October Seattle Trip

October has been a busy month for the Johnson family so far.  We packed up the Jetta and traveled around in the Seattle area for two weeks.  I think we put over 1,000 miles on the car this trip, it is safe to say that I am pretty sick of the I-5 and the 405 by now!  You don't know stress until you are stuck in Seattle rush hour traffic in the middle lane and you hear the request for a pit stop from your 4 year old.

For those of you who don't know Mike grew up in the Philippines as an M.K. (missionary kid) and the big fast food chain there is Jollibee.  To have a taste of home we decided to grab Mike's cousin, who also grew up in the Philippines, and go to the South Center Mall where they have a Jollibee.  It feels a lot like the Philippines when you step inside, you can actually order your food in Tagalog (well I can't)!  They also serve the dreaded "Halo-Halo" here.  If you ever want to eat ice cream mixed with red beans, corn, the weird fruit that comes in fruit cakes, and who-knows-what else, this is the place to have that happen.  We opted for the Mango Peach Pies instead.

Jollibee!

After eating lunch we went next door to the Asian market to find some snacks that Mike grew up eating.  We also wanted to see if we could find some Indonesian goodies.  While cruising the ice cream isle we found some weird flavors such as:  Corn and cheese, avocado, and once again the dreaded Halo-halo.  It only takes a little while in the Asian market to figure out that the American palette is different, to say the least!

Gross

Grosser

Grossest

The second week we stayed with Great Grandma on Whidbey Island.  Grandma's house is great!  The coffee is always on and there are retro toys to play with (for the kids of coarse).  There is no internet at her house and only 3 t.v. stations, so we felt "off the grid".   I actually read 3 books!  Kind of sad to see what I could be accomplishing without all of the distractions we have at home.  Grandma has shelves of books and many are about the pioneering missionaries that went into Papua back in the 60's when the tribes people where still head-hunting (yikes).  It is amazing to see the transformations the tribes had after the missionaries shared the gospel with them.  Before the missionaries shared with them they were living in fear of the spirits and each other.  Imagine living in a world where you thought God didn't love you and you had to appease him at all times in order to survive.  After reading the trials the first missionaries went through in Papua it makes all of my fears and worries about moving overseas seen trivial.     

Hanging out at Great Grandma's beach

Another great thing about Grandma's house is that she lives by the beach!  The kids loved throwing rocks into the Sound and climbing on the driftwood.  Colton cracked me up too because every time before he threw a rock he yelled, "Fire in the hole!"  I have no idea where he learned that.

After staying at Grandma's for a week we drove home and dug out our winter clothes.  Next stop:  Alaska.

End of Summer

Colton and his nameless new best friend for a day

It is getting to be that time of year again in the Pacific Northwest where one gets a sneaky suspicion that this very day might be the last time you get to see the sun again for a very long time.  Not to sound like the kind of person that is a "half empty glass" type, but the sun does disappear on us for MONTHS at a time behind grey, rainy, endless clouds up here.  Us native Washingtonians don't take the sun for granted is all I am saying, and when that ball of burning gas is out in the sky we make the most of it!

The other day I packed a lunch, Colton grabbed his big Styrofoam airplane and we headed to the park with Macie to play.  It took Colton about 5 seconds to make a new friend and they ran around the softball field flying his airplane for quite a while.  When they were done playing I asked him what his friend's name was and Colton responded by saying, "I don't know but he has a helicopter on his shirt and he likes airplanes."  If only it was so easy to make friends as adults!

It has occurred to me that this will be the last rainy winter I am going to live in for a long time since our family will be moving to Indonesia next November (not this one, the next one).  I am very excited to be moving to a place where the sun will shine year round!  I do wonder however, how long will take me to get over the feeling that the sun is going to up and disappear on me like it always has in October?  (Watch in a couple of years I will be blogging about missing the rain and cold weather).

   

Nothing tastes better than a PB&J enjoyed at the park

Our new friend

If any of you reading this post have ever had the pleasure of meeting our son Colton it doesn't take long to figure out that he is obsessed with airplanes.  (Yes, I know that he didn't have much of a chance being born into our family).  Colton has probably racked up more frequent flier miles than most adults, and can probably figure out the type of aircraft flying overhead more accurately than most adults as well.  Conversations with Colton usually involve discussions about how cool floats would look on a certain type of aircraft and whether or not it is a tail-dragger.  

