Makin' A Momma Proud

My youngest daughter brought me a "home edition" of her newspaper she had created. It was entitled "News Today". She was very proud of her creation.
This newspaper had a sports section featuring Miley Cyrus playing NFL football. An entertainment section all about a drama performance (that she was in) that has 1,000,000 people in attendance. An obituary for Justin Bieber, two recipes, a game page, advertising for a vacation spot, and a story on a national Bible Bowl  champion and his brothers. My favorite story however was her front page story, that I am sharing, with permission.

(The above picture was on the front page)

REVOLT OF THE BEANIE BABIES
In a shocking turn of events these cuddly companions have revolted against the human race. The FBI has discovered robotic chips implanted in this line of popular stuffed animals. They suspect that terrorists are behind this. The government advises the public to get rid of ALL beanie babies by controlled fire or explosion.
More about this in the next issue.

I love see the creativity being cultivated in my daughter.
Now, off to burn some little stuffed animals.....and send flowers to Justin's mom, I wonder if he collected beanie babies...
(I think the little guy in the left bottom corner is the ring leader)

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson

Life Lessons

Thirteen years ago, on my oldest son's sixteenth birthday, a black lab mix puppy named Abbey was born. We brought her into out family and loved her.She quickly became my oldest son's dog.
Abbey had a litter of puppies. We kept a female, named her Milcah. She also a a litter of puppies and we kept a male pup. This puppy was always getting into places that required someone crawling on their belly in a crawl space under the house to rescue.So he was aptly named Trouble.
When Milcah was about three, she was unfortunately hit by a car and died. We were all very sad.
We have had many years with Abbey and Trouble. They have been part of our lives for a long time.
My oldest son, who will be twenty-nine in a couple of weeks, has moved on into adulthood and has his own home. My youngest son, who is ten, became Abbey's owner and caretaker. This has been a wonderful and loving relationship for several years now.
Abbey became ill a couple of weeks ago. She had some sort of cancerous disease. The last four days, she has gone downhill rapidly.
The family made the decision to care for her at home, not to put her to sleep, but to let nature take its course.
My youngest son has held water up to her mouth so she could drink several times a day. He has prepared special food for her and encouraged her to take bites. As she has wandered over our acreage, during the last few days, he followed her, watered her, made sure she was comfortable.
It was a beautiful thing to watch him care for Abbey in this way, without help, and without being told.
Today, with tears and shovel, he said his final goodbye, alongside his dad as he buried his dog.
His first lesson in death. I think he learned a lot about compassion and care.

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson

What Was I Thinking??

Saturday is going to be a fabulous day.
My husband and I are hosting an open house for the members of the new church we are serving. I moved in just a couple of months ago, and I want to be hospitable.
I love entertaining. I am really excited to have a large number of people in my home. There was an invatation to the entire county in the newspaper today to our open house.
WHAT WAS I THINKING?
Started baking with my daughter today. Major cooking begins tomorrow.
And
I
still
have
boxes
 to
unpack!!!!
I am starting to feel just a little overwhelmed.
Then I unpacked a little book by Janet M. Congo, Julie L. Mask, and Jan E. Meier entitled,
" Time For Myself, Quiet Thoughts For Busy Women".
It was book marked on a page that had this scripture:
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 (NIV)

The book then said this:
"Every calling-even to housework- is a holy calling if I am doing it for the Lord."

I was literally stopped in my tracks. Just when I thought I would never get it all done, I was reminded WHY I was doing it.
I am wanting to do life with the people pf my community so we can serve the Lord together. Every effort I put forth is NOT for me, but for Jesus.
So now that I have relaxed, blogged, and caught my breath, I think I see a box....

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson

The Darkness Of Depression

 

Darkness.
Falling, falling, falling down a dark shaft, unable to see the bottom, unable to stop.
Profound loneliness but afraid to be with people.
Unable to get out of bed some days, other nights unable to sleep at all.
Finding no joy anywhere you look, no activity worth the effort, and yet, so desiring to have a purpose.

The above statements are just some of the ways people describe depression.  There are many, many more, too many to list on this, or any other blog.

My heart breaks for people suffering from the illness of depression. Their illness many times is very misunderstood.
They are told:
"Just get up and brush it off!"
" Look on the bright side."
"Things will get better."
"You could get better if you REALLY wanted to."
"If you loved God, you wouldn't be this way."

All of these statements are untruth. A clinically depressed person can no more, "Brush it off", than a person with appendicitis can take a warm shower to make the problem go away.

I have been touched by depression on a personal level, within my own family, and had many friends who have been affected by this ugly, relentless stalker.

I blog this today to really only say two things:
1. If you are depressed, GET HELP from a health care provider or qualified faith based counselor. Depression is an illness just like high blood pressure, a urinary tract infection or a heart attack! Please, please, please have the courage to ask for help. And know, there are people, like me, who love you.
2. Pay attention to those around you. If someone is depressed, treat them with love, support and respect. Don't judge. The last thing they need is to be rejected by someone who thinks they can cure depression with a simple change of mind. Help walk the person through whatever it takes to get them to the right person for the care they need.

Love like Jesus. Someone's life could depend on it!

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson

Cha Cha Cha Changes!!!!!

 It is rapidly changing seasons. I can see it all around me

The leaves are changing colors.
The kids are back in school.
The nights are cooler.
The pumpkins, straw, and scarecrows are replacing bright flowers in everyone's yard.

