WINNER!

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running
over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be
measured to you.

Luke 6:38

It's time, folks! We have drawn for this...

But hold up! Before we announce the winner, we want to say THANK YOU to every single one of you who prayed, shared and gave to our first fundraiser to bring Kimmie home!

You have blessed us beyond our imagination!

This is what the Lord brought:

Chip-in: $1,759

Mail-in: $625

Camera: -$649

Total raised: $1,735!!!

We praise the Lord for providing this much toward our home study fees!!!!

And without further ado, the WINNER is...

Congratulations, Sonia!!!! And THANK YOU!

Tomorrow is da day!!!!

I am SO excited that we get to draw for the camera winner tomorrow!
Thank you again to everyone who has contributed and shared.
There's still time to get a shot at the Nikon D5100...

In 3 days!

We will draw for the Nikon D5100 on Monday, July 30th!!!!
I'm so excited to see who we will ship it to!
Will it be YOU?

We are about halfway to what we need. God is so very good, and He has blessed us through YOU! Thank you so much!

Each $25 contribution gets you 1 shot at the Nikon
Each $50 contribution gets you 3 shots
Each FB or blog post gets you an additional 1 shot
Sharing our button gets you an additional 1 shot







Luke 6:38 ~
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Rise Up, Dry Bones

11 Then he said to me: “Son of
man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up
and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say
to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My
people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring
you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know
that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I
will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own
land. Then you will know that I the Lord have
spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.” Ezekiel 37:11-14

There have been ‘dry bones’ moments in my
life. You know the ones: where the heart
is dry and hope is gone.

There are times I’ve spent too much time in the valley of bones. I’ve set up camp there. I’ve looked around me and felt right at home among the dry bones.

But what can dry bones do for the Lord? Nothing!

He alone can breathe life into them. He alone can restore hope. He alone can cleanse and refresh a dry heart.

So when I ask him to breathe life into my
dry bones, I’d better be prepared for change.
I will no longer dwell in the valley of bones. I will walk among the living.

When did I stop believing that God’s grace
is sufficient? That nothing is
impossible for Him? That He owns the
cattle on a thousand hills?

Because surely I lost sight of these truths
to have allowed myself to dwell in the valley.
Were my circumstances so bad? Had
I become complacent, camping out with the spiritually dead? How long had it been since I’d opened His
Word?

I never want to dwell in the valley of
bones again. I want to run this race with
the life-giving breath of the Lord. I
don’t want to save anything for myself, but expend it daily with Him, knowing full well that He will supply all I need.

My circumstances may change, but He never
does. His promises never fail, and He is
always good. I want to dwell in His Word
and on my knees.

Thank You, Father, for breathing life into
these dry bones. Help me to live
according to your Spirit within me. Show
me how to glorify You with everything I do and say. Let me not be influenced by my circumstances,
but driven by a heart desperately seeking You.
Amen

Corn 101

I've learned so much in the past four years since we started growing sweet corn.
My wealth of knowledge is so large, I thought I should share it with you - HA!

So in honor of our last two weeks of Sweet Corn 2012 I will share some little-known facts with you.

For instance, did you know you can have a deeeeee-lish-us snack in 2 minutes?

Take a beautiful ear of corn, still in the husk...

gently peel back the husk and add a smidge of butter (hey, smidge is a relative term). Mr. Greenthumb's corn is so sweet I don't use butter or salt, but many people prefer it so for the majority...

lay the husk back in place...

put into the microwave for 2 minutes...

the husk slides right off and you've got a snack! Be careful though, it's VERY HOT!

Do try this at home! It's awesome!

You're welcome :)

In Six Days...

...we draw for this bad boy!

It's a Nikon D5100. For two years I've been dreaming of owning a nice camera. But I'd rather send one to you!

$25 gets you 1 shot at the Nikon.

$50 gets you 3 shots.

A blog or FB post gets you an additional shot.

Sharing our button gets you an additional shot.

Thank you to everyone who has already generously given!!!!

Six more days...till our first home study meeting and we draw for the Nikon!

