Snow and a friend

Tonight I stopped to turn this scene into an Instagram master piece (meaning a photo that I feel no pressure to make absolutely perfect).

As I finished posting it, two random shadows walked up and I discovered that one of them is one of the ladies from choir. When we got to the place where our paths should have split ways, she invited me into her house to meet her husband and grandkids (who are my students). It was so much fun chatting with them and getting to learn a bit more about this lovely lady who I chat with in choir.

I'm thankful for things like snow that slow me down and put me in the path of friends.

Blessings today

This morning I woke up about half an hour before my alarm went off (supposed to go off at 4:30 am). I had gone to bed late enough last night that even my alarm time was too early. I wasn't able to go back to sleep and didn't have a good attitude about the whole thing.

But the day turned out well. I was able to get ready early and talk to my dad on his lunch break. We had a really good conversation. My walk to the train station in the snow wasn't terrible. I wasn't freezing (I now have enough layers for being outside in the snow).

I made all my connecting trains in all the new cities and stations. The train ride was long, but I had some good time with the Lord and very much enjoyed looking out the window at the beautiful countryside. Snow was falling as we rode past and it just seemed magical.

The best part though, was when I was able to speak Japanese to the lady next to me on the train enough to ask where the bathroom was. She pointed me in the right direction and away I went. When I returned, she tried to share some snacks with me, but I already had the same thing in my bag. Instead I shared a random snack I found at the station with her. She smiled and talked to me more, which I didn't quite understand, but she was so sweet!