almost a third down the road

We had a wonderful week of Thanksgiving spending a lot of time with friends and family. Our celebration kicked off a week early when we travelled up to GR for a housewarming party of friends who just bought their first house the weekend before Thanksgiving. We spent the weekend with friends and I had some good time with my siblings. Another couple of good friends also just bought a house so we got to tour that also (from the outside, with a flashlight, around 1:00am). Andrew stayed up in GR while I came back down to the windy city for class and some group project work the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Once that was finished, I made a beeline back up to W.Mich and spent some time in Holland on Tuesday and Wednesday. Andrew came down on Wednesday and we spent more time with the siblings and made it to a service at the church where we used to work. Also snuck in a showing of the newest Harry Potter movie...we were not disappointed.

Our Thanksgiving Day was jampacked with family activities. First church with my family in Holland, then noon-time dinner with my Grandpa's extended family, then another meal with Andrew's extended family. We were blessed to be able to see so much family in such a short period of time, but were definitely exhausted.

The rest of our weekend was spent celebrating the wedding of two good friends. Andrew was a groomsman and I accompanied the service. It was a beautiful, joyful night of dancing and laughter with good friends.

Unfortunately, times like that never seem to last long enough! We headed back down to Chicagoland with a few tears in our eyes and have been readjusting for the last several days. My transition back to "real life" has been (and will continue to be) rocky, since I have approximately 55 pages to write in the next ten days. It's going to take some major discipline on my part.

We're already looking forward to joining our families and friends in a few short weeks to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, but I am trying to keep myself focused on Christ's advent this season instead of idolizing friends and family. When I find myself longing for that fellowship again, I am reminded to anticipate more the celebration of Christ's coming to earth.

With prayers of Thanksgiving for you all,
ACJ

Three Months Down the Road

The last several weeks have been both busy and quiet for us.

At the end of October, I left my job with the non-profit working in Europe for a job on campus at Wheaton.  Even though my old job was a blessing to have, it was not a great fit as far as my strengths, passions and convictions about ministry. The hours were also too intense for me to stay on top of school and other responsibilities.

This job on campus popped up right when I was starting to feel like I should seriously think about leaving my old job. In the course of three days I had interviewed on campus, been offered the new job, quit my old job and started the new one. It was an interesting experience, since I've never actually quit somewhere before...they were very gracious and let me go without any fuss.

My new job is a part of the Student Development office and I work with students who are on chapel probation (meaning they aren't meeting the attendance requirements for chapel). I am so thankful to be there because it means that I get to sit down with students, hear about their lives and their thoughts on chapel. I am not a proponent of mandatory chapel, myself, but it is still very interesting to hear what students view to be the purpose of chapel, what their experiences have been with the attendance policy and how that affects their whole campus experience. My meetings with students would be a great base for a research project...hm...I just might have one of those due at the end of my program :)

In the past few weeks we've made a trip to Iowa and had many guests here in Lombard. On Halloween weekend we went to Iowa for the Hawkeye football game against MSU. It turned out to be a blowout, but we had a good time anyway. We were also able to see some extended family and friends and enjoyed time at home with Andrew's parents. Then, the following weekend, my sister and mom came down to go to a Taize worship service in a suburb closer to the city. Just this past weekend, friends came in for the Iowa football game at Northwestern, which was a major disappointment and frustration.

Andrew is heading to Michigan this weekend for a bachelor party. He's standing up for a very good friend over Thanksgiving weekend and I'm playing the piano for the same wedding. We're really looking forward to seeing friends and family up in Michigan over the holiday.

In other news, I've started training for the St. Louis marathon in April. My sister-in-law is running it also. I've been thinking about a marathon for a few months now, and when my job change happened, I knew I would have more time to devote to training. It will be a huge challenge, but I am very excited to push myself to reach the finish line!

quickly

We've gotten ourselves into a routine lately.

I am working about 20 hours at a small non-profit organization that works to support evangelical leaders in Europe. School is getting very busy with group projects, large papers and presentations.

Andrew is still searching for a job...pray for encouragement. We've attended a local anglican church for a few weeks now and will probably continue going there.

