“Oh I
wish I was in the land of cotton….old times there are not forgotten, Look
away, Look away, Look away, DIXIE LAND….”
Was it Ally McBeal who had a theme song in her head
for EVERYTHING?
I think that’s me..a song comes to mind in almost
every situation/circumstance/mood/Blog post…there’s a song there, always, a
song.
“Coming to America” (Neil Diamond)..mmmmm…my
favorite….
Oh yea..write a blog post..write a blog post…focus..
We had our first visit back to the family and faith
family that God has graciously given us, in the good ol’ U..S…of A!!!! (I would write home, but our home is in
Heaven, right?)
So, we were here in Namibia for, just shy of 8
months, then returned home for 2 months.
Thus far, God has provided for us to return “home” once a year. Due to airline ticket scheduling, ending of
public school for one child last year, etc….the best timeline for us, right now,
is…April-January in Namibia, and Feb-March in America…now…we are on that
desired schedule for this year. After
that, we’ll see how the Lord leads.
Now on to the good stuff!
First, I still have to remind myself of the ages of
my children…many people travel with children across the world at early
ages. My Swedish friend and her family
begin traveling to Sweden when those sweet babies are….babies. They have grown up traveling, it’s normal for
them.
Apparently, mine think it’s normal for them
too. Let’s see…we took a 3 year old to
India for a month, AND came to Namibia when she was 4.
I forget that sometimes.
I am in awe…they both know where to go, what to do,
when to pick up the pace, and when to wait patiently through the airports…they
sleep when they can sleep and are mesmerized by the television options in the
headrest in front of them for the rest of the time. Does God give GREAT grace? Yes!
The route we took to return home consisted of 2
days of travel:
6 hour car/truck ride from Tsumeb to Windhoek—where
the airport is.
2 hour flight to South Africa
5 hour layover
10 hour flight to Holland
4 hour layover
11 hour flight to Memphis (ahhhh….Tennessee)
2 hour layover
1 hour flight to B’ham!!!!
AND….we were met by the most wonderful group of
friends and family—Wearing shirts that said, “Welcome Home Johnsons” in Orange
& the shirts were White! Some of my
favorite people wearing my favorite colors on a shirt…it was a precious
reunion…physically and in our hearts!
Our cups overflowed!
The 2 months following consisted of:
Amazing time with our family
Amazing time with our Brook Hills faith family
& Small group
Humble opportunities to speak and share about God’s
work here in Namibia
Doctor appointments
Unexpected Surgery to remove a cyst & ovary for
Tori (outpatient)
--Seriously..those 4-5 lines can’t begin to
describe the time..but they are the giant overview words I can use in this
quick post for an update. That time was
loaded with so much emotionally, spiritually, physically….it really may have to
be described in many other posts at a later date.
But in another word…
Thankful.
That’s the GIANT, one word, to describe our hearts
as we boarded the plane back towards South Africa.
Our hearts were full, yet again. How we LOVE those God richly blesses our
lives with..and how precious the time is with them.
The return trip was a result of our God who knows
all before it even happens. I was 1 ½ weeks
“post-op” and our travel back which is usually a 3 day trip was different:
Birmingham to Atlanta (20 mins.)
Atlanta to JoBurg (16 hours)
Overnight in JoBurg
Joburg to Windhoek (2 hours)
Drive from Windhoek to Tsumeb (6 hours)
The direct flight from Atlanta to South Africa cut
out almost a day of travel. Blessing!
God graciously gave Scott wisdom to have
wheelchairs waiting at the gates so I had less walking to do…another Blessing!!! Travel was wonderful and I am recovering
wonderfully as well!
It’s been 5 ½ weeks now and I am feeling
great. We continue to thank and praise
God for giving such wisdom to my doc…and for His sovereign work in it all!
Scott is back in his full teaching schedule and God’s
grace and provision continue to keep us humbled on our knees. He is worthy of all praise!
We took our 2 months home as “Summer break” from
schooling. It just made NO sense to haul
back to the states the books/materials/curricula that we took over, only to
haul it back again, PLUS, next years books—etc!
Oh and…that was not a battle worth fighting..hmmm..play
with grandparents or do school “table work”?…Grandparents win, EVERY TIME!
So..we are back in the thick of homeschooling again
and God’s grace and provision are ever-present there as well. The children are doing great and we really
are all enjoying almost every moment of it!
We thank the Lord for another year to meet Him
right where He’s working…and that He’d allow us to be a part of His work
here.
Thankful.
Humbled.
Hearts filled with Love.
Ok...we all knew it'd be more than "a" word, right?
