Studying Hebrew and Blanket Time

Well, I'm sitting here as I eat dinner while Aaron is at church, and watching Linnea do "Blanket Time," so I thought I would take the time to put up a little video. Aaron finds studying for his Hebrew class WAY more entertaining when Linnea joins him. Apparently, Linnea likes Hebrew, too...although I'm quite convinced it has EVERYTHING to do with the way Daddy is studying with her :).

What is "Banket Time" you may ask? Well....it is one of the two structured activities my child does on a regular basis. And this is not something I have come up with on my own, but an idea given to me by my dear friend, Erin. It is exactly what is says it is...time on a blanket. Linnea spends about 30-40 minutes playing on her special blanket, playing with whatever toys/books I have put on the blanket for her. I know, it sounds cruel, and at first Linnea thought so :), but after a few days of it, she loves it (and has loved it for quite a few months now). If I wasn't taking a class two days a week, this time would be more consistent, but she probably does it about 3-4 times a week.

Why, you may ask? Well...there are a few reasons:

1) It is an opportunity for Linnea to practice living under authority. This is NOT so that I can get self gratification in a child who obeys Me and listens to ME, but ultimately to teach my daughter that she "has been made by God and has a responsibility to obey God in ALL things." ~Tedd Tripp. So, I am merely trying to teach my daughter to live under authority from an early age.

2) It helps structure our day, and therefore brings more order to the home (which therefore serves my husband). Ginger Plowman, in her book Heaven at Home, says "A wise mom will build structure and routine into her child's day for the purpose of building his character and keeping peace in the home." Believe me, having 30-45 minutes of "Pack-n-play" time in the morning after breakfast is a huge help in bringing order to the home! I know Linnea is safe, not getting into trouble, and enjoying her toys in her pack-n-play. At the same time I am able to clean up after breakfast, begin exercising, start the laundry, pick up the house, etc. Without this head start, it is a bit harder (for me!) to start off the day in an orderly fashion. The same benefits apply to "Blanket Time" after lunch!

3)It gives Linnea an opportunity to focus. Quite frankly, my little daughter isn't all that interested in toys or books (thankfully she is just now starting to enjoy looking at books on her own initiative). She is getting more and more so these days, but I am often telling her "no, don't touch this", or "no, don't eat that", or "what have you gotten into now?". So, it is fantastic for her to have boundaries in which she is forced to play with toys or look at books, without us "having" to do it with her (by saying "having", I do not mean we don't enjoy playing with or reading to our daugher...we LOVE doing these things!). And she thoroughly enjoys it!

So.....I have actually written a whole post in a somewhat decent time, and my daughter has been on her blanket not paying any attention to me the whole time! :)

Ok....now for a few clarifications of what I am not saying. I am only sharing this because I enjoy sharing parts of our life with you. I am not saying that all moms need to or even should do this. This is what is beneficial for our home and may not at all be beneficial for yours! :) Also, I am not saying that a child's day has to be one involving the same routine day after day. Our life is not like that! We should all be willing to be flexible in our daily routine or non-routine, because who knows what the Lord will bring our way.

I definitely hold fast to the biblical principles I shared of obedience to God (which means obedience to parents.....Eph. 6:1-3) and living under authority (with God being the ultimate authority....Romans 13:1-3), but the display of these principles in your home, and the means by which they are carried out will look different from home to home.

Blogging? What? I have a Blog? :)

I realize that I have been absent from the blogging world for quite some time now, but want you all to know that you have nothing to worry about. :) I'm sure many of you (if not most) haven't even noticed I've been "gone", but if you have, do know that all the Johnsons are alive and well. I have much I could blog about every week...sometimes even every day, but to put it simply, blogging isn't one of my top priorities. In fact, if I am being quite honest, it really isn't on my priority list at all.

I know this saddens some of you, as most of you who read this live far away and love updates and pictures, so for that, I am most definitely sorry. To be honest, I would love to share more often about life, what God is teaching my family and I, how He is growing us, our precious daughter, and pictures, but the reason it just doesnt' happen as often as I would like is because it's not easy for me. I'm not one who can just sit down and crank out a couple paragraphs in a few minutes. Even picking out pictures and videos and then downloading them often takes more time than I have made available.

