Blessing My Husband...Activity 2 and 3!

Activity 2 and 3 in our 25 Days of Blessing Your Husband were so wonderful and rewarding! Nothing like spending time with the love of your life while enjoying the season of Christmas!

Activity 2: Ice Skating in Sunriver!

Chris and I drove out to Sunriver for our second activity...ICE SKATING! We had passes for free ice skating out at our nearby resort, which was very handy to have during this season where money seems more and more tight. And let me tell you, we had a BLAST! We did multiple laps around the ice skating rink, and my handsome hubby even paused for a moment to let me take a pic!

After some time in the rink, which may I add we managed to leave injury-free, we spent some time looking at the cute local shops and even scored a few Christmas presents! We then found our way to the resort where we looked at the plethora of gingerbread houses that had been made by business, schools, and individuals in the community. Here were my favorites:

Being a HUGE Beaver's fan, this Gingerbread Field had me all sorts of pumped up! 

What child doesn't know this movie?! Not to mention, the tree with the Christmas tree actually had a light shine through the hole...awesome? I think yes!

And MOST important, the true meaning of Christmas! So happy to see that someone made a Gingerbread Nativity to remind us what this season is really for!

Activity 3: Lights!

Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of this activity, but wish I had! We grabbed some drinks from Dutch Bros and headed out to enjoy the lights throughout the neighborhoods! We had a lot of fun seeing all the creative ways the community had decorated their houses! We did, however, have to cut the activity a little short as we had a very important date due to the midnight showing of The Hobbit. 

We had a great time spending time with each other, likewise it was enjoyable having a chance to bless my husband! Being able do things like these together provided another way for us to celebrate the season in which God gave us the best gift anyone ever could, His Son.

"For unto us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder;

and his name shall be called 

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 

Isaiah 9:6

Welcome to our life Jonah!

On Friday, the lives of people all around the world were affected and hurt by the Connecticut shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The shooting caused many emotions, thoughts, and choices. One of the things it caused many of us to do is come to appreciate those in our lives.

Chris and I are very thankful for all of our family and friends. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our life. We already have a big family but we could not be happier to now have another addition to our own Johnson family. We are happy to announce the addition of our sponsorship of our beautiful boy Jerry. Now, we are happy to add Jonah to our family! Jonah lives in Zambia as well and is friends with Jerry! We are so happy to have our boys be together in Zambia while we love them from afar! 

Jonah came into our lives when my parents  started sponsoring a gorgeous girl, Doreen.

At this point in time, my parents discovered that Doreen had an older brother, Jonah. What amazing news! Now that we knew about Jonah, he was instantly part of our family. So my husband and I, along with my parents, have taken Jonah into our families!

We are so excited to have this beautiful addition in our family! We are also excited to be part of the amazing organization that makes this possible, Every Orphan's Hope. Anyone looking to sponsor a child should definitely look into Every Orphan's Hope! Our lives, and family, has been so blessed by this organization, we are so thankful to them!

Welcome to our family Jonah! We look forward to getting to know you better and watching/helping you grow in the Lord!

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:

to visit orphans and widows in their affliction..."

James 1:27

Activity #1...SUCCESS!

In my last post, I posted about 25 Days of Blessing Your Husband. This consists of 25 envelopes, 17 of which are filled with thanks/gratitude/appreciation, 4 are filled with services and 4 are filled with activities for the hubby and I to do. We FINALLY got to do our first activity on Day 4, and what a blast it was!

Chris' envelope on Day 4 read: Prepare to become messy, but the end result will be tasty". Any ideas what we did for our activity?

A night of baking! We baked all sorts of Christmas goodies and even learned how to bake one that neither of us had baked before! I had Chris tell me last month what his favorite Christmas time goodies were. His answer, snicker doodles and peanut brittle. So, naturally, those two were on our "To Make" list. As well as we also added sugar cookies and peppermint bark!

The recipes I found from:
snicker doodles
Peanut Brittle
Sugar Cookies and Peppermint Bark I found from the free eBook offered on goodmorninggirls.org. The eBook is called: Advent Study: Keeping Our Hearts Focused on Jesus. *On a side note, anyone looking for an Advent study to do during these holiday times, I have really enjoyed this one so far!*

We first, went and saw our brand new baby Niece  Paige (CONGRATS Jessica and Jeremy!) and also visited with the now older sister (our other 3 year old niece), Emmy. After this fun early afternoon, we were lucky enough to see our only other niece Maddy (wow does God bless us!) and took her for a fun time at the grocery store! We had fun buying all of the ingredients for our Christmastime goodies! Then headed home to start cooking!

