Japanese Friends

Hello again!
Wow what an intense two days! the reason I didn't post yesterday was because I was so tired! So I'll talk tonight. ;)
Wednesday we went to the State Capitol and had a tour with a homeschooling group. It was amazing! Out of the many years we having lived in Washington (My mother's life included) we had never gone to the Capitol. I felt powerful standing in that building...Haha.
I like Politics, but not in the way you think. I love the History of it. The fact that people stood in that building so many years ago is just so fascinating. (I'll be majoring in History in College. ;D) Anyway, I got to play the Capitol's piano too! I messed up a lot because the piano we have at home has letters written on the keys for the younger ones.
After that we traveled over to my aunt and cousin's house. Almost 2 years ago they had a foreign exchange student over from Japan, Miki. She and her mom came back for 4 days and we got to meet the mom, Tsugiko. She was the nicest person I have ever met! She was so open and spoke quite a bit of English. (Miki only new tid-bits so it was hard to communicate with her) When she didn't understand something she would have us stop and describe it or pulled out an electronic English-Japanese dictionary. ;D
It was so sad though...She was describing the experience with the earthquake/tsunami and how she lost a friend. She teared up at one point too. =( I felt so bad for her. I couldn't even imagine how I would feel if something so tragic happened to us.
For dinner we had stir-fry and sushi made by them so it was really good!
Anyway, we talked a lot about Japanese stuff. My mom, when she was younger, lived in Okinawa so she knew a lot Japanese foods.

Yesterday our aunt and cousin and the Japanese friends came to visit our house. They couldn't believe how big our house and yard was! Us having 9 people in the family we kind of need it. They said the biggest family they know has 3 kids! How crazy is that?
We showed them our four 1-year old chickens and our heoko(sp?) (That's Japanese for baby chicken(s)) we have 8 of those.
We made a spaghetti dinner for them with Caesar salad, garlic bread and a plate of cheese and olives and such. God even blessed us with a beautiful day of 60 degree weather! =D (Although it was very windy)

Today was intense....
Last week I registered for my drive test to get my license and it was today. All week I was stressed out and today was the worst. BUT, I passed! =D I am so glad! All my friends have their license and they are all younger than me. So now, even though I don't think I'll really be driving alone at all, I can show it to my friends and kind of be a part of the whole "I can drive" thing. x)
Later after my test we headed to Seattle to meet up with our the same family and friends. We went to Pike Place Market, The Cheesecake Factory, and my family's favorite, Uwajimaya!(That last one is a Japanese and Chinese store. It's so neat!)
You know, after being with this Japanese family I realize something. They have so many traditions and History  and, well, Japanese stuff. The kimono's, the food, even the language is all unique.
Then when you think of America, it's like "Ok, so what is American?" Hot dogs? That's kind of German. Sports? Yeah, why would people from across the world come all the way to see a sport?
I mean, all the food is pretty much taken from other countries and altered slightly thus making what we call "American cuisine" Honestly! Can you think of a single food that is ALL American?
And our clothes. As I said before the Japanese have the kimono. That goes back a very looooong time ago. They even still where it and it's still kind of in fashion. But here in America we don't really have anything like that...I suppose the cowboy hats and boots and such, but that's not ALL American....
Arghhh I just wish we could brag a little more. xD I try to put myself in their place and think "Ok, if I were living in Japan, why would I want to visit America?" I couldn't think of anything except maybe the countryside and ocean to see how different it is. Other than that our culture isn't all that exciting. Yeah, sure, we're independent and passionate about patriotism, but isn't that what all countries think about themselves as being?

Anyway I'm just rambling now. Tomorrow is my last weekday of Spring break and I plan to spend it being lazy and thanking God for all the great things he has done for me and my family.
Oh! Speaking of family (Yes, I have a little bit more, but I promise I'll be done after this!)
As I told you before my brother James(The eldest) is in Ethiopia, Africa. Well, we just found out that Muslims have been targeting Christians in a nearby town. It is about 60+ miles away from him. They have burnt 69 churches, 1 school and 1 office building. 1 person has died as well. This all started March 2nd so we're a little late in hearing the news.
We plan on calling James tomorrow to warn him and make sure he is safe. Any weird business going on over there and he needs to leave! It's just so scary. I can't imagine how mom and dad feel. =(
So, I would like to make a request. While you are praying for all the troubles going on in the East and West (Japan, Libya, New Zealand, Egypt...etc) Please keep in mind Ethiopia. There are many Christians over there doing Mission work to help the poor and uneducated. And especially pray that my brother makes it home safely for my other brothers wedding! (If not sooner. ;) )

This time I know I am done. Tomorrow I will begin enjoying break and Monday my first day of Spring quarter begins. I may write again next Saturday depending on what happens over the week!