I know I could just update you on the facts of our life and put up pictures, but I neglect to do that, because I usually have something else in my mind that I would like to write about along with those things. And that "something else" would take longer to write and require more thought, which I don't make the time to do, and then I neglect to do either one. Does that make any sense or did I just totally confuse you?

Anyways, what I am TRYING to say is that because blogging isn't really a priority, it just simply doesn't happen when my priorities and things on my to-do list aren't even getting done.
Ok....that's all....there is my explanation for why I've been gone :)

What I am NOT saying is that I have given up and don't care about blogging...because that is most certainly NOT true. I love giving family and friends the joy of seeing Linnea in pictures and videos....I love sharing how the Lord is working in my life....I love catching you up on life so you know how to pray for us, just as I am able to do the same with so many others as I read their blogs. So do know...I will try harder. :)

So! In case you have been wondering what the Johnson clan has been up to these days, here is a wee little update! :)

Aaron is busy, busy, busy. :) He's working full-time at the church while taking two classes at seminary. I'm so amazed at how hard he works and I rarely hear him complain (at least not out loud!). I have realized he persues everything with a passion. Christ, the church, me, Linnea, his work (also the church :)), men he disciples or seeks to exort (still the church!), his schoolwork, eating :), exercising, etc.

So as you can imagine, with all that passion going out of him, he is quite tired. But you know what?!? It is such a beautiful picture, because CHRIST is the one giving him the passion! It is such a beautiful picture, to see the Lord working in and through my husband and giving him strength day after day after day. Aaron is so in love with the Lord, always seeking to grow and "do more", and striving to be used by God to impact the kingdom. Yes, he has weaknesses...sins he has to confess and turn from, but even in that, the gospel shines beautifully. The Lord has given me a gift I don't deserve in Aaron, and I am so very thankful.

His latest thing was trying to fix his car, which has been sitting dead at the church for nearly a week. He thought the problem might be the starter, so he took it out and had it "tested" at an auto parts store that proceeded to tell him his starter was "fine." Well after hours of trying different things to figure out what was wrong, he finally had to take it to our mechanic today, who proceeded to tell him the starter needed to be replaced (which is what Aaron thought from the beginning). I'm just so thankful that the Lord prepared Aaron's heart to hear something frustrating like that, and he was able to respond with a right heart, knowing that God had a purpose in all this...to grow him in patience and trust! :) And to remind us that saving money, though a good thing, is not always the Lord's plan!

As for me...I am constantly trying to learn how to better be a godly helper to this passionate man :). I don't verbally encourage him and thank him for all he does nearly enough...something I have recently realized and been convicted about...so I shall work on that :), because my hubby needs my encouragement and support. That's part of me being his helper!And praise the Lord for His WORD, which is my number one source of learning. I would be lost without my precious Bible and sweet relationship with Christ, and over the last month or so, I am really being reminded of just how much I need Christ for daily life. These days, Aaron is needing more encouragement and prayer, Linnea is needing more discipline and instruction...and definitely prayer, I am needing wisdom and strength....and prayer....which means I more than anything else need CHRIST! There is no day that I can live to His glory if I am relying on myself.

My schedule is pretty full with being a wife and mommy, cooking, home "duties", ministry, friendships, teaching 5 lessons a week, taking a class at Masters, having homework to do for the class, exercising, and being a student of the Word and lover of Jesus in and through all that. I am realizing life is full of choices...SO MANY choices. Every day requires making decisions about how I will spend my time. And because of that, I need to be on my knees WAY more often than I am. I shouldn't be making decisions on my own and for myself. If I am to be in the will of my Lord, than I need to be seeking His councel in all my choices! And no, I am not saying that one should pray about what to make for dinner or when to take a shower :) Although, in certain circumstances, that may be needed! :)

Oh! And this past month I went to visit my sister, her family, and my mom, and we had such a wonderful, sweet time of fellowship, catching up on life, lots of Settlers, and unfortunately...ice cream (oh boy did it taste good though! :)). It was such a blessing to spend some quality time with my nieces and nephews as well, as they are growing up so fast and becoming "little adults" now. Micah, the oldest, officially hit the double digits while I was there...it was fun for my mom and I to be able to celebrate his tenth birthday with him. Linnea fell in love with Tessie, their little dog, as I mentioned earlier...unfortunately, it turned out to be a one sided relationship, so whenever Tessie saw "the baby" coming she would often run away. :) Seriously though, the more I think about it, the more I see how blessed BOTH Aaron and I are to have such wonderful, godly families...all around! It is a precious gift from the Lord to be so close to family and to run the race that we are in together....encouraging one another, praying for one another, and keeping each other accountable.