Maddy assisted Chris and I with our first goody... snicker doodles! We turned on the Christmas music in the kitchen and sipped on our peppermint hot chocolate from Dutch Bros. *On another side note, those who have not had the peppermint hot chocolate from Dutch Bros, it is a must during this holiday season.* We soon had a system of me rolling the dough balls, Maddy placing them in sugar, and Chris placing them on the pan. Only one ball of sugar managed to find its way to the floor but otherwise our cooking experience with children went well! Here's the end result:

Sadly, Maddy left after this, but that did not stop the cooking fun! Next up, peanut brittle! Now, Chris and I had never cooked peanut brittle before, not to mention we had no idea how long it takes. As a result, we now have learned a new skill of becoming peanut brittle masters, as well as we also now know if we cook it, it takes about two hours. Yet, it was two hours of tons of fun! We got to see our peanut brittle go from this:

To this:

(Chris was very happy with the outcome, if you cannot tell from his thumb)!

While waiting on our peanut brittle to cook, we made the peppermint bark as well. This is one of my all time favorite Christmas time treats as well as it is so simple! Nothing says easier to make than peppermint bark!

Unfortunately, the sugar cookie dough had to wait, since the dough had to refrigerate 2 hours. We have yet to get to it, but believe that it is on our list!!!

Of course, no baking experience would be complete without the cinnamon challenge. Chris and capitalized on the Buy 2 Get 1 Free on spices at Safeway. We ended up with two big jars of ground cinnamon so Chris put it to good use. 

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope everyone is having a great month and keeping Jesus in mind has His birthday approaches!

25 Days of Blessing Your Husband

For almost a month now I have been so STOKED to show Chris my latest Christmas project. Finally, I was able to show him on Friday. Now, I received the idea from Pinterest (yes...I am a pinner and Pinterest is a weakness of mine...no...a hobby of mine is more like it!). The idea, however, had been pinned from another website.

I must stop real quick and clarify some lingo. For those unfamiliar with Pinterest, "pinned" means an idea/article/picture was copy and pasted onto a virtual "board". This provides a one-stop shop for great ideas on almost any category!

Now, this awesome idea actually came from a website called The Dating Divas. This website has a lot of fun ideas to do for/with your spouse, but the one that first caught my attention was "The Spouse Christmas". Now, BEFORE you click the link above, I must warn you that if you look at what The Dating Divas designed and then what I did, mine looks like a let a 5 year old do it (That's about the extent of my artistic ability). So, if you look at the website before seeing how my Spouse Christmas turned out, just keep in mind that it is the thought that counts! :)

So, how to do the 25 Days of Christmas is quite easy, a bunch of fun, and makes your husband feel great! You do not need to invest a lot of money in the project either! Here is what I used:

Christmas colored envelopes - I got mine at Target but any colored envelope works great.
Computer and printer - This was to print off my activities, services, and gratitude notes, but you can always hand write yours.
Christmas Ribbon
Clothespins
Christmas colored construction paper - Not necessary.

Next, I typed up 4 Christmas activities to surprise my husband with, 4 services to surprise him with, and 17 things I am grateful, thankful, and/or appreciative for. These account for 25 days worth of items. For ideas on what to write for your 25 days, I suggest checking The Dating Divas website. I would give you suggestions myself, but that would give away some of my surprises for Chris, so you will have to wait until December 25th!

After I typed all of these up, I pasted them onto slips of Christmas colored construction paper and then slipped them into envelopes. All of the envelopes were numbered by day number. I then sealed the envelopes!

Then, on Friday, November 30th, I clothes pinned all of the envelopes on ribbon that I hung on the wall.

I did this before Chris came home that way he could walk in and be surprised...and because I could not wait another day not telling him! I left him a note on the bed that said "Read Me First". In there were instructions as to what the envelopes were about/for as well as a clear rule not to open the envelopes but instead save them for each day in December. If this had not been specified, I would have walked in to all 25 envelopes open...I know my husband.

