Pretending to have a beard like Daddy.
Mimicking big brother.
I love how much Jake and Quinn truly love each other. Thank you, Lord, for this sweet sibling relationship. We are so blessed!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Friends
Sharing a good book !
Tag reader fun--post fort making in the bunk bed!
Dressed up for tea!
I have been extremely grateful of late for the friendships in our lives. We are truly blessed to have a handful of families that love us as much as family. I am so glad that Jake has a best friend who is kind, gentle, sweet and creative. I love that they pray for each other, miss each other and feel at home at the home of the other.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Tribute to Thelma
Grandma,
You are with Jesus in Heaven, the home you've been longing for these past couple of years. While I know that you are in the place of your heart, we sure are going to miss you here on earth. You've long been our family matriarch and fearsome prayer warrior. We've got some pretty big shoes to fill and I know that none of us are fully capable but perhaps collectively we can invoke your spirit and do some of your favorite things more often:
laugh
love
pray
play
bake
sing
hug
bounce
read Scripture
enjoy God's creation (though you did have an aversion to slithering things.)
I thank you for so many warm memories. Thank you for being such a huge cheerleader for me, for always believing the best of me and constantly reminding me that I'm a special gift from God. I love you.
You are with Jesus in Heaven, the home you've been longing for these past couple of years. While I know that you are in the place of your heart, we sure are going to miss you here on earth. You've long been our family matriarch and fearsome prayer warrior. We've got some pretty big shoes to fill and I know that none of us are fully capable but perhaps collectively we can invoke your spirit and do some of your favorite things more often:
laugh
love
pray
play
bake
sing
hug
bounce
read Scripture
enjoy God's creation (though you did have an aversion to slithering things.)
Monday, August 22, 2011
Friends
Mr. Matt tirelessly serves as a horse for the preschoolers. With his enthusiasm for play, I'm trying to imagine this scene when A and J are teenagers...
Human Jenga?
A happily pretends to be Q's horse.
We are so very blessed to be surrounded by friends that feel more like FAMILY than friends. The love and care we give and receive from some of the folks in our lives leaves me in awe at times. (Thank you, Lord! We are so grateful.)
Monday, June 13, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
thursday
it~s our last day in londrina. feels a bit bittersweet. we had high hopes of waking up early and catching breakfast at a farmer~s market but a monsoon rolled through in the wee hours and still raged when we awoke. so we rolled over and extended our sleep a bit before convening for breakfast at the buffet. slow is good, too. heather asked me to write yesterday~s blog post on the global x site so here~s the link if you are interested:
http://goglobalx.org/?page_id=9
today we lunched at a capela member~s house. allesandra. she~s amazing. her heart overflows with love. she truly understands the concept of overflowing jesus~love. she prepared a brazilian feast and we brought drinks and dessert from the bakery down the road. it was a quick lunch as three of our group members have meetings at the church and two others were getting set up to film allesandra~s testimony. i learned a little more about graciousness and hospitality from our brazilian sister.
God is really refreshing me this week. I am basking in his love and thriving on time in the Word. I~ve really enjoyed getting to know my teammates and living in Londrina for the week.
Tomorrow we head for a whirlwind tour of Rio. Please pray for good weather in Rio tomorrow and Saturday!
http://goglobalx.org/?page_id=9
today we lunched at a capela member~s house. allesandra. she~s amazing. her heart overflows with love. she truly understands the concept of overflowing jesus~love. she prepared a brazilian feast and we brought drinks and dessert from the bakery down the road. it was a quick lunch as three of our group members have meetings at the church and two others were getting set up to film allesandra~s testimony. i learned a little more about graciousness and hospitality from our brazilian sister.
God is really refreshing me this week. I am basking in his love and thriving on time in the Word. I~ve really enjoyed getting to know my teammates and living in Londrina for the week.