And things in my life are changing too.
I am serving the community around me with a new group of awesome women.
My family dynamics are changing with the arrival of my mother-in-love who is joining our family home permanently.
I am teaching and speaking again after a healing hiatus.

I am encouraged and excited for all the new CHANGES in my life.

My favorite quote is:
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." -Author Unknown

I am ready to have the things in my life that need to change to fall out of my life like the leaves are falling off the trees.
I don't just want what I've always gotten. I want BETTER!

To be more effective for God's Kingdom.
To be a better friend.
To use God's resources in a way that glorifies Him.

I want to be the woman God has called me to be!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
-2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson

Sisters

I am thinking a lot about my sister today. Not because I am really jealous because she is sitting under an umbrella in Hawaii, but because today is her birthday.
So today, I honor Lara.
I was five years old when she was born. I still remember her coming home from the hospital. It was actually really beneficial for me. You see, I had been an only child for so long, my parents wanted to make me still feel special. So, every time my sister got a gift, well by golly, I did too! It was AWESOME!!

It was interesting, as we grew up, we actually grew apart. The years that separated us made a huge difference, especially during the adolescent years. I was out of our family home at the age of 17, and she was only 12. We had already really drifted apart because I was an outdoors, animal person and, well, she wasn't. We were as different as any sisters could be.

I married and moved across the country. I saw her very occasionally. But, as I grew and matured, I knew family was important. When she was expecting my beautiful niece, who turned 22 three days ago,  and contracted preeclampsia, I got on a plane and took care of her. It was an awesome day when my niece was born beautiful and healthy. Although my sister was not the best labor and delivery patient! Hence, Alicia being an only child!

After Alicia was born we had more in common. I had three children and now that she was a mom, we had lots to bond over. Then something happened. I still am unsure exactly what caused it, maybe lack of communication, or a hurt feeling, but once again, we drifted apart. Barely speaking to one another. For years this went on.

Then as quickly as it happened, one day we were once again sharing life. And it has been beautiful ever since. My sister and I are VERY different. We look at life differently. We live life differently. And yet, we are so similar, sometimes it is scary.

We tend to get together a couple times a year just to have fun. I live in the southeast and she lives in the southwest, so we really have to sacrifice to make this happen.
People can always tell when we are getting ready for a meeting. Thing 1 (ME) and Thing 2 (LARA) appear on our Face Book profile pics. We also begin to talk in Dr. Seuss rhyme.  It is worth everything we have to do to make it happen. 

I love my sister very much. I will do ANYTHING to protect our relationship.
After all, who else would I go the beach with and entertain the idea of yelling  "Help!" simply because there is a new class of (very young) life guards training just yards away.

Or, who else would go with her to help celebrate my niece turning 21, and being able to embarrass my niece beyond anything Thing 2 could do alone.

Or who would she call when she is missing her husband who is in the Navy and stationed over seas?

Or who would I call when my husband is diagnosed with cancer and I am feeling scared.

As everyone knows there is no Thing 1 without a Thing 2.
I would say to any out there with a sister. It is a special relationship. Take care of it. Get over the little things. Love one another. It is so worth it!

I love you Lara, and I am glad you are my sister!

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson

How To Make Sure 9/11 Never Happens Again

 Like almost everyone else in our country and across the world, the main thing on my mind today has been the ten year anniversary of 9/11/2001. Remembering the horrible loss of life that so unexpectedly occurred in a blink of an eye on that fall morning that began like every other. But it didn't end like every other. Over 2900 people died that day. And no one felt safe in their own homes.



So today I say:
I am so sorry for your loss to those families who lost loved ones ten years ago.



I say thank you to the firefighters who ran to all three scenes, and lost their lives trying to save others.

I say thank you to those firefighters who made it out alive. And I am sorry you have a horrible image that only one who was up close that day knows of, that comes into your mind when you close your eyes every night.

Thank you to the police officers that went above and beyond their job duties to try to protect the people from an enemy they could not be prepared for.

I say thank you to our military who have been at war for ten years now. For those who have died, I owe a debt to your families I cannot repay. To those who have returned home, thank you for your sacrifice of time that you can never get back with your loved ones. I know many of you return with scars that cannot be seen on the outside, but run very deep.

But I have a message now that is only for the Church. If you serve King Jesus, the answer to the issue of how to stop the death and tragedy lies within you.

You see, we need to realize that the government cannot stop the terrorists.

The soldiers are not able to keep terrorists from being. They can do their very brave best to keep them from attacking us. And they will continue to die to keep you safe. But they cannot keep people from becoming terrorists.

The police officers can work with the government to try to make sure they enforce the laws, but they will mostly still just continue to clean up the messes the terrorists make.

The firefighters will continue to respond to the effects of terrorists, but they cannot stop them.

You CHURCH do have the only thing that can stop terrorists. The only thing that will keep someone from becoming a terrorist.


The life changing message of Christ, The Gospel. The Good News.

Only when we, as the church, step out of our safe comfort zone, and share the most powerful thing on this earth will there ever be a hope of there not being another atrocity like we experienced ten years ago.

Only Jesus' saving grace can stop someone from choosing to kill for darkness and turn them into a shining light that dispels darkness from the world.

So church, the first responders and the military are willing to do their part, what are you willing to do?

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson