Dance Your Shoes Off

OH My Heart!!  ( be sure to PAUSE my music at the bottom of the phge)

I LOVE this....what a beautiful picture of the Body of Christ.

And a bunch of dancin fools like me, too. God loves you so much. Just as you are.

He longs to have you Home. Do you know his Son? He's the way Home.

Okay so my husband didn't get emotional about it like I did, or as excited...
I guess I was able to see past some of the 80s inspired aerobic moves, tee hee.  Then again, I was always a bit of a cheese ball for synchronized dance... I love team work.

Love it or hate it, it makes me long for Heaven...to be worshipping our King and Savior Jesus Christ alongside my brothers and sisters of every nation, every tribe and every tongue.  And yes, hallelujah, there will be much dancing in Heaven.  With hands lifted high we will praise his Holy name....don't miss it, don't spend eternity seperated from God.  Don't be too smart, too enlightened, too stubborn, too broken to accept the gift of Jesus Christ.  He wants you, just reach out your hand and tell Him you need him.

     Matthew 11:25, 28 (Jesus speaking)  I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  I have no idea why, or who I am writing this post for... I really just planned to post the cool video a friend shared with me.  Whoever it is for...Jesus wants to give you rest, none of us can do this life on our own.  We are all a mess, myself at the top of the list.  Only in Christ, do I have the strength to live this life and find the hope of eternity.  If you don't know Him, ASK.

Matthew 7:7  "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."  Not some mysterious door, not some complexity of God that is only to be understood by some, [ Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse] and not a salvation that can be earned [Ephesians 2:8-9, For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast].  Still don't buy it, get into God's word for yourself, don't take my word for it.  Jesus died on the cross for you, for all of us.  And if you think I'm a fool, well...
2 Corinthians 5:13-15 explains, "If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.  For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Love,
Mandi
ps...anyone have questions write to me (mandij75@yahoo.com)
I don't have all the answers but I know who does and where to look ;) 

General Tso's Chicken Strikes BACK

yes, that's what I wrote.  We have a regular routine now, of RUNNING to the Post Office to get African Adoption Dolls in the mail to precious people and little ones that have so awesomely blessed us by giving to our Adoption Fund.  When I say RUNNING, this involves, lots of  "Come on guys!"  "Does your sister have clothes on?"  "Put on socks and shoes!" " Someone carry this pleeeease"  "That's not YOUR shirt, that's your brothers..."  "What did you eat??  It's in your hair!"


Now, I'm a Georgia girl, and a southern girl through and through...my whole life (since I began wearing make up as a teenager) I've never left the house without some on my face.  Try as I may over the years, even with all my moving around, I've never been able to make myself just not care enough (pride) to just go.  Until recently...well, it's really not progress but just pure laziness on my part, ha! (truth hurts).  So today was one of those days.  After getting through several hours of homeschooling and calling USCIS to see if we'd been assigned an officer (the one who will one fine day, stamp our precious I-171H with APPROVED), I scrambled to sew the final touches on two dresses that I wanted to ship today.  As I raced right up to the time to leave in order to make it to the POffice, I knew in the back of my mind I had to change clothes, do something with my rather shiny (I'm being polite) unwashed locks and jump in the van...not to mention Lucy was still in her PJs (from this morning) that she conveniently napped in again. :)  Truth be told, Joel my number one helper, went upstairs to put "something" on Lucy...and to my amazement and delight it was a dress and flipflops and totally worked.  Okay, go-GO-Go, we just might make it!

Now as I dashed out, no makeup...the justifications are always present in the mind..it's like a mental checklist...I'm new to this town, what do I care?  I've never seen anyone I know from church at the PO anyway. We are just going there and straight home, no biggie."


WELL, we didn't make it... after squealing into the parking lot with the Van of Dreams on two wheels I bolt out, packages in hand, threaten my kids not to move, yank the door open to see the lovely ALUMINUM CURTAIN PULLED CLOSED...dunt dunt, DUUUN. Ohhh, maaan, 4:32pm - that last traffic light made the difference.  Oh well, after searching through every receipt and gum wrapper in my purse, in an attempt to give a stamp to the guy in front of me, who was begging the voices behind the curtain to give him ONE STAMP (bummer didn't find one)...I remember there's another place called Goin' Postal.  Yes, you read that right (I know not nice) and it's open til 6pm.  You aren't wearing makeup.  I know, I don't care..it's just the young guys that do the notarizations.


