Double for Your Trouble

How God turned the woes of an Army brat into whoa’s of His goodness

By: Chef Onegi

Writing haiku under the courtyard’s blossoming sakura trees, making musubi rolls with a group of visiting Japanese high school students, and attempting to eat freshly-made Belgian waffles with chopsticks – each a graded class assignment.  It’s easy to see why Japanese was my favorite class in 9^th grade!

But, shortly after the sakura leaves came in, it was time for me to move again.  My dad was in the Army, and we had run out of time in our 4 years spent in Columbus, Georgia – the longest I had lived in one place.  Moving was exciting… unless you were moving to Kansas.  

Now, I’ve got to say – I loved Kansas.  I had great friends, and the landscape was beautiful – rolling hills where I lived (Northeast corner of the state).  On top of that, I appreciated the four distinct seasons (of equal length!), and (to my surprise) barbecue, especially Kansas City-style brisket and burnt ends!  

Despite no Japanese class in Kansas, I decided to enroll in a self-study Japanese course for high school credit.  I picked up some grammar concepts, read my first “story” in Japanese (Goldilocks, but with hanbaaga instead of porridge), and made kokeshi-style dolls out of wooden dowels and knobs, but otherwise struggled to move forward without classroom instruction.

When I found out I’d be moving back to Columbus, I shut my portfolio, dropped the class, and excitedly awaited returning to the classroom.  Japanese 2 was typically a sophomore-level class, but I didn’t mind the embarrassment of taking it as a senior – I was just happy to have a sensei!  Thanks to block scheduling, I was able to take it in the fall, followed by Japanese 3 in the spring, (barely) fulfilling my high school’s foreign language requirement for graduation.

What I didn’t realize was not only would I be the only senior, I’d also be the only classmate to have not gone on the previous summer’s 2 week, all-expenses-paid trip across Japan.  You read that right.  

This was summer of 2012, the year after the March 11 disaster of 2011.  Thanks to various government and business sponsorships (including Aflac, whose HQ is in Columbus), a cultural exchange trip was created – my class would go to Japan for 2 weeks, and a Japanese class would have a tour across America as well, sightseeing and presenting in English how the disaster affected their lives.

I don’t know all the trip entailed, not because I wasn’t interested, but because I didn’t want to get jealous.  Who wouldn’t want to go on a 2 week tour of Japan?!  As an “Army brat” well versed in being the odd-one-out, the new kid, and the excluded one, I managed to keep a good attitude.  

I chose not to pout about the missed opportunity.  I chose not to think about the boring, sad summer I had in Kansas while they were in Japan, where I couldn’t hug my dear friends goodbye because of a bad case of poison ivy.  I chose not to think “Why couldn’t we have been stationed in Okinawa?!” like my other Army friends had been.  I carried on and did my best, and was grateful that I was able to be in a Japanese class again.

Not to brag, but I was the best student in the class.  Maybe being excluded caused me to “study with a vengeance,” or maybe my passion for Japan was deeper than merely a love of anime or J-Pop, which was often the case of my nerdy classmates (whom I loved).  I joined the “Japanese Academic Challenge Bowl” team (yes, that was a thing) and took in all I could in the class.  I did what I could, and I kept being my best, maintaining a good attitude.

One day, my sensei took me aside and showed me a print-out poster about a national essay contest.  She said how it happened every year, and that her students have never won, but the prize was 4 weeks homestay and language schooling in Japan, and she wanted me to win it, specifically.  She said she’d tell the whole class, but wanted to let me know she thought it was a perfect opportunity for me.

Turns out it was – unbelievably, I was selected as one of two 2013 KCC-JEE Essay Contest winners!  Coincidentally, I got the phone call on March 11 of that year.  I will never forget receiving that phone call, telling my dad who was in the room at the time, and then telling my mom and sensei later that I had won.  

In my essay I wrote about being an Army kid, and I think that perspective set me apart from the other essay submissions.  What I had seen as a setback (constantly moving, getting behind, missing opportunities), was really a setup.  I may have missed the 2 week paid trip, but God got me the 4 week paid trip instead – double for your trouble.

Isaiah 61:7 in the Amplified Bible says, “Instead of your [former] shame you will have a double portion… they will possess double [what they had forfeited].”  This isn’t a testament to the power of hard work or a good attitude.  Yes, I worked hard, and yes, I kept a good attitude, but I didn’t choose to have a unique perspective that would cause me to win the essay contest.  I was blessed with that – that was God!  This is a testament that God can take what was meant for your harm and turn it for your good!

Eight years later, it’s important for me to remember this lesson I learned – I can trust God that He will give me everything I need.  No lack, no setbacks, no conflict, no barrier can stop God’s plan for my life.  If I stay in line with Him, He will give everything I need to live a victorious life for His glory!