I can speak for both of us when I say we don’t want our children to think living a life sold out to the Calling of The Messiah is easy, comfortable, or even sometimes understandable. When you are expectant that He is calling you to something more you obey. Obedience not often understood by a nonbeliever or one young in the faith journey. Sometimes obedience we don’t even understand, we just want to obey. We don’t proclaim to know everything but we do know that when you are obedient and give Him fertile soil to work, He can and will do more than you could ever fathom.
[He does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number - Job 9:10] Success, to us, does not look like following our flesh but following the Father. The flesh craves easy, comfort, family connections, materials But the Spirit craves The Father, and obedience, and remembering it’s His approval not mans. Years ago when I moved to Franklin I wrote a blog post about how I put God in a box, and He then put me in Franklin. By "putting God in a box" I mean I forgot how big, powerful, and sovereign He really is. I told Him what He had prepared me for instead of really having an open mind to what He was preparing me for. I told Him what doors He should open. I had limited my prayers to what I had wanted. I limited what God could do to what I wanted. I put God in a box. I wrote then: “He has things in store for me that are far greater than anything I could ever fathom.” And Oh did He. Franklin made me a wife and a mom. And given me so many amazing friendships and hearts to love like family. Friends that make me want to be a better wife, a better mom, and a better person. I believe Winnie The Pooh said it best when he said, “I get to where I’m going, by walking away from where I’ve been.” You can’t be in two places at once, or I would find a way. I’m a believer in half obedience being full disobedience, and I don’t want to be Jonah sloshing around in the belly of a whale. That being said, here are all the details of our next adventure in obedience: Where are we headed: Brunswick, Ga to serve at First Baptist Church Brunswick. Britton will be the Contemporary Worship & Young Adults Pastor When do we move: June 25th Where will we be living: Currently we have been offered a temporary rental that is within our budget in the town next to Brunswick. How far along are we in this pregnancy: 11 weeks as of Saturday, June 2nd. When is the baby due: December 22, 2018 What impact does this have for our foster care journey: due to some strange (God ordained, as we see now) circumstances, we did not get very far in the process here in NC. When we get more permanently settled in Georgia, we will pick up where we left off and work to become licensed Foster Parents in Brunswick. Expecting another baby does not deter us from the calling to foster. Will we be closer to family: we are actually moving further away from family, which is never an easy choice to make. We do know people in the area and the Church has been extremely welcoming and loving to our family already. How can you help: We are always in need of prayer. We are also in need of help packing and cleaning to get ready to move and sell our home. How you can pray for us: Pray that our home in Franklin sells quickly, and we will walk away with some profit to be able to put towards a home in Brunswick. Pray that we do find more permanent housing, sooner rather than later. Pray for a healthy full term pregnancy and safe delivery. Pray against high blood pressure that created issues for us during our pregnancy with Hensley Jae. Pray for our family as we transition to a new area, new home, new church, and new environment. Pray that we will find the best medical care and perfect doctors for Hensley and myself. We have absolutely loved and had amazing health care providers here and we would love to be able to fill those shoes with new providers in Brunswick. Pray for the ministries Britton will be leading. We are praying for leaders and fertile soil. Pray that we would remember these are The Lord’s ministries and His people, and that we would be faithful with what He has entrusted us with. We also don't believe in goodbyes, so just tell us you'll see us soon. We'll see you soon, The Johnstons
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