Tomorrow we head for a whirlwind tour of Rio. Please pray for good weather in Rio tomorrow and Saturday!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
wednesday continued
please also forgive the disjointedness. i posted a l o n g entry a couple of days ago that disappeared when i clicked post.
it is so cool to see God´s purpose for us, for the church here, come together.
the last two nights our team mate dave gave a talk on video production.
the response to his talks was so exciting! people were so interested in learning more and 15 people committed to volunteering to the church~s production team. we are going to film six testimonies when we are down here, though i think over 20 people wanted to share. dave will be training several young people how to do this tomorrow.
we have been so warmly welcomed by the folks of capela de graca.
tonight i am going to team with two others on the vision and strategy of small groups and share how God has used community groups to strengthen my faith.
it is so cool to see God´s purpose for us, for the church here, come together.
the last two nights our team mate dave gave a talk on video production.
the response to his talks was so exciting! people were so interested in learning more and 15 people committed to volunteering to the church~s production team. we are going to film six testimonies when we are down here, though i think over 20 people wanted to share. dave will be training several young people how to do this tomorrow.
we have been so warmly welcomed by the folks of capela de graca.
tonight i am going to team with two others on the vision and strategy of small groups and share how God has used community groups to strengthen my faith.
wednesday
please forgive the many grammar errors that are sure to come. this portuguese keyboard is just different enough to cause some difficulty in typing and my frustration with it is higher than my need to have a perfect message at this moment! i just tried typing my testimony on word and the program kept changing my words to portuguese. : ) but i~m not sure that even the portuguese substitutes were correct.
wow. it~s wednesday. we are half way through our trip. i have thoroughly enjoyed the updates from daddy...the short anecdotes of their days keep me going. thanks for posting, daddy!
the mantra for most mission trips is ~be flexible. it~s easy advice to GIVE people but much harder to live. especially since most of my team mates are used to being in control. this trip has been an exercise in patience, trust and faith.
wow. it~s wednesday. we are half way through our trip. i have thoroughly enjoyed the updates from daddy...the short anecdotes of their days keep me going. thanks for posting, daddy!
the mantra for most mission trips is ~be flexible. it~s easy advice to GIVE people but much harder to live. especially since most of my team mates are used to being in control. this trip has been an exercise in patience, trust and faith.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Day 3
Sunday
As many years as I've been attending North Point (11?) I've never experienced Kids Stuff. Jake is just starting to be the age of its target audience...kindergarten through fifth grade. It was really cool to finally observe this vibrant environment! The church is small...about 150 people and so many of the teens we met last night were actively serving in the KidStuff environment Sunday morning.
I know just enough Spanish to be able to READ and understand, though interpreting verbal Portuguese leaves me completely flummoxed! And PRONOUNCING the words and phrases we've learned isn't very easy. It's exhausting. Portuguese seems to be a weird cross of Spanish-French-German-English. I don't know how accurate this assessment is but that's what it feels/looks/sounds like to me. I have a much greater appreciation for my ESOL students who have to navigate a whole day of STUDY. (So Albert I understand why you would fall asleep at least once a week 7th period.)
Paolo and Kellen took us to a Brazilian steak house for lunch...slated as the fanciest outing of the week. It was an incredible culinary and cultural experience, all the better appreciated with such gracious hosts.
In the evening we went to church. Paolo's message on "Pai Perfecte" or The Perfect Father went mostly above our heads, though we tracked the versus he shared in our English Bibles.
We hosted a meet and greet with our Brazilian brothers and sisters in Christ after the service. Only a handful of people speak English, and these folks are pretty timid about USING the language because they are taught grammar versus functionality and speaking in their public schools.
As many years as I've been attending North Point (11?) I've never experienced Kids Stuff. Jake is just starting to be the age of its target audience...kindergarten through fifth grade. It was really cool to finally observe this vibrant environment! The church is small...about 150 people and so many of the teens we met last night were actively serving in the KidStuff environment Sunday morning.
I know just enough Spanish to be able to READ and understand, though interpreting verbal Portuguese leaves me completely flummoxed! And PRONOUNCING the words and phrases we've learned isn't very easy. It's exhausting. Portuguese seems to be a weird cross of Spanish-French-German-English. I don't know how accurate this assessment is but that's what it feels/looks/sounds like to me. I have a much greater appreciation for my ESOL students who have to navigate a whole day of STUDY. (So Albert I understand why you would fall asleep at least once a week 7th period.)
