POWER OF PRAYER!!!

The power of prayer can be such an amazing thing! We have seen it time and time again this year, starting with a trip in May to Sierra Leone and another one in September!! Are you crazy, two trips in one year and an adoption on top of it all??? That's exactly what we asked ourselves almost totally $8000 by the time you pay for the trips, shots, visas, passports, etc..... I have no other words to describe it but the power of prayer!! No I don't have the answers but I sure love it when God does!! His answers are always better than mine anyways and always right on time.

I say all this because we face many unknowns in life, some we can control but mostly those we can't. As most of my close friends and family know I am the detailed (or atleast like to think I am) planner. This year has probably been the biggest strength builder for me. I have learned to COMPLETELY rely on God like never before, to COMPLETELY surrender everything, to COMPLETELY give it your full heart. It's amazing when we COMPLETELY surrender everything in our life to God and just watch to see what he does with it. I say this because our family has some BIG and exciting news we are going to be sharing over the next couple of days. So stay tuned!!! :)

I-600a APPROVAL IS IN!!!!!!!

Well by my exclamation marks in the title, I"m sure you can tell we are just a wee bit excited :) Yes we received our I-600a approval yesterday. Huge step in our adoption process. But it's not done yet, we still have to Patiently wait for the Ban to lift in October or by the end of the year and then go to court in Sierra Leone. So the journey is getting closer. As this adoption becomes more of a reality, yes I said reality. No it's not like it wasn't real before, it's just start to seem within reach now :) God is really moving mountains and quickly at that so we are praying for a quick remainder of the process but this is God's will so it's in his timing.

On another note, we did get denied one grant today, praying about the 2 remaining that God will open those doors for funding for us to bring little Kevin home.

Seasons of Change

Well not only is the actual seasons changing, so is the Johnson home. I say this in a good way :) God is doing some amazing things in our life and to be honest if I didn't have him to lean on some days I'm not sure I would make it. I'm not going to lie these past couple of weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for me. Preparing Rich to go to SL, him being in SL while I'm anxious and patiently :) waiting to hear from him, to his return and news of our adoption, to finding out exactly what God wants for our life.

 This is God's story not ours. We are just his hands and feet. We are so blessed beyond belied with 2 beautiful children and one extremely special little boy in SL waiting to come home. Words can't describe how hard it is to be thousands of miles from the one you long to have in your arms. BUT I have heard many people tell me this phrase this week "It's in GOD's timing, not yours" and I am so grateful for friends who are honest and tell me things I need to hear from time to time. He has really shown me this week thru many sleepless nights, many tears, and many times on my knees before him that he is preparing us for something, something great!! I am so excited about the future and all it holds for our family. God is so good to us and he deserves all the glory. Tonight in our family devotions it just warmed this mommas heart to hear my children both cry out to God for the children in Africa, there is no prayer like a child's and I love to hear my children cry out to God for there every need. It's such an amazing honor to be raising your children serving God with all there heart.

We have had many people ask how can we pray for you, well here is the "Johnson Prayer List" :)
1) Strength and protection over our family
2) We are currently waiting for our I-600a paperwork to be approved and a quick approval would be ideal
3) Kevin's adoption case is not an easy one, he still has both parents living (one abandoned and one paraplegic) so he is an abandoned orphan but not parent less. We need favor with the court in processing his case and approving his visa with no hangups. If they can't release him because of orphan status we will need to reside in SL with him in our home for 2 years.
4) Finances, traveling to SL is not a cheap flight and each trip costs approximately $3200. If anyone has any frequent flyer miles they would like to donate that would be great :)
5) Lastly, the country of SL is prayerfully going to be lifting the adoption ban sometime in October or before the end of the year. We need for everything to be in place when this happens in order to start the process of bringing Kevin home

That's all my brain can think of right now at midnight. Thank you so much for your continued prayers, we wouldn't be were we are today without amazing praying friends and family.

Here are a couple pictures of Rich's recent trip to our favorite Country Sierra Leone

The Eagle has Landed!

Rich made it to Sierra Leone at approximately 10 pm last night (Friday). I received an email from him today saying it's been a great first day in country. He got to meet Kevin for the first time and love on our little man for a while today. Oh how I remember that first day, so much excitement not knowing what to expect. Rich is right in his element there. I will try and post more when I hear from them. The internet is not reliable there so the connection isn't always the best. Thanks for all your prayers, keep em coming :)

Also, we are going to be doing another Sierra Leone tshirt giveaway if we can get 100 comments on our blog who ever is the 100th comment will get the choice of a mens or womens Simply Love Sierra Leone amazing t-shirt. So spread the news!!

Also, just wanted to give an encouraging word today or thought. We recently had some flooding issues here and thru it all I ended up having to stick my hand in a hug ditch next to our home that was filled with water and such in the dark, needless to say I couldn't see what I was exactly going to be sticking my hand into. I know this is a crazy analogy but it works. I was thinking to myself after that, God uses us like my hand going into the unknown. We have to trust him that he knows best and no harm will come from it. It's taking a dive in and not knowing if there is alligator infested water or not. We just have to be willing to trust in the Lord to guide and lead us thru those situations in life.

10 Hours and Counting!

Well Rich has officially 10 hours until plane takesoff for Sierra Leone, West Africa. Bags packed checked, bags repacked checked, kids goodbyes said checked, letters and pictures for Kevin Checked, and lots of lovin on my hubby check! I am sure gonna miss him but he is going to have an awesome time serving all 85 kids in the center.

Check out Kari Gibson's blog where we featured as the guest blogger today Click Here. I was so honored to meet Kari thru her blog and finally got to meet her in person this 4th of July. She is an amazing woman of God with a heart for the Orphans in Africa. We got our shirts design from her simply love afrrica shirts design. We still have some in stock, check it out Simply Love Sierra Leone shirts. There is a check out button on the left hand side of our blog if you would like to purchase one, all proceeds goes directly towards our adoption costs.

Womens Shirts 

Mens Shirts Below