Linnea.......oh, where to begin. She is becoming much more independent these days, developing her own little cute personality. She says, "Daddy, HI, doggy, dakee(blankee), and Tessie(my sister's dog)." She can repeat "mama", but we are still workin' on that one! :) She just started getting frustrated when she can't do things on her own....like yesterday when a book was stuck in the basket, she started screaming and kept yanking and screaming until it finally came out...she then let out one more scream which meant, "That was a ridiculous waste of my energy!" At least I think that is what she was saying (that is probably what I would have done, too!...unfortunately).

She stands and bounces and is so very tempted to take a step on her own, but a little too nervous...crawling is safer! She DID take A step yesterday when we were helping her walk back and forth between Aaron and I...but I don't know that it "counts" for her first step :). She LOVES dogs...LOVES them! Whenever she hears one barking outside she gets a big smile and says, "Doggy!" She loves to do imaginative play...it amazes me how young they start! She holds her play phone up to her ear, she wears anything stringy around her neck and wears whatever she can around her wrist as bracelets (I didn't even teach her these things! She is a natural woman! :)). She likes to brush and comb her own hair. She will pretty much copy whatever we do that she likes! :)

When she disobeys and I need to discipline her, I usually say something like "I'm sorry sweety, but you disobeyed mommy and the Lord by doing what I asked you not to do.... you need to obey mommy the first time." That may sound OK to you, but I have decided that I desperately need the scriptures in my heart so I can be sharing biblical wisdom with her when I discipline her. I figured it is never too soon to start, because these first fourteen months have FLOWN by, so she will be fourteen YEARS old before I know it! I'll share a terrific resource I have for this very purpose in a future post!

God is GOOD....I think I say that a lot, but it is oh, SO true! Our choir is memorizing Psalm 145 this season, and it has been the perfect passage to meditate on in this season of life. It is a daily reminder to bless my Lord and Savior...EVERY DAY, ALL DAY LONG. I have only memorized the first ten verses so far, but in just those ten verses, I am already reminded of SO MANY things to praise Him for..... His greatness, majesty, splendor, grace, mercy, wonderful works, power, and abundant goodness. And I have realized that all I need to do is open my eyes and take a look around, and I really can praise Him for all these things...whether I see them in the people around me, in things around me, in His creation, or in His working in my own life.

Yes....."I will extol You, my God, oh King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondeful works, I will meditate. Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, and I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness, and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and great in lovingkindness. The LORD is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall give thanks to You, oh LORD, and Your godly ones shall bless You." ~Psalm 145:1-10~

Our Sweet Girl's Birthday

Thought many of you who read this would enjoy some more pictures from Linnea's party, to maybe help you feel like you were there?? :) Or maybe not, but hopefully it will give you a glimpse of the joyful evening!

The Giant Cupcake Cake turned out beautiful thanks to the hard work and talent of my sister-in-law

Linnea definitely enjoyed all the attention when we sang happy birthday to her!She wasn't quite sure what to do, so daddy gave her a helping hand :)messy.....She really liked it, though! (who wouldn't like peanut butter and chocolate? :))Gift time....All the babies migrated....This is little Lucy, who's adoption was made final on Linnea's birthday, and a week before her own birthday...what a joyful day it was for her parents! :)

Linnea LOVES to drum, and absolutely loves this gift, which came with all sorts of percussion instruments inside as well. Daddy and her have been having lots of fun makin music together :)

One of Linnea's best buddies, McKenna

It was a wonderful first birthday, and she truly enjoyed the whole evening as well :) We missed everyone who couldn't be here with us to celebrate, but prayerfully there will be many more birthdays to come...although I don't know how many big parties will go along with them...whew, it's a lot of work! But it was worth it! :)

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! :)