Paolo and Kellen took us to a Brazilian steak house for lunch...slated as the fanciest outing of the week. It was an incredible culinary and cultural experience, all the better appreciated with such gracious hosts.
In the evening we went to church. Paolo's message on "Pai Perfecte" or The Perfect Father went mostly above our heads, though we tracked the versus he shared in our English Bibles.
We hosted a meet and greet with our Brazilian brothers and sisters in Christ after the service. Only a handful of people speak English, and these folks are pretty timid about USING the language because they are taught grammar versus functionality and speaking in their public schools.
Day 2
Our flight to Londrina included a jaunt south to Cutichiba. Folks later assured us that we could have driven from Sao Paulo to Londrina in 5-6 hours versus the 13 hours it took us to wait and then fly but after seeing the massive sprawl of humanity that makes up the city of Sao Paulo it seemed that our course was the wiser.
We were happily met at the airport by Paolo, the church pastor, Kellen, his wife and James, a volunteer at Capela de Gracia. After checking into our hotel, we dropped our bags off and headed straight to the church to experience Inside Out, the high school ministry, Brazil style! It was very cool to worship with these teens. They are eager to meet the team of high schoolers from Browns Bridge that's slated to come in July for both a construction project and group retreat.
Two other church members took us to dinner at a popular restaurant called Pastel Mel that night and we throughly enjoyed sampling the Brazilian cuisine.
After about 32 hours of wakefulness it sure felt good to crawl into bed that night!
We were happily met at the airport by Paolo, the church pastor, Kellen, his wife and James, a volunteer at Capela de Gracia. After checking into our hotel, we dropped our bags off and headed straight to the church to experience Inside Out, the high school ministry, Brazil style! It was very cool to worship with these teens. They are eager to meet the team of high schoolers from Browns Bridge that's slated to come in July for both a construction project and group retreat.
Two other church members took us to dinner at a popular restaurant called Pastel Mel that night and we throughly enjoyed sampling the Brazilian cuisine.
After about 32 hours of wakefulness it sure felt good to crawl into bed that night!
Day 1
Oi! Greetings from Londrina, Brazil! There are so many things going through my head that it is hard to know where to begin...but perhaps the beginning of the journey makes the most sense.
June 3
We met at Hartsfield Friday evening without any obstacles. Three of our team members are related and they happily crossed paths with some extended family returning from a trip to the Grand Canyon. It was fun to meet some of the extended clan. After a seamless check in with Delta and brief foray through security, we ventured to the international concourse for dinner and team bonding.
The flight to Sao Paulo took nearly ten hours and my favorite part was tracking our journey on the movable map screen on the back of the headrest in front of me. It definitely helped me pass time and even though it was night, I took great satisfaction in crossing over marked land and sea.
Brazil is HUGE...I think 5th largest in both land size and population. (Compared to the United States as 3rd in each.) I had flashbacks of driving through the endless terrain of Kansas & Nebraska on family road trips as a child. We crossed into Brazil and four hours later we still hadn't reached our destination of Sao Paulo.
While in Sao Paulo we passed our 8 hour layover by sharing the last of our team testimonies...mine and Dave's...and then played games and read. TAM, the Brazilian airline changed gates on us three different times and it was a bit comical trying to make sure we were in the right place as NONE of us speaks Portuguese.
Tchau!
June 3
We met at Hartsfield Friday evening without any obstacles. Three of our team members are related and they happily crossed paths with some extended family returning from a trip to the Grand Canyon. It was fun to meet some of the extended clan. After a seamless check in with Delta and brief foray through security, we ventured to the international concourse for dinner and team bonding.
The flight to Sao Paulo took nearly ten hours and my favorite part was tracking our journey on the movable map screen on the back of the headrest in front of me. It definitely helped me pass time and even though it was night, I took great satisfaction in crossing over marked land and sea.
Brazil is HUGE...I think 5th largest in both land size and population. (Compared to the United States as 3rd in each.) I had flashbacks of driving through the endless terrain of Kansas & Nebraska on family road trips as a child. We crossed into Brazil and four hours later we still hadn't reached our destination of Sao Paulo.
