To my first love...

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't posted anything so far. Just an update, I made it to Japan. I'm currently staying at my friend Gil's house in a city called Nishinomiya.

I actually wrote a post while sitting in the airport in Detroit, but had no internet and, thus, I was unable to post it on here. Now that I've had some time and a dependable internet connection, I figured I should go ahead and post it. I hope you enjoy it.

Well, I’m currently sitting in Detroit eating some Clif bars, waiting for my flight to Haneda International Airport in Tokyo. It’s been quite an exciting couple of days. For those of you who didn’t know this, I was actually supposed to fly out to Japan yesterday. My original schedule was to fly to LAX around 6:30 last night, and then to leave LA around midnight, putting me in Japan at 5:00AM May 4^th. However, the flight was cancelled due to some mechanical problems, and the next best flight they had for me puts me in Tokyo around 10:30PM tomorrow night. This made things a bit difficult, as I had to cancel my bus ride to Osaka that was scheduled to leave tomorrow night around 9:00PM. Thankfully, I was able to get 60% of my ticket refunded.

This situation, among some other things, made for a pretty shoddy Wednesday. I went home from the airport pretty frustrated and not wanting to do anything but sleep. I couldn’t see any good reason that God would have canceled my flight and put me out $40 for my bus ticket. But my ways are not His ways; His ways are so much higher than mine.

That night I ended up having a conversation with a good friend of mine who reminded me of something crucial that I had forgotten. During our conversation, he challenged me on several things, and asked me what the driving forces behind my coming to Japan were. I realized that somewhere between being excited about leaving the country for two months and seeing good friends, I lost sight of why I was really going there. I’ve been so focused for so long on going to karaoke, playing music, and seeing friends that I haven’t seen in a long time, I’ve forgotten that my purpose there is to carry the gospel to a dying world. I’m not (at least, I shouldn’t be) going for myself; my life is to be a living sacrifice for He who laid down His life for me. I go where He calls me to go, and wherever He calls me to go, I am to live a life consumed with a passion for Him. It is because I love Him that I love the lost in Japan; it is because He loves them that I am to them.

I suppose forgotten isn’t the best word, as I never truly forgot that was my purpose. It’s more like all the other small and insignificant (when compared to my true calling) parts of my trip had eclipsed what matters most. I have been so concerned with all these little things that I have let my love for them take precedence over my love for God and, thus, the calling he has placed before me. And God broke me for that. In love, He let me miss my flight, so I would have that conversation with my friend, so through that He could remind me of what I am here for. I seriously doubt I would have had that conversation had I not missed my flight.

To my first love, I’m coming back to You.

At this point it looks like I will probably be spending the night in the Tokyo airport, as I have a package I need to mail to a friend working in Japan, and I believe the delivery service will probably be closed by the time I land. Seeing as how I already am carrying a backpack, guitar, and suitcase, I won’t be able to carry the package with me anywhere. It’s a shame I didn’t bring The Terminal with me.

I appreciate all of you who are praying for me, and who supported me so that I could come here. Thank you so, so much for all you’ve done for me.

Please pray that somehow I can get this package mailed so that I can take a train to my friend’s house and sleep.

I’ll be in touch.

Matthew Wimberly