About Me
- Andrew and Rachelle Johnson
- God did it! He helped Andrew finish his Masters of Divinity at Bethlehem College and Seminary! We are now seeking for a full-time ministry position for Andrew, but we are also serving our wonderfully diverse neighborhood while we "wait." :) God is good, and we want to make Him known wherever we are.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
quick update
Well, I am sitting at the kitchen table with a horrenously slow wireless connection trying to give a quick update on our lives! Daniel is currently sitting in my lap, as he loves to pretend to be typing as I type! It's quite cute! Here's the latest going ons with our family!
Andrew is about half way through his last semester! Woohoo! We are just pushing through, trying to make it to graduation! We are beyond ready for this schooling journey to be over, so this last push is quite difficult,but we are almost there! Andrew is doing well with his classes though, as he's such a hard, dilligent worker!
Daniel is growing more and more, evidenced by his expanding vocabulary! He is learning catechism questions now, and is doing quite well with them! He can answer five questions now: Who made you (God), who is God? (maker of all things), out of what did God make all things (nothing), how were all things made (God spoke, and it was done) and today he learned what did God make on the first day (light). I recently had a day off thanks to my fabulous husband, where I had uninterrupted time to read pray, and put together a rough schedule of what Daniel's day will look like, from daily bible and catechism times, play times, lesson times (learning shapes and colors) and activity times. I'm hoping adding this structure to Daniel's life will help him become less whiney and give him a good sense of consistency in his life!
Micah weighed in at 15 lbs 12 oz. at his 4 months check up (now is 5 mos. and probably 16 lbs plus!) and is currently 50-75% tile in his weight, heighth and head! He's rolling over and laughing and talking up a storm! He loves his big brother, and is often laughing at his crazy antics! He is my sweet snuggle bug and I am loving this fun stage!
I am just plugging away at helping Andrew get through this schedule and taking care of my boys! God is good and faithful and am so blessed with having the awsome responsbility of caring for these two little boys! But I probably should take off as Daniel is whining up a storm wanting a snack and I really shouldn't be on the computer whlie the boys are up! :) Just wanted to get a quick upddate while I actually had some internet connection! Until next time, God bless!!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Joy of Sanctification
Reader beware as you read this post. Any previous opinions you have formed about me may come crashing to a halt as you discover a weak woman struggling constantly in a battle with sin. Or perhaps your opinion of me will only be confirmed if you are one of the few who knows me all too well. Either way, my hope in this particular post is to reveal how God has been at work in the last several years (and months in particular), painfully pruning this heart of mine so that ultimately I might bear fruit for the glory of His name!
I suppose it starts a bit further back in my teenage years when I was first introduced to the Doctrines of Grace. (for those of you who are not familiar with the Doctrines of Grace, you can check out this website http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TopicIndex/105_The_Doctrines_of_Grace/4235_Rebuilding_Some_Basics_of_Bethlehem_The_Doctrines_of_Grace/ )
Through a string of events following my introduction to calvinism/doctrines of grace over a course of 4 years or so, which I do not have time nor space to go into today, I ultimately ended up at Boyce College, studying Biblical and Theological studies. I was preparing for the ministry, although unsure in what capacity. And, as most of you know, I soon met Andrew at Boyce, got married about a year and a half later, and well....3 years and 2 kids after that, here I am! And God has been doing some incredible work in my life since becoming a wife and mother. A work that has been painful, and yet oddly enough, joyful at the same time. And it is that work that I want to share with you!
Imagine growing up and NEVER, literally NEVER, having to struggle with anger issues. That was me. It took a lot of offenses against me to get me angry. I had many friends over the course of the years who were considered hard to get along with because of certain quirks or mannerisms or whatever it may be, because I was able to bear with them and help and encourage them with a lot more patience than most people were willing to put into a difficult relationship. Please don't misinterpret this....I am in no way boasting. I thought I had things pretty together. But by the incredible grace of God, I soon found out, I didn't (and still don't!)
