This Place, This Time

Isaac was six or seven in Hawaii when he told me he’d trusted Jesus and prayed with Pastor Perry at Kailua Community Church. I asked if he wanted to get baptized and he said no, he’d get baptized when he was 12. This seemed like an inarguable way to punt this issue to a later time, which was totally fine. He did clarify he wanted to get baptized in the ocean, but not now.

We moved to Belgium; Eloise decided to get baptized last October with her friend Valentina at Life Point Brussels. Did Isaac want to get baptized at the same time? Absolutely not. “I want to get baptized in the ocean, not in front of a bunch of people.” And not until he was 12. Right.

Our Japanese church, Life Chapel International, does communion the first Sunday of the month. We told our kids they can’t take communion until they’re baptized, and the first week of September Isaac excused himself to the bathroom during this time. In the car on the way home he said he was ready to get baptized. I texted Pastor Paul, who said another boy had recently said the same thing. Game on.

But it was hard to find a date when the pastor and both families were in town. A late September baptism became an early October baptism. A break in the heat offered much-needed relief but also cooler temperatures along the coast. A typhoon raging offshore somewhere in the islands far south meant big waves, lots of wind and blowing rain all night long between Saturday and Sunday.

When he called to talk to Isaac about what it means to be baptized (hint: it means Jesus is Lord!) Paul told me we might have to postpone. Ok, no problem, I said, but my mom and her prayer group are praying for good weather, so maybe we’ll have a break in the clouds!

Sunday morning began by mopping up all the rain that blew in some of our open windows overnight. It was really coming down. Even if the rain let up, would the waves/current/undertow be dangerous? Sure, Jesus can calm the waters, but would he in this case?

I know I can trust God. And I have been struggling here in Yokosuka. Chris’ time away has been hard on the kids and he will be gone a LOT of the time we have left here. Our house is a disaster and causes a lot of stress. The kids’ teachers are great but the high volume of turnover produces a level of personal and educational chaos that leaves everyone slightly off-balance all the time. Isaac got attacked on base by a sixth grader with a tennis racquet. The boy hit him to the ground, said he deserved it, and threatened Eloise, who was nearby crying. This was during a tennis lesson with other people and the coach present. It is all madness. Why are we here? How is this best for us? What can I do to best support my family in these distressing circumstances?

It rained all the way to church. It rained during church. It was letting up but still wet after church. The boys changed and we headed for the coast. The sun broke through from time to time. And by the time we got there the water was calm. We sang “10,000 reasons,” and Isaac and then Noe proclaimed Jesus is Lord and went into the sea to get baptized.

The waves picked up, and surfers dotted the waves all along the shoreline the whole drive home. When we exited the freeway into our neighborhood we all saw a rainbow hanging over Tokyo Bay. “It’s a sign,” said Isaac, probably trying to be cool and make a joke except it literally is a sign of God’s promises.

Pastor Paul set a baptism date that happened to be a week and a half after Isaac’s 12th birthday. Life Chapel traditionally but not always does baptisms in the ocean between Enoshima and Shark Island, where Chris used to fly his helicopter on a regular basis. Pastor Paul and his wife, Eri, did Isaac’s dedication at church 12 years ago this month, where we all prayed for him before we moved back to the States. Isaac was, of course, born in Yokosuka when we lived in Atsugi.

Sometimes it seems like things make sense to a certain point in life, but after then our story seems to go off the rails. So to see disparate things sprinkled throughout the past decade plus come together in this way, at this time, with the ocean baptism, the weather today, Isaac being 12, and even the fact it’s October, plus many kind words from our fellow church members, was gentle encouragement I needed, reminding me God’s work is not done; the story isn’t over.

So we may not know why we’re here in Yokosuka exactly, but one thing I can say for certain is that we are not here alone, and we are where we need to be at this time. Praise God!