Kobe

Tuesday afternoon we arrived in Kobe. We checked into a small hostel and then headed out to explore the city.

We couldn't find much to do in the guidebook, but we did hear about a waterfall. So off we went to find a waterfall.

We got off the train at the station and then had no idea where to go. We followed some high school age looking boys...and magically found the trail. Off we went.

We kept stopping to take pictures of "the" waterfall. It was pretty, but they were small.

We didn't know why people had recommended the waterfall to us (aside from it being written about in Japanese literature). But we kept hiking hoping there'd be something more interesting up ahead. Little did we know...

So we thought maybe there was a trail that led to the top. So we hiked so more...and more...and more. Until we hit this funny looking bridge which we decided we had to cross.

We hiked up another trail...that kept going up and up and up. We thought maybe, just maybe, it would take us to the top of the falls. But we stopped hearing the water after a while. We kept walking and walking and walking. Then suddenly, we saw Kobe.

It was starting to get dark, so we decided to head back to find dinner. After all, the whole point of us stopping in Kobe was to eat dinner. Kobe beef. You'd think in a city known for its beef it'd be pretty simple to find a Kobe beef restaurant. Well, it was...except they were all out of our price range. 100g for 10,000JPY. That'd be like 6 bites of steak for $100! Surely it'd be amazing, but we'd be broke broke broke. We kept saying if we had an expensive but small dinner we could splurge on dessert. But neither of us felt like splurging on dessert if we spent 10,000JPY.

So we found...STEAKLAND. No joke. That's the name of the restaurant. It was almost like Benihana's...without the onion volcano. 150g for 4,800JPY. Probably not as tasty as that other place, but OH MY GOODNESS IT WAS LIKE BUTTER.

But at the end of the day, I felt like Kobe was a teaser. All those tiny waterfalls leading up to the massive waterfall. The breathtaking view of the city. The tastes-like-butter-melts-like-butter steak. TEASERS. Kobe was breathtaking and beautiful and delicious. But it was just a teaser of Heaven. I was reminded of God's power and majesty as I stood at the bottom of that waterfall. But His power and majesty will far surpass a waterfall's. I was reminded of God's coming Kingdom as I looked over the city. But His coming Kingdom will be so much bigger, so much more beautiful than anything I could dream or imagine. I was reminded of God's goodness. But His goodness will taste so much sweeter than a piece of expensive steak. Kobe was a teaser of how great my God is. And a good reminder that the best is yet to come.

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" Psalm 34:8