Making it back from camp!

Call of the search parties, we did make it back! I guess Timbra was the only worried enough to send out search and rescue, but now, dear friend, be assured that we are resting safely in our own home!

Camp was good. It was hot and sticky, but worth it. I was a camp counselor for the 4th grade girls. I had 8 girls in my cabin and they were all great! I also made had an AIMer newly off the field from Scotland as my co-counselor. Her name is Stephanie Black and she made a hugh impact on me. I would not have survived camp without her! For the most part things were smooth. My girls never had any major fights and were always willing to get up once I shoved them out of bed! But no one was lost, or drowned in the pool, so all in all it was a success!

The funniest story I have is one night I decided to go into town (Norman, OK) with Chris to get away for an hour or so. I promised Stephanie a Starbucks because it was on a night when our little nine year olds were swimming at 11:00 at night. It was only the second night of camp, so we weren't to familiar with our cabin yet. I told her that there were 9 girls in the cabin. The next morning I woke up to, "There are 8 girls." (Imagine a deep growl of you will.) "What?", I asked. "EIGHT girls, not NINE girls!" Ooops. I guess I told her the wrong number of girls so she was convinced that she had lost one of them. Anyways, the Starbucks made up for it. If there is a lesson to be learned, always count your camp girls before you send them off to the swimming pool!

All in all, it was a fun week!

Playing sports in the dark!

One of our AIMers from Leon did an intership with another congregation that came to this camp. This is Tony baptizing one of the boys from his cabin.

My computer isn't allowing me to post more pictures, so I will try again later!

Leaving for Camp...

Well tomorrow we take on a brand new adventure...camp. Neither of us have been back to camp since our high school years when we went as campers to our perspective church camps. But tomorrow we will put on our tennis shoes, spray ourselves with bug repellent and head for the out doors life for a week. Chris will get to sleep in an air conditioned cabin (he is supposedly a "director") while I sleep in a NON air conditioned unit with about 15 4th graders!

Although I am dreading most things, mainly that fact we have only been in our own beds for a week and now I have to give it up for a HARD cot, I am excited to see most of the members here in a different environment than the church building. I am excited to get to know people and bond with them on a whole new level. Please keep the camp in your prayers next week. We will be hosting around 120 young people. This is a great opportunity to influence people for Christ. I pray that my body holds up (I don't do well without sleep!) and that I have great patients for all my little campers!

Hopefully I can get some pictures up soon of our new house! (Soon being sometime after camp!)

We made it to Shawnee!!!

Well, we made it to Shawnee on Thursday. As we passed the church to go to the house of the family keeping us for a couple of days we saw a sign that read "Welcome Chris Jessica and family"! We feel loved! Our first couple of days have been frustrating as the papers on the house weren't ready for closing. This also upset the sellers and they wouldn't allow us to move anything into the house. But we had to turn in the truck we had rented, so we put all of our things into a storage unite today (Saturday) and we will move it into the house on Monday after closing. This is a bit frustrating, but putting it into perspective, this is a very small annoyance.

We are all happy and well. Since we are not in our home I feel like I am visiting and will be driving back to Lubbock any day! The good news is that we are here to stay! God has been good and through the annoying times has shed many blessings on us. So I will not complain, only rejoice in the great family I have and the wonderful church we are blessed to be a part of right now!

Give me some time and I will get some pictures up!

In a Nut Shell...

So I know that it has been a long time since I have posted. I have actually written several posts that I have not posted. Mainly because it has been hard to know what to say during this time of reentry. But, we are doing well and finally starting to figure out where we are in life. So in a nut shell:

Alison has finished 1st grade. The transition was hard for her but on her last report card she got all A's and 1 B. (The B was in spelling of course.) This was a major improvement from her first report card in which she had failed in spelling! We are very proud of her! She reads at almost a 3rd grade level and will read ANYTHING she can get her hands on. She made friends quickly at school and has such a sweet and giving spirit. She misses Mexico and talks about it every day. She wants to watch shows in Spanish because she prefers it over English. Over all I think she has readjusted well!