It's football season and we are enjoying watching the Hawkeyes play...except during painful losses. We're headed to Iowa City next weekend for the MSU game.

October

Good Morning All!

We've been out and about the last few weeks and are getting ready to settle in to Fall. Last weekend we were in Michigan for a few days to celebrate my sister's birthday with the family. Andrew took the train up in the middle of the week to get to the football games that a few of our former youth group students played in and spend some time in Grand Rapids with friends. I drove up on Friday and we went to an HC football game that Friday, but spent Saturday lounging at home. On our way back to Chicago, we stopped at a Meijer and stocked up on groceries.

I found out on Monday that I got the job I was interviewing for the last few weeks! I'll be working with the volunteers that help operate the European Leadership Forum as well as coordinating some professional network meetings and publications. In my last interview I got to meet more of the staff at the Communication Institute and am looking forward to working with them all. This semester I'll be working on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. I'm thankful for the consistent hours and the opportunity to work in a place with a mission and vision that I believe in. My first day is tomorrow!

This past weekend, Andrew went to Iowa to get some relatively minor things in the Jeep fixed. He left on Wednesday night, but only got half an hour down the road before a the Jeep broke down for a completely different reason. Since we didn't have another car, I couldn't pick him up or anything like that. His dad drove up with a trailer and they hauled the Jeep back to Iowa. He is coming back today, but has had a good weekend seeing friends and even went to the Hawkeye football game on Saturday.

My classes are going well. We are getting into the middle of the semester with more assignments, papers and presentations. I'm also leading a small group of undergrad students and am enjoying getting to know them. I've helped lead chapel once so far and am on a rotation to lead every three weeks.

Our church and Andrew-job search continues. Friends from school have been great inviting us to worship with them on Sundays. This weekend I worshipped at a Charismatic Catholic Church on the south side of Chicago for a class field trip. It was definitely a cross-cultural experience, but I was thankful to be there!

Our excitement for the next few weeks is a lot of football! Andrew's aunt found us tickets to the Iowa/MSU game later this month in Iowa City and then we are going to the Iowa/NWU game a few weeks after. Go Hawks!

It's the beginning of week 4 in Lombard. These weeks have flown by, but not easily by any stretch of the imagination. While life in general has been discouraging, we've been blessed the last few days/weeks to spend time with a lot of our loved ones. 

Time with friends and family

On Labor Day Weekend we made our way down to St. Louis to visit both Andrew's sister, Ally, and our good friends Nick & Jen. Ally started a master's program in Counseling at a seminary down there, which also happens to be the seminary where Nick is finishing his Master of Divinity. We arrived in St. Louis on Saturday afternoon, just in time to watch the end of the Iowa game at a local sports bar. Then we spend a few hours at Ally's house meeting her roommates and walking around campus. For our evening entertainment we went with a group of people including some of Ally's friends and Nick & Jen to the St. Louis City Museum. This is not your average museum. Somebody decided to take a deserted shoe factory and convert it into something like an adult playground. The whole factory is full of slides, crawl spaces, and basically glorified jungle-gyms. It was really busy, being a holiday Saturday night, but still a lot of fun. On Sunday we were blessed to worship with Nick & Jen at their church, Grace and Peace. It was awesome to get to meet their new church family after hearing about it for a few years. A family from church had all five of us over for waffles after church. We were going to make a stop at the Greek Festival in the afternoon but instead decided to walk around Nick & Jen's neighborhood. We ended the day with Ted Drewes' famous frozen custard. Jen and I spent some time in downtown St. Louis on Labor Day morning, then Ally made Andrew and me brunch before we hit the road. We had a wonderful time hanging out with three of the people we love most in the world. 

Last Sunday, Andrew's dad made a stop at our apartment on his way back home from Maine. He brought us fresh lobster and prepared them for our dinner. I've never had lobster before, so it was quite an experience for me. The three of us  went to church together, then had brunch at a cafe in downtown Wheaton before he completed his trip back home.

