Step into a podcast like no other—featuring Christian messages, scriptures, prayers, and poetry to fuel your faith. In a world clouded by fear and moral darkness, recharge with hope and courage. You’ll also journey alongside Hanaya Oki, a teenage girl in Kamakura, Japan, as she navigates life with Jesus from her early to late teens. Though fictional, Hanaya is inspired by real teens of faith, and her story is designed to spark deeper conversations about choices, purpose, and eternal perspective. Each episode draws you into her world while gently inviting you to look deeper into your own. Grab your earphones, listen closely, and check out superdifferent.com.
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13:25
What do you do when you love someone deeply, but you don’t know where God is leading either of you?
Sometimes love doesn’t have to be abandoned. But the timing—and the outcome—have to be surrendered.
After summer break, Hiroto and Hanaya sit together after school for one of their usual conversations—conversations that began when Hiroto first became interested in Jesus. Now a Christian himself, Hiroto has come a long way in a short time, with Hanaya walking alongside him through questions of faith, life, and love.
But the future they once imagined together is becoming harder to hold onto.
Hiroto’s parents have no intention of supporting his plans to study overseas with Hanaya. They don’t want him pursuing Jesus or getting involved in missions, and they already have their own plans for his future. When Hiroto tries to find another way to make those plans possible, things don’t go the way he hoped.
With the future weighing heavily on him, Hiroto does most of the talking. Their conversation moves through young love, faith, purity, waiting, surrender, and what it means to trust God when you cannot see what comes next.
For Hanaya, could this conversation be more than just another talk? Could God be using Hiroto’s words to quiet the fear she has been carrying—that one day, he might simply forget her?
And could their relationship become a blueprint for something bigger than romance?
I really miss this. Just sitting here after school with you, the grass, the sky, and you giving me exactly 45 minutes of your very valuable time.
SPEAKER_03
Heh. You make it sound like I'm charging you by the minute.
SPEAKER_00
You should. You'd be rich by graduation.
SPEAKER_03
Heh heh. 45 minutes is enough.
SPEAKER_00
That's what you always say.
SPEAKER_03
Because it's true.
SPEAKER_00
Just a few more months, and we won't have this anymore.
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, not like this.
SPEAKER_00
I don't think I'll ever forget this place.
SPEAKER_03
Me too. I think a part of me will always stay here.
SPEAKER_00
I've been thinking about something. Uh imagine after graduation, you go to Vietnam or wherever God sends you, and you meet someone there. He's a good guy. He loves Jesus. You have a lot in common, and you can actually see a future with him. And then one day he tells you about his past. He hasn't lived the way you have. He didn't keep the boundaries you've kept. He had relationships with other girls. He made choices he regrets. But he tells you he's genuinely repented, he's asked Jesus for forgiveness. And his life has changed. Would knowing his past change the way you see him? Would you still marry him?
SPEAKER_03
Hmm. That's a difficult question. I think part of me would wish he had made the same choice as I did. But if his repentance is genuine, I have to remember something. We've all sinned. Some sins are just more visible than others. Jesus didn't save us because we were already pure. So who am I to say someone's past is more powerful than God's grace? Christianity isn't the story of people who manage to stay clean enough for God. It's the story of what Jesus does with people who weren't.
SPEAKER_00
So you wouldn't automatically reject him?
SPEAKER_03
No. I'd have to look at who he is now, whether his repentance is real, whether he's actually walking with Jesus. And hopefully, dating gives you enough time to really see each other's character and shortcomings.
SPEAKER_00
That's what I thought you'd say. So, if someday you meet someone else, you'll have to spend all that time getting to know him. But you already know me. I've never been in a relationship with another girl. You're my first love. And you told me I'm your first love too, in that goodbye voice message you sent a few months ago. But whenever we meet, you act like you never said any of it. And that's okay. I'm not asking you to explain it, but do you like me enough to wait for me?
SPEAKER_03
Uh, I I don't know what to say.
SPEAKER_00
You don't have to answer right now. I just need you to understand why I'm asking. I've been trying to figure out how I could go with you. I thought maybe my grandmother could help, so I went to see her.
SPEAKER_03
You did?
SPEAKER_00
Yeah. I know you weren't comfortable with the idea. Honestly, that's part of why I finally went. I thought if I could just find the money, convince my parents, find some way to make it happen, then everything would work out.
SPEAKER_03
What did she say?
SPEAKER_00
She can't afford to help with college. She said she doesn't have enough saved.
SPEAKER_03
Hmm. I know how much you wanted this.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah. But that's not actually what scared me.
SPEAKER_03
Okay. So what was it?
SPEAKER_00
How desperate I was becoming. I kept thinking if I don't make this happen now, someone else will. Someone better, someone who can give you what I can't. And then I realized something. I wasn't praying, Lord, what do you want? I was praying, Lord, please make my plan work.
SPEAKER_03
That's a hard thing to admit.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah. Then I read the verse. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. And I thought about you.
SPEAKER_03
Me?
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I've been wondering why you're so different. I mean, we're 17. We're supposed to be thinking about school, friends, dating, parties, all that stuff. And somehow you're thinking about eternity.
SPEAKER_03
I'm not always thinking about eternity.