Our stay at Mission Aviation Fellowship headquarters this summer only put fuel on the fire.  We have a new friend in our house and his name is "Petey the Plane."  Petey is the mascot for MAF and stars in a video telling kids about MAF.  We were sent home with a DVD cartoon of Petey and I am afraid that Colton is going to wear it out!  We also thought that it would be cute to buy him a "Petey the Plane" t-shirt and that he might like it.  He likes it alright!  It has become quite the permanent fixture on Colton and I have coax him and peel it off of him to just to wash it every-once-in-awhile.  

I wouldn't want to deprive any of you out there of the "Petey the Plane" fun so here is the video.  It is actually quite informative and even adults can learn a few things by watching it.  (There is a twist at the end you need to look for too).

Summer at MAF

Our family spent the first 5 weeks of our summer at Mission Aviation Fellowship headquarters in Nampa, ID and can now say that we are official MAF missionaries on our way to Indonesia.  We still do not know the exact location in Indonesia where we will serve, but we are very excited to be able to narrow it down to what country we will be living in!  

The MAF apartments were home for 5 weeks

There were 8 couples besides us going through the same training process that our family was and all of us lived in the MAF apartments right across the parking lot from the main office.  It kind of felt like summer camp, only there was a lot of homework to do!  Babysitters were provided for the kids so that we could actually sit down and listen to the teachers without chasing our kids.  It was the first time that I (Angie) have been away from the kids that long and got to experience what working mothers have to go though every week.  I have to give all you working gals props, because it is HARD to be away from your kids that long!  I do have to admit it was nice to get to dress up and not be called "mom" all day though.

Macie and Jack 2 peas in a pod

The kids were in heaven and had a blast with all of the other MKs (missionary kids).  Macie made a friend named Jack that was only two days older than her and they were pretty much inseparable the entire summer.  Macie and Jack loved to take turns pushing each other in the pedal car.  Macie got a little crazy and was pushing too fast and they had a wipeout the day before we had our passport and visa pictures taken, so Macie is sporting a nice fat lip in hers.  Colton hung out with the older girls (8-10).  One day I looked out and saw him sitting in an inflatable pool surrounded by girls and it made me chuckle.  

Colton and the MK girls

It was crazy HOT and wouldn't cool down until around nine o' clock at night, so the Sonic down the street got quite a bit of business from all of us.  We would sit in the parking lot and watch our friend fly his model airplanes while we sipped on slushies.  This of course has only fueled Colton's obsession for airplanes and it has reached an entire new level!  

Colton by the model Piper Cub

Our family is back home in WA for now and will be sharing with others the exciting ministry that awaits us.  We are also viewing this year as a long goodbye with all of our friends and family.  We are hoping to be ready to leave for Indonesia by November of 2013.

Our dreams of serving with MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) in Indonesia are finally becoming a reality.  Today was assignment day, a day that I have been sweating and praying over for a LONG time.  Today after lunch Mike and I nervously walked into a room and sat down at a table with six people staring at us who had decided the day before where our family would be serving.  I held my breath as I heard the words, "We have decided to send you to...(dramatic pause)...Indonesia."  There really was a dramatic pause too, I didn't make that part up, it felt like an eternity.  That is one of the reasons I love MAF so much, every body seems to have a good sense of humor.  I think that if you get in this line of work though, it is a requirement of sorts.

Mike and I will be learning in more depth the details of our assignment in these coming weeks and will be sharing them with you soon.  For now here is a sneak peek of what Mike will be doing:

Trip to Alaska

Passing the Technical Evaluation with MAF was very exciting for our family and we are eagerly anticipating officially joining MAF in July.  These last few weeks leading up to our candidacy class with MAF have been crazy and at times very stressful.  We have a lot to get done and very little time to do it in.  Our family is definitely in a state of limbo right now with a lot of unknowns on the Horizon.  The largest question looming for us is, "Where will we be serving?  Africa?  Indonesia?"  

It will also be a big transition for our family to live off of ministry support instead of being in the work force.  Leaving a steady job to go into ministry feels like a huge step of faith.  We know that we are in the Lord's will however, and are putting our trust in him fully to provide for our needs while we serve him through working with MAF.  God has been very faithful to us so far and has definitely had his hand in providing the means for the training needed for us to join with MAF in the first place.

Speaking of leaving the work force that means our family will no longer *sniff* have flight benefits.  I personally haven't had to purchase a plane ticket since 1997, I can feel all of your sympathy welling up for us right now (sarcasm intended).  We decided to take one last trip and visit some friends of ours up in Anchorage, AK.  The trip ended up being just what we needed and it recharged our family physically, mentally, and even spiritually. 