God Bless!
~Katie

Coming up next: I have no idea! xD

                                                               Japan

Ethiopia

Parish Difficulties

Good evening to you!
I'm back as I promised. Had a very busy day which I will probably talk about tomorrow, but for today I just want to explain some of the difficulties we are having at our little parish.

For the longest time our church had one priest. He was the priest of the church, had been for a long time. About 6 years ago he died and we were left without a priest. We had a couple of fill-in priest until the Bishop picked a new priest. Unfortunately we discovered in the process that they had come up with a new system. This system was that each Parish got a priest for about 2-4 years and then they would leave and the parish would get a new priest for the next 2-4 years.
Well that's exactly what happened to us but we also had another problem. The priests we were sent were from Africa. I am not saying that is bad because they are African, it was bad because they didn't really speak much English and they didn't understand our way of, well, living. Actually 2 out of the 4 of the priest we were sent were fairly good with us(I loved learning about their culture, and they talked a lot about it). Our first priest, from Malawi Africa, was new to Washington so it took awhile for him to get use to us, which is totally understandable. Our second priest was from Ghana and he was one of the ones that communicated well with us. Our church was just coming out of that "groovin" stage back in the 80's-ish(or whatever the year it was...haha). He helped us get back to the traditional Service. The 3rd priest from Gambia also helped, but he was a little stricter and our congregation was not use to being challenged with answering Bible verses during Mass. ;)
It was in 2007ish when we were sent a priest from the Democratic of The Congo who just didn't fit. He has been here ever since, how I don't know. He was raised in a rich family and was use to a higher society. He is a very smart priest who I could see teaching at a Catholic college or something...Not saying Mass at a very small country church full of homeschoolers.
During the last almost 4 years he has changed us...And not really in a good way. We had to tell him about everything, and when we did he would say "Why can't you do things on your own?" I don't mean to be rude, because after all he is our priest, but he was rather bipolar. He canceled all our church activities; picnic's, youth groups, sports groups. He fired-excuse me, "laid off" most of the employees working in the office and we are left without a secretary and something else. My mother was hired on as the RE coordinator but after almost 5 months she had to quite because it was so hard. She was hired to arrange the Religious Education classes...That part she loved. But it was the two other jobs that Father laid on her that was really making it hard. And he was so mean about it to. She didn't know how to be a secretary and he'd get mad at her for doing something wrong...Which really wasn't that often. It was unfair, he even made her so frustrated at one point she cried.
And she isn't the first to cry because of him. My friends mom suffered the same blow. She had always taught the 7-8 grade RE class, and coordinated the events and Services and helped with the Choir and everything! She was such an amazing person. But Father knocked her down hard. He took her out of everything because he didn't like her ways...Or something like that, even though she did everything like everyone else would have.  She is a very religious woman with a family of 9 like us. Actually, her daughter Maria is my assistant with teaching. He's fine with most of her kids, but around her he is not. My mom and dad thinks he's a little on the "anti-female" side. Some priest get this power-trip when they become priest and they put themselves higher above women than should be. We just happened to get one of them.
Along with all of this he is rather obsessed(don't know if that is the right word or not) with money. Everyone must donate for the church, we must not spend more than need be (Which would explain the cancellation of most of our activities(even though we partitioner's provided for everything)) and almost everything he talks about is how we should donate money to the church and yet we shouldn't spend anything. Kind of suspicious if you ask me.

As of late the Religious Education classes have been getting some slack from him. We're losing teachers right and left and are down to 5 teachers. We had to combine a couple of classes too.