Enter motherhood. Imagine a young mother feeling anger welling up in her heart that she has NEVER experienced before. Suddenly she finds herself flying off the handle over the most petty and ridiculous things like soiled underwear or incessant whining. Whoa. What just happened? How is this possible? The girl who used to bear with so much patience the offenses and sins of others is now unable to patiently bear the sins of her own children!
Toddlerhood brought to light the incredible amount of selfishness and sinfulness of my heart. And coupled with a lack of sleep with a newborn now on the scene, and it took me quite off guard! At first this realization of my anger only caused me to be incredibly grumpy and dwell in self pity. I don't think I was all that easy to live with, to be honest with you! But then God was so incredibly gracious to help me begin to reach out for help to other mothers. And wouldn't you know it, a fellow young mother in my church was struggling with the exact same thing: anger! Through the prayers and support of several of the women in my church (as well as my incredibly patient and kind husband), I began to realize how little "together" I really had things. Even 17 years into my Christian life, I have a horrendously sinful heart! And with this realization came a fresh, sweet realization of the patience and mercy of God!
Don't get me wrong, it is difficult to have your sins revealed. It is a painful process of seeing the sin, realizing the detriment it is to the gospel, and repenting! Then there is the battle to continually fight the sin, as usually it is not something that will just go away. It's a struggle, and it's hard! But to think that after so many years of having a pretty "easy" walk with the Lord, so to speak, God would love me enough to show me that hidden in my heart are sins offensive to Him, is amazing! That means God is loving me enough to help me rid of those things which are hindering me from becoming more like Christ! By patiently bearing with my sins and helping me to defeat them, God is filling my heart to the brim! That is my greatest desire and joy in life....to give glory to God! And since giving glory to God is reflecting him as glorious in all my thoughts, attitudes and actions, then there is no room for sin! But as I am unable to defeat sin on my own, I only rejoice when God helps me through the ministry of His Word, my husband, and fellow women who have been there, done that! Wow, the cross of Christ is truly amazing, truly precious and truly my ONLY salvation from sin!
God's Word has become more precious to me than it has ever been. I am weak, sinful, and am so much more aware of that now through the trial of motherhood, and I am at the same time, thankful for that! By God's grace I am striving to be patient in training and disciplining my chidren, knowing ultimately it's not about ME and my children disobeying ME. It is about pointing my children to the Gospel, showing them their sins against God, and patiently training them so that they may, Lord willing, someday embrace the truths of the Gospel for themselves. So my anger, my impatience and harshness is absolutely unnecessary and sinful, and in no way aides in the ultimate goal! God's precious Word helps me keep Christ as the center focus and gives me strength to be loving, kind and tender toward my children, even in the midst of their sin!
I'm so thankful for a loving, patient and longsuffering God, aren't you, friends?!
I suppose it starts a bit further back in my teenage years when I was first introduced to the Doctrines of Grace. (for those of you who are not familiar with the Doctrines of Grace, you can check out this website http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TopicIndex/105_The_Doctrines_of_Grace/4235_Rebuilding_Some_Basics_of_Bethlehem_The_Doctrines_of_Grace/ )
Through a string of events following my introduction to calvinism/doctrines of grace over a course of 4 years or so, which I do not have time nor space to go into today, I ultimately ended up at Boyce College, studying Biblical and Theological studies. I was preparing for the ministry, although unsure in what capacity. And, as most of you know, I soon met Andrew at Boyce, got married about a year and a half later, and well....3 years and 2 kids after that, here I am! And God has been doing some incredible work in my life since becoming a wife and mother. A work that has been painful, and yet oddly enough, joyful at the same time. And it is that work that I want to share with you!