As I drive across the state highway, from behind me I hear those favorite words... "Mooom, Lucy's got to go to the potty!"  Yep, my fault...we always potty after nap and guess who forgot in our rush.  Hold on honey. No potty in here.  Hold it, okaaay?.  She gives very little warning.  We drop off the packages at Goin Postal and now I'm looking for any public restroom.  There's an empty laundromat beside us, door open, no one around, no potty.  Next spot is a chinese buffet, I know the buffet always makes me go ewwww.  Did notice they won a local award for restaurants, so that's good.  Hmmmm, I always feel so bad about walking throught the dining room of a restaurant, when I know I'm not about to sit down and eat dinner (or so I thought).  At this point I'm so frantic not to have Miss Pee Pants on my hands, that I open the door....did I mention that when I got everyone out (my 9,5 & and 3 year olds) to drop off the packages that I noticed that Lucy had blueberry stains all over her face from a homemade popsicle and something crusty in her hair?  I literally clipped the crusty strands out of her eyes and lick/scraped her face, (niiice).  The woman behind the counter asked me how many. I hold up Lucy's hand and tell her I was really just wanting to use the restroom, but I will take a take-out menu.  I'd thought about ordering "something" already.  We pass the buffet and my boys start asking to eat....huh, it's like 4:45pm. 

I mean we are here ahead of the Early Bird Special crowd.. and I HAVE ON NO MAKEUP!!!  We go.  They go.  We get ready to leave and Isaiah asks again in front of the hostess/owner to eat.  I cave.  What?  I know, we never eat out now (adoption budget) and I remember that Daddy isn't going to be home until late with a business dinner.  Alllright, we'll just all split something... WATERS for everyone! :)  I order 2 dishes..and from the moment they serve us Lucy is cranky...oh dear, without hubby backup, if she decides to have a meltdown this is GOING. TO. BE. UGLY.  I decide to let her sit and do whatever...the boys to my surprise and delight ate really well (thank you, less guilt).  Things heard at our table, "Mom, are these people spanish?  Mom, how long did it take to build the Great Wall of China?  Mom where did they get these paintings?  (had to laugh as Joel and I simultaneously answered CHINA ((where is most everything made?))  Isaiah had wanted a spicy dish, thus the name General Tso's Chicken.  One of his new things is demonstrating his manliness by showing how much hot stuff he can eat, like jalapenos.  Meal's almost complete...about to ask for to-go boxes and Isaiah says, "Mom I gotta go to the bathroom".  Right now?   Can you wait until we get home?  He gives me that look.  Okay, okay we are pretty close to the single room restrooms and I'll just take him to the womens.  I look at Joel and say, "Sit. Right. Here. And watch your sister"...all the while giving the look that says I'm very serious.  Joel yells out as we pass by the table, " DON'T WORRY MOM!.. IF ANYONE TRIES TO TAKE LUCY (getting even louder)...I'LL SHOW THEM MY REAL CHINESE MOVES!!!!! WhaaaaaAAAhh!!" (cue Kung Fu music) Isaiah and I about busted a gut laughing trying to get into the bathroom.  I love my life. 


Needless to say General Tso's Chicken put the digestive system on SPEED, ha ha!  After what seemed like an eternity...we returned to the table where the to-go boxes are ready and waiting...think we overstayed our welcome. 

Thank you China Delight, it was actually delish.  Can't wait til me and my three peeps are me and my FIVE.  We need to expand the Johnson family craziness...never a dull moment.

Thanks for sharing this crazy journey called life with us.
Blessings,
Mandi

One of those days...

that feels like this.

It hasn't been all bad.

  But huge chunks of the last several days..have felt like this.

 Are you with me?  We all have these days.  How do you reboot?

{Okay this post is a hodge podge if there every was one.. and I warn you it is all over the place.  I only got about 3.5 hours of sleep last night before getting up for our fingerprint appt. [btw, fingerprints done... and now we wait for APPROVAL :)]  and I'm going to bed now, without editing this. Maybe I'll get a good laugh out of this one day when I look back.  I never got around to what I set out to write about, ha!  I'm downright delirious...this is why sleep deprivation is a torture technique...our brains do not work right without a basic amount of sleep. :)}  My writing will reflect a state that looks like this...

For those of you who know me in real life (tee hee) you know that I'm an open book kinda gal.  Some would say too much so ;).  Apparently the ability to edit or simplify experiences when sharing, is one that completely missed me.  Soooo, I'm a bit long-winded.  I don't really like this about myself, in fact in recent years, it's really started to aggravate me because now I am painfully aware that I do it (share too much) and seem to be completely powerless to change.  So there you have it, this is me. 

I'm no expert on the adoption process or on the theology of adoption.  However, the knowledge of both has intersected in my life and I believe changed me and my husband and the future of our family forever.  I'm not even finished with this book yet, but anyone who wants a greater understanding of why adoption? why now?  This book is teaching me and putting together things that I have felt in my heart, but not had the full knowledge and understanding to articulate.  



