In our travels, we have often ended up in sticky situations that could easily overwhelm us and turn super negative. At those times I’m prone to quip, “Bad experiences make good memories!” Whether it’s forgetting to book a hotel for your trip to the most crowded festival in Kyoto and ending up in a roasting rented room the size of your entire bed in what is basically an old man’s house, or hustling the whole family all the way down to Immigration only to find out you forgot a passport and one of you needs to rush home and back before they close for lunch while the other entertains the kids in the meantime, one day those trying times become some of the fondest memories your family has.
Isn’t this such a beautiful gift from God? Not only that He created us in such a way that we keep these memories, but that He gave us rose-colored glasses through which to look back on them. We can remember so many more positives than negatives in our lives and hold onto the warmth of the relationships with those we experienced those times with.
Right now we’re quarantining until the 14th. By God’s grace, we are able to do this in our own home. We don’t have any furniture. (Literally none. My back hurts.) We didn’t have a fridge or washing machine for our first four days here. The house is freezing and our only heat is a kerosene heater (which I’m scared to run overnight) (or, honestly, ever) and a heated floor in our living room. (So fancy!) But we look at these two weeks and can already see the memories we’re making! What a blessing to bond with each other over this shared experience. I wonder what the kids are going to remember of it. I wonder what Leslie and I will remember most. We’re all hunkered down in the living room, because in Japan we sleep on the floor, so we can absorb that warmth through our mats. We’re picnicking on the floor with food we can get at 7-11 and playing lots of video games because the homeschool box hasn’t arrived yet. We have what we need, and the rest is a new adventure!