While in Sao Paulo we passed our 8 hour layover by sharing the last of our team testimonies...mine and Dave's...and then played games and read. TAM, the Brazilian airline changed gates on us three different times and it was a bit comical trying to make sure we were in the right place as NONE of us speaks Portuguese.
Tchau!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Chao!
Greetings, friends!
The first leg of our trip went flawlessly! (Though much can be said for the amount of space per person in Delta's international coach!) Not much sleep last night but an easy flight. It was very cool to track our journey on the moveable map each of us had access to on the headrest in front of us. (I'm pretty easily impressed.) It did help consume time knowing which geographical features we passed through the night.
We have a two hour flight to Londrina from Sao Paulo after an eight hour layover.
Ah...our gate has changed...logging off for now. Thanks for checking in! Love, Rebecca
The first leg of our trip went flawlessly! (Though much can be said for the amount of space per person in Delta's international coach!) Not much sleep last night but an easy flight. It was very cool to track our journey on the moveable map each of us had access to on the headrest in front of us. (I'm pretty easily impressed.) It did help consume time knowing which geographical features we passed through the night.
We have a two hour flight to Londrina from Sao Paulo after an eight hour layover.
Ah...our gate has changed...logging off for now. Thanks for checking in! Love, Rebecca
Thursday, June 2, 2011
36 hours until departure
Wrapping up the school year and balancing my roles as wife and mother have consumed me of late but now that school is over, I realize that my trip to Brazil is imminent!
Last weekend I told Jake about my trip and he seemed pretty non-plussed. "That's okay, Mommy. I'll hang out with Daddy." Yet todayI kept them home in the morning for some extra time together and Jake demonstrated extra whineyness and petulance. This is coupled with my lack of patience with his attitude which prompts me to take deep breaths and acknowledge that both of us are experiencing anxiety about my departure. Plus, Jake is a boy of routine and staying home in the morning has thrown him off. So I took them in at 10ish and will concentrate on PACKING, organizing, doing laundry, making a meal and getting ready for my departure. Daddy and I decided to have a lunch date so I'm cruising down to the Perimeter area for much needed spouse conversation time before my trip.
I've made arrangements for neighbors and friends to bring meals for most of the evenings that I'll be gone. Our dear friends the Driggers are our emergency contacts for daycare PLUS have pledged to pick up Jake and Quinn every day around their normal time to help maintain a sense of normalcy AND give me peace of mind that they won't while away in daycare for 10 hours each day.
And of course I need some quiet time with the Lord before my trip. Reading through Larry and Patty's experience in Haiti last month really has been a wonderful way to prepare my heart for this trip. I highly encourage you to read through this godly couple's faith walk to and through tent city with the link to their blog:
http://boliviatohaiti2010.blogspot.com/2010/09/2010-team-to-haiti.html
Last weekend I told Jake about my trip and he seemed pretty non-plussed. "That's okay, Mommy. I'll hang out with Daddy." Yet todayI kept them home in the morning for some extra time together and Jake demonstrated extra whineyness and petulance. This is coupled with my lack of patience with his attitude which prompts me to take deep breaths and acknowledge that both of us are experiencing anxiety about my departure. Plus, Jake is a boy of routine and staying home in the morning has thrown him off. So I took them in at 10ish and will concentrate on PACKING, organizing, doing laundry, making a meal and getting ready for my departure. Daddy and I decided to have a lunch date so I'm cruising down to the Perimeter area for much needed spouse conversation time before my trip.
I've made arrangements for neighbors and friends to bring meals for most of the evenings that I'll be gone. Our dear friends the Driggers are our emergency contacts for daycare PLUS have pledged to pick up Jake and Quinn every day around their normal time to help maintain a sense of normalcy AND give me peace of mind that they won't while away in daycare for 10 hours each day.
And of course I need some quiet time with the Lord before my trip. Reading through Larry and Patty's experience in Haiti last month really has been a wonderful way to prepare my heart for this trip. I highly encourage you to read through this godly couple's faith walk to and through tent city with the link to their blog:
http://boliviatohaiti2010.blogspot.com/2010/09/2010-team-to-haiti.html
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Turning my thoughts south
It's been pretty quiet on this blog but there are a couple of things to celebrate about my upcoming trip to Brazil.