But above all else, and I think the worst part(for me anyway) is that he is changing the Choir. The one thing I look forward to after the week. In January our Music coordinator, an amazing wonderful young adult, had to leave because she moved a little farther away and the gas she was using for her job over the week was really adding up. Along with her leaving, 3 of our choir girls left the choir as well. Two of the girls's families even left the Parish due to...Well, I'm not saying any names...*coughfathercough* So we were down to 3 members. Maria plays the piano while me and another girl sing. We were nervous at first because we were such a small group, but we were beginning to get use to it when the worst happened............Father hired a new music coordinator.
Our Choir had struggled so much to get to where it was. We had traditional songs with just our voices and the piano. (Sometimes even A Capella) but this new music coordinator is different. She has a very strong vibrato voice which over-powers the choir voices, and she has begun to add some pretty interesting and "hip" songs. Here's the worst.....She even got a kid to play his flute with us. Goodness just talking about this makes me upset. He doesn't know any of our songs and he messes up so much. He use to play at a different Parish and he was really good at it because he was comfortable with their more "hip" songs. He plays it almost jazzy. =S And another thing is that she was thinking about adding a violinist and a recorder....and playing instrumental introductions and intervals.....
I am planning to somehow speak with her about how we don't have this kind of stuff and are very uncomfortable with it. We are a choir, not a band. We do not preform for the congregation, we lead them. We are not trying to get attention.
As St. Augustine said "Singing is like praying twice."
In my opinion the way we sing in church should be like the way we pray. We don't sway back and forth while shouting and yelling and clapping our hands when we say the Our Father(At least that's not what our church does) We say it with passion and majestic and sincerity. It's almost solemn when I think about it. Our music is the same way, we often sing in Latin and the traditional Catholic songs along with Gregorian Chant! We're just not use to the grooving stuff that the Parishes around us are doing. =/ You may think we are picky and selfish for not trying something new, but we always feel awkward and shy away(sometimes even move away) from these new changes. So far I have seen that each Parish is different and special in their own way. We were a lively Parish full of youth and tradition. It has changed so much...
Ohh! And another thing is that Father wants to expand out church. Knock down a wall and build one side as long as the other, like an L shape. Uh, BAD idea. 1) We don't nearly have enough for it and 2) We don't have that many people in the first place to have to expand. When we get visitors we have plenty of room for them.(plus the fact that a lot of the parishioners are leaving, because of someone, we have even more room) I think we should just focus on making a better choir area. ;P 
I don't like being on the right side of the alter, it feels weird. We use to have a choir loft in the back but for some reason they took it down. We should build it again I think....

Ahhhhhh, anyway, I think I'm just venting now. 
This is where your help comes in. Lately we have been trying to find a way to replace our priest. I know that sounds absolutely horrible; I think so to! But I'm sure he'd do much better in another church and people would stop leaving...and getting hurt...
The end of his 3rd term is coming up and we are hoping, praying, that the Archdiocese of Seattle will finally send us a new priest. They cannot do anything about him until he's gone, and trust me, they have gotten many complaints. So if you could pray that we would get some help soon that would be absolutely amazing!


All we can do right now is rant and pray. =\ (If we rant to Father he'll just make life worse for us...It's happened before)
Anyway, that's where I am at right now. College, break, and Parish difficulties.


This week me and my family are spending the Break with some cousins and visitors from Japan. Today was a blast and I will have to talk about it tomorrow! (They come over tomorrow as well so I'll have plenty to talk about.) It will also probably be my last post until next week.
Thursday I take my drivers test. =S Oh my goodness I am so nervous and have been for the past week and a half!! Please pray that I pass! I really need to with all the things I do. It's horrible having to ask family and friends to drive me every where. So please pray that I pass!


Ack! I will leave you now, yet another long post! God Bless!
~Katherine


Coming up next: Japanese friends

About Me

Hello again! I know I said I'd be posting once a week, but since this is the beginning I figure I should get you up to date with what's going on. So until then I'm not quite sure how many I will post in this week. ;)