 And now, the 25 Days of Blessings begin! I hope you enjoy this as much as we have/are! It truly is an amazing way to bless and honor your husband!

A Day in Zambia!

In my first blog post ever I talk about Jerry. Jerry is our sponsored child who lives in Zambia! Chris and I hope to someday be able to go an visit Jerry, we are in the process of saving up to do so, in the meantime, I had asked what a normal day in Jerry's life looked like. Today, we heard back!!! Here is a day in the life of our precious 9 year old:

"Wakes up at 5 in the morning to do his family devotion with his family for 30 minutes. from 5.30 to 10 a.m he helps his mama clean around, bathes and has his breakfast, does his personal devotion and does his home work not forgetting playing with his house neighbors Samuel and Kauya from house 4. He prepares to go to school at 11 a.m till 12 when he has his lunch and goes to school. He comes back at 4 p.m. Goes for the village (all the MFH houses) prayers at 5 p.m for 30 minutes. He has his supper at 6 p.m and has family devotion at 7 p.m. Gets to bed at 8 p.m"

Wow! Even though Chris and I cannot be there with Jerry, it sure is amazing to read what he is up to!

Do You Know Him?

When I first began my journey as a Christian, I started my religion as a rule-follower. Viewing Christianity was more like viewing a rule book. There were the Do's and the Don'ts of Christianity. I knew the line and I knew what was crossing it. After awhile, this became exhausting. I was ALWAYS messing up. I spent more time asking for forgiveness and beating myself up over my mess-ups than actually enjoying my religion and finding God's will for myself. When you spend your time feeling like all you do is mess up, you become exhausted and defeated. Is this what following God is? Are we suppose to feel discouraged daily?

It took me a few years to realize that being a Christian is not so much about tip-toeing and making sure you do not cross a line as much as it is suppose to be about having a relationship with our Father. Truth is, us as a human race cannot follow rules. As Romans 3:23 tells us, we are all sinners. And God knows this. God understands this fact about us that He ended up sending His ONLY son to die for us so that He could cover our sins. "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit" 1 Peter 3:18 (NKJV). Jesus died so that we could be closer to God. As long as we are covered in sin, we could not have a relationship with God. Isaiah 59:2 explains this when it says "But your iniquities have separated you from your God;" (NKJV). Sin gets in the way of us having a relationship with God. Before Jesus, as he hung on the cross, even cries out to God, saying " 'Eli Eli, lama sabachthani?' that is, ' My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'" (Matt. 27:46, NKJV). God could not even have a relationship with Jesus, His only son. At this point, as Jesus was carrying the sins of the world (John 1:29), Jesus died so that we could have a relationship with our Father, His Father.

Webster defines relationship as "the relation connecting or binding participants in a relationship". For a further definition on relation, Webster defines it as "an aspect or quality (as resemblance) that connects two or more things or parts as being or belonging or working together or as being of the same kind". We are told in the Bible that we are created in the "likeness of God" Genisis 5:1, NKJV. God created us in His image (Gen. 1:27), I don't think we could get any closer to having a relation with God than being like Him. God did not have to create us in His image, He did not have to make us anything like Him. The fact that God wanted us to be in His image, and then sent His son to die for us, that sends us a clear message that God wants to know us. He wants a relationship with us. If this was not so, we would not be called "Children of God" (Rom. 8:16). What child doesn't want a relationship with their father? And what Father does not want a relationship with their child? 

If God did not want a relationship with us, He would not ask us to pray (Matt. 6:6-8), call upon Him (Psalms 145:18), ask for forgiveness (Matt. 6:12) and give thanks to Him (1 Cor. 16:8). God would not ask these things of us, He would not ask us to communicate with Him, if He did not want a relationship with us. God wants us to reach out to Him, to need Him, and to talk to Him. How can we not have a relationship yet do all of these things? How can we do these things and not think that He wants a relationship with us?

Once I discovered that Jesus dying for my sins not only gave me a second chance at life (Ephesians 4:22-24), but also a chance to be able to have a relationship with the one true God, my whole faith changed.

When you obey your parents because you have to, you follow the rules because it's an obligation. Yet, if you have a relationship with your parents, you are more willing to obey or to try to please them because there is a connection there. There is a bond that means more than just boundaries of how you should and should not act. You want to please. That is how it is when you have a relationship with God. Once I realized that God wanted a relationship with me, it became less about what I could and could not do, and more about me wanting to please Him.

