Update: In a song...or a word?

“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?