This weekend our good friends, Fro & Angela came down Friday night and Saturday to visit. Kuyper's volleyball team had a few games in the Chicago-land this weekend, so the four of us were their travelling fans. It was great to spend time with good friends, again, and cheer on Cougars volleyball! Andrew and I took the train into the city to meet Fro & Angela at the Friday night game, then rode back out to our apartment together, picking up deep-dish pizza on the way home. We hadn't yet used the public transportation system together, but managed to look like total idiots while buying tickets, making transfers, etc! 

Job update

Last Saturday Andrew had what we understood to be the final interview with a church for their youth pastor position. He taught a twenty minute Bible Study and led a twenty minute activity for three of the youth and nine adults. Andrew left his time with them discouraged, not feeling confident at all in the way things had gone and their reaction to his presentations. It only took two days for them to let us know that, while Andrew was still being considered, they decided to re-open their search. Their decision causes us a lot of mixed feelings. Andrew understood why they made that decision after his interview, but expressed to their search committee that he would appreciate another opportunity to lead a teaching session. We have not heard back from them on whether or not that is a possibility. 

Our biggest frustration is that they haven't provided any sort of timeline for us. While we're sure they're trying to be thorough and open to God's leading with this whole process, we are left in this limbo. On the one hand, they decided not to hire Andrew once, so why would they change their minds? It would have made more sense to just say that he didn't get the job. On the other hand, he is not out of consideration, so there is a chance they might call him back. 

It's a very confusing and interesting process, particularly from this side of the situation. How does a committee of people who don't know any of their candidates come to decide? What should ministry job-searching look like? Where does the element of knowing and trusting candidates come from? As a candidate, how do you try to make yourself known to a committee over the course of a few short hours? How do you separate affirmation in your calling from your "hire-ability?" 

I also have been interviewing for a job in the area with an organization called the Communication Institute. This organization works with a European organization to host an annual European Leadership Forum, where Christian leaders from all over Europe come together for training, professional networking and teaching. The position I'm interviewing for is responsible for overseeing the volunteers that help run the annual forum. I have my second interview on Friday. I'm excited about the possibility because the job combines working with people and detailed administration. 

Church 

Last week Andrew and I thought we had found the church we wanted to attend. We went back today, and while there wasn't anything in the service that bothered us, we both walked out just knowing that it wasn't the right place. Not having a church home has been the most difficult part of the move for us, particularly as it was tied up with the possibility of Andrew getting a job. We can't go much longer without a church community,  but aren't sure where to put those roots down just yet. Please pray for us.

The End

Two of my wonderful friends from Michigan are coming down to visit on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to spending time with them and showing them around Lombard and Wheaton. We're heading back to Michigan this weekend for my sister's birthday and are looking forward to more time with family as well as checking out this year's ArtPrize!

Please continue to pray for us.

With much love.

...our "scenery"

Greetings Ladies and Gentlemen. We are so pleased to have you visiting "whichjohnsons" today! Please follow me as we take a brief tour of the new Johnson apartment...er...basement...er...room...

We have just entered the main residence and are looking in on the main living area. You'll notice the lovely futon straight ahead waiting patiently for guests. To the right, in the darkened corner of the picture, the bedroom "wing" is separated from the living space with bookshelves.

Immediately to the right of our entrance is our kitchen/dining "wing." While this kitchen has less counter and cupboard space than Salerno, it has more actual floor space, making it more comfortable to have both a washer and dryer when doing dishes by hand...I say this not because we do dishes together, 

but because if, I mean when, we have visitors who ask to help with something in the kitchen there will actually be space for them, I mean you.

We are now facing out from the kitchen wing looking into the living area. The main entrance to the apartment...er...room is right on the left of "Sunflowers." Notice again the inviting futon. Ignore the crooked lampshade if you're OCD.

We have now arrived in the office "wing." We each have our own desks, mine being the brown one in the front and Andrew's  is around the corner on the left. The white doors lead to the hot water heater and other utilities. If you notice the door handle on the right side of the picture (between the blue chair and wood), you see the door to our closet and expansive storage space, affectionately known as "Narnia."

