Disturb Us!

Prayer of Francis Drake, 1577

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

Looking Forward ~ updated

*updated below!

I just know 2011 is going to be an amazing year! How do I know this?

Because I serve an amazing God! He is able and willing to do far more than I can imagine.

But I know that 2011 will be nothing more than turning the pages of a new calendar unless I am willing to let Him change me. Even new habits may be meaningless absent a new heart.

So daily I seek Him. I invite Him to use me, wherever, however would glorify Him. We are blessed to be surrounded by folks being molded by Him - what an inspiration. May we never tire of change!

Looking back can often strengthen us in times of struggle, remind us of God's faithfulness, shed light on His purposes...but it is never where we should dwell. Today in church Kambry started a deep conversation involving the word "experience." Yes, she's 4, and yes, it wasn't the best time for her to whisper her wisdom to me, but the Lord spoke even in those moments.

He reminded me that even though my testimony is peppered with experience (through trials, hardships, fear and loss), the experience is NOT my testimony. My testimony is in my relationship with Christ; not my experience.

One of Webster's definitions of experience is ~ a particular instance of personally encountering or undergoing something.

Those 'particular instances' are the moments and circumstances that cumulatively make up my lifetime, but I can't place my hope in any of them. Nor can I rest in them, thinking God will use the 'same old, same old,' to bring new light. What happened yesterday is old news.

I don't want to experience Christ once; I want to relate to Him every single day.

But how often do we do that? We accept Him as Lord and Savior, then settle into an eternal security that renders us useless here and now.

I'm not on some self-righteous high horse; I'm holding myself accountable.

Lord, help me to never become settled into a comfortable existence. Let me never count on my experience, but rather glorify You by loving others with the very life you give me every single day.

In looking forward, I'm excited to read through the Bible again, this time in three months.

I'm also stepping up my effort in prayer. These are some of the most meaningful moments of my day, spending time communicating with my Father.

Along with that, I'm starting a new prayer journal, and I want to include YOU!

How can I pray for you?

If you're comfortable doing so, please leave a comment with your request, and I will consider it a privilege to pray for and with you.

Looking forward to all He has for us in 2011!

*UPDATE~

Should've turned that picture before I posted it - rats! Thank you for allowing me to pray for you! If you've left a comment or emailed me, you're in the 'book.' I consider it my privilege to daily lift your requests to the One who hears our prayers, and even knows our petitions before we speak them.

This is my opportunity to pray for you, but some have asked to pray for us (thank you!). Here's a short list :)

1.Our "Both Hands" Project through LifeSong

2.That the following grant apps would be prayerfully considered~

A Brother's Love

LifeSong Matching Grant

God's Grace Adoption Ministry

Show Hope

3.That God would be glorified in our fundraisers~

Squeaky Shoes

Wild Olive Tees

Hairbows

Kandles

Scentsy by Becky Bilby

Our New Adoption Decals (coming soon)

Every creative fundraiser He places on our hearts

4.That Kasidi's foster family is encouraging her physical development, despite her medical need; and most importantly, instilling a desire to receive and give love in a family setting

5. A business decision

6. An unspoken decision weighing heavy on our hearts

Sorry you asked? :)

I'm on day 2 of reading the Bible through in 90 days, and I LOVE it! I have to get up even earlier to do it, but I get so much more out of reading so much in one sitting.

I'm still taking those requests, so please allow me to pray for YOU! May you cling to God's renewed mercies today!

We Did 2010...

AND LIVED TO TELL ABOUT IT!

I can surely work up a re-cap post soon...

Our quiet New Year's Eve...

Q. How many men does it take to drain the Frogmore Stew?
A. We don't care! It brings 'em all to the table!

Come to think of it, it wasn't really that quiet :)
Already thinkin' about the good things to come in 2011 ~ like Kasidi Joy!
May God bless you in 2011!!!

Scenes of Christmas

What a beautiful Christmas season we've had!

Kambry was in her first school program.

We got the decorating done with a little teamwork.

