Made In Japan ⎯ Meet Yosuke-kun, born last Monday, 3/9/2009. In Japanese 3 (for March) is pronounced “san,” and 9 (for the 9th) is pronounced “kyu.” Put them together and we get “san-kyu,” which, when spoken, sounds like the English phrase “thank-you!”
The Japanese word “kun” is a familiar suffix added to a boy’s name. The English equivalent means “master.” About two years ago we introduced Yosuke-kun’s parents to each other. Nils had the privilege of performing their marriage ceremony in January, 2008. Yosuke is their first-born. Last night we went to the hospital to see the new arrival and his parents. We walked in the door and saw Yosuke’s father holding him in his lap, sitting there very quietly, looking intently at his son and studying every detail of his face and hands. Such detail . . . and, oh, so cute!
In our years of being in Japan, we’ve noticed that when Japanese see a “foreign” baby with its light-colored hair, fair eyes and complexion, they consider the baby cuter than Japanese babies. On the other hand, we who are from western nations see a Japanese baby and stand in awe of its cuteness. They’re like little dolls . . . and they are . . . Japanese dolls! Most every westerner who visits Japan looks for some kind of a Japanese doll to take home as a souvenir. Who gets the credit for Yosuke-kun’s doll-like cuteness, anyway? His parents? I think not.
“O LORD…you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb…Body and soul, I am marvelously made!…What a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; you know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were (are) spread out before you, the days of my life (are) all prepared before I’ve even lived one day.” Psalm 139:13-17
“All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:3.
God gets all the credit for little Yosuke-kun! He brought the egg and sperm together in the total darkness of his mother’s womb, and using the DNA of his parents and ancestors, “moved upon the face of the deep” (amniotic fluid) by His Holy Spirit for nine months and on March 9, 2009, God spoke as it were, “Let there be light . . . “ and Yosuke-kun broke forth out of the darkness of the womb into this world of light. Genesis 1:2-3, John 1:3-5.
Yes, every one of us has been “fearfully and wonderfully made” by the hand of Almighty God! Each one of us is “precious” in God’s sight.
Why not this weekend let’s all head to church, lift our voices and say, sing, or even shout, “3-9 God!”