1. God raised all the necessary funds for me to go AND MORE!
2. I've been able to make all team meetings due to my wonderful husband's hands on care of our children
3. My trip has initiated good dialogue!
4. A GlobalX team just returned from serving at Capela de Gracia and helped revitalize marriages in the church.
In a rare moment to myself--Quinn's napping and Jake and Daddy just left for a birthday party, my mind starts catalogging the list of what I need to do before I leave for Brazil:
-call dr. for prescription for Cipro and Ambien
-pack
-update my will
-call my credit card company and alert them of my trip
-make copies of my itinerary and send it to family and friends (once I get it!)
-get a haircut
-stock my Kindle library! : )
-invest in a door wedge
-register my trip with the Department of State
-tell Jake & Quinn about my trip
-organize meals to ease Jess' burden as a 'single' parent
Less than three weeks until my departure! If you think of something I've left off this list, please let me know!
1. God raised all the necessary funds for me to go AND MORE!
2. I've been able to make all team meetings due to my wonderful husband's hands on care of our children
3. My trip has initiated good dialogue!
4. A GlobalX team just returned from serving at Capela de Gracia and helped revitalize marriages in the church.
In a rare moment to myself--Quinn's napping and Jake and Daddy just left for a birthday party, my mind starts catalogging the list of what I need to do before I leave for Brazil:
-call dr. for prescription for Cipro and Ambien
-pack
-update my will
-call my credit card company and alert them of my trip
-make copies of my itinerary and send it to family and friends (once I get it!)
-get a haircut
-stock my Kindle library! : )
-invest in a door wedge
-register my trip with the Department of State
-tell Jake & Quinn about my trip
-organize meals to ease Jess' burden as a 'single' parent
Less than three weeks until my departure! If you think of something I've left off this list, please let me know!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Spring's seduction
Phlox thriving in the back yard.
Front yard foliage.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Encouragement
Our God is so amazing! Twelve hours after posting my anxiety about leaving the children for a week I've had two offers from friends to spring the children early from daycare that week for playdates and three offers to cover my family with dinners while I'm gone. Wow. None of these friends had read my blog post, either! They were just unsolicited offers to help out while I'm away. This gives me a great deal of peace.
Interested in partnering with me financially?
There are two ways to partner with me financially on this trip. You can write a check made payable to North Point Community Church and send it to me at home. OR you can give online. Here are the instructions:
Go to http://www.goglobalx.org/
Click on "give."
Fill in your contact information.
Under globalX Trip information:
Select: -X Trip (admin use)
Select: -X Trip (admin use) Brazil Groups Retreat June 3-12.
Type: Rebecca Johnson
Provide VISA or MasterCard information.
Click "Review Donation Information."
A confirmation email will be sent for tax purposes!
It was pretty easy for me to use for our giving!
If you do feel prompted to give, THANK YOU!
Go to http://www.goglobalx.org/
Click on "give."
Fill in your contact information.
Under globalX Trip information:
Select: -X Trip (admin use)
Select: -X Trip (admin use) Brazil Groups Retreat June 3-12.
Type: Rebecca Johnson
Provide VISA or MasterCard information.
Click "Review Donation Information."
A confirmation email will be sent for tax purposes!
It was pretty easy for me to use for our giving!
If you do feel prompted to give, THANK YOU!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Anxious
Greetings, Friends!
With my first and second mission trip experiences (to Bolivia) my biggest concern was raising the support, this time I'm confident that God's got that covered. I know that He's already prompted folks to have open hearts to this kingdom building experience and raised up financial partners. I just have to be obedient and share my letter and request. THIS time what rears up in anxiety is around leaving my family for a week.
$2,7000 to fund this expedition? No problem. God's got that covered.
Airplane trip? No, I can't explain why airplanes work, I just trust that they do.
Traveling abroad? Bring it on! I'm so excited about seeing a new place.
Not being able to understand Portuguese? Ah, we share a common love language...Jesus!