 I know that so much of my journey thus far has been encouraged, eased and aided by the blogs of those who were willing to talk about their journey, to share information, and to be transparent about their lives.  So having said that, please feel free to comment and ask questions and I will reply by email if you like.

I find it interesting how American lifestyle and culture has changed SO MUCH in just 2 generations.  We now live in a time, where I feel before I even say that we are adopting 2 more children... I must preface it with , "Yes, I know we must be CRAZY!"  When I share, I immediately feel like I need to offer a disclaimer.  Usually the facial expression of the other person creates this compulsion (although I know it shouldn't) to explain WHY?  or why two?  I know I've got to get over this, because when we are united as a trans-racial family there are going to be many more questions and I'm not going to be making public service announcements in Wal-mart.  Okay, so by DIFFERENT from just 2 generations ago, I mean that my grandmother was 1 of ELEVEN children.  My husband's grandmother was 1 of TEN children.  People had lots of babies, and they all worked on the farm.  Hard work, the kind most of us don't come near in our daily lives.  Did our great-grandparents sit around and discuss ad nausea if they could afford it?  If it was fair the to the other 10 kids?  What do you think?  I think not.  Actually their lives were much closer to the reality of the culture where our adoptive children wait, than anything we've ever known.  Life was much simpler.  They didn't have ALOT.  They didn't have stuff.  They DID have family and a closeness that we are losing.  My grandmother Lucy's relationship with her siblings is a beautiful thing.  I've had the privilege of observing and experiencing their love myself as I've grown up.  My grandmother and one of her older sisters actually married brothers, and I grew up in the same town as all 4 of them.  My grandmother and her siblings, even as they aged and had grandchildren and great-grandchildren have managed to get together twice yearly to break bread and fellowship.  It is not just ritual...there is real relationship and love there on a level that I think,we are losing. 

They had family and they had faith.  We have filled our lives with alot of other "stuff and activities" that can crowd out the only two that will matter for eternity (our faith and the people we love as our neighbors and share it with).  This is something, our family is trying to be aware of and purposefully reclaim.  I ask myself more often these days, when the details of life get us twisted...when there's stress and decisions to be made...will any of this matter one day?  will the thing we are fretting over ever even be discussed when we are in Heaven for eternity?  What does God want Mandi to focus on?  And how does a simplified life hold some of the keys to what He wants for us? 

Yes I know if this were a paper (as my 3rd grader just got his back) I would fail on transitions and a focus to what I'm saying.  But hey, while I am all over the place, do you hear the new Jamie Grace song on my playlist??? I LOVE THIS SONG....it just puts Joy in my heart.  I know my songs aren't always the most suitable for blog reading...you may have to mute or turn 'em down occasionally.  However, know this...what you hear on here is ME, it is me to a tee.  I have to really love it, it has to mean something to me or put some groove in my step for me to put it on here.  I love this new artist and Toby Mac on there too. 

Okay Night,

Mandi

P.S. Spell check is hating me right now and my made up words.  English teachers were not my fans...that's why I ended up in math and science.  God bless you for reading this :)

I'm in Love with the Mailman!!!

Got your attention, huh!

All the good news comes in the mail recently.

  Many things have happened since my last post so
 let me see if I can give you the run down.  

