We Are Accepted!!

So, there’s been some pretty big news since the last time I updated any one. As you know, we are in the process of applying to an organization in hopes of moving over seas. It’s been a long and tedious adventure, but we finally recieved word from them, and we have been accepted. 

 Sometimes it’s hard to know how much to say on a public blog. But  I will say that this has been such a challenge for me, this whole process. It has tested me in how much I trust God.  You can have all the head knowledge about how God is faithful, that He answers your prayers and that He wants the best for you. But until your faced with having to trust him completely, to rely solely on him, and trust that your desires are His, you can’t comprehend how difficult it actually is to live it out. As we sent in our application, and then had to wait for month’s to hear word, doubt started to creap in. Maybe they don’t think we’re ready, maybe it wasn’t really God calling us to apply, is this really the best thing for our family. All these questions were in my mind. But, no, that was not it at all. Instead, God was teaching me a real life lesson in trusting God completely. That when you press into to God and Try to put Him first ( I emphasize try, because that is a continual process for me) that His desires become my desires. And in everything that He calls us to, the ultimate result will be bringing glory to God and making His name known in its truest sense.

 I am by no means a theologian, in fact I probably should have had Jeremiah write this post instead of myself, but these are the thoughts and feelings going on in my heart all mixed up with the things that I know are true about God and His goodness.

 So, yes, we are accepted, we are excited for what the future holds for us, and where that might lead our family, and we will continue to trust that he is good, that he is leading and directing every step that we take, and that the ultimate end will be bringing glory to his name. 

Dinner Time

As I sat at dinner tonight, I began contemplating something. I know that many of you parents have struggled with dinner time. I’ve always been a stickler when it comes to meals. I have never wanted to be a short order cook for my kids, and so for the most part, the kids are expected to eat what Jeremiah and I eat for dinner. And if they don’t, they don’t get anything else to eat and usually go to bed early.

 But as I was remembering all the things I’ve made my kids choke down. The soup Olivia gags down, or the enchilada’s Eden pushes around on her plate until they’re cold and hard, yet still has to eat them, I began to wonder.

 Does it really make a difference. I mean really, all those things your parents made you eat as a kid…..did you all of a sudden start liking them after the tenth or twentieth time your mom made you eat it? Or is it just a part of becoming an adult? I hated stroganoffe as a kid, and meat loaf too, but now I love them. On the other hand, Peas, and brussel sprouts were on my hate list, and still to this day I can’t eat them.

 I don’t know what point I’m trying to prove hear. In fact, I’m coming to realize that there really isn’t any point at all. Just a question I’ve been mulling over in my head. Does it really make a difference if the kids eat scalloped potatoes tonight? Will they grow up and one day thank me for making them eat it? Or will they eventually just like what they like regardless of what I did or didn’t make them eat as kids. HHmmmm……..

A Trip to the Fire Station

 Eden’s pre-school got to go on a field trip to the fire station. We walked about six blocks in the rain to the station. Silas got to go as well , which turned out to be one of his favorite days ever. We saw a lot of the cool tools the firemen used. We learned that the fire truck carries enough water int he truck to fill a small swimming pool. (that’s crazy, I didn’t realize that!) Then, they needed a volunteer, and picked Silas to come up and try on the fireman gear. He started with the boots and pants, suspender’s and all, then the jacket, and lastly the hat. He looked like he was about to tip over, but he had a great time anyways. Then they got to see the inside of the fore truck. We walked back to school in the rain and will never forget those four important words….STOP , DROP, AND ROLL

Olivia and Hip Hop

                         

 

So those are two words I never thought would go together in the same sentence. Olivia will try her hardest at everything she does though. Recently her and some of her friends from school joined an after school class. They were learning “hip hop” dancing. The girls had so much fun, and a while back they got to perform there dance routine in front of an audience. I didn’t post the video of the actual performance because it was a little long, but I did put up another little video of Olivia doing her thing at home. It was limbo night at the Johnson home, and she was feelin it. She may seem all sweet and proper in public, but in the comfort of her own home, she’s nutty.

 

 

 

SIGHHHHH!!!! It’s Done.

Well, it’s done. Silas has had his surgeries.

Let me start from the beginning of the day. It started with me finding Jeremiah lying on the bathroom floor. Jeremiah is extremely sick. He hasn’t gotten out of bed more than twice today. He has had a fever off and on, along with a terrible cough, and can barely stand. There was no way he was going to be able to go into the hospital with Silas, or work for that matter. So I sent Jeremiah back to bed and drove the girls to school.

Jeremiahs mom came over to take care of Owen and Jeremiah, and me and Silas headed up to OHSU to check in for surgery at 11am. Silas was having a great time having his own little TV that he could put right in front of his face and change the channels if he wanted to. He was surrounded by all of his action figures, and totally clueless to the fact that he was going to go into surgery. All he wanted was a sticker that he could add to the collection on the car window next to his seat.

