Nagasaki, Japan

So I'm on vacation, thus far it's not feeling like a vacation yet so I am REALLY, desperately trying to relax my mind....

Anyways, I am loving Japan. I am in Sasebo visiting and that is where the navy base is located which is nice because many people know a little bit of English here.

View of Sasebo from atop the mountain 

I have had some cool experiences but I am really loving to explore the areas around town.
My favorite locale so far was Nagasaki where we went to see the atom bomb museum,

A to scale replica of the actual bomb

The inside of the to scale replica of the bomb

These glasses really hit home for me. When you see an article that actually belonged to someone you feel the gravity of the death of these people. 

Extremely sad... :(

In these wooden steps from an elementary school you can see shrapnel and LARGE shattered glass fragments that were deeply embedded by the explosion. If there were any children outside they would have most certainly been struck by these items.

Flying Cranes of peace

Statue representing a mother holding her dead child, 70% of all victims were women, children and the elderly. 

The crater in which the bomb made, any humans nearby were immediately vaporized. 

All in all, it was great to learn about and of course very sad. This land is very beautiful.

ALL pictures on this post are mine.

Stop! Don't kill yourself! We are all here!

I had a friend who called me recently on the brink of suicide. I got her permission to tell use her story... She called me very late at night to tell me that this was it. This was going to be her last night on earth. I could hear the fear and the hopelessness in her voice. She said she didn't really want to do it, but she wanted to at the same time. My friend had endured abuse of every kind and she called me as a last resort, she didn't know where to turn. She said Meghan I don't know what to do, will you pray. So of course I did, right then and there and have continued to ever since. But today at church a verse really stood out to me:

New Living Translation

 But Paul shouted to him, "Stop! Don't kill yourself! We are all here!" Acts 16:28

The context of this verse is that Paul was beaten severely and jailed and when he started praising God an earthquake happened and caused a release of himself and all the other prisoners from the chains that were binding them. (All my spiritual folks will get the double meaning on that one! :) Yes Lord!) Suddenly all of the prisoners were free! Now most of these guys sans Paul and Silas were not innocent, they really committed crimes, but now they were free. (Isn't this the heart of Jesus at work?!)

 So the guy who was supposed to be watching the prisoners runs in and sees that they are all free. He believes now that he will be in DEEP trouble because all of these guys are loose. In his mind there is no hope. He is in the deeps of a situation that he won't be able to explain away, so he draws his sword to take his life. He was hopeless so he turned to suicide like so many of us do. Paul sees this and says "STOP! Don't kill yourself we are all here!"

Isn't this true for us all? See, the jailer couldn't see the men, all he saw was the chains... The empty chains equaled death for him. AND YOU CAN'T SEE YOUR ENTIRE FUTURE!! Sometimes we think the chains are for us, and you may feel like death is the way. BUT STOP!  "We are all here!"

There are always people around you that are here for you, even if you can't see them. For those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please don't think you are alone! There are humans beings who care for you right now, and if you truly don't think that then please know that there are ARMIES of angels around you. You always have an angel around you and when you think you need more, ask God for more. It's as simple as "God I believe in you but I feel hopeless right now. I don't know which way to turn so I'm turning to you. Please help me with these negative and suicidal thoughts. I know you created me for a purpose, to live and not die. Please help me to see this purpose. Amen". Say whatever you need to say but don't make a permanent decision. I am here, God is here, professionals are here to help you. Contact whoever you need to but don't harm/kill yourself. You are worth more than diamonds.

#nosuicide

- Meghan

P.S. I found these photos on angelic_ones instagram, please follow them, their posts are awesome!

God has created you for his HIGHEST purpose

Since discovering this truth for myself my life has changed for the greater. God created YOU intentionally, he is not just making people to fill up the earth. We know its quite full already :). He created you with intention to do something for him. He purposed your smile, your wit, your personality, your talents and skills all to be useful to him in some way. Maybe you are a quiet person who likes to cook and paint, guess what God can use you and those talents for his glory. In Jeremiah God says "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart". Before God sent you here to earth he knew you and he knew what he wanted to do with you. YOU have a purpose.  ASK HIM

Every year I start reading my bible over again and Genesis is my favorite book of the bible for some many reasons, but I like to give chapter breakdowns of my thoughts on each chapter as I read it. 

In Genesis chapter 1: There is creation. God created EVERYTHING out of nothing, both the heavens and the earth.

Genesis chapter 2: Man and Woman- God gave the commandment to the man 1st before woman was created. Then God says it is not good for man to be alone so he creates all of the animals and lets Adam name them. No suitable companion was found for him there so the Lord caused him to go into a deep sleep     Then he took a part of his side and closed the side up with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the part of the side.      **Woman is the only being not being crafted from dirt. We are created from creation, that's kind of beautiful. Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh** "