SPEAKER_00
But remember what you told me? You said thinking about death makes things real. You said it makes you ask what actually matters. If everything ended sooner than you thought, would you have used your time well?
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, I remember.
SPEAKER_00
I think I'm starting to uh understand you you're not trying to get away from me. You're trying to be faithful with what's in front of you. You want to know what Jesus is asking you to do and follow him, even when it costs you. And if he really sends you somewhere, um you don't want fear of losing me to be the reason you stay.
SPEAKER_03
I'm trying.
SPEAKER_00
And even if you go, that doesn't mean I have to stop loving you. What happened between us still matters. How we met, how we started talking, how somehow through all of this, I ended up finding Jesus. I don't think we planned any of it. Maybe we're just in the middle of a story we can't see yet. Uh can I tell you something strange? I've been having this dream.
SPEAKER_03
What kind of dream?
SPEAKER_00
I'm really high up in the sky. And uh, you're there. We're both wearing parachutes, uh, and we're standing at the edge, and there's nothing left to do except jump.
SPEAKER_03
That sounds terrifying.
SPEAKER_00
But I've been thinking about what it means. Sometimes love feels like standing at the edge of something you can't control. You don't know exactly where you're gonna land at some point. You just have to trust. Loving you feels like a leap of faith. Life is unpredictable. Sometimes I'm scared I'll lose control. But I'd rather take that risk than live afraid. And I don't think the lesson is trust Hanah with your whole future. I think it's trust Jesus with your whole future. Trust him enough to jump when he says it's time.
SPEAKER_03
That's a beautiful way to look at the dream. Do you think it's from God?
SPEAKER_00
I think so. Sometimes I feel like I'm losing my grip, like everything is spinning, and I'm scared I'll lose you. But I think I've been holding on to you so tightly that I've forgotten who I'm supposed to trust. So I'm letting go.
SPEAKER_03
Letting go of me?
SPEAKER_00
No. Of control, of my plans, of trying to make everything happen right now. But I don't want to pretend that what we have doesn't matter. Because it does. At least to me. A lot. I'm not giving up on you.
SPEAKER_03
It matters to me too.
SPEAKER_00
So I'm not asking you to promise me that you'll marry me, and I'm not asking you to choose me over whatever God might call you to do. I'm asking for something much smaller.
SPEAKER_03
Like what?
SPEAKER_00
If God doesn't close the door, would you leave it open? Uh, I I don't know where you'll be. I don't know where I'll be. I don't even know what our lives will look like after graduation. But I intend to keep growing, stay faithful, stay pure, and become the man God wants me to be. I want to become someone who can wait without becoming bitter. And if someday the time is right, I want to come to you. Not because I forced it to happen, but because God led us there.
SPEAKER_03
And if God sends me somewhere else, then I trust him with you. And if he doesn't bring us back together, then I'll trust him with that too. You really mean that? Wouldn't that be painful?
SPEAKER_00
It probably will be.
SPEAKER_03
Then why do it?
SPEAKER_00
Because I'm finally learning what it means to love someone. Without trying to possess them. Loving you isn't more important than obeying God. But loving you faithfully might be part of what he's teaching me.
SPEAKER_03
Wow. I don't know what God is going to do with us. I really don't. And I don't want to give you an answer just because you're brave enough to ask me. That wouldn't be honest. But I don't want you to think I don't care. I do.
SPEAKER_00
You know what? What if you're the blueprint?
SPEAKER_03
The blueprint?
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, the way you've lived these last few years. Sometimes I wonder if maybe we're supposed to be an example of something. Not because we're perfect, we're definitely not, but because we're young, and we actually have a chance to decide what kind of people we're going to become by the choices we're making right now. Didn't you say we only get to be 17 once? We don't get to rewind this part. We get one chance to glorify God with this season of our lives. And maybe maybe the question isn't how do we get the relationship we want? Maybe it's uh how do we make sure our relationship doesn't become bigger than God? Because maybe God wants to use our lives, our story, our choices. Maybe that's the blueprint. Not just for other people, but maybe someday even for our kids. So they can look back and see that, you know, we didn't just talk about faith. We actually lived it.
SPEAKER_03
Wow. I could listen to you talk like this all day.
SPEAKER_00
I've been paying attention to your words all these months. You don't just think about what's happening now. You think uh further ahead, you think about your future self across time. You take responsibility for what kind of person you're becoming.
SPEAKER_03
I think everyone should. Otherwise, the things that matter most just become an afterthought. But if you really mean what you just said, then become that man. Don't become that man for me. Become that man for Jesus. And if God brings our paths together again, then we'll know.
SPEAKER_00
I understand. That's enough for me for now. But you know, I'm still nervous.
SPEAKER_03
What makes you nervous?
SPEAKER_00
I think uh because you still mean so much to me. I can surrender the future without surrendering what I feel for you. Maybe that's what being nervous means. Not that something is wrong, just that something matters. And after all this time, you still give me butterflies I keep having this dream that I'm high.
SPEAKER_02
With a pair of hand Only thing left. It's not a cry to have you on my mind after all this time You still make me nervous. Life is like one jump after as long as I'm holding on to your head, could you make it worth it? It's not a crap.