I talked with the ear doctor, the urologist, a nurse, an anesthesiologist, another urologist, and then another anesthesiologist. Finally they were ready to go. They gave Silas this oral drug that relaxes people, and is also a sort of amnesiac. It helps kids to not freak out when they have to be wheeled into the OR and away from there parents.     

well, about two hours later, the surgeons came out to report on the surgeries. The testicle had been successfully lowered to its proper spot, and there was also a hernia that they had to repair. They also had to pull back some scar tissue on his penis that had formed after his circumcision. His ear surgery was also done and went really well. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief, and call home for an update.

About twenty minutes later, I was brought back to the recovery room as Silas was waking up from his anesthesia. He was really restless and crying and moaning. He was mumbling and very disoriented. It was at that point that I first started to feel a little overwhelmed. Luckily I was able to just pick him up and carry him back to our little recovery area. He fell back to sleep on me for about a half an hour. The next time he woke up he was a lot better, and was happy to drink a cup of juice and  a grape popsicle.  All he had to do was go to the bathroom , and then we were able to check out and head home. By this time it was about 4:30.

Silas is dong pretty well tonight. He’s already noticing all the new sounds. The ones that get his attention the most are the fire engines. “did you hear that mom? A fire truck. Let’s go find it”. I’m so excited to see the changes in his hearing and speech as he gets more and more used to hearing sounds clearly.

Please keep praying for a good couple more days, and lift up Jeremiah too. He is really sick to say the least.Thank you all for your prayers and support.

A Quick Update

Man, it feels like I never have any real updates on our missions application. But, yesterday we received an e-mail from TEAM.

A little history on our application. We had sent in our completed application last November. Usually they get your app. and put it all together, and then send it out to 3 separate assessors who then look at our file as a whole and determine if we’re good candidates for overseas work. It usually takes only a few weeks to process it all, but there had been some crisis on the field along with a shortage of assessors. We have been trying to patiently wait for word and it has been a little difficult for me, especially.

 Well, we got news yesterday that they got 3 assessors, and our application has been sent out to them. That means that by March 20th we will know if we have been accepted to TEAM. Oh, I am so excited to know, either way. It can be a very humbling experience, telling someone just about everything in your life, past and present, and then waiting for them to decide your “fate” so to speak. 

  We will let you know when we find out. If we are accepted,  Jeremiah and I will be flying out to Chicago for a placement interview. That will help us know if the area we’re interested in is a good fit for us, our family, our personalities, our beliefs and the way we share them, and so on. I don’t know yet what we will do next if we are not accepted. That’s a little bit of a scary thought, but I guess we’ll figure it out if we need to when it happens. 

 Thanks for all your prayers, and please continue to pray for us as we wait. Also, remember Silas. He will be going into surgery on the 17th and with any surgery, it can be a little scary.

How is Silas, you ask?

 

Well, just to keep everyone clued in on the latest health stuff, I think I’ll write a little update.

Silas, as most of you have already read, is getting surgery on March 17Th because of his undescended testicle. I had also noticed that his speech was a little behind, and he sometimes didn’t hear me. In Dec., I took him in to the hearing and speech institute for a hearing screening. He failed the hearing test, and they wanted him to come in six weeks later for a full diagnostic hearing test. He had that last week, and failed again, but the nerves connected to his ear drums worked just fine. Because of that, they were sure this wasn’t a permanent problem, but something that should be able to be fixed.

 Yesterday I had an appointment with a pediatric ear nose and throat doctor. She could easily see that he had fluid in his ear, and suggested tubes in his ear.For some reason, tubes have always sounded so scary to me. I imagined not being able to let him swim or take bath’s for fear that water might get in his ears and do something bad to the tubes. I’ve come to realize after yesterday’s appointment that it is a very basic procedure that won’t alter his life in any significant way, well, except for the fact that he should be able to hear after the tube’s are in.

 The doctor said they may even be able to coordinate the two surgeries together which might be better for him, not having to be put under anesthesia twice.  It’s a big relief to have everything diagnosed and heading in the right direction for Silas. I look forward to all of this being over and him being able to hear like hes probably never heard before. Thank you, everyone, for your prayer’s and concern about Silas, and just continue to pray for him in this next month.

A Great Weekend

                                        

Last Saturday we had a great time as a family. It was the first Saturday in a longtime that Jeremiah didn’t have a meeting or go into work. We headed up to the gorge to the trail (I can’t remember the name of it, but it was right across from the fish hatchery) that Jeremiah and I went to on our first date. We also had our first kiss there on the bridge. Now eight and a half year’s later, we returned to the trail for the first time, only this time with four kids in tow. It was a bit surreal, how our lives had changed since the last time we were on this trail.