We had our annual Hanging of the Green service. Here's the youth group we (and the Muellers) are blessed to lead!

"Silent Night"

Captive audience :)
The construction Krew
Rolling out a little love
The design team

Christmas morning

Do we have to do this soooo early?!?
Now I lay me down to sleep...on a spankin' new pillow.
Top of every girl's list ~ a crock pot????

Or maybe it's a 'mac-aputer with thacebook'!
Like he needs a weapon!
The princess
Another cute noisemaker in the house!

Everybody needs a brick!

Yes, we love the scarf!

Cousins!

Creativity!

One good-looking Krew...just missing Kasidi Joy.

Thank you, Jesus, for being the Reason for the season!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours - Merry CHRISTmas! May you be blessed!
This is the last Christmas Kasidi Joy will spend without her family.
PS - for the first time in 25 years I did not get cards out this year so please don't think we forgot you!

Way To Go, Kenz!!!

Thank ya'll for voting for my girl!

About 4:30 today she was declared the winner of the Kerrie Roberts Cover Song Contest!

To Him be the glory!

This mama is proud of you, Kenzie. Nobody would even know you were sick!

(for some reason you have to let the video load every time :(

Kenzie Entered in Contest!

Please check out the Kerrie Roberts Cover Song Contest here, watch Kenzie's video and 'like' it. The contest ends tomorrow. My girl got all her talent from me ... cuz I got none left -lol!

Goodbye, Last Week; Hello, This Week!

You ever had one of those weeks you couldn't wait to kiss goodbye?!? Oh, I'm very thankful for last week, and I won't take tomorrow for granted, but we just need a new day around these parts.

We had some awesome days, some busy days and some downright hard days. We made a decision that was one of the most difficult of our lives. It wasn't the way we would've chosen, but we believe it is the Lord's answer to us at this time. Still, our hearts are broken.

Don't worry ~ all nine of our Treasures are fine, and so are we. We know for certain that God has taken the ashes of our pain and turned it to beauty for His glory. He is sovereign!

Wherever you are, whatever you're faced with, I pray you can seek the Lord and let Him fill you with peace beyond understanding and restore your hope. May this Christmas be ALL about Christ!

But I trust in your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord,

for he has been good to me.

Psa 13:5-6

Thursday is the last day!

Thank you to everyone who's ordered Wild Olive tees for our fundraiser. Are they amazing or what?!? But all good things must come to an end, and Thursday, December 17 (tomorrow!) is the last day to help bring Kasidi Joy home AND get a great tee.

Please use our family code when checking out: JOHNSON1119

Go here!

Stylin', not snobbin'

Yes, today was my 40-sumthin birthday! Thank ya'll for your sweet wishes! For two days there's been a l.o.u.d. rumor around here that a certain gift might be hidden under a bunk bed and I was not to peek!

Lo' and behold, after an early supper my teens appeared with gifts and cards of pinkish color!

Attached to Kooper's card was this huge button ~ #1 MOM!

He insisted I wear it to the school music program tonight, and so I did...

...not because I believe it, but because my family makes me feel it!

(I intended to get a picture with all my Treasures...but this week's schedule is a killer and most of them were already in bed!!! But alas, there will likely be another photo opp because Kooper is not going to let me take this button off ;-)

12-13-10!!!!

Dossier To China!!!

Open Hands

Know what I love about this picture?

It's the way we want to live our lives. Oh, we don't always succeed. But God's mercies are renewed each morning!
It also represents something else. It's a picture of the way people treat our family. People like you!

The picture represents an attitude of giving, a heart of generosity, a spirit of being filled and pouring out.

We are constantly amazed at God's provision! Yes, we're committed to work hard to raise the adoption funds we need to bring Kasidi Joy home, but we know that without the Lord, our efforts are futile!

Occasionally in the process we get little surprises, reminders that God is working behind the scenes all the time!

Last week a beautiful woman from our church, recently widowed, made her check out for her poinsettia...for $80 extra!

Last week a friend sent a check in the mail. She needed 3 specific Wild Olive tees that weren't part of the adoption fundraiser...so she gave us what we would've made if they had been!