We have now made a 180degree turn and are looking out at the living space. You can see in the background a flight of stairs which lead up to the actual house. Right behind the lampshade is our private entrance, which actually opens into a workshop/laundry room before opening to the side yard.You'll also notice a door underneath the staircase which opens into our "pantry." This pantry is unique because the vent from our bathroom shoots the bathroom air (humidity, smells and all) into this enclosed space that holds all our food. YUM.

Closing our tour, we'll make a stop in the bedroom. As you can see, there is not much to it. Like I mentioned before, it is partitioned off from the rest of the room with our bookshelves. An exciting edition to our bedroom suite that came along with the move is a bed frame. Whereas our bed used to sit directly on the floor, it is now on a bedframe, opening up space for under-the-bed storage, making our shoes and extra dishes easily accessible.

As we leave the bedroom to exit through the door straight ahead, you'll notice a white room divider which we put up to separate the living from bedroom if, I mean when, guests occupy the futon. 

There is also a bookshelf against the wall in the middle of the picture, which holds the games we will all play together when you come visit. The bathroom is around that bookshelf. It has not been included in this virtual tour because it can only be accurately experienced firsthand.

I hope this brief tour of our new residence is intriguing and exciting enough to compel you to make a visit to the greater Chicago-land. If you look closely in the last picture, you'll see Andrew playing NCAA2010 Football on the Xbox. He will also be here when you visit and promises to stop recruiting virtual football players to and winning virtual national championships for the University of Iowa long enough to enjoy your company.

Yesterday and today we were blessed to share, in a small way, the suffering of a family we love. Mourning the loss of another young father near to us (or to others we love) has left us both frustrated and confused. With a deep sense of indignance and pain, we both want to exclaim "This is not right!"

Sons should not grow to be men without their fathers. This is just not right! We are groomed to be able to say "It is well with my soul," but I am not there, and hope I will never be. Witnessing teen-age boys bury their father will never be well with my soul. Death is not well with my soul because death is not God's design for his children.

I believe that instead of calling ourselves to some sort of placidity in the face of death, such a cutting experience with the result of the fall should cause us to labor more furiously toward the redemption of all things, including the souls of our fellow men.

As Andrew and I were processing our pain, guilt, and inner-chaos, I remembered this piece of writing from another tumultuous time in my life. Perhaps it's not as theologically developed as my thoughts are now, but it expresses many of the same emotions...

So where is it? Where is life when all around you there is death? Where is happiness when you are surrounded by grief? And where is love when hearts are too broken to feel? It's not a question of if, it's a question of where.

Life is in death as a life has to be lived to be ended. Death is the end of earth, and every end has a beginning. So in death, may we rejoice in the sheer humanity of the one gone and in the faithfulness of the creator. No life is perfect and no death is pure blessing. May we remember the moments of grace given and the moments of grace needed. And may we continue to live, lest we be overcome by death.


Happiness is an illusion easily emptied by sorrow. Perhaps it is not happiness we should be searching for, but joy. For joy is deeper than happiness. Joy exists alongside grief and sorrow. The beauty of joy is that happiness is not required. So when we cannot even see the illusion of happiness, may we turn our backs and search for genuine joy. Once we have found joy, grief becomes second best of the eternal emotions. And in our grief, it is that very joy which becomes the foundation on which we build our hope.


When hearts are shattered, bruised or deflated, love is nearly invisible. Love is nearly impossible. Therefore, love cannot live in hearts, it must live in souls for hearts break and hardly remain constant. When love has been lost among the pieces of a broken heart, we learn to store that love in our souls. And when hearts are too tired or too hard to feel, it is the soul that comes along to renew what was once whole, open and alive.


Even though there is death, and there is sorrow and there are broken hearts, there is life and joy and love. And there is heaven.


All shall be well.
All is well.
Blessed be the name of the LORD.

A Little Further Down the Road

We have survived our first week here in Lombard. Over the past few days, we've unpacked our final boxes and arranged our living space to feel like home. I was hoping to post pictures today, but we still haven't hung anything on our walls...hopefully we will get there this week!

Our excitement over the past few days was about Andrew's job prospect. He had an interview at a local church on Saturday for several hours. The interview consisted of meeting with four different groups of people that included church staff, parents, volunteer youth leaders and students themselves. Andrew left the interview feeling positive about his interactions and confident in his representation of himself.