Imagine growing up and NEVER, literally NEVER, having to struggle with anger issues. That was me. It took a lot of offenses against me to get me angry. I had many friends over the course of the years who were considered hard to get along with because of certain quirks or mannerisms or whatever it may be, because I was able to bear with them and help and encourage them with a lot more patience than most people were willing to put into a difficult relationship. Please don't misinterpret this....I am in no way boasting. I thought I had things pretty together. But by the incredible grace of God, I soon found out, I didn't (and still don't!)
Enter motherhood. Imagine a young mother feeling anger welling up in her heart that she has NEVER experienced before. Suddenly she finds herself flying off the handle over the most petty and ridiculous things like soiled underwear or incessant whining. Whoa. What just happened? How is this possible? The girl who used to bear with so much patience the offenses and sins of others is now unable to patiently bear the sins of her own children!
Toddlerhood brought to light the incredible amount of selfishness and sinfulness of my heart. And coupled with a lack of sleep with a newborn now on the scene, and it took me quite off guard! At first this realization of my anger only caused me to be incredibly grumpy and dwell in self pity. I don't think I was all that easy to live with, to be honest with you! But then God was so incredibly gracious to help me begin to reach out for help to other mothers. And wouldn't you know it, a fellow young mother in my church was struggling with the exact same thing: anger! Through the prayers and support of several of the women in my church (as well as my incredibly patient and kind husband), I began to realize how little "together" I really had things. Even 17 years into my Christian life, I have a horrendously sinful heart! And with this realization came a fresh, sweet realization of the patience and mercy of God!
Don't get me wrong, it is difficult to have your sins revealed. It is a painful process of seeing the sin, realizing the detriment it is to the gospel, and repenting! Then there is the battle to continually fight the sin, as usually it is not something that will just go away. It's a struggle, and it's hard! But to think that after so many years of having a pretty "easy" walk with the Lord, so to speak, God would love me enough to show me that hidden in my heart are sins offensive to Him, is amazing! That means God is loving me enough to help me rid of those things which are hindering me from becoming more like Christ! By patiently bearing with my sins and helping me to defeat them, God is filling my heart to the brim! That is my greatest desire and joy in life....to give glory to God! And since giving glory to God is reflecting him as glorious in all my thoughts, attitudes and actions, then there is no room for sin! But as I am unable to defeat sin on my own, I only rejoice when God helps me through the ministry of His Word, my husband, and fellow women who have been there, done that! Wow, the cross of Christ is truly amazing, truly precious and truly my ONLY salvation from sin!
God's Word has become more precious to me than it has ever been. I am weak, sinful, and am so much more aware of that now through the trial of motherhood, and I am at the same time, thankful for that! By God's grace I am striving to be patient in training and disciplining my chidren, knowing ultimately it's not about ME and my children disobeying ME. It is about pointing my children to the Gospel, showing them their sins against God, and patiently training them so that they may, Lord willing, someday embrace the truths of the Gospel for themselves. So my anger, my impatience and harshness is absolutely unnecessary and sinful, and in no way aides in the ultimate goal! God's precious Word helps me keep Christ as the center focus and gives me strength to be loving, kind and tender toward my children, even in the midst of their sin!
I'm so thankful for a loving, patient and longsuffering God, aren't you, friends?!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Happy Anniversary
Yesterday Andrew and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary! Andrew bought me beautiful roses and took me out to a fancy restaurant for dinner, and I woke up when Andrew got home from UPS and made him his favorite breakfast....pancakes! :) We had a wonderful day! Although I am daily mindful of how blessed I am to be Andrew's wife, it was a great day for reflection concerning our marriage. We live a pretty wild and crazy life at the moment, juggling a newborn, a busy toddler, church ministry, school and work for Andrew and of course all the little surprises in between that take us off guard! There are several days a week where I literally only see Andrew for a whole 45 minutes (awake time) before he is off to both jobs, and even then, we maybe get a few quick hellos and I love you's before we have to part! It's even less time than that when the semester us in full gear. So I am thankful to have anniversaries to remind us to slow down and just be together! Andrew is a very thoughtful husband, however, and he does try to get several "just because" date nights in without the kids so we can reconnect as often as possible.