God wants to know us. The question is are you ready to know Him?

I Am A Sinner

My biggest concern when I realized that I wanted to use my blog to spread the love of God, was that people would be more annoyed than feel excitement and wonder for our Lord. This was a concern because I did not want people to think, "here's another hypocrite", or that I am uptight, too preachy, judgmental, etc. I understand that this can be the outlook on some Christians these days. In order for my goal and purpose to be achieved through blogging, and for you as readers to enjoy my blog as much as I enjoy writing it, I feel like I need to take a step back and say, yes, I am a sinner. I have fallen and sinned. In fact, that's a daily event for me. I do not think that I am better than anyone else. I sure do not have room to speak when it comes to avoiding sin. Sin is not just a past tense verb for me, but a present and future. So, when I write, know that if anything, it is either experience talking or a hope that someday I will master a few skills and be a little bit better at avoiding sin. Truth is, I will sin. I will mess up. Paul tells us in Romans that we can expect to sin, "For I know that in me (that is my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now, if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me" Romans 7:18-20, NKJV. Not only do I know that I am a sinner, even when I do not want to, but God does too. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:2,3 NKJV (emphasis added). The word all applies to me.  It is for that purpose that God sent Jesus. "He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public--to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured" Romans 3:24-25, MSG. 

So know, that I write not because I think I am better or more knowledgeable  it is because I am just like every other human being here. 

The only person who was ever able to live the life we do and approach his death without sin, was Jesus. "...because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth" 1 Peter 2:21-22, ESV. Just because He is Jesus, does not mean he had an easier life than us and succeeded in not sinning, for we are told "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet  without sin" Hebrews 4:15. Not only from Hebrews are we reassured that Jesus was tested just like we ARE, but he sympathizes with us. Jesus knows what we are going through. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes Sympathy as "the act or capacity of entering into or sharing the feelings or interests of another". Jesus, shares our feelings when we are tempted. When sin is after us, Jesus knows what we are going through because he has been in our shoes. Jesus, however, is the only person that can defeat sin, if we could, we would not need Jesus. If we could, why would we strive to worship and follow God? Merriam-Webster dictionary describes a god as being "the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe". If we could achieve what God and Jesus did, we would all be gods. But we are not. We are not capable of Jesus. That is why we are to strive to follow Jesus' example, and when we fall short, we are to repent to a sympathizing Lord who forgives us (Acts 3:19).

My point is not to point fingers and condemn. My point is to say everything I write, applies to ME as well. I am guilty. I have a constant line of prayer open with my sympathizing Lord, asking his forgiveness for when I fall short. I just ask that my fellow brothers, sisters, and those throughout the world join me in finding the comfort Jesus has to give us when we sin (Psalms 147:5). My life journey is not one that I set apart from others. It is not one that I think is holier or better. It is one that is to be joined with yours, for I am not better, I am human. I am a sinner. I am a child of God (John 1:12).

Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil

Chris and I are about two days or so into our week long fasting. Our fasting, however, is not of food (I would need a lot of prayers to make it through that one), soda (impossible) and it is not for any other reason than we wanted to. We wanted to strengthen ourselves and our relationship with God. So, what is our fast? We have set out to only listen to the two christian radio stations that are played here. When we are not in the car, or want a change of pace from the radio, we only listen to the Christian and/or Generation Unleashed Pandora stations. Chris had been doing this for a few days before he talked to me about it. When he told me about what he had been doing, I was more than excited to take on the challenge myself! I had noticed that listening to the secular music, especially lately, made me feel grumpy, cranky, and irritable once I was done, which was not a favorite mix for Chris! :) Thinking that a constant surrounding from songs that sing about God and Jesus as well as forgiveness and grace would make my life more happy, I took on the challenge without hesitation!

Since the challenge, I have noticed a huge difference in my attitude! It used to be, that my day could be good, I would listen to music, and then be a little more negative. Now, I listen to the music and I am happier and have an even deeper connection to God. It is not surprising, however, that these would be the results. The Bible is very clear on the benefits of feeding our mind with only positive thoughts!

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things" Philippians 4:8, NKJV.

