Where Did the Year Go?!?

Linnea is officially ONE!! Whew...I can't believe it. This is age old news to most of you, as her birthday was the 18th of August. It was a whirlwind of a time, but not a bad kind of whirlwind :).

We first had my birthday, followed by Linnea's birthday, followed by the arrival of my dear friend, Desiree, followed by Linnea's party, followed by the party of another baby girl, followed by orientation for Aaron at seminary. This all took place in one week! Whew! It was all wonderful, but yes, a whirlwind :)
Linnea....my sweet Linnea....where has the time gone? I still remember holding you in my arms for the first time, and looking into those big alert eyes with tears in my eyes. I remember the many times you fell asleep in my arms, and the many times I couldn't figure out how to get you to fall asleep.

I remember when you smiled for the first time. Oh, and when you laughed......wow, was that an amazing thing! I remember when you started babbling, and you have never stopped since. :) I remember when your first tooth popped through, and now you have SIX of them!

I remember everything...everything that babies do for the first time, things that melt mommy and daddy's heart the most and things that make us so excited! We are still waiting for you to say your first word and take your first step and to get excited about food and maybe put a couple pounds on :).

We pray for your salvation every night, we pray for wisdom from the Lord in how to raise you, we pray that we would be reminded all the time that you are the Lord's first and foremost, and that we would trust in all that He has for your life. We pray that you would grow into a godly young woman who doesn't get swayed by the things of this world, but holds fast to the Lord.

Children truly ARE a blessing from the Lord. All the joy she brings us is inexpressible, and we don't take that gift for granted...the gift of smile and laughter that comes from just being her mommy and daddy. And she is also a blessing because of the hard times. She reminds me of how helpless, unwise, and selfish I am; she points me to Christ, on whom I should DAILY depend...for ALL things. And for that....the times she is difficult....I am thankful!
~Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.~ (Psalms 127:3-5)

More to come at another time...pictures and all.... :)

Count Others MORE Significant Than Yourselves

Do you ever read the Bible and subconsciously put in your own "except" or "unless"that don't belong there? You know, so you will feel better about yourself, won't be as convicted, and walk away feeling like a pretty good person?

For instance, when I read "Do ALL things without grumbling or complaining" (Phil. 2:14), I like to add "except when you have every right to grumble and complain because you are unfairly treated, or because the weather is so uncomfortably hot."

or how about"Be anxious for NOTHING " ( Phil. 4:6a)....maybe I could add "unless your job or day is so stressful that you just can't help it."

Oooo, and then there is "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your Father and Mother" (Eph. 6:1-2).... I know when I was little, I liked to add "but only when they are reasonable and fair to you." (And I even have the best parents out there!)

And here is the biggy for me....one that I have only recently realized I probably add my own words to more often than I would like to admit. "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." (Phil. 2:3-4)

It has become quite evident to me that I do NOT regard ALL others as more important than myself. Plain and simple. When I get angry because I feel hurt by others, or mistreated by a cashier, or taken for granted by my family, I don't regard those people as more important than myself. You know who is most important to me in those situations...ME! And when I am afraid to reach out to people at church that I don't know, and fail to seek for ways to serve others, and don't take the time to express my love to others, I am regarding myself as more important than others. And when I don't sacrifice my own wants for the desires and needs of others, and get upset with Linnea for making my day difficult, and don't stop to listen to what my husband has to say because I am in the middle of something, I am only thinking of myself. Me, myself, I........yuck yuck yuck!!

I have been praying the Lord would humble me lately, because this prideful, selfish woman has needed it, and let me tell you, He is doing a beautiful job of answering my prayer (I know He will continue to answer this prayer until the day I die, because I will ALWAYS need humbling). Being brought low is painful, but it is so beautiful to see the Lord work in my life. The Lord has thrown me a few situations lately that have shown me how helpless I am, how loveless I can be towards others, and how much I need Christ to work in me in order to truly esteem others as more important than myself. There are NO qualifying words in these verses....because Christ did not qualify who he was going to love...there was no good thing I could have done to earn His forgiveness and love, and there was no bad thing I could have done to disqualify me from it. He freely gave me salvation, and I didn't deserve an ounce of it!

Christ hung on the cross dying....and what did He say?...."Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing." (Lk. 23:34) He asked His Father to forgive the ones who were killing Him. Christ is our example to follow, for Christ, who is GOD, humbled himself to the the point of death on the cross, that we might have LIFE through HIM. He died for me! A sinner who spat in His face before He brought me to Himself.

