The Lord provides! He gave me the visual/retail consultant assistant job today. I start next Monday. It's a consultation company for international retailers who start shops in Japan. It would be interesting to show my Japanese resume because it looks so different with the photo and my red name seal, but since this is public I'll stick to just the photo and my new pink folder that I was going to use to put lots of resumes in for job hunting. This is the standard professional photo format in Japan, no big smiles, always a white background, plain professional clothing...

I sat at a table with 3 people interviewing me, mostly in Japanese and sometimes English because they wanted to hear me switch back and forth. I had a lot in common with the president of the company, and he was intrigued by my unusual interest in similarities in Buddhist and Christian art, and reading Shusaku Endo novels in Japanese. He told me he met Shusaku Endo once at church...what? Less than 1% of Japan is Christian, people aren't culturally churchgoers here. I asked if he goes to church, he said he does, and said I do too. Since there were two other people I didn't get into it further. At first they asked me to come back next week for a second interview, but as I was doing a timed "pop quiz" of translating paragraphs from English->Japanese and Japanese->English in another room, they invited me back to the president's office and offered me the job.

Useful skills: computer (Adobe CS, Microsoft Office), bilingual Japanese/English, visual merchandising experience, training/teaching, translation/editing, comfortably getting around Tokyo... I never thought all those random things would come together in one job. Please read the verse at the end of my last post :)

The pay is minimal, but I had been praying for just enough to cover expenses and break even so that I would continue to rely on God instead of numbers I see in my account. That prayer was answered too.  I calculated an estimated total of bare minimum costs of rent, phone, health insurance, groceries, transportation, taxes, giving, and I will have a few hundred left per month for meeting people for meals, more transportation, (both necessary since people don't really hang out in homes) and anything else that may come up. Let the budgeting begin!

• Philippians 4:19-20 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
• Matthew 6:25, 32-34 (comforting words of Jesus) do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on...your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

But before that: some exciting gifts Noah brought home today

 COD ROE! delicious.

 various Japanese sweets

 Ume (Japanese sour plum) and red shiso leaf inside! Such an exciting flavor mix

And this is just ridiculous (not as bad as Collon biscuits...google it), one of the major chocolate brand names:

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