• Had a succesful consignment sale  (1st ever) and raised $308 for our adoption.
• While visiting family in my husband's hometown, my brakes went out on the van.  I was talking to a friend as I approached a 4 way stop (fortunately on a country road and the kids were not with me) and in seconds was standing up on the BRAKES trying to stop the mother of all vans. ;)
• Thank the Lord, I got stopped safely, an was able to get repaired the same day.  Yes, score one for the Enemy on the Adoption Fund--Hate to tell him we are not DETERRED!  God didn't flinch, and neither did my Spirit.
• The kids and I were able to get away and spend time with precious family & cousins that live far away.  We had a great week!
• While on vacation, I was sewing African Doll dresses, and my machine broke down :(
• It's taken getting home, finding a repair place (2 hrs. away) and finally getting there with the 3 kiddos, to get the adoption dolls back in full swing.
• Was totally blessed when the repairman charged me 1/3 of what he should have:  Turns out He is the man that sold my husband the machine 9 years ago when I was pregnant with my firstborn.  We moved away, shortly thereafter, and it was my first trip back.  It was cool to take my 3 kiddos to the park where I used to walk and bike back when it was just me and their daddy. 
• After Spring Break, it has been and is still a juggling act (not a very entertaining one) of trying to homeschool two, keep # 3 out of trouble, keep sewing [cause I'm "sew", (tee hee) thankful for this Adoption Fundraiser.  So keep sharing and buying!], and keep the daily household stuff going, and prepare for our YARD SALE.  Whew!  It's busy, but good. Crazy, but blessed.  I wouldn't want it any other way. 
• The Mission Team returned from Uganda.  My babies LOVED their photo books!  I have photographs of them sitting in laps and reading them.  I see their precious fingertips gliding over the pages.  I see their eyes dance across the pages that I poured out my heart over and prayed over.
• My kids received their gifts from us.  My daughter looked lovely in her new dress.  And to my delight, when the box was opened with dolls for the oldest 5 girls in the home, she grabbed up all 5, clutching them all for dear life.  We'll have plenty of time to learn about sharing later.  I'm just joyful that she wanted them, that she wanted something her Momma made for her.  Apparently just like with all girls, there was a scramble over the different dresses that the 5 dolls were wearing.  Everyone wanted the PINK ONE ((surprise))! 
• My son had on his new PJs and as always was smiling from ear to ear.  Just today I received in the mail, the outlines of my children's feet from one of the team members.  (THANK You Charli!!!)  I know it sounds strange (or maybe not) I was overjoyed!!  I mean it was a wrinkled up Chic-Fil-A receipt, and two sheets of a mini notebook taped together with the outlines of my children's little feet.  Just a week ago they were standing on these, while a precious friend knelt down and ran an ink pen around their toes.  I wonder if it tickled? I wonder if they thought what are these crazy Mzungus doing?!??
• So I love the Mailman cause all our updates and encouragement comes in the mail.  Today I received the footprints of my children straight from Ug*nda...fun comparing them to our kids at home and figuring out who is bigger.
• Lastly I received our fingerprint appointment cards.  You see the adoptive community knows that with those cards in hand, you can "walk-in" to have your biometrics taken long before the scheduled time 2 weeks out.  There is only one day this week, that my hubbie's schedule would allow him to make the 2.5 hour trip one mornin to the nearest USCIS center in Charleston, SC...and that is Wednesday.  I had a 2 day window hoping the cards would come and they did.  Praising the Lord!
• Now, reality check, these prints are the last piece of this paperwork journey that Jeremy and I have any semblance of control over.  I mean we can go get these done early, and when they are complete we can make phone calls until we get our approval.  But other than calling to check, from here on out, even after the approval there is "nothing" we can do but trust God with the timeline and every detail between now and having our children all together at home. 
• The fact that things have been pretty quick and smooth for us thus far, may be about to come to big old HALT.  I'm not being negative, just realistic...there's a list of families waiting on a Court Date and they are stacking up by the day.  So unless the log jam gets rolling, we too will wait a good bit.  I'm just sharing this now, cause I don't know what God is up to, and I just want to praise Him in advance.  IF He works it out and keeps us rolling along at this pace, He gets all the Glory! (He gets it all anyway)  Right now, August is looking optimistic, but God is in the impossible business, so I'm along for the ride.  June is still a possibility IF things get rolling, and babies start coming home.

Speaking of waiting, will you please say a prayer for my dear friends the Moodys.  They began their adoption journey to their two precious sons back in September.  They have truly been waiting, in a way that I have not.  They know it's all in God's timing, and they fully trust in His plan.  Just pray for movement on their case, pray for their adoptions to be filed in court this FRIDAY.  Will you join me in praying for them?  Pray for God's favor to be on their process as they long more every day to have those precious 1 & 2 year old sons in their arms. 

Back to my sewing machine,
Mandi

Cosmetics for a CAUSE:)

Welcome to a 3-day MARY KAY party! 20% of all purchases go to Bring Our Children Home! 
We are so thankful for the generosity of my college suitemate, Stacy Lange, who is an independent beauty consultant with Mary Kay. Stacy and I have reconnected over facebook, but hadn't talked since college. She emailed with this great idea and offered to give FREE SHIPPING to all orders over $40 along with a GIFT.
*Please REMEMBER to put "JOHNSON ADOPTION" in the Comment Box when ordering *

CLICK the title "Cosmetics for a Cause" above to SHOP from Stacy's website.

I actually love Mary Kay products and have used them for years. Even if you've never tried their products before, there are some great Mother's Day GIFT ideas in this e-catalog. Thanks for taking a look. Thanks for sharing with any other friends that might enjoy this offer. Above everything else, I thank you for praying for our family and believing with us that God is going to provide all that is needed to fund what He has laid on our hearts to do through the adoption of our children.

God Bless You ALL!

Here's the Link to Shop!  New Products 

SALE starts this Morning! 

Party from MONDAY April11th at 8am 'til WEDNESDAY night, April 13th at 11:59pm

Thank you everyone!