Foreign foods? Cool. I'm already salivating over the anticipation of mornings sipping Brazilian coffee!
Speaking in front of a crowd? I do that ever day. Plus see #4; certainly the translator will cover my inadequacies.
Leaving my family for a week? Quinn won't even be one yet. She'll barely be weaned. What if I cause them some psychological damage from being gone for so long?! A week isn't long to me but in child time it's HUGE. How's Jess going to manage two without me? Who is going to feed them? What if someone gets sick? Yeah, Lord. I'm gonna need some help on this one. And so I keep offering up this fear/anxiety. In my head I know that God's in control. He's more invested in my family's welfare and well being than I am. He knows their needs. Since I know that I am being obedient to HIS will, I need to TRUST that He'll meet the needs of my family while I'm away, just like He does while I'm here!
With my first and second mission trip experiences (to Bolivia) my biggest concern was raising the support, this time I'm confident that God's got that covered. I know that He's already prompted folks to have open hearts to this kingdom building experience and raised up financial partners. I just have to be obedient and share my letter and request. THIS time what rears up in anxiety is around leaving my family for a week.
$2,7000 to fund this expedition? No problem. God's got that covered.
Airplane trip? No, I can't explain why airplanes work, I just trust that they do.
Traveling abroad? Bring it on! I'm so excited about seeing a new place.
Not being able to understand Portuguese? Ah, we share a common love language...Jesus!
Foreign foods? Cool. I'm already salivating over the anticipation of mornings sipping Brazilian coffee!
Speaking in front of a crowd? I do that ever day. Plus see #4; certainly the translator will cover my inadequacies.
Leaving my family for a week? Quinn won't even be one yet. She'll barely be weaned. What if I cause them some psychological damage from being gone for so long?! A week isn't long to me but in child time it's HUGE. How's Jess going to manage two without me? Who is going to feed them? What if someone gets sick? Yeah, Lord. I'm gonna need some help on this one. And so I keep offering up this fear/anxiety. In my head I know that God's in control. He's more invested in my family's welfare and well being than I am. He knows their needs. Since I know that I am being obedient to HIS will, I need to TRUST that He'll meet the needs of my family while I'm away, just like He does while I'm here!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Brazil
In the fall the Spirit prompted me to apply for a GlobalX mission trip. At the time I didn't feel strongly called to a particular destination, just to obedience of an application. I perused the many destinations and picked two trips that fit into my summer schedule...Haiti & Venezuela. Two weeks ago I received a phone call from Heather, a woman who works in GlobalX. She said that they were building a small team by invite only to go to Brazil and minister to their small group leaders, would I be interested in becoming a part of their team?! Immediately the Spirit confirmed that this is where God wanted me to go.
We had our first meeting on Thursday. It was run like a first time small group, building unity through testimonies, though we got a couple of details on the overview of the trip. We'll fly into Sao Paulo on a red eye June 3. We'll be able to attend KidStuf-Brazilian style Sunday morning and then worship at their evening service. Our main mission starts mid-week...ministering to their small groups with a multi-evening retreat. Since community group life has been such huge part of my faith walk, I'm SO excited to share how small groups can make an impact on life.
Several years ago Jess and I went on a mission trip to Bolivia. That experience transformed us in ways that still show today! I wonder what God has in store for me in Brazil...
Keep tracking with me! I hope to post several times prior to our departure, during our mission and after we return! Thanks for checking in!
We had our first meeting on Thursday. It was run like a first time small group, building unity through testimonies, though we got a couple of details on the overview of the trip. We'll fly into Sao Paulo on a red eye June 3. We'll be able to attend KidStuf-Brazilian style Sunday morning and then worship at their evening service. Our main mission starts mid-week...ministering to their small groups with a multi-evening retreat. Since community group life has been such huge part of my faith walk, I'm SO excited to share how small groups can make an impact on life.
Several years ago Jess and I went on a mission trip to Bolivia. That experience transformed us in ways that still show today! I wonder what God has in store for me in Brazil...
Keep tracking with me! I hope to post several times prior to our departure, during our mission and after we return! Thanks for checking in!
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