Should I be "feeling"?

As I grow in my Christian life and walk this path, I've been taught and am still trying to learn that "Feelings" are valid, but they are not what we guide our lives by. That can sometimes be easier said than done or understood. In this life we don't always feel God's presence. We don't always feel that He knows what our heart's desires are. We don't always feel that our brothers and sisters understand or care what we're going through. We don't always feel that there are lights at the end of our lonely tunnels. Yet, in spite of all this feeling - or lack there of- there are these facts: God is God, He does not lie, He does not fail and He does love and care for us.

When I sit here on the the computer trying to track down old contacts, and come up empty, I feel defeated. When I get back reject e-mails from companies I've applied to, I feel like a failure. Then I remember that time and time and again, my Lord has come through for me. When I look at how each time we've gone through an adoption, I've lost my job, I feel like maybe I'm being told to do something else. Then I remember what the word of the Lord says...Protect the widows and orphans. If he tells me to do that, then nothing that tries to hinder me will cause me to fail.

Almost ten years ago, I graduated with an MBA and got swallowed up in the hopes and dreams of corporate ladder climbing. However, in my last job, I was actually making less than the 1st job I had right out of school 10 years ago. Sometimes that makes me feel like I've failed. Then I look at the beautiful woman who loves me unconditionally. I look at our beautiful children who look up to me and expect nothing but love from me. I see the new children that we are going to be blessed with. I know that I'm right where I need to be.

I am learning that I cannot base my life and decisions on what I feel, but I must base them on what the Lord says. He says that He will be beside us. He says that he will provide for us. He says that He will give me the desires of my heart (within His will, of course). He says that love conquers everything. He says that love casts out all fear. His word says that God IS love. There's an old saying that goes..."The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it!"

So I know that I must live my life one day at a time, work to obey His commands, share love and truth with everyone I can and love him with all my heart, mind and strength.

That's the truth beyond the feeling.

We Need a Miracle..............

The condition for a miracle is difficulty, however the condition for a great miracle is not difficulty, but impossibility.”
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Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." - Matt 19:26

My soul, wait in silence for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
He is my defense;
I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge is in God.
Psalm 62:5-7

LOOK DEEP INTO YOUR HEART......

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.


May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

WHAT IS FAITH?

What is Faith?

Faith is believing the WORD OF GOD, than acting on it NO matter how I feel, believing that God will bring a GOOD result.

Faith is not a belief that everything will turn out to please us;

rather it is the confidence that no matter how things turn out,

God will somehow use the events in our days for His glory and for our good.

Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand.

Faith is being willing to trust God -

turning your hopes and problems over to Him

and trusting in His wisdom -

and knowing that somehow everything will turn out for the best.

No matter how difficult or dark things become,

there is always a light.

Faith is a living, daring confidence, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.

Faith is a reasoning trust, a trust which reckons thoughtfully and confidently upon the trustworthiness of God.

Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.

Blessings, Pam

The Joys of Parenthood

Pam and I are part of a "Home group" that meets weekly for Bible study and fellowship. We're a small group of 5 couples, all married and all have children at various stages in life. As part of our study we are currently watching a video series that is covering 1Thessalonians. Last night's topic of discussion was mentoring young Christians (young, meaning new to the faith). God asks us through Paul to mentor new Christians to help guide them in the early stages of Christian life. This helps them to recognize pitfalls and detours that they may not have been able to readily recognize on their own. It also helps them to learn to become mature, wise, strong, and to find their purpose in this life. We can also be there for when (not if) they need help with anything - spiritual or just to help with everyday life.

When you look at the examples of mentoring in the Bible, it readily loans itself to being like parenthood. Because all of these things are needed for our children as they go and grow through the early stages of life. And our goal is to help them to become mature, wise, strong and purposeful. With mentoring our children, we not only get to help shape their little lives now, but their futures. A wise and strong child will make different decisions than a hapless child left to live life without a rudder. And some of those decisions have monumental and eternal consequences. It saddens me when I hear parents say, "Oh, I'm going to let my child make up his own mind about God and the Bible when he/she gets old enough." I think about all the decisions that child will make between now and then...and then after.

God brought our 2nd youngest son, "D" to us from China. From the first day, he has seen his parents living the life of Christian people. We live, we grow, we laugh, we cry, we fall, we soar. And in all things we give glory to God and our Savior Jesus Christ. We faithfully attend church family gathering, we participate, we faithfully give of ourselves and our finances. We talk about our faith openly with our children and we try to share it with our friends and family. We pray together as a family regularly. We connect life lessons with God's word in hopes of watching their lives soak this all in. Then one night, after nighttime prayers, "D" turns to me and says, "Dad, how do I become a Christian?" Absolutely nothing else in life makes me happier than hearing words to that affect coming from my own children. We prayed together that night and I baptised him in the Sound some weeks later.

Mentoring a young Christian is challenging and time consuming. Mentoring your children is challenging and time consuming. The joy of watching the fruit...PRICELESS.

How Big is Your God

Three days ago my husband called and asked me, "How big is your God?" My answer then and now is, "I serve a BIG glorious and only God." Juan and I are facing some deep waters ahead in our lives. The company Juan works for has been downsizing over the past few months. Juan will be out of a job in the next few weeks, barring any miracles. We still have 4 kids and 3 more on the way.

How big is my God? When times are going OK, it's an easy answer; but what about when I am faced with the real trials of life? I am standing, trusting, and believing that my God can handle anything. He is not a god standing off somewhere unconcerned, nor is He surprised by any of it.

