ANZUS House

Well, our family had just got back from a miracle holiday on Kauai, Hawaii, and it was one of the most memorable holidays we have ever spent.  We got to snorkel, have a picnic at the beach, go hiking up the Nounou mountain trail to the Sleepy Giant.  Went to see Wailua Falls too.  We were sirened on the last day we were leaving because of the tsunami warning, but the plane left before the waves came so we were okay. The picture above is one of the many gorgeous sunrises we saw through our ocean-front unit window.   This and a couple of other pictures I have done in the ten days I was there will be displayed as a gallery in the gallery page soon.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Paihia Dolphin

“Paihia Dolphin”

　When I first visited New Zealand, I went up to one of the northern-most towns of the north island called Paihia.  It is a place where you are guaranteed to spot dolphins all through the year, so I drove up with my friends to see them.  After many green hills the town of Paihia appeared.  It was a small, quiet town with the turquoise blue of the sea as the back drop.

　The boat that we boarded sailed around islands dotting the Paihia area as we waited for the dolphins to find us.  When they did appear, we were able to put wetsuits on and swim with them.  On that day was special, for more than the usual number of dolphins appeared for us.  Even when the boat was running at full speed, 2 or 3 swam along around the bow of the ship.

　They veered to the right→, wiggled to the left←…

　They were completely at ease and were enjoying it.

　One of the dolphins following us suddenly showed us a beautiful high-jump as it drew a perfect arc of a circle.

The instant

movement

made the time

stand still

　The dolphin was using its potential to its fullest, yet the arc it drew in the air seemed natural and almost graceful somehow.

　The jump was burned in the back of my mind and was there to stay.  The more I remembered that jump, the more I felt like my life was going

nowhere

　Perhaps I was trying hard to become a whale or something, when I was actually a dolphin.

I have always hated myself and tried harder and harder

to become someone else,

and failed every time

and found myself

dejected

I cannot become a whale.  I probably will not be given the strength to become one.  But as the dolphin, I felt that I would be given the courage to become the best that I can be.

I decided to do what I was created to do,

to draw, even if it looked silly to me.

from Beyond the Long White Cloud, by Ayaka Miyashiro

Just letting you know we are away on holiday from the 18th to the 28th of February and the site will continue to receive your orders, but we won’t be able to send them out to you till we get back.  Will be able to resume the processing of orders again from the 2nd of March.  We will still be here till the morning of the 18th so if you want to contact us with any questions or comments we will be glad to help you  with them.  God Bless You and thank you! 

Ayaka Miyashiro

Saying Grace, the fourth picture for the Morning Prayer Book

I’ve just finished outlining the black and white outline for the fourth picture for the Morning Prayer picture book.

It’s cool to see things come together in baby steps.  There are two more pictures to go, then I am able to start looking for publishers to look into this book.

The black and whites are actually important, because I want to create an accompanying coloring book to go with the picture book.  I just thought it would be neat to see how the boys and girls would color them in and also thought it would be a nice additional activity to have between parents and children.

The third picture for the Morning Prayer picture book.

I have a new picture for the Morning Prayer picture book out now and it is available in the gallery and as a postcard at this point, and will work on getting it out as a replica also.

It is called Sing You Praises.  It encourages kids to look to God and worship Him every morning and read his Word for direction, comfort, blessings and just to be with him for that day.

I am getting some feedback from Kim’s children and they seem to love the colors on the picture.  I’m just thankful that it catches their eyes.  I just hope that the message catches their hearts also.

I will need to do three more pictues to bring the picture book idea to the publisher, then Iwill approach several publishers for the picture book and the redoing of the Beyond the Long White Cloud book.  Hopefully they would like to do the series, as there are more stories to come.

Something’s Out Of Line
“In the 8th century B.C., during the reign of
Uzziah, king of Judah, the nation of Israel was being
borne along on a rising tide of prosperity and peace.
But along with this affluence came a rapid decline in
morals, undermining society. A seamy smog of social
injustice obscured Israel’s view, and it lost its divinely
given direction.
Into this challenging arena God called Amos,
a shepherd and dresser of fig trees, to represent His
cause. Amos’ mission was to denounce the social and
religious corruption and warn of God’s impending
judgment. Even his name, Amos, is related to a Hebrew
verb meaning “to bear a load.”2 With Moses, God chose
a rod to demonstrate His truth and values, but with
Amos He chose a plumbline.