So when HE asks me to regard others as more important than myself, I am to do so wholeheartedly with such great joy! All I have to do is look at the beautiful picture of how Christ loves me, in spite of my lack of love towards Him. His love towards me NEVER changes, no matter what I do! With my eyes fixed on the gospel and the RADICAL selfless love displayed there, I should be able to eagerly love ALL others and go out of my own way to serve and encourage ALL others in any way I can. It doesn't matter how I am treated in the grocery store, it doesn't matter if I get a "thank you", it doesn't matter if it takes time I "don't have", and it doesn't matter if makes me uncomfortable. What matters is that I be like Christ, taking my eyes off of myself that I might love and serve others....always.

"Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a mn, He humbled Himslef by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Babysitting? Jam Session? Piano Lesson?

Now what would babysitting be without a jam session with Uncle Aaron?........


........Just not the same........

Home Sweet Home...

We are home and our hearts are full from an absolutely wonderful time with my family! Aaron and I were seriously so blessed to see our family interact with one another in a loving, servant-minded, Christ-honoring way! Thank you family, for being shining examples of Christ to Aaron and I (and even little Linnea).

Just to catalog our trip, I'll share with you the events that unfolded. :) If you aren't into all the little details, then just look at the pictures :)

We first spent the night in Livermor, CA, visiting with Aaron's Aunt and Uncle (mine, too, now!) and had a wonderful time! It was so fun to see their old home and all the projects that have done/are doing to it. They live in a beautiful town and had a nice big TV where Aaron and I throughouly enjoyed watching the World Cup on, rather than our little computer with a blurry screen. ;)We then headed just a few more miles up to Walnut Creek and visited with some friends of ours. We had a wonderful time with them and got to play with their little 6 month old, Lilly. Linnea wasn't very patient with Lilly's inability to move, so poor Lilly was often left to fend for herself.This pic was taken after we got home from church on Sunday......too cute.

We then got to celebrate my friend's 21st birthday....we just happen to be swinging through her town on her b-day, which was a fun treat! :)

...And on up to Orroville (south of Chico) we went to see Aaron's grandparents!! It is always a pleasure to be with them. Grandpa John always keeps me laughing :) and Grandma Janet couldn't get any sweeter than she already is!....I don't think so anyways, but I suppose it is possible. :) We had fun playing Wii Fit for the first time...which was quite a hoot! We were all laughing pretty good! Unfortunately it might be a while before we are invited back...Grandpa wasn't too happy we beat him in bowling. :)Linnea feel asleep on our walk with Grandma and Grandpa...
We then stopped for the last time before our big trip at in-laws of my in-laws' sister! ;) I don't know if I explained that right, but the Clarks were so sweet and hospitable to let us stay in there home to make our drive a bit shorter for the last day. She made a yummy breakfast, and was a wonderful host!

And then FINALLY we made it to Oregon! I won't go into super detail, but the home we stayed in was super big, which was a super blessing from the Lord. We didn't at all feel like we were on top of each other, and having the beach be our back yard made it feel like paradise. Much more important than the home we were in was the many new memories I have with the most precious people in the world to me....We had sweet times of fellowship, sang songs around a campfire on the beach, had a couple family devotionals, played lots of games, went for walks/runs on the beach, went skimboarding in what felt like 40 degree weather with lots of wind (it was SO fun!), jumped over the waves and screamed at the freezing water with my nieces, enjoyed too much yummy food, lost water weight in the sauna :), went out to a seafood restauraunt, relaxed on the patio with a good book, shopped at the outlets, got too many ice cream frappucinos from a cute little coffee place in town (ok, well Aaron did :)), had a photographer do a family photo shoot on the beach, and just simply had a relaxed time!