The book of Philippians is talking about more than just what type of music we listen to, but music is a start. God calls us to fill our head and surround ourselves with things that are good in this world. By surrounding ourselves with good images and words, it makes us happier and enables us to better serve God. We are told in Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, joy, peace, long suffering  kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..." (NKJV). Maybe it's just me, but songs about womanizing, drinking, fighting, and cheating do not seem to promote any of these fruits in me. We are suppose to be made up of these fruits, to Walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), and by surrounding ourselves with negative images, I do not see how that makes our burden easier for us. In fact, most of the songs in the secular world today are about the very things that keep us from God. The songs of today's culture are more about what the Bible calls as "of the flesh". What these items would look are "...sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such thinks will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal. 5:19-21, ESV). I think we can all easily find quite a few items listed in Galatians 5:19-21 that are a subject, if not a title, of some of the secular songs in today's world.

Now, I am not saying that we need to cut out ALL secular music and if we don't, we are not going to Heaven. Not at all! I won't lie, I am OBSESSED with Harry Potter (sorcery). I think these books are amazing. From the story line to the style of writing. I read these books as often as I can! It is safe to say I have read them all at least two to three times. So, where do I personally draw the line? I draw it when I feel personally, emotionally, physically, and mentally changed. While I say I would love if Hogwarts was real (don't judge, you know you wish it too!!!), I do not believe magic is real. I believe in miracles by our Sovereign Savior. I believe He has all the power and I am not looking to go work on practicing the expelliarmus charm. So then why do I choose music? Music emotionally and mentally impacts me. Secular music makes me angry and negative more times than not which therefore inhibits me not only acting out God's will, but it also affects how others view me. Instead of being viewed as a loving Christian, sometimes it can come across as the girl with negative energy. My goal as a Christian woman is to represent God in all I do. Music can inhibit me that way. But not everyone has the same response to music as I do. Music is my influence. What is yours? In what unexpected form does Satan find a way to get in our path?

On a slightly separate note, one of the Christian stations Chris and I have been listening to are having a pledge drive to earn money to stay funded. These stations are COMPLETELY listener supported! If anyone feels like or is interested in helping to support this amazing station, Air1, check out their website to find out how you can!

The Blessed Life

In thinking about what I should blog about in my first entry...EVER...I decided I could write about my intention of this blog. Then, something AWESOME happened to my husband and I this week that I just had to share!

But first, lets start from the beginning...

I have always had a heart for foreign countries and adopting. I only recently have had an idea as to what my calling is, but I have always known that orphans, especially those in third world countries, had my heart. James 1:27 has a dear place in my life: "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Farther is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble..." (NKJV). We are called as Christians to look after our widows and orphans. As to why we are called to do this, I believe it is because it is people in these situations that need the most help. They need the most love. They need the most hope. Being in dire situations such as the loss of a spouse and/or parents can put people through such a dark and sad place. Situations like this can set the tone for the rest of someone's life, what better tone to set for someone then the tone of Jesus' love, which is reflected when we care for them.

In addition, we are also orphans ourselves, as we are told in John 14:18 "I will not leave you orphaned. I'm coming back" (MSG). From this verse we can determine that as long as we are not standing next to Jesus, we are orphans, we are without our Father. God is the Creator of all things (Col. 1:16), including us. God is our Creator and our Father. As Isaiah 64:8 says:
"But now, O Lord,
You are our Father.
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand" (NKJV).

We all need parents. We all need our Father. Someone to give us advice. Give us unconditional love. Give us a home. We ourselves are orphans, so we are called to care for the orphans of the world. We can relate and give these orphans hope. So, as well as caring for people who need it when they are hurting the most, another reason we are called to care for orphans is because we are orphans as well. We can relate.

My husband and I this week decided to sponsor a child through Every Orphans Hope. The children on this website are all from Zambia, living in AIDS-infected communities. While they offer other amazing programs, such as Chicks 4 Orphans and mission trips, we were beyond excited to enroll ourselves in the sponsorship program. Doing this was fulfilling a lifelong goal and dream of mine. The very next day, we got to see a picture of the amazing 9 year old boy we are sponsoring, Jerry. We are very excited to be an influence in Jerry's life, as we know he will be in ours. Not only are we excited for the privilege of being part of Jerry's life, but it is also so fulfilling and exciting to be doing God's work. To be doing as we are called to do is such an amazing feeling. I am so proud to be part of Jerry's story, and that we both get to be orphans together, striving to be with our Father some day in heaven.