Christian has done great since we have been back. His new obsession is Star Wars. He got a game cube for his birthday as well as a Lego's star wars game and we have yet to hear the end of it! He has done great since being back. He only wants food that has chili on it and gets anoid with "American" style Doritos and Cheetos. When given the option he will eat Mexican candy over boring American candy! He is our little Mexican for sure!

Chris and I have had major ups and downs. Reverse culture shock is not something I would wish on my worst enemy! But we have weathered through and things are looking great! Our time with AIM was great! We made many friends and influenced young people. More then that we where encouraged and uplifted. We have both been participating in LTG's (Life Transformation Groups) and have had so many one on one time with the AIM staff. When we left Mexico we did so because it was what was best for our family. It is for the same reason we are choosing to leave Lubbock for the greener pastures of Shawnee, OK. After having an amazing experience in Lubbock, we decided that we needed something more permanent for our family. We need a place to call home. The Lakeview Church of Christ came to Leon several times. Chris and I always loved them and felt loved by them. Their preacher (a wonderful man) decided it was his time to move on after 10 years and so they came and asked us if we were interested. After about a month of back and forth, we decided that God was the one leading us this direction. So in a week and a half we will make that move. We are on the process of buying our first home and we will close on the 27th of this month. (If you would like to see it go to openhouseok.com, click view by city, click Shawnee and then scroll down to 27 Clark cir. and you can take a virtual tour!) We feel blessed by God. He has blessed us beyond what we deserve. All we can hope to do is to continue to follow His guidance. We feel that He has been leading our journey and it is only by His continued grace that we get to continue to work for Him. We feel blessed. Our journey has been hard and full of unexpected things, but we are better people for all the hard times! We have countless friends who are in Christ all over the world. Right now I thing about the missionaries around Mexico who where shinning lights when our world felt so dark. God used them to make us better people. So to the Rush's, the Burn's, the Brednich's and the Henderson's we praise God for your families and think about you every day for all your love and support. We could not have had the strength to continue had God not put you all in our lives! Thank You!!!!

So...In a nut shell...God has been Good to us!

Numero Cinco!!

Well, here it is. My youngest just turned 5! I officially have two KIDS! No more toddlers running around the house. I don't hear NO or MINE anymore. my house rings with "yes ma'am" and "may I please". Well, maybe it's not exactly like that, but my house is a lot more calm then it use to be! I have loved watching Christian grow! Right now his main loves are video games and anything hot wheels. His favorite food is Doritos, and he prefers juice over milk. He'll eat just about anything I give him. He misses his friends Nadia and Evelyn from Mexico and also misses tacos and papaya. I love my little boy!

Yesterday we celebrated his birthday with some family! It was nice having family around, it has been a long time since we have lived near family and we have been enjoying it! Last night Ann Baker made some baked potatoes, chicken nuggets, fried shrimp & mac 'n' cheese! It was a feast and very yummy! I brought over a cars cake and there were lots of presents! It was a good time!

His cool Cars cake! Thanks Wal-mart!

Opening a present from his great-grandmother!

Aunt Ann and Uncle Kevin help put batteries in the cool talking globe they got him!

Making it to Lubbock...

We arrived in Lubbock on Sunday around 8:30 in the evening. We spent most of Sunday in Abilene visiting our sponcering church and also some of Chris' family. It was a long but very fun day!

Since we have been in Lubbock, we have been very busy. Monday morning we got up and took Alison to school to get registered, and she went to school that same day! She seems to like it. She has several "best friends", although she can't remember their names. Her gym teacher likes to speak to her in spanish. Alison says that he is very "impressed" with her. Also, I bought her the school lunch for this week and she is begging me to send lunch. She won't even eat the sandwiches because of the wierd cheese. The problem is, school lunch costa $1.50 so I doubt that I can send lunch cheaper than that! So I will be spending more money to send her lunch to school! Oh, well. As long as she eats!

Right now we are living with Chris' cousin Lonn and his two roommates! It's a bit crowded, but everyone seems to enjoy having the kids around, not to mention so homecooked meals! The are very gracious to let us stay! Our house should be ready the 1st of February, we are looking forward to that!