Linnea enjoyed the beach this time (we didn't put any sticky lotion on her), which was so fun. Although she wouldn't last too long, as it was quite cold and windy on the beach. She LOVED her cousins, but was a little stinker with her Aunts and Uncles and Grandma and Papa. It took Aunt Kristin the whole week to get Linnea to smile at her! :)She adored her cousin Grace and my cousin Brooklyn. Grace was like my little mommy helper all week long, which was SUCH a blessing! I'm so sad that I didn't get a picture of Linnea with Brooklyn, though.
She pushed Linnea around in this for a good 20 minutes! Linnea LOVED it....just sat back and relaxed! Spoiled little girl....
She only let us sleep in once (7:20!), but we had fun with her in the morning while everyone else was snoozing :) She just gets cuter and cuter every day, too. She started giving Mommy and Daddy kisses, which we are just LOVING! :) Aaron and I had a wonderful time together just the two of us as well. We read the Bible together in the morning, which helped get our days off to a good start with our focuse being on the Savior! My husband was such a servant to me, always being willing to help with Linnea! Thank you, Babe! :)Every time I am with my family it is hard to say goodbye. The reason being they are such a true joy to be around. I honestly don't take for granted the fact that Aaron and I are so blessed to have such wonderful, God-loving families who are so close to one another and more importantly close to the Lord. I just have to take one look around and see that MANY families are not that way. I praise the Lord for saving each member of my family and growing us all into HIS image. They are all beautiful examples in different ways of our Savior. Thank you, family, for allowing the Lord to use you in mighty ways!

We only made one stop on our way back down, but Linnea did quite well considering...definitely some moments of screaming and crying, but overall we were very thankful. Our stop was with another Aunt and Uncle of Aaron's, and though the time was short, we had a great time. There home and the area they live in is Paradise! Literally! That's the name of the town :) And the name is justified....it is beautiful!! Their house overlooks a gorgeous green valley....woods everywhere! I miss woods! We played a couple rounds of Bananagrams, which is a very fun game, and had a delicious breakfast. Aunt Carol then took us for a walk along a canal in the woods near where they live.

I have to admit, I'm having to work at being thankful for where we live and not jealous of people who get to live in the woods or somewhere where there is green, rain, and seasons! The Lord says to give thanks in everything and to not grumble and complain. I am learning that when I really open my eyes, no matter where I am, I can see the beauty of the Lord and all the wonderful things I have to be thankful for. And trust me, the more I think, the more things I realize I am thankful for living here. The list would be too long to write at the moment. :)

So that about sums up our fun family adventures! :)

On the Road!!

Just wanted to update everyone....

The Johnson family is officially on vacation!! We have been on the road since Friday and have slowly been heading up to Lincoln City Washington for a big Parker Family Reunion!! (Just our immediate family for the most part, but big enough to be called a family reunion!)

We have had wonderful visits with Aaron's Aunt and Uncle, some friends in the Bay area, and we are currently with Aaron's Grandma and Grandpa! We will make it to Loincoln City tomorrow

I want to share a sweet message from the dearest woman I know in Santa Clarita....her prayer for me is truly my prayer on this vacation, and my prayer for the rest of the Parker clan......

"If I could encourage you now, plan now for how you will continue to spend time in the word even in a house full of family...ask God for ways to serve your husband...and seek to serve and love on and enjoy that little girl of yours...even as you help her get used to new surroundings. Praying for some sweet fellowship with your mom and sister...what a blessing they are for you."

May we all depend on the Lord and grow in our deep love for Him through precious time in His Word...and may we always be looking for ways to glorify the Lord in serving one another, encouraging one another, and spuring one another on to love and good deeds. And may our fellowship truly incoorporate all those things! And may we be so thankful for the sweet new momories the Lord gives as a family!

Bed Hair

Sometimes her beauty sleep isn't so beautifying....



But she is STILL the cutest thing I have ever seen! :)

Brace Yourself....This is a Long One :)

Whew...it sure has been a while! But that is because the Johnson household has been going nonstop since "summer" started (even though summer hasn't technically started yet! :))....I'm sure the rest of you would say the same thing. For some reason, I still have the kid mentality that summer is a break, because it used to be that I would have a break from school, so summer would "slow down". Well, ever since my school days have been over, summer doesn't give me a "break" from my daily responsibilitie. But it is a wonderful busy time!

We kicked off our "summer" by taking a trip to Arizona to visit our wonderful family. It was truly a delightful, relaxing, time with the Johnson clan, and Linnea Joy was truly a "joy" :) to be around (last visit she had a bit of a difficult time sleeping, and wasn't quite herself). She napped beautifully (which was SUCH a blessing from the Lord) and grew to love Grammy, Grampy, Uncle Zach and Aunt Grace!




I tell yah, it has only gotten harder to be away from family now that we have a little girl....There are so many days where I look at her and think about how much our families' are missing out on the joys of watching Linnea grow up. The Lord knows that this is exactely where we are supposed to be, and we LOVE it here, and I can truly say we are content and thankful, but sometimes I wish family could be closer. It is indeed a desire of my heart. But MORE than that, I desire to be right where the Lord wants us, and that is right here! (Now....let it be known that we do indeed praise the Lord for James and Kimiko, who live .25 miles away :)!

