Pictures of Kyoto

Pictures of Kyoto

Monday, December 01, 2008

Trip to Mt Fuji


Day 1. Well we finally got away for a 3 day holiday at the end of October. We travelled first of all by foot - 15min, subway - 16min, then Shinkansen (Bullet Train) - 2 hours. Then a 2 hour local bus ride and finally arrived at Kawaguchiko where we stayed for 2 nights at K's House, a great back packer hostel. Though tired from travelling we grabbed some mountain bikes and went for a ride around the lake, whilst checking out the views of Mt Fuji. Very refreshing.


My fingers walking on Mt Fuji

Day 2. Today we headed up the mountain in a bus. We only made it to the 5th station as climbing season has closed for the year. You can only go to top if you are an experienced climber and crazy. I so wanted to go.

5th station is 2305m high. Which is higher than Mt Kosciusko in Australia.
At that height it was freezing.


This was as close to the top as we could get.

Day 3. We spent today on a sightseeing bus travelling around seeing different lakes, caves and an old village. The caves were a result of past volcanic lava flow from Mt Fuji. We also went into an ice cave where many years ago they made big blocks of ice. We also went to a bat cave, but sadly there were no bats. Can't believe we paid money to go to a bat cave that had no bats. It was fun though climbing around in these narrow lava caves.



The Fuji we were hoping to see. Photo of a picture.

For more pic's of our trip click here

How to find the right Marriage Partner.



Have you ever thought about how easy it was for Adam to find a marriage partner?
What did Adam have to do to find his marriage partner? He laid down and had a sleep and when he awoke, there she was, Eve. That’s it. A match made by God. The first relationship; how easy was that? I used to think that’s unfair, why do I have to wait?

But if Adam was here tonight, I think he would reply, “Finding Eve was easy, as you put it, not because we were the only two people, but because back then, before we disobeyed God, I simply trusted God, my Maker, to bring what was good.”

Like Adam we need to trust God for everything. Whether it’s a marriage partner, a job, strength to raise your kids, healing; we need to trust God. When I was single I had to learn to trust God for everything. He brought all the things I needed in life, including my wonderful wife. God knows all your needs, trust him.
1. Trust him for all your needs. Phil 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything let your requests be made known to God.” Matt6:33, Prov3:5-6

2. Honour God with Your Relationships. The Golden Rule for any relationship, be it either in marriage, romantic or brother/sister or friends is found in Luke 6:31, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” If you want to be treated with kindness do so to others. By doing this you will honour God.

3. Get a vision of your partner. Proverbs says, “Without a vision we dwell carelessly.” If you don’t know what sort of marriage partner you want you could fall for the first person that is nice to you. When you know what you want it’s easier to say, “No” because you know what you’re looking for.


Writing a list is good, but be careful not to make it too unrealistic. “He has to be 6 foot tall and black, speaks Japanese, English, French and Spanish, loves shopping, children and cats; has lots of muscles, money and hair. No bar codes permitted.” If this is your list you could be waiting a long time.

What’s important list?
1. DO THEY LOVE YOU?
2. DO THEY LOVE GOD?
3. DO THEY LOVE THE CHURCH?
4. DO THEY HAVE DIRECTION?
5. DO YOU FIND THEM ATTRACTIVE?



4. Prepare yourself – work on you. When I was about 26 all I owned was a car, a drum kit and a big water bed. I wasn’t prepared for marriage. How was I going to care for someone else? I used to pray “God bring me my wife.” I had to change it to, “God prepare me for her; so I can be ready for her, to be able to care for her.”
So I got a hair cut, bought a house and learnt how to cook.

5. Don’t waste you singleness. The thing that kept me focused through my single years was that I so wanted to serve God. He made a sacrifice for me so I wanted to sacrifice my life for Him. Your single years are a gift from God; don’t waste them worrying about your married years. Focus on serving God now.

6. Make time to meet people. You won’t meet your future partner hiding in your room. Meet new people in a safe environment. The best place is the church. Bring your friends to church. Create events that people will want to come to; so new people will come. Lead them to Jesus and they may find their partner here. You also may meet someone that is brought here.

7. Follow Jesus’ Example. Eph 5:22-27, 33 Paul is speaking to husbands and wives. We ought to follow Jesus’ example just as He loves the church. God calls all our marriages to be filled with love and respect.
Wives – respect your husbands,
Husbands – love your wives.

Some people could say, “But I’m not married, what does this mean to me?”
In marriage we need love and respect. For those wanting to get married you can prepare yourself by learning to love and respect other people now. Whatever status you are at in life you can apply this to a degree.

- To love is to give, not to think about what you can get from other people.
- To respect is to think highly of someone.

If we become people who love and respect, our marriages will get better.

If we become people who love and respect we will prepare ourselves for marriage.

If we become people who love and respect we will live and work with people better.

We will enjoy life more and we will shine His light in this world.