I love my husband. :) For so many reasons, the biggest of them being that He truly helps me love and cherish Christ more. He IS a picture of Christ to me in his sacrifice, compassion, patience, selflessness and strength in leading our family in godly ways. As a result, I see Christ and His love better,and cherish Him more! Wow! Ultimately that is what it is all about! We are MOST happy when we cherish Christ! As we love and serve our Maker, Savior and Lord, we bring Him glory....and in that, we are most satisfied and most happy! So, for my husband to lead me and serve me in such a way that helps me grow spiritually and ultimately be happy in Christ, he is loving me beyond just buying me roses and trying to please me with material things and romantic charms. He is loving me as Christ loves me! Not perfectly of course, as Andrew is NOT Christ and not perfect, but with purpose and care and passion!
Did I mention that I love my husband? Well, three years and two beautiful boys later, I love him more than I did when we first confessed our love for eachother, and more than when we said our vows before God and man! Thank you, gracious and merciful Father, for the blessing of my husband! Through his love and leadership, I am learning to love you more! May you, Lord Jesus, be honored and glorified above all else in our union...may we always have a heart to worship you and bring you glory with our lives!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
A Year in Review
Happy New Year, everyone!
Here is a brief summary of all the wonderful things God has done in our lives in 2009....
We began the year with a wonderful surprise! We found out in late January that we were going to have another baby! Fabulous way to start the year out, I think! With that in mind, we continued on with the day to day with Andrew plugging away at work and school and myself staying home with Daniel, watching him grow like a weed!
In March, Daniel fell and broke his leg! That was quite a trial as Andrew was swamped with work and school (as usual) and I was incredibly sick with morning sickness!! But, God gave us grace, and we made it through, and Daniel was back to running around in no time!!
Morning sickness finally subsided and we were off to visit family in the summer. We went to MN to see Andrew's family in May, and my family in Vegas in June! They were sweet visits with loved ones and unfortunately never lasted quite long enough!!
We then took a mini family vacation and headed of to Chicago for a weekend! We had a great time, as we got to see the Minnesota Twins (that's baseball for you folks who may not know your sports) play the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field! What a treat, especially for Andrew! Below is a picture of Daniel all suited up in his Twins gear, getting ready for the game! We won, by the way! :)
In September we had an unfortunate car crash, smashing our car up pretty well! We of course had some fun with the insurance company, but in the end it all worked out, we got our car fixed, and most importantly, nobobody was injured! All three of us (four included Micah in utero!) were in the car, and Daniel still to this day says "dada, crash!" pretty much every time we get into the car! He also loves to crash his little toy cars and his bike, whenever he can...I suppose we will never live that one down! :)
Then we just continued along with life! I think it was in June we found out we were having another boy, and decided to name him Micah Andrew! The highlight of the summer, for sure! Then we celebrated Daniel's 2nd birthday with good friends Ben and Jessica as they were passing through Louisville on their way back to WI. Daniel got a new bike for his bday, which he plays with daily! He likes to crash it, however, so we always have to keep a close eye on him! He is all boy!! :) Then,four days after Daniel's birthday, of course, Micah came! I was induced Thursday night (late) and had Micah at 2:36 am on Friday! I was so blessed with a great labor, only 6 hours long and only had to do one big push! I am so thankful for that, as I opted out of the pain meds! Yikes! It was definitely rough, but God helped me through and we were blessed with a quick recovery and even got out of that hospital a day early! Woohoo! :)
We celebrated Thanksgiving with some dear friends at our new church, and we had a great time of fellowship! Andrew and I are so thankful for this church we just started attending back in May! We are teaching 3rd-6th grade Sunday school and I am involved in our women's bible study at the moment, where we are reading through Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother. I highly recommend it to all you mothers out there! The women at my church have been an incredible blessing to me as they hold me accountable in many aspects of my life, from being a wife, mother, and even living a healthy lifestyle through smart eating and exercise! God is good to me!