He got a phone call this afternoon letting him know that he made the cut and is moving on to the next round of interviews! We assume this to be the final step in the process. Sometime after Labor Day, he will be meeting with more students of the church! It was so great to hear back from the committee within a matter of days and even more thrilling to hear that they continue to be interested in him as their youth director...woo-hoo!

While waiting to hear about a new ministry possibility, we received some tragic news from Newhall. Yesterday afternoon, the father of two of our students in Grand Rapids died from a sudden heart attack. He left behind three children (a daughter entering her senior year of high school, a son entering his sophomore year, and a daughter starting sixth grade) and his wife of almost 20 years. We are praying for the kids and for their mom, and will be making a trip back to W.Mich for the visitation and funeral tomorrow and Wednesday. If you remember, say a prayer for the Halas family over the next few days, weeks and months.

My first few classes have gone really well. I am taking four classes (apparently four grad classes entail more work than four undergrad classes) which are: Personal Spiritual Formation, Bible in Ministry, Teaching for Transformation, and History and Philosophy of Ministry. I am enjoying my professors and classmates. Many of my classes have the same students since we're all in the beginning stages of the same program.

I've been able to meet a lot of new people and start building friendships with other grad students both in my program and in others. I will be getting involved with Grad Chapel within the next few weeks and am also hoping to lead a Discipleship Small Group of upper-classmen undergrads.

It's been a real week. Our relationship is growing and we are being stretched personally: Andrew as he walks through this interview process and me as I find my place in the Wheaton community. Meanwhile, we are reminded of the relationships we left behind, sharing in the pain of the students we love and praying that the Lord will be near to them.

Peace from Lombard.

arriving

We have arrived...in Lombard that is!

On Saturday, we left Holland a little bit after 9am with the Jeep, van and UHaul full of stuff. My parents and brothers rode with us, Eric and Angela met us there, Andrew's mom met us and my uncle Roger (who also lives in Lombard) came and helped us out. We fit everything in the small apartment and have found a somewhat-comfortable arrangement of furniture. Our bookshelves and display shelves act like walls to separate our "bedroom wing" from the "living room wing." It's definitely cozy!

Today was Grad Orientation at Wheaton, and as a new graduate student, I participated, naturally. The day started with an opening address from Dr. Jerry Root. He spoke about the importance of authenticity in community and how the only way to reach people for Christ is to be authentic. He is also speaking at GradChapel on Wednesday and at an event on Friday night.

After the opening address we had meetings with our departments. There are about 17 people in my Christian Formation and Ministry (CFM) program. I really enjoyed seeing how people came from all over the country and the world. There are five different concentrations within the program and about eight people in my Student Development concentration. I'm looking forward to getting started with actual classes on Thursday! I hope that it's an academic challenge, but also hope that I'm not in over my head.

While I was at Orientation all day, Andrew spent the day in the apartment. He cleaned out our "spa" so it's usable now :) For those of you who haven't been in our apt--our tub has spa jets that are functioning, but weren't exactly sanitary.

The other exciting thing in our lives is that Andrew has an interview with a local Christian Reformed Church on Saturday!!!!! It's from 10am-2pm. We're so thankful right now and are praying that his time with the committee and other people from church will go well!

Overall, we've been feeling a little overwhelmed by the move and are beginning to realize that we actually live here (like when I paid $7 for a quart of ice cream tonight!). We miss our community in Grand Rapids, and I miss my family in Holland, but we are glad to have each other. That's one of the plus-es about being married--wherever you go, your best friend comes too!

getting close

Hey All (two followers)!

The time is drawing near to our big move. We secured the basement apartment in Lombard and will move on Saturday, August 21. Our families are all willing and really excited to help us move, so that will help with a lot of the physical burden.

I just watched a documentary called "Sprawling From Grace" which is about urbanization and transportation. It had a lot to say about the importance of transportation and city-planning that includes thought for communal space and pedestrianism versus city-planning that focuses on moving as many cars as fast as possible. It will be nice to live in an area with a vibrant public transportation. Woot.