......sorry for that little detour...... but since so many of you DO live so far away, let me update you on what our little girl has been up to lately.

She has been keeping mommy busy....really busy, because she is now cralwing all over the place! She started crawling shortly after my last post, which is probably why that was my last one until now :).She crawled for the first time over memorial day weekend while we were at Grammy and Grampys', which was so fun for them to see her crawl for the first time. She follows me all over the house, which is just adorable.




She finally just started popping a third tooth yesterday, and it's about time!...She has had her bottom two middle teeth for three months now, and the past few weeks she has been teething on everything and quite cranky! The third one is in a funny spot...on the bottom far right (don't know what it's called :))

She loves playing peek-a-boo. She did it for the first time in the car on our way home from Arizona.

She also went in a pool for the first time while we were there, and quite enjoyed it. She almost fell asleep on Grammy. And we went in the pool at a friends house, and floated in her little swim canopy and didn't move for ages...she once again almost fell asleep...so it's safe to say that the water relaxes her :)

She likes to eat wood...if I'm not watching her, she will most likely be scraping her bottom teeth on the edge of the coffee table....and she eats her crib. Funny child.

She just started clapping the other day, which is just so fun, and she now says more, which is clapping...we'll have to work on that one. :) I'll have to post a video of her clapping once I have it loaded.

And if our daughter is not keeping us busy, than fellowshipping with other believers has! The last month has been a wonderful time of having people over, going to others' houses, birthday parties, visiting friends out of town, and having people visit us! Right now we have two young men from New Zealand staying with us before they head to Palm Springs for the Resolved Conference. They have been enamoured with all the big stores and how everything seems to be supersized! I think they are quite overwhelmed with all the choices in a store or restauraunt....not to mention all the different options of places to shop! Aaron made them french toast for the first time, and they quite enjoyed it (I think:)).

We also hosted a neighborhood bbq last Saturday. My husband came home one sunday convicted about needing to reach out to our neighbors and not waisting any time... So 6 days later we did this bbq. We handed out invites to about 70 units, and about 30 people came! God is SO good! We got to know many different people, so it opened the door for building relationships. We were able to talk about the Lord here and there, but we didn't actually get the chance (or should I say "take" the chance) to share the gospel with anyone right then. We are praying ferevently that the Lord would give us great boldness and give us many opportunities to do so....and this bbq was hopefully one small step in the right direction.

Other than that, and even most importantly, God has been teaching me so many wonderful things this past month....honestly, there is something I would like to blog about every day....I say "oh, I should blog about that later!"...and "later" only arrives in the form of needing to go to bed. God has been convicting me of sin, particularly in the area of my tounge...I have realized how selfish I can be with my speech...I often interrupt peoples sentences (I know, people like that probably dive you crazy!). Well, it drives my husband crazy and I even do it to my own friends. Every time I do it, it grieves me...I get so frustrated with myself....but I have repented of it many times and diligently seek the Lord in prayer to help me overcome my sin...my sin of esteeming myself (my own words) as more important than others (Phil. 2:3). He is slowly growing me in this area.

There have been other sins as well that the Lord has convicted me of, but I don't want to write a book here....but needless to say, it saddened me, to the point of frustration, to the point of wanting to die so I don't have to fight this battle with the flesh every day. Frankly I came to the point of tears quite a few times, pleading the Jesus to come get me NOW!! I just want Him to win this battle and not have to fight it anymore. Then I read these precious words....

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."

Oh, oh, oh how precious are those words. "I" do not fight this battle alone, and it is not by my strength....how ridiculous that I forget that so many times. The Lord is my strength. The Holy Spirit is within me, fighting my flesh. I need to RELY on the Lord! And He has not forgoten me. Even when I stumble badly, he will give me new strength as I wait for Him. So it's OK to wait and anticipate His return...in fact that is a great thing! But I am not to get angry in my waiting, but I am to sore with wings like eagles!

And praise the Lord for His grace, because as you can see from what I wrote, I can easily let my frustration with my "performance" get the best of me...and that is when I have lost sight of the cross and God's grace. It doesn't matter if I have had a "good" or "bad" day, the Lord loves me the same and looks upon me as righteous!!! Because He sees Christ when He sees me!! Praise His Holy name for this. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." ~2 Cor. 5:21~

I repent of my sin and lay it completely at the cross....and leave it there.
" For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." ~Phil. 1:6~