Grace

I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of saying grace before meals. Probably because I was forced to when I was a kid growing up (rebellious child). I've thought it silly to only thank God for food, especially when I'm here eating dinner alone with Him every night. We just keep the conversation going. So I don't usually ever say grace, unless someone mentions it.

Before I went to school today, I asked God to "give me boldness to share the Gospel and love these people." Direct quote from my journal. See, this week is full of Christmas parties at my schools. But there's no meaning to Christmas here, and so it's a chance for me to share about the REAL reason for Christmas. I figured it was a reasonable prayer to pray going into a day of Christmas parties.

Oh, but I should've learned by now, don't put God in a box.

The teachers at my school today are very...interesting. They like to talk to me and ask me all kinds of crazy cultural questions and random questions about anything. For instance, during break today, I was asked what a "piñata" was. It started with a word I interpreted as "watermelon ball" and then "candy explosion" and a bat gesture. So I told the teacher it was a "piñata" but that it was Spanish. They asked for the English. I had to explain that it was a Spanish word we use in English. Another teacher came over and asked if Spain was to the left or the right of California. Which then led me to explain about Mexico. That's usually how my time is spent at this school with these teachers.

So I went to the elementary school Christmas party expecting some crazy questions. None. Nothing. They kept saying that Christmas had no religious connection in Japan. I kinda thought they'd ask...or something. But nothing. So, off to lunch.

In Japan, before we eat, we say, "Itadakimasu." When I first came to the school, the teachers were fascinated that there's no such custom in America. But one teacher asked about saying grace. Again, that was the end of the conversation.

Today, I came into the lunch room and sat down. Apparently I sat down in the special seat reserved for the "itadakimasu" person. It's his/her job to call everyone to attention and then say, "itadakimasu" with a clap. The teachers told me I was the "itadakimasu" leader, and I would've been perfectly fine saying, "itadakimasu," but they wanted me to say grace...in English. So I did. I thanked God for the food and asked His blessing upon it. Everyone in unison ended with "Amen."