Seriously - WOW!

My sweet friend Elisabeth is holding a fundraiser on her blog, Orphaned No More, for us, and it's seriously WOW!

She's got some adorable kids' clothes and other gift items at LOW low prices. She will be adding items to the fundraiser regularly!

The proceeds are to help us bring Kimmie home.

Please check it out HERE!

Thank you, Elisabeth!!!

A Tee for a K

Say what???

We have chosen a name! *subject to change of course*

But our newest Treasure's name is:

Kimmie Beth Johnson!!!

Beth is short for Elizabeth which means God's promise. Love that!

And now for the "tee" part of this post :)

When my friend Lori was here we both just happened to be wearing the same Wild Olive Tee, which just happens to be one of the adoption fundraiser tees!

Sooooo, you too can look as innocent as this~

as suspicious as this~

as surprised as this~

and as fun as this~

Just go to the Wild Olive Tees Adoption Fundraiser tab, select from one of the 33 tees available, and please use our family code JOHNSON704 when you check out.

Thank you from the bottom of our tee-ny hearts!

Because we have PA!

We are overjoyed to introduce you to our beautiful daughter!

Here's her referral picture. It's pretty old...but oh, so adorable!

Here's her birthday picture...

She turns 2 next month and is currently residing in central China. We haven't yet come up with the perfect name for our precious Treasure...other than Johnson!

"We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes."

~David Platt~

Just to Kill Time

I'm trying to stay busy while waiting on Pre-Approval.
That's not really hard to do around these parts - stay busy, that is.
I'm dying to tell you about our girl, about how the Lord revealed her to us, and the way He moved our hearts. Oh, and pictures. I can't wait to share her pictures!
We are certain He has amazing things in store.
We don't want to move ahead of Him, but rather let Him orchestrate every step.
It's so hard to ask for help *gulp*.
But as He continues to refine us, we are so humbled that He would allow us to parent another precious child.
He knows we don't have the funds.
We knew we would need to work hard from LetterOfIntent to ConsulateAppointment.
And that's why we've currently got 3 fundraisers going on.
We are so grateful to those who have shared, contributed and prayed.
It became very real today when we received the invoice for our home study.
Under China's newest regulations, families must use a Hague-accredited home study agency, which means we are starting from square one.
Our first visit is July 30th, and our fees must be paid prior to that.
The invoice for the home study and post-placement reports is $4100!
Consequently, our Nikon D5100 fundraiser ends July 30th! That's less than two weeks away!
I can't even fathom what He is going to do in that time frame!

More About the Tees!

Our Wild Olive Tees fundraiser is still going on!
Each tee puts us $10 closer to our Treasure.
There are 33 tees to choose from, and here are just a few of my favs~

Some of the cute kids' tees~

Ya'll know how much I love these tees and the gals who own the business.

Thank you so much for 'gettin' your verse on' for our girl!

Family code: JOHNSON704

Detour to Nineveh

The story of Jonah’s reluctance to obey God and go to Nineveh to “cry out against it” reminds me of my own reluctance to fully trust and obey Him.

Jonah tried to run as far as he could in the opposite direction.

Though I may not physically board a ship, I often respond in disobedience for reasons which may seem legitimate.

“God, that is impossible.”

“Lord, You know how people already think I’m crazy.”

“I’m not sure I heard you clearly so let me talk this over with someone.”

“But, Lord, I’m X old.”

“I promise to be faithful…later.”

“I have nothing to offer.”

“That’s not my calling.”

“But that would require so much of me.”

While wise counsel is good, nothing trumps the Word of the Lord. And the things He calls us to are impossible…for us. Otherwise, we wouldn’t need Him and the glory would only be ours. And considering the sacrifice He made for us, can we really offer too much? Though it is the way of the world, are we more concerned about pleasing the Lord or man?

I praise the Lord that He is a God of second chances…and endless mercy.

Just as Jonah came to realize how wrong he was to run from God, so can we. Hopefully we aren’t in the belly of a big fish when we see the light. Our moment of realization may come in missed opportunities, more trouble, falling prey to the lies of the enemy or sinking into sin.