Sometimes, we can not see God and not see what He is doing. Does this mean he's not there? On my way to work every morning, I come up a hill and at the top I see out over the vast Atlantic Ocean. In the winter mornings it is too dark to see this. Does that make the ocean not there? No, I just have to wait until the Spring and Summer. God is ALWAYS there, I just have to hold on.

Blessing
Pam

Introducing my New Baby Dolls

I'd like to introduce my newest Ethiopian, African Baby doll, Lea.

I had a lot of fun designing her and making her.

She is wearing a sleeper set and diaper.

Lea is 15 in tall and has set pig tails with bows.

She is $30.00 and $6 to ship. I am currently taking orders for her. ;)





















Lea has beautiful eyes and smile. She is a very sweet baby.





















Marian is a new African baby doll. She is 15 inches tall.

She is wearing a diaper set.



This little baby doll is $25.00 and $6 to ship. I am currently taking orders for her too.


Marian is a sweet little doll.




















She also comes with a blanket to match her diaper set.

I really enjoy making the dolls. And it is a lot of fun designing a new doll, and doll clothes.

WE are hoping to travel to Ethiopia in May to bring our "babies" home, and need need to raise our traveling funds. Check out my Etsy doll shop!!

Blessings, Pam

I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME

WHY I HAVE FOUND THAT I NEED AFRICA FAR FAR MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME........

This really pulled at my heart...

"When I think of Africa, the following images immediately come to mind: Starvation. AIDS. Child soldiers. Genocide. Sex slaves. Orphans. From there, my thoughts naturally turn to how I can help, how I can make a difference. "I am needed here," I think. "They have so little, and I have so much.

" It's true, there are great tragedies playing out in Africa everyday. There is often a level of suffering here that is unimaginable until you have seen it, and even then it is difficult to believe.

But what is even harder is reconciling the challenges that many Africans face with the joy I see in those same people. It's a joy that comes from somewhere I cannot fathom, not within the framework that has been my life to this day.The images spilling out of my television showed circumstances that could seemingly only equal misery, and I was fooled. I bought into the lie that circumstance defines happiness.

The truth is, in Africa I find hearts full of victory, indomitable spirits. In places where despair should thrive, instead I find adults dancing and singing, and children playing soccer with a ball crafted of tied up trash. Instead of payback, I find grace. Here, weekend getaways are not options to provide relief from the pains of daily life.

Relationships and faith provide joy. Love is sovereign.My new reality… I know now that my joy should have no regard for my circumstances. I'm ashamed of the little faith that I have, but at the very same moment I am excited by my new pursuit. I'm forced to redefine the meaning of having much or having little.

I'm uneasy with the prospect of change and of letting go, but just the thought of freedom is liberating. I want what I have learned to trickle down from my head into my heart - I no longer want to need the "next thing" to have joy.I'm not saying that Africa does not need our efforts. It absolutely does need our partnership.

But for me, I've come to understand that I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME.
Why? Because it is Africa that has taught me that possessions in my hands will never be as valuable as peace in my heart.

I've learned that I don't need what I have and that I have what I need.

This continent has many lessons for us to learn, and Africa, with all its need, has much to teach me."

Those wishing to help raise awareness of the joy and hope that exists among the African people can visit the Mocha Club’s website http://www.mochaclub.org/ to purchase T-shirts with the phrase “I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me.” Shirts are also available to those who join Mocha Club by pledging $7 each month, or the cost of two mochas, according to campaign organizers.

Proceeds will go to the Mocha Club project of the donor’s choice, including orphan care, job creation, HIV/AIDS relief, education improvement, aid to child mothers, and Sudan regrowth.

According to the international outreach organization, $7 in Africa will feed one person for a month, educate two children for one school term, save one person’s life from malaria, or provide clean water to seven Africans for one year.

Formed in 2005, Mocha Club is a division of African Leadership, a pastor-training organization based in Nashville that is accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability

New Place In Town!!!

I am so thankful that I am married to my husband. He is a Godly man, following after God's heart. He is a wonderful provider, a great daddy to the kids, and a wonderful husband.

January is a busy month for us. My birthday and our Wedding Anniversary! Maybe I should have made this special dates in different months???

To celebrate these dates, my hubby and I had a date! We checked out the newest Place in town!-- "Blue Moon Beach Grill" It is located at MP 13 - both off the beach road and the big road!

This restaurant is small, seats about 40- well decorated, quiet, with a great staff.

The food that we had, was to die for.....
I started with a cup of soup- Black bean with chicken. It was so good. Scott said that soup was one of his specialties. Not at all surprising given the taste--

I had one of the night's specials - steak salad, with a home made honey mustard (warm) dressing. All every good.

Juan had " Drunken Chicken Breast. It was presented great, and tasted even better. Jamaican rum marinated chicken, served over pineapple coconut rice topped with a zesty cilantro pi co DE Gallo. It was wonderful.

Our server was great- and Scott and Melissa stopped by the table to say "Hi"-- We will go back often. It was a delight.

Oh and for us-- they have a great children's menu!!! It is nice to get out without them, a rare treat!!
Stop by and see them- (tell them the Johnson's sent you!!)

Blessings, Pam

GREAT NEWS!!! PRAISE THE LORD

GREAT GREAT GREAT NEWS!!

We are praising the Lord. We got our COURT DATE - April 8!

And if all goes well, we should be able to travel to bring our three kids home the first part of May!

Please continue to pray. It appears that about half of the court dates do not make it on the first try. We know that God is taking care of this- and that He wants the children to come home. We are leaving it in God's hands for the best and right timing.

We are thanking God.