For the past couple of years, the Maruo family has been coming to church for special events. We first met them because their oldest child, Kyoshiro, was in kindergarten with our youngest, Andy. At first it was just Mrs. Maruo and the two children, the youngest just a baby who came. But then, once in awhile, Mr. Maruo came along. At first he showed up after church, or after the event, to pick up the family. Then one Sunday, he came a little earlier, and joined us for the last half of the worship service. This past fall the whole family was planning to come to our "family camp". Then the youngest got the chicken pox. So it was a wonderful surprise to all of us, when Mr. Maruo and Kyoshiro decided to come together anyway. I felt God was doing something in the life of this family.

At our Thanksgiving worship and fellowship time, our choir director, Mrs. Mito, invited Mr. Maruo to come and sing with us as we were getting something special ready for Christmas. He responded, "Really? Is it okay?".... "Of course!" we answered. But they didn't come the next Sunday. "Well, it is like that sometimes," I thought. A few days later Tomoko got a phone call. Mrs. Maruo's mother has passed away at the age of 53. Tomoko and I went to the funeral. It was a traditional Buddhist funeral, but we went to show our love for this family. The next day Mr. Maruo stopped by our house, to thank us for coming to the funeral. He said it meant a lot to their family. He also said he was sorry, but he didn't think he could sing with the choir this time, but was looking forward to bringing the family to church more in the future.

Yes, God is touching the life of this young family. Please pray for them in this difficult time of loss.