing better The Father by seeing Him in places and people close to His heart. In seeing things I've never seen before I have questions and love for God I couldn't before.
Like a child asking her daddy for "more please" each morning I wake up pleading with God to show me more, more of Him, more of His glory, more of His truth and perspective.
My dad knows Japan. He knows the culture, he knows the language and the table manners. He gets just as excited to share as I do. He delights in telling me stories and sharing what he's learned. And as his daughter, I get joy in learning from him and sharing my own traffic incident stories. (( I also get joy from taking pictures in front of every Toyota sign ever))
God knows it all. He is it all. He delights in His children and it is my longing as daughter to delight in Him above all else. There are things God wants to share with me. Truths about my worth, about my gifts, about the dreams He is dreaming for me.
He called me away, for eleven months. He beckons me to see Him. To know Him as loving provider, comforter, strength, encourager, protector, and teacher.
And on month five in Japan, He used my daddy to help me see Him as Abba.