Macie and Colton watching the rampers in SEA

It is hard to be surrounded by the beauty of Alaska and not have this verse pop into your head:  For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.  (Romans 1:20)

It is so easy to feel God's hand in creation and his presence in the vast expanse of the mountains and wildlife that surrounds you when you are outside enjoying the beauty that God made.

Quick stop for a picnic.  A hike was planned as well but a bear was spotted in the parking lot!  So hike was cancelled.

We stayed with our friends Aaron and Katie that Mike met when he went to Ecola Bible in Cannon Beach, OR.  Our friends have 4 boys so needless to say there was never a dull moment on this trip!  Our friend's Grandma owns a cabin in Soldotna right on the Kenai River so we drove down the peninsula to try our hand at fishing.  Mike and Colton tried to catch a King Salmon but had no luck.  Interesting fact:  The average cost to catch a single King Salmon in AK is $150!  We decided to switch gears and try for Rainbow Trout instead on a lake in town when we went back to Anchorage.  Our friend Aaron took Mike and Colton out in his canoe on Sand Lake and Colton actually hooked into 5 fish!  Colton's fish keep getting bigger every time he retells his story in true fisherman fashion.

Colton's first catch

Our friend Katie's parents live near an airport community where the houses have hangers below them.  We would pass Piper Cubs with big Tundra tires on them every time we visited her parent's house and we would imagine how much fun it would be to fly in one of them.  Luckily for us Katie's dad talked to his neighbor and told him how our family is going to serve with MAF and would love to go for a flight.  His neighbor was pressed for time but he managed to take Mike and Colton up for a quick flight.  They got to spot a few goats and bears in the surrounding mountains and Mike was able to fly the plane a bit as well.  Mike has been feeling grounded lately now that he isn't training for the Tech Eval anymore.

Tundra tires are huge!

Another check off the bucket list for these two

We visited our friend's church on Sunday and the pastor was kind enough to write a sermon just for our family.  Isn't it funny how it works that way?  He showed clips from the movie Groundhog Day and his message was to take life one day at a time and to live it fully for God and not for ourselves.  God has placed us in our current situation for the day we are living and we need to honor him in it.  A fitting sermon for an overwhelmed family.  One day at a time.  

Even though we aren't officially support raising yet MAF (of coarse) came up in conversation because we can't stop talking about it, and a few members of their church are very excited about our future with MAF.  The church had recently been involved in sending out a couple with MAF down to Nairobi, Kenya and a lady had just returned from a visit to the MAF base in Africa.  It is nice to know that we will have people interested in our mission and praying for us clear up in Alaska!  

We are back in Washington now hard at work preparing to attend candidacy class in July.  If you would like to stay updated with us and join our prayer/support team email one of us your address and we will add you to our mailing list. 

Technical Evaluation with MAF

These past two weeks our family has been in Nampa, ID at the MAF headquarters going through technical evaluation.  TE is basically a two week long job interview.  It was pretty intense, but I am happy to say that we passed!  (Well Mike did most of the work).  We are not officially with MAF yet, but at this point it is about 99% certain that we will be.  It is very rare for a couple to pass TE and not end up serving with MAF.  

The next step in the process for our family is to come back to headquarters in July and go through a candidacy class.  In class we will explore in detail what MAF is doing at each of it's bases.  We will then interview with a committee and go over the different options for service and at that time voice some desires or concerns that we may have.  The committee will then decide where they believe our family will best "fit" and at the completion of the class we will be given our country assignment.  

I am not going to lie the the thought of being assigned a country to go live in is a very scary thought!  After meeting the staff at MAF though and seeing that they truly want to see our family succeed and really strive to seek God's will in the situation has calmed my nerves.  God has really given me a peace about the situation too and I know that I just need to trust him because he is much wiser than I am.

Living in the MAF apartments was so much fun.  We got to meet a bunch of really neat people in all stages of the process of serving with MAF.  We met a family that was headed out to the Congo in a week, a family assigned to Hati, a family on furlough from Indonesia, and a couple serving in central Asia.  We bonded over chicken wings one night with a few of them and listened to each other's stories.  It was very exciting to hear what God is doing through MAF in these different parts of the world and it is cool to think that we will be a part of that soon!

We would just like to take the time right now and thank everybody for the support and encouragement that has been given to our family to get us to this point of our journey.  We could not do this without you!  The generosity that has been shown to us is very humbling and in helps us tremendously to know that our friends support our family and are behind us in this crazy adventure. 

It is an MAF tradition to take your child's picture in front of this turtle every time you are on furlough to see how much they have grown.  They actually moved this turtle up from the old headquarters in Redlands, CA even though it is HEAVY to carry on this tradition.