We then spend Christmas with Andrew's mom, Ann, and we are so glad she was able to come stay with us! She stayed for 3 days and absolutely LOVED spending time with her grandsons and spoiling us as well! She rocked Micah to sleep often and spoiled Daniel with treats and lots of fun attention! It was great to have her with us, as she is such a blessing to us!
And now I write this, on New Years Eve, while my hubby is faithfully working hard at work! I have a horrendous cold that has really knocked me down; one that Daniel was so kind to share with Micah and myself! What a way to end the year, I guess! :) I like to think of it just as a reminder of my complete and utter need for Christ for everything, even my health! God is good regardless of our trials and looking back on this year, I am just amazed by how He has blessed us! Blessed us with hard times and fun times, but in either case, He has been sufficient, and has upheld us all with His righteous right hand! I tend to think of this verse as I look back on our past year...
Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed. For I am your God, I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Praise be to God, in 2009 and in the year ahead! Blessings to you all! With much love from the Johnson family!!
Andrew, Rachelle, Daniel and Micah <3
Here is a brief summary of all the wonderful things God has done in our lives in 2009....
We began the year with a wonderful surprise! We found out in late January that we were going to have another baby! Fabulous way to start the year out, I think! With that in mind, we continued on with the day to day with Andrew plugging away at work and school and myself staying home with Daniel, watching him grow like a weed!
In March, Daniel fell and broke his leg! That was quite a trial as Andrew was swamped with work and school (as usual) and I was incredibly sick with morning sickness!! But, God gave us grace, and we made it through, and Daniel was back to running around in no time!!
Morning sickness finally subsided and we were off to visit family in the summer. We went to MN to see Andrew's family in May, and my family in Vegas in June! They were sweet visits with loved ones and unfortunately never lasted quite long enough!!
We then took a mini family vacation and headed of to Chicago for a weekend! We had a great time, as we got to see the Minnesota Twins (that's baseball for you folks who may not know your sports) play the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field! What a treat, especially for Andrew! Below is a picture of Daniel all suited up in his Twins gear, getting ready for the game! We won, by the way! :)
In September we had an unfortunate car crash, smashing our car up pretty well! We of course had some fun with the insurance company, but in the end it all worked out, we got our car fixed, and most importantly, nobobody was injured! All three of us (four included Micah in utero!) were in the car, and Daniel still to this day says "dada, crash!" pretty much every time we get into the car! He also loves to crash his little toy cars and his bike, whenever he can...I suppose we will never live that one down! :)
Then we just continued along with life! I think it was in June we found out we were having another boy, and decided to name him Micah Andrew! The highlight of the summer, for sure! Then we celebrated Daniel's 2nd birthday with good friends Ben and Jessica as they were passing through Louisville on their way back to WI. Daniel got a new bike for his bday, which he plays with daily! He likes to crash it, however, so we always have to keep a close eye on him! He is all boy!! :) Then,four days after Daniel's birthday, of course, Micah came! I was induced Thursday night (late) and had Micah at 2:36 am on Friday! I was so blessed with a great labor, only 6 hours long and only had to do one big push! I am so thankful for that, as I opted out of the pain meds! Yikes! It was definitely rough, but God helped me through and we were blessed with a quick recovery and even got out of that hospital a day early! Woohoo! :)
We celebrated Thanksgiving with some dear friends at our new church, and we had a great time of fellowship! Andrew and I are so thankful for this church we just started attending back in May! We are teaching 3rd-6th grade Sunday school and I am involved in our women's bible study at the moment, where we are reading through Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother. I highly recommend it to all you mothers out there! The women at my church have been an incredible blessing to me as they hold me accountable in many aspects of my life, from being a wife, mother, and even living a healthy lifestyle through smart eating and exercise! God is good to me!