We are re-connecting with some "old" friends! Last night at church we ran into so many people! I am really excited about my friend Jamie Sanchez (sorry, I don't know her married name!) We are both from Pueblo and she was an AIM assistant while I was going through AIM. I haven't seen her in ...years! Turns out we will be living within walking distance of each other! The kids (both) also loved their classes at Sunset. We also have been asked to join a small group at one of the elders homes. We had such a warm welcome! (Mainly thanks to Toni Burns who called ahead! I can't thank you enough Toni!) Anyways, we feel really content to be here! We can't wait to get setteled, but we are enjoying God's blessings as we go!

Arriving in Houston

After a very long, but uneventful trip, we made it to Houston! We made it with about an hour to spare in order to ring in the new year with Guy and Nan! We stayed in Houston until the 3rd and then we came up to my in-laws house in Bryan, Tx. Today we will travel to Abilene and will stay we some more of Chris' family. Tomorrow we will visit our sponsoring congregation. After church we will drive onto Lubbock where we will begin a new ministry. If you are wondering what you can pray for, I have a list:

Our car, it's making funny noises.
Our transition back.
Raising support (again).
Alison's transition into a new, and very different school.
The work still to be done in Leon.
Our new ministry in Lubbock.
And last, praise God for the amazing things he has already done for us. He has taken care of us and has blessed us more than we could ever deserve!


Chris, reading a story to Alison, Christian and Aspen!

Saying Good-bye

To say our last week in Mexico was hard is a bit of an understatement. We had to say good-bye to many good friends, to a church we had worked so hard for, and to a place we called home for four years. The feelings I am feeling are so hard to explain. I am grateful for the time I had their, for the friendships I have made that I know will last a lifetime. I am sad for people I left behind, for the AIMers I won't be able to continue to minister too, for Patricia, I woman whom I can call a best friend. I am angry at those who we had to leave without getting a goodbye from, because what they thought we should do differed from what was best for our family. I am in awe at the mercy and love God showed us through so many friends. In the end, when times are tough, you find out who your friends are. Thankfully, we have so many friends who helped in our transition out of Mexico. The church, with whom we gave our heart and soul to for so many years, truly blessed us on our way out. They were examples of faith, love and loyalty. We are proud to say that we were able to be amongst them, even for a short time. And to the Rush's, the Henderson's and the Burn's, we can't think you all enough for being their in our time of need. Thank you for listening and talking to us. Your love and encouragement has been felt in bounds. I pray that God will continue to bless you and your ministries the same way He has used you to bless us. We could not have gotten through the difficult process without you guys. And to the Gary's, we pray that God continues to bless your time in Leon. I know as teammates, we weren't always the best, but when it counted we always worked well together! Thanks to everyone who prayed for us and our work in Leon over the years! God has done a good work there and I know that he will continue to do so...


Our small group. and others, got together and had a night of prayer. It was an amazing time!



My good friend Patricia! I will miss her so much!



Our last night we stayed with our good friends Martin and Patricia, these are their daughter's Evelyn and Nadia.



Their son's, Joshua and Leo.


Our car was packed full! We could not have done it without James Henderson!


Our last wave good-bye! We will miss you so much!

Christmas...

My sister, April, was able to come down this year for Christmas. It was a bit crazy because it was our last week in Mexico! But we tried to still make sure it was special for the kids! April ended up being sick for most of the visit, but we still had fun!


Alison finding what Santa left!


Christian finding what Santa left!


Christmas dinner at Chili's with the AIMers!



The kids loved having Aunt April here!



Grandma sent a gingerbread house to decorate!



Afterwards, we ate it!

Christmas Program...

Every year the kids have a Christmas program. This year was fun because Christian was in school as well! Here are a couple of pics!

While Christian sat in the middle of the stage the kids all ran around looking for him. They said, "Where is Christian Johnson, where is Christian Johnson?" When they found him he responded (imagine, if you can, the sweetest voice you've ever heard), "I'm right here! Waiting for baby Jesus!" Let's just say, I cried! It was so precious!


This was him saying his line!


Alison had a fun dance! She was so excited because she got to wear her PJ's!