As I said before I was going to share a little bit about me and my family, so here I go!
I was born and raised in Washington State. I have 6 siblings and my parents have remained married for the past 25 years.(Seriously proud of them) We are all and always have been Catholics. Go to Church every Sunday, say meal prayers and night prayers...etc.
All 7 of us kids were/are/still are being homeschooled as well, and my mom did an amazing job! I suppose we were a little unsocial though, our friends were just from Church, and it was a small church.
When the 3 eldest kids went to college, mom decided to start taking us(The last 4) to a Catholic co-op. We were an awkward bunch, very unsocial.
But I guess I was the lucky one. I had a friend (I'll call her Ray) at church who was very social, she had friends outside of school! Maybe she rubbed off on me, I don't know, but I managed to make some friends at that co-op. After a year of it we found out there wasn't going to be another one the next year, and I was beginning to like the idea of having friends. So, we 3 youngest (the last kid was too young) were put in a sort of homeschooling high-school called Choice. This was not a Catholic school either, it was public. But with the help from my very social friend, Ray, (who went there as well) I made it through the year and made some friends I will never forget. I continued to stay with that program another year(My Senior year). Actually, it wasn't a full year. I Graduated after the first semester and went straight into college. (Homeschoolers can do that I guess. How I managed to do it without the many complications that usually take place is beyond me but man did I have to cram that semester!!) So I was in college that Spring taking a total of 17 credits my first quarter...And I survived! That Summer I got my first job...And quite my first job do to some interesting situations. Went back to college this past Fall. I just recently finished Winter Quarter and am on Spring break. (Hallelujah!)
The past 3 years really changed me. I use to be an unsocial tomboy-ish Homeschooler, now I am an Adult with a life...Haha it just feels so weird!
In college I am going for a degree in Elementary Education (Which is for those who don't know teaching K-6 grade classes) I currently am teaching a Religious Education class at my church with an assistant (just gonna call her Maria). We are the first young people to ever teach there and man does it feel great! Last year I was an assistant for Ray's mom who taught the same class. I don't mean to brag but I ended up doing most of the work but I really enjoyed it! It was that same year I discovered teaching was what I wanted to do.
Let me see, what else? I sing in our small church Choir who, as of late, has been going through quite a lot, but that's a different story!
I feel I should describe my siblings a little, so here you go!
About the family kids:
The firstborn of the family is James(24). He took a flight to Gambella, Ethiopia, Africa last July and is staying until this coming August. He went there on a mission trip which I think is very amazing! I am so proud of him!

The second eldest is John(22). He is engaged to his amazing girlfriend of almost 3 years and they are to be married in August! It's so exciting and yet sad...=')

The third eldest is Jeanne(21). She is an amazing older sister. She has a God-given talent in photography and is attempting to make a career of it. She has a boyfriend and they have been going out for almost a year.

Then there's Me. I like singing and playing the piano. I taught myself how to play when I was 16 and have been trying to keep it up ever since. I love to write stories; I have 70 unfinished stories. One story, however, I am hoping to someday make into a book....However it is still in plotting mode...
I love to teach and mess with my siblings and friends. I am very strong in my faith which is the main reason for this blog!

Fifth is Marie(16). She is very into the Japanese culture and is a very happy-go-lucky girl. She is smart and pretty and we two can talk about almost anything. She also loves video games and Anime.

Sixth is Anne(14). This girl is such a religious little girl. She takes her faith very seriously! She also has a God-given talent for drawing. She is an amazing artist!

Last and not least, Seventh is Peter(9). This kid is crazy. His nickname is Monsterboy. He is very smart and crazy, he loves sharks and dinosaurs and whenever there's a chance for him to share is knowledge of these two things he talks and talks for hours....While attacking you with a foam sword.

The thing you should know about us the most is that...We Are Crazy! I don't know how to explain it, we just are and I'm sure as I write more in this Blog you will know. ;)

Well, I think that is enough for now. I need to go start planning for the RE class today!

So fare thee well! I shall write more maybe tomorrow...If I've got time. (Going on a road trip and then to our Cousins house.)
God bless and watch over you!
~Katherine

Coming up next: Parish Difficulties!

The Beginning...

~*~~*~

This is it. Starting this Lenten season I am going to try to post something once a week.
I know I am late in starting this as a Lenten sacrifice, but better late then never, right?

