Abba Father Prospers Even Our Mistakes!

My wife and I have just returned from a wonderful eight restful days at the Hakone area in Japan. From here, we can visit Mt Fuji (the highest mountain in Japan) and explore the lakes around the mountain ranges. Throughout our stay we had nice cool (and at times cold - yes, in the midst of summer) weather and a couple of days of showers and these were very welcome for us coming from a dry and hot Singapore and for me it was even more dramatic as I had just returned a few days prior to our departure to Japan from hot Muscat in Oman where daytime temperatures actually hit a high of 54 Celsius and night temperatures drop to only 35 Celsius.

So we were thoroughly thrilled when the thermometer readings dropped to 15 Celsius in the day and nights of 10 Celsius. And we decided to venture a trip from where we were staying (at Nakagora town) to Stage Five on Mt Fuji on Thursday June 11, 2009. The morning started with rains and we decided to stick to our plan and venture forth armed with transparent brollies (umbrellas) at 8:30 AM. Twenty minutes later we were at the bus-stop where we were to make our next connection and so we stood there in the light drizzle with our brollies and waited and waited not understanding that there would not be any buses for the next 90 minutes or more as the timetables posted on the pole at the bus-stop were all in Japanese and we could not understand the language.

Well, having stood there for almost forty minutes we finally realized that we could be standing there in vain and so we decided to flag a taxi to bring us to the next train station/ bus terminal to connect to Kawaguchiko town and from there to catch the 'mountain-climbing' bus to Stage Five of Mt Fuji.
Mistake #1 came when the taxi-driver took us on a slightly longer route to the station and the fare came up to 4,650 yen or close to US$50 (about S$70).
Mistake #2 was when we bought the ticket to the wrong station (two major stops too early)
Mistake #3 was when we decided to alight along the way way ahead of the 'wrong' station and we ended up back-tracking and trying to seek directions in English in a mainly Japanese speaking area.

But that was probably where the misery ended and our blessings started.
1. Where we ended up to ask for directions was also one of the most friendly places - the Japanese lady was so sweet; she went out of her way to connect us to the nearest tourist information desk at the station where we were supposed to have stopped to make our transfer.
2. This lady not only gave us instructions in English but also worked out for us the various steps we had to take to end up to where she was and she actually came out of her office at the station to meet us and hurry us on to our next destination.
3. When we arrived at Kawaguchiko to catch our bus to go up to Mt Fuji, not only had the rain stopped but the sky was so clear that we could actually see the mountain from the train station.
4. The weather continued to hold for us and we were pleasantly greeted at Stage Five with one of the clearest days for visitors. It had been observed that one can only see Mt Fuji in all its splendour on thirty days in the entire year and we were so blessed to be given that opportunity to view His majestic splendour. Thank you Jesus for Your blessings.

Well, the blessings did not end there. We continued to be able to see Mt Fuji again the next day as we decided to take the ropeway to the top of another mountain to visit Lake Ashi. In fact we saw Mt Fuji from various spots that second day - every time the bus turned round a corner and where the vegetation permitted, there was Mt Fuji. - we were simply awed by the Father's blessings.

Indeed He had turned our mistakes into His blessings and we were able to not just have our rest but enjoyed the splendour of His creation. Praise Jesus!