We then spend Christmas with Andrew's mom, Ann, and we are so glad she was able to come stay with us! She stayed for 3 days and absolutely LOVED spending time with her grandsons and spoiling us as well! She rocked Micah to sleep often and spoiled Daniel with treats and lots of fun attention! It was great to have her with us, as she is such a blessing to us!
And now I write this, on New Years Eve, while my hubby is faithfully working hard at work! I have a horrendous cold that has really knocked me down; one that Daniel was so kind to share with Micah and myself! What a way to end the year, I guess! :) I like to think of it just as a reminder of my complete and utter need for Christ for everything, even my health! God is good regardless of our trials and looking back on this year, I am just amazed by how He has blessed us! Blessed us with hard times and fun times, but in either case, He has been sufficient, and has upheld us all with His righteous right hand! I tend to think of this verse as I look back on our past year...
Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed. For I am your God, I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Praise be to God, in 2009 and in the year ahead! Blessings to you all! With much love from the Johnson family!!
Andrew, Rachelle, Daniel and Micah <3
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Quick update
Things are going well for us here at the Johnson household. There's not a whole lot new to update, so this will probably be a quick post! Daniel is down for his nap, and I have some house cleaning and baking to do to prepare for some company tonight, so I need to take care of most of that while the little man is down!
Andrew and I were blessed to get out of the house without either of the boys for the first time last night since before Micah was born. A sweet friend offered to take care of them, and she even cooked and fed Daniel dinner, bathed both the boys and put Daniel to bed for us! Such a wonderful break! We didn't do anything extravagant... we just got some subs for dinner and then headed over to Starbucks where we simply enjoyed some delicious holiday coffee and talked! We just caught up with eachother and enjoy eachother's company without the interruption of a fussy baby or incredibly busy toddler! It was perfect. :)
Micah had his 2 month checkup last week, and all is looking great! He is a chunky 13 lbs 4 oz (or he was last week, he's probably more than that now!) and a stocky 23 inches long! He's in the 75% tile for his weight, 25th for his height, and 50th for his head! As the doctor so kindly put it, he's our little spark plug! :) Quite the opposite from his "big" brother Daniel whom I am sure he will catch up to and pass in no time! We are having a big of a difficult time trying to get Micah to switch his days and nights over to a normal schedule! He just does not seem to like to sleep at night, and he is very stubborn! I think we are making SLOOOOW progress, but hopefully it won't take much longer to get him switched over. It's almost been 10 weeks, and I'm at the point where I'm just ready to get more than 3 hours of sleep at a time! God is giving me grace though, and has really helped me day to day as I have to function on little sleep, taking care of two beautiful little boys!
Andrew is just about to start his last semester of school in about a month, and we cannot be more thrilled to be starting this last leg! Andrew is beginning to send out applications and resumes, starting the job search so hopefully by next summer he can be set in a job and possibly we can be ready to move, wherever God opens a door! Andrew is mostly looking in Minnesota, as he truly desires to move back up north, but anything could really open up anywhere,and we are willing to go wherever God leads! So these next 5 to 6 months or so will be very interesting and possibly bringing about a lot of change for our family! We are trusting in God's timing and plan for our lives!
Well, here's a few more pictures to enjoy as well of our growing boys! I'm off to get busy with the work God has so graciously blessed me with! Peace to you all and blessings in Christ!!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Pictures
Here are a few recent pictures of our two handsome and growing boys!
Micah is beginning to smile, about 7 weeks old!
Sweet brotherly love, hanging out together!
our first family picture!
Micah, weighing in at 8 lbs 7.5 ounces! He's our big boy!
Daniel riding his new bike on his birthday! This was just 4 days before Micah was born! :)
Micah is beginning to smile, about 7 weeks old!
Sweet brotherly love, hanging out together!
our first family picture!
Micah, weighing in at 8 lbs 7.5 ounces! He's our big boy!
Daniel riding his new bike on his birthday! This was just 4 days before Micah was born! :)
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