Last night my brother made out his poinsettia check...for $5 more!

This morning our church treasurer handed us an anonymous gift...of $400!

This morning a friend wrote out a check for squeaky shoes...for $70 extra!

These kinds of surprises have been happening throughout this process. We never expect them, but we see Jesus in every one of them!

Thank YOU for loving this Krew!!!

Only 7 More Days!

You can still get in on our Wild Olive tee fundraiser to help bring Kasidi Joy home, but there's only 7 days left! These tees rock! Please use our family code when checking out: JOHNSON1119

Go here!

James 1:27 ~ Living Word!

We received some astounding news yesterday! We've applied for four grants, and one program we are really excited about is the "Both Hands" Project through Lifesong For Orphans.

What's so exciting about Both Hands ~ One for the Orphan; One for the Widow is it brings James 1:27 to life! An adoptive family gets the opportunity to select a widow within the community, put together a team of volunteers to commit to send support letters to raise funds for the adoption and coordinate a makeover project for the widow's home!

We are approved for the Both Hands project! Now we are looking for a project supervisor, selecting a widow and putting our team together! It's going to be a long project, and we'll keep you posted. God is so good!

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

We Can All Make a Difference!

Some very special friends asked us to share our adoption testimony on video. Since I can't sing, I can't dance, and I can't talk about adoption without bawling like a baby, this is the best I could do.

You've seen the pix and heard the music, but I've added text.

We Can All Make a Difference - 2nd Version from connie johnson on Vimeo.

30 Days of Giveaways from Ni Hao Y'all

Only ten days left in Stefanie's "30 Days of Giveaways"!

She's been giving aways some awesome things! Go check it out!

FREE SHIPPING!

Seriously, we are less than three weeks from Christmas! Sooooooo, I'm offering a sweet shipping deal. If you order $50 of any of our fundraising items, I will ship them for FREE! Totally zero shipping cost to you!

Whether it's the sweet scent of our K & Kompany Kandles you want...

...duct tape wallets made by our Teen Treasures...

...our large selection of "JOY"ful Squeaky Shoes...

...our adorable hairbows...

...or any combination, just purchase $50 worth, and I will ship for free!

As an added bonus, Wild Olive is offering free shipping from now till December 17 as well, so if you buy tees for our WOT fundraiser, you will also get them shipped free! Please enter our family code: JOHNSON1119 when you check out.

K & KOMPANY KANDLES: Joy ~ Buttercream Crunch

Peace ~ Cinnamon Bun

Kindness ~ Sage & Citrus

Faithfulness ~ Pumpkin Pie Spice

HAIRBOWS: See this post

WALLETS: See this post

SQUEAKY SHOES: See this post

Please leave a comment or email me with your order, and I'll get your items shipped immediately!

It's all about bringing this Treasure home!

Friday in Review

Not too exciting, but a different kinda day.

The dad, the mom and two helpers made the trek to pick up the poinsettias. Thank ya'll for ordering them!

Since we had no basketball tonight (we'll make up for it tomorrow!) we had friends over, which called for manicures...
...a teen to marinate the ribs...
...a daddy to grill the ribs...
...a chance to learn a 'new-fangled' game - kick the can!
Rally the troops - it's chow time!
Let us praise God for this day!
Mama's little man has a bad cold and was confined to the couch :(
Now that I think about it, there is one bit of exciting news ~ our dossier went to the consulate today, and soon it will go to China!!!

Happy Birthday, Baby JOY!

These were in our inbox this morning! Oh Joy!

Kasidi celebrated her 1st birthday twice! Once with her foster family and again at the orphanage with the cake we ordered.

I would love to show you the smiles on the faces of her FF, but I feel a need to protect their privacy so I reluctantly cropped these pictures. Our Joy is being loved!

That's the way to do cake!
And again at the orphanage, surrounded by her friends.
What, you want me to take a bite...
...when I'd rather stick my face in it?!?
Know what I notice? All the adorable little ones surrounding my daughter. There must be something we can do!