Ahh, where to begin? There are so many things that have happened to me in the past 8 months.
I guess I will start off where I left off. My last post in October was right after this event:
In August of 2010 part of my faith was question by a random girl on facebook. She was a friend of my friend and she caught something I had said (We were discussing something to do with people who are sin-free in the Bible). My friend was Christian and when I said Mary was sinless of course they both jumped at the chance to challenge me. My friend asked some questions but stopped after realizing I would not budge from what I know and believe. Her friend, however, was not so smart. She messaged me on facebook questioning me about Mary. My goodness I did not know people asked such questions. I did not know people thought of Catholics the way they do. Are we really that misunderstood? Can we really not explain clearly to people what we believe?
We exchanged emails and thus began 3 weeks of conversation via email. With the help of some friends and most especially and thankfully, my mother, I replied and answered every email and question...Except the last. I could not for the life of me get this girl to see what I was trying to say. She kept twisting my words and asking the same questions. I finally, after politely stating I had a life that this was the best I could do, did not reply to her email.
I feel very bad about this because I feel I should have finished what I started but in the end, God got the Holy Spirit working in me.. He did what he meant to. He made me question my faith. Challenged me. At first I thought I was breaking, I admit that I cried. But with the help of prayer and my amazing mother, I made it through and am stronger than ever and am wholly grateful to God.
That was only the first thing that happened.
As New Years rolled by I made a resolution to become closer to God and to listen to Him more intently.
I added extra prayers at night and in the morning, and during the day when I have nothing better to do. I also told myself I would finish the Bible by the end of this year!(I'm a little more than half way)
"This is good!" I thought. "I'll know how to answer questions."
I don't why I thought that now that I pray more I know more, because this past February I was challenged again.
A friend I met at college in Fall quarter is Christian. I met him in a Public Speech class and we became friends in real life and on facebook. I knew he was Christian, I just didn't know he was Christian. You know, the kind that, once you accidentally say something you believe in the Catholic faith, will jump at the chance to challenge you.
Here's what happened. I texted him(I'll just call him Colin) to ask about a driving test he did then went to teach our Religious Education class for the Kingergarten at our church as I usually do every Monday. (Part of my New Years resolution as well) Well, while I was teaching I got a text asking if I was taking the Drive test right now. I said no, I was teaching a class. Baaaad idea. Of course he asked what class and I couldn't lie and told him our Religious Education class. His exact words were "Ah, you mean Catholocism?" I almost laughed out loud. He was acting smart and yet spelled it wrong...
Anyway, I corrected him "Yes, Catholicism. I teach the K-1 grade." I can't quite remember what we said after that, but 2 hours later Colin asked "So, you go to confecsion right?" (He's not the best speller in the world.)
I said yes I do.............And that is where our week long conversation started. But this was different. It wasn't over email or text...It was face to face. I had been meeting up with him and his friends for awhile and the next time I met up with him he had some information for me about our "Confession" and how it was wrong.
Next we discussed the purpose of Priests and why they couldn't marry while in the priesthood, next about Saint Peter and how he was put in charge of the church after Jesus rose from the dead, and during all this there was the biggest question of all...Why we believe that we are not saved by Faith alone.
I prayed, researched and prayed some more. I finally, after a week, got him to understand Priests and them not getting married. (If you're wondering, a priest may be married before he has actually become a priest, but while he has become a priest he cannot marry again or get married period. It's a commitment.) I also kind of got him to understand Peter and the Rock thing. But, we never agreed about the "Not by Faith alone, but by works also" thing. It kind of became awkward so I told him that was what I knew and believe, and that if he wanted to know more here are some links. Winter Quarter ended and here we are on Spring Break...The best break ever!
Ahh, it feels good to rest my brain. But I am so grateful to him! He got me thinking again! God is keeping me on my toes and I love him even more for it!
Now I know to pray AND research. It won't help if you don't quite know about your own faith and never really questioned it. (If that makes sense)

Anyways, I feel I should stop now...This first post was, well, longer than I had expected. However I am not done! I have still much to say about recent events in my church!
But for now I must say goodnight, for it is 12:00am and my bed time was at 10.

So, I hope that wasn't too confusing. I have a habit of getting so in to my thoughts that it just comes out jumbled...Read it twice? Hahaha, you must be joking. I hate reading and the things I write are always so long...Hehe.

Agh! Anyway, goodbye and God bless and watch over you!
~Katherine.

Coming up next; Parish difficulties and a little bit About Me!


P.S. These are the links I gave my friend. If you have questions that need answering these are great websites!
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/
http://www.catholic.com/
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11744a.htm