Where is your Nineveh? And what is causing you to detour?

Faith and Hope

My friend Stacy creates beautiful jewelry to help fundraising families bring their Treasures home through Jubilee's Jewels. When Stacy asked me to give her a few words that describe our journey, I didn't hesitate. This journey to our newest Treasure is defined by hope and faith.

Hope for a little girl who is orphaned no more.

Faith that the Lord will provide all we need to bring her home.

And here is her beautifully unique creation~

What an awesome gift, even for yourself :)

Here's the skinny:

Stacy takes care of all the designing and ordering here

Each necklace is $30, and our family receives $15 of that to be paid to our agency, Lifeline Children's Services, toward our adoption fees.

Stacy, we are so grateful for your beautiful heart!

Nikon D5100 to bring her home!

Look at this beauty! It's a Nikon D5100 16.2MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm lens.
It's our first big-ticket fundraiser/giveaway.

Here are the details:

You may use the chip-in on the sidebar or email me

Each $25 contribution = 1 shot

Each $50 contribution = 3 shots

Each blog post share = 1 additional shot

Each FB share = 1 additional shot

Display our button = 1 additional shot

Please leave a comment or email me to let me know what you did.

Fundraiser ends July 30th and the drawing will be held that day!

These funds are designated to our first agency fee and home study.

May the Lord bless you!

Wild Olive Tee Fundraiser!

Those amazing gals at Wild Olive Tees are allowing us to do a WOT Adoption Fundraiser! It's a win/win, I'm tellin' ya! Because you get to select from many gorgeous tees AND help bring our gorgeous Treasure home!
Select from the Adoption Fundraiser Tees, and when checking out, please use our family code of:
JOHNSON704

to Him be the glory!

Yes, We Are...

We are...

in love with Jesus.

crazy.

imperfect parents.

sinners saved by grace.

completely dependent upon the Father.

disappointed in ourselves daily.

adopting again.

Yes, we are.

We've pondered this little announcement.

Honestly, if we could do this privately, we would probably opt for that.

But maybe the journey has much to do with the destination.

Because we know we are not equipped.

We know we are not capable.

We know we are not strong enough.

But we know the One who is all the above and so much more!

We realize we need to look to Him for assurance now more than ever.

And we trust Him for direction every step of the way.

As my friend Sonia so beautifully says, 'kids are dying.'

And yet we go on with our comfy life.

Can we 'save' them all?

Nope.

Can we make a difference for one?

Yep.

Probably the biggest difference is made in our own hearts.

We are being refined.

We are NOT, I repeat NOT 'working our way to heaven.'

That deal is done. Sealed. When Jesus died on the cross and we (in our much-adult years) surrendered our lives to Him.

This is what we know:

There are over 147 million orphans

We are one family

There is this one little girl

We are her family

Someday maybe she will follow hard after the Lord

For now, we are committed to work wholeheartedly to bring her home

And we can't make this journey a private one because we are fundraising our way to her

Oh, the 'f' word

But the sooner we start fundraising, the sooner she comes home

We can't wait to share her with you

We cherish your prayers

In 50 years this won't make any difference to the nay-sayers, but it will surely have made a difference for us and for one little girl.

Friends

I love getting together with friends!

I have so many precious friends that live much too far away, like my dear friend Lori.

We got together yesterday, and she blogged about it. It's a must-read. Really, it is :)

Truth

I love it when God's Word speaks so clearly that you know you're on the right path...even when it's scary.

My new favorite song!

Show Me Your Muscle!

I found these pictures on my camera.
I don't know who took them.
I don't know the scoop.
I do know in this place if you leave anything lying around, it will be picked up and used, thrown away or lost.
My guess is that the photographer who is likely 16 and Chinese, but shall remain nameless said to his subjects, "Show me your muscle."

Duuuude, that's your underarm!

What did you want us to do again? (through gritted teeth)

To infinity and beyond!

That's just my guess.

No one fesses up.

But in the end, cuteness is clearly captured :)