 The trail is only a mile in and a mile out. Jeremiah carried Owen on his back, while I carried the back pack with lunch, a blanket, and some flashlight’s. The other kids hiked in and out the whole way. All the waterfalls were really swollen this time of year, which made for a beautiful view. At the end of the trail was the large waterfall and an old abandoned bear cave that me, Olivia, Eden, and Silas climbed in and explored.

 After the hike we stopped in at the Bonneville fish hatchery to check out the trout and see Herman the ten foot sturgeon. Oh yes, it was a good time, and Silas especially didn’t want to leave the fish. It was a really fantastic day, and we took some good pictures and made some great memories. Just thought I’d let you in on a great weekend with the fam. 

The Johnson Update

  Well, it feels like it’s time for an update.I haven’t done one for a while, so there’s a lot to tell. I apologize ahead of time for the following book I’m about to write.

  For those of you wondering about Silas, He’s turning out to be our special needs child. I just took him in for a consultation at the Urologists office. It looks like he will need surgery on his boy part’s. Surgery is set for March 17Th. He has no idea of what’s going on, so that’s good. He also has a hearing problem. He failed his first hearing test, so he’s going back in tomorrow for a diagnostic screening. His nerve’s in his ear’s seem to be fine, but they think he may have fluid somewhere in his inner ear, or Eustachian tubes. Hopefully it can be fixed easily. Please keep us and Silas in your prayers these next few month’s, we are doing all of this without health coverage (he’s been denied a couple times)

  On another note, we are still waiting on the result’s from our application to our organization. We sent it all in at the end of October and are waiting for the approval. They said that we should know one way or another  in the beginning of Feb if we are accepted or not to this particular organization. It’s been a pretty rigorous application, to say the least. Jeremiah and I have each done an hour and a half phone interview, we’ve both had to fill out this Biblical beliefs questionnaire (which is basically our doctorate of theology) which was way easier for Jeremiah than I. I discovered a lot about what I believe or don’t through that questionnaire. We also had to give them about 15 references each, and get a reference for Olivia as well. We had to get full physical exams and blood work on us and all the kids. Then Jeremiah and I had to do this 500 plus question phych evaluation (mmpi). That was a trip, we’d go from a question like “I enjoy fixing doorknob’s” agree, or disagree, to “I think people are trying to kill me” or “I hear voices in my head”, agree or disagree. We had a few laughs after that test. We also had a family history questionnaires and sexual history questionnaires. I think they now know more about us than our own families. They put it all together and then send it out to three different assessment agencies that are not connected with TEAM. They look at our file as a whole, and determine if we are good candidates for missions work. I think after all the information they’ve gathered on us, if we’re not accepted, it must be for a good reason, and if we are , it must be for a good reason too. Either way, we are anxiously awaiting the results.

 Next month I’m going to start volunteering twice a month at Eden’s school. A lot of families that go there do not speak English, so they offer ESL courses. That is something I’m very interested in and am planning on getting certified as an ESL instructor. But until then, the family services director has asked me to come into the classes and help .

 Jeremiah has been blessed with pretty steady work, and we’re so thankful for that. Olivia has started her first after school program. She has a girl scout class/meeting once a week after school. Fun, fun, fun. Eden is counting the days (although I don’t even know the date) until her next field trip. She get’s to go to the Children’s Museum. Yeah, I don’t envy her teacher. The boy’s are doing good too, not much to update on though.

 So, that’s us in a really big nutshell.

Mmmm….. meatloaf man

So, as I’m writing this post, I’m thinking about my kids. They bring life to everything I do, and a huge smile too. As I was tediously getting ready to cook dinner tonight I decided to make my old standby, meatloaf. Olivia, always wanting to help in the kitchen, is asking what we’re having and what she can do to help. “OK Olivia”, I say ” why don’t you break up the bread into little pieces and throw it in with the meat” As she’s carefully doing her job, she’s turns to me and says, “Hey mom, one time, on that show with the Simpson’s on it, Bart’s mom made meatloaf in the shape of gingerbread man cookies, and when she handed Bart the plate he said ‘mmmm……meatloaf man’, can we do that?” In my head I was thinking, no Olivia, we’re just making dinner and we’re not going to do anything fun or interesting, because that’s only for special occasions, or holiday’s or things like that. But instead, contrary to my unfun self, I said sure, let’s try it! And sure enough, meatloaf man turned out just fine. We kept checking on him as he cooked to make sure he didn’t move or change his shape, but he cooperated wonderfully. The girls ate the legs, the boy’s the arms, and so on. As we were sitting and eating at the table, Olivia asked me a question. “Mom, what’s the best gift you’ve ever gotten?” Hmm, I was about to say that it was my kid’s and family. With a smile she said, “God”. Eden pipes up quickly, “I know the next best gift!” Oh, she’s got to say family, or maybe a unicorn or something! “You know what it is mom? It’s Jesus.” Sigh……My kids remember better than I that more than anything here on earth, we’ve already received the greatest gift possible in Christ. It was a great day. Thank you meatloaf man and Marg Simpson.