A plumbline in its simplest form is a small
inverted cone of lead, attached by a cord to a cylindrical
piece of wood of the same diameter. It is used by
builders to ascertain the precise vertical direction for
the construction of a wall. The weighted end always
points toward the center of the earth, as it responds to
an otherwise invisible force called gravity. (See Figure
1) Construction workers have found this simple but
profound instrument of inestimable value. They realize
that if their building is to be stable and stand, its studs
and walls must line up with the plumbline. If not, the
building could topple down.
Beneath Israel’s affluence was moral decay.
God depicts the nation as a wall that is out of line and
about to topple down. To demonstrate the extent of that
instability He drops the plumbline of His law alongside
His people. He shows that any day the nation could
fall and be scattered by its enemies as blocks of a wall.
God has never ceased to extend the plumbline of His
word alongside the lives of those He has called to be
His people. He continues to do this with us, the people
of this century, so we might know the truth and find
the way to a stable, secure life.”

from Walls of My Heart, by Bruce & Barbara Thompson

One of my English students that come to our house for classes liked the “When It Does” picture so much she bought the A4 print of it and framed it.  She put it up on the wall in the entrance hall of her house.

I was just appreciative of the fact that she bought one of my artwork and that she liked it enough to put it up on her wall.  Little did I realize what impact it would have on her family.

One day, her husband looked at the picture and said, “Wow, that’s a cool picture.  Who drew it?”  My student said, “Oh my English teacher drew it.”  “What does it mean?” he asked.  “I’m not exactly sure, but my teacher is Christian and it has something to do with her faith,”  my student said.  The husband said, “Please ask her exactly what it means, because I really want to know.”

So I had the opportunity to talk to my student and her husband about how God showed me how much he loved me and allowed me to surrender to him, and allow Him to take care of me.  As I trusted him more and more he allowed me to come out of my “shell” and kept healing my heart and my soul, and with it my body and my torn-apart life. 

Most people have a bad impression about God or Jesus and it is great when I get to clarify that that is not true and that he is earnestly wanting to come close to us and heal our broken lives.

There are times when I halt and realize that I have been doing too much “doing.”

The whirlwind of Christmas is sometimes overwhelming, everybody buying presents, trying to get things done by the end of the year (especially in Japan!)… and you think, what was most important?

It’s not so much about praying, or drawing, or getting things done, or even doing great stuff for God.

I feel the tug of my heart, “Aya, I want to talk with you.  I want to show you how much I love you.”  and the scripture, “apart from me, apart from vital union with me, you can do nothing.”  and I realize that I had been forgetting the real source of my life, the very One that gives me purpose, breathes in joy, love and peace. 

Then I need to just sit down and close my eyes, and say, “sorry Daddy, please connect with me.”

And then I realize, this is what I have been longing for all this time, trying to look for it everywhere else and not finding it.  He was always here, waiting for me to turn around and focus on Him.

Without it, without that relationship, my drawings are in vain.

Morning Prayer Front Cover

Another thing I’m working on is a series of Biblical picture books with Mrs. Kim Wilson from the US. 

She really liked my drawings and wanted to put them together with the teachings about God for children that she was creating.

I felt the same way with her in the sense that it is extremely important to imput into children the heart of prayer, devotions, praises and thanks to God, His values, His love, early on in their lives for them to to carry them on to adulthood.

There are a few stories that Kim has done, but the first one I’m drawing for is titled Morning Prayer, and it is about how to pray to God in the morning, what to thank him for when you wake up.  It is a very cute book and I would love to be able to find a good publisher for this also.

Kim is also wanting to support foster parents and is a foster parent herself and I would like to help her support that with the sales from the book also.  I’m sure God will provide for the needy through our creativity on both sides!