Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thankful

In August I started capturing our life, day by day, in 1 second clips.  My thought was that it would be great to post it all over on the web on Thanksgiving Day.  Show off our new life in Japan, a way to remember all that we are thankful for in this new life.

Everyday, I would capture a quick moment. It was a fun to look over the ever-forming video from time to time, especially on those days when I was worn out and missing Colorado.  It was a video highlight reel of our new life.  On November 14th at Narita Airport I posted the video with this message, "Well, I've been making this 1 second everyday for a while. I think this is probably a good chapter break for now. A new chapter begins when we land."

I thought that would be my last 1 second a day video clip.  Why would I want clips of the Children's Hospital, of chemo drips, hard times or bald heads?  At that moment, the Japan clips seemed less-than-realistic, just all the high points of our new Japan life.  I had omitted all the clips of Anna crying about math homework, or people missing our Colorado home.  I didn't have clips of us taking the kids to the Japan Drs... in the rain... on bikes... with bronchitis.  -so why start now?

I told my good friend this same story,  that I was done with "1 second everyday", the chapter break would be the end.  But he's a true friend and he wouldn't let me quit. He challenged me to not stop the clips, not to stop looking for the good in the midst of challenging times.  He said that the Japan clips weren't fake, they were real, they were about finding the blessing in a hard transition.  Sure, it's a bit manicured, but we all do that to some extent.  

Manicured... Or, it's called looking on the bright side ,or counting our blessings  -And that's what I'm going to continue to do.  I had to go back and fill in the few days that I didn't want to capture but I think that's ok.

So, here's the video of the beginning of our new chapter, a chapter that will most likely be a challenging journey, but one that I will capture and find things to be thankful in nonetheless.



All of are home today, Abby is doing good as are all of the other other kids.  Thanks for walking with us in this journey and Happy Thanks Giving to you all!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

You are in our thoughts today. Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Much love your way.

Unknown said...

I'm glad you're continuing with "Chapter 2" of this saga. Whether each second is a blessing reminder or a moment of heartache, I think the action of intentionally capturing it is a reflection of intentionally living that moment.

I took a picture every day of James from the day he was born until he turned one. I wasn't entirely sure what I'd do with them all eventually, but just having them & being able to see that reflection of good & bad times reminds me of the battles I've already been through. I pray that "Chapter 2" (along with additions) become a reminder of previous blessings AND a sense of hope that you can tackle the next battle with Jesus by your side too.

<3

Unknown said...
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Anonymous said...

Hey! Interestingly, I just had dream two nights ago that the Schreibers are back to Japan, ASIJ! You didn't let us know in advance that Abby's treatment was done, and waited for us in the school campus to surprise us with big smiles! :D We will be longing for this wonderful surprising day! Etsuko

Anonymous said...

I love your 1 second a day videos, especially the one of Japan. I look forward to more as Abby beats this! We miss all of you, think of you often and continually keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
Warmly,
Genta