I was so grateful that the day Makikio and I celebrated our 5th anniversary happened to also be the launch of our USF ministry. I thought about how most people would have wanted to celebrate their 5th year anniversary by going on a trip or having a nice romantic dinner, yet here were Makiko and I at a bible study. But honestly, I don't know what better way to celebrate God's faithfulness in our lives than by being there at the bible study, and committing once again that our marriage can be used by God to do His work on this campus.
Looking back, I am amazed that Makiko and I have already been married for this long, yet I know without a doubt that it is truly by God's grace, and also through the prayers of many people that has sustained our marriage thus far. Through all the ups and downs of married life, dealing with Makiko's health condition, the birth of our daughter Emma, all I can really say is that God has been good to both of us, and that He has been faithful. We named our daughter Emma as a personal reminder to us that "God is with us" and these past 5 years have been a testimony to that fact.
Personally, I felt it was so appropriate and I was thankful that we could start off this next chapter in our lives, by committing once again to love God and to serve Him wherever He wants us to be through the launch of this new ministry. I still remember that on the first service after we got married, Pastor Ed talked about Nehemiah and rebuilding the wall together with all of the Israelites, and I remember that was our commitment as we started our marriage was to help rebuild and do God's work here with this community of God. 5 years later, with the beginning of our USF ministry, it was such an appropriate opportunity for us to recommit to continuing to serve God and His people.
I am just thankful to be able to witness firsthand how God has already been actively at work here at USF campus. Even though we've only been officially registered as a student group since 9/26, yet we've been having some students consistently come to our bible studies and we are about to start a seeker small group with some two of the guys and also start Course 101 with one other guy!