Earthquake

Thankful to report we are all OK! You may have heard that we had a very serious earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan. It was the strongest one for Japan if I understand correctly and the seventh strongest in history? Oh, there goes another tremor now... Tomoki was taking a nap and I was cleaning the bathroom when I heard something and thought it was him stomping his little feet as he had woke up. Soon, though, I realized that it was an earthquake. I saw my Japanese mom running out of her house with her little dog in tow and saw their big white van lurching as though it was a stick shift being driven by someone who didn't know what they were doing at all. Water was splashing out of the bucket near their back door. I ran upstairs and found Tomoki sitting up in his bed wondering what was all the racket. The whole house--especially our light fixtures were swaying pretty heavily. I grabbed my coat and wrapped Tomoki in it and went outside. Most of the neighborhood was out. It was almost hard to walk straight. It took a while for it to be done--5 minutes, they said. I tried to call Akihiro, who was in Chiba prefecture, but the call couldn't be connected. I emailed him instead. I thought he must be ok and it was probably a good thing I didn't realize that he was in the area which was going to get hit by a tsunami until I went to Jana's for supper and Caleb was telling me and showing me the map. I checked my email again and got a note that he was ok and that we would talk later. Soon we connected via Internet. His clinic which is nearly on the seashore, all evacuated and walked about 40 minutes inland until they got word that the tsunami had come to that area and it was safe to return. He is now back at his hotel which is on the sea shore, where he will stay tonight. He assures me he is safe on the 6th floor, but I would appreciate prayers for his safety. He was staying an extra night there as he was planning to attend the graduation for the residents he teaches there tomorrow, otherwise he would have been on the road--perhaps even on the very long bridge/tunnel that spans Tokyo Bay--at the time of the earthquake--3PM in the afternoon today. He would have probably been ok, but who knows if he could have gotten home because soon most of the highways were closed. We don't know if he will be able to come home tomorrow--will wait and see. Jana is waiting for Andrew to come home from work--we have an email that he got a taxi from Shinjuku as the trains are all not running. The traffic must be terrible! The Costco in our area had its parking deck slopes collapse and we thank the Lord as we think that Jana went there this morning and perhaps would have gone this afternoon, but she had a meeting at the childrens' school. Please pray for our continued safety. It really makes one think about the end of the world. Also pray for the people of Japan--that they may think of the Creator of this World and desire to know and serve Him. Thank you--we love you!