Andrew's job situation is our biggest concern. It would be so wonderful to get him into a healthy, vibrant and supportive ministry situation. In my humble opinion, he is quite something and has a lot of passion and love to offer a congregation...hopefully there is one out there looking for somebody like him! We're waiting to hear back from a few churches where he's sent in resumes, so it's a lot of waiting and trusting right now.

In other inconsequential news, I got my hair cut today and added bangs. I'm torn between trendy and low-maintenance, given my curly-frizzy mop.

getting ready

When we think about moving a lot of emotions pop up, like excitement, nervousness, sadness...
this has been a week of sadness.

We resigned from our youth ministry position at church on Sunday and have been meeting with our kids to tell them that we're moving. If you know us, you know that we don't always have glowing reports of our church, but for all its quirks, our church is still hard to leave. We're working to set something up so that the church will have a youth director in place very soon and hope that works out. I've been at church for three years and was hoping that i would see one more class graduate.

I'm learning to trust and pray that God will continue to grow these young people to know and love Him, even though I won't be a part of that.

some of our youth group in Pittsburgh last summer

In other news, Andrew has heard back from one church in the Wheaton area. He made it through their first round of elimination. They had a second meeting last night, so we are waiting to hear back in the next few days. It would be great for him to get an interview!

a new home

We have our new apartment!
now to begin the major downsizing of all our belongings...

The apartment we'll be in for the first six months (atleast) of our time in the Wheaton area is the basement of a family's home  in Lombard. Like I mentioned before, it's a large-ish one room basement. The rent per month is right in our price range and we're thankful to not have to dip into our savings quite as much just to get our feet underneath us. It will definitely be a different lifestyle-- I'll be walking or biking to the train station to get to campus and Andrew will be looking for some temporary employment while we wait on a few youth ministry jobs.

Today begins the last month of our time in Grand Rapids. It will be full of weddings, game nights, VBS, packing...

downsizing

after our apartment hunting trip to the wheaton area, i'm beginning to understand the reality of our move. we spent the morning on campus taking care of health forms, etc and both walked away thinking "was undergrad this big of a deal to set up?" either our parents took care of nearly everything, or our alma mater was significantly more simple in their operations. it's probably a little bit of both.

prior to heading down to chicago-land, we had scoped out apartment complexes online. the first thing we did was drive around those places and found the pictures online to be pretty deceptive. after asking at the housing offices on campus, we found a few private rentals and called one property owner to try to visit. we went and saw a basement apartment of a family that is a few miles away from campus and only a few blocks away from the train station. it is definitely the most affordable we've found and includes a lot of amenities (like a private washer and dryer!!!!). the  downside is that it's a one-room basement apartment, so there isn't a "bedroom" per se. we know that we can make it work, but i am still a little nervous about not having any division between the rooms...it will make our mess more difficult to hide :)

anticipating the move, we already downsized to one vehicle and i've started mentally purging our furniture. it will be good for us to live more simply.

walking around campus and not seeing anybody i knew also brought home the fact that this is a new start. a really new start. i am not convinced i like that idea, yet.

to get our blog started, here are some highlights of the last year

 

our wedding was june 22, 2009. 

(credit to walcott imaging for the picture)

then we took our high school students from Newhall Community Church 

to The Pittsburgh Project for a week in July

 

it's been a huge blessing to be surrounded by great friends 

from Kuyper for our first year of marriage! these are some of my girlfriends and roommates

 

andrew has enjoyed getting an ultimate frisbee club started at Kuyper 

and continues to play through the summer

 

we had a fun time celebrating our graduation with our families and our classmates

in june, we spent a week in jacksonville/st.augustine florida 

celebrating my mom's doctorate graduation. 

we're really proud of her and had a good time 

at a beach house with the siblings and grand parents.

the past year has been such a growing year for us. we're looking forward to seeing what the next year (and years after that) bring! we're preparing to move to chicago-land where i'll start graduate school in Wheaton College's MA in Christian Formation & Ministry with a concentration in Student Development. andrew is in the process of applying for youth ministry jobs in the area. our apartment hunting trip is coming up, so we will have a better picture of our life there in a few weeks!