Sunday School

Last Sunday, Brian and I enjoyed our last Sunday as a full, functioning part of our newlywed Sunday School class. This week we are observing a second grade class and next week we will start teaching a 3rd grade class. 

I am excited about teaching. I am excited to be able to use the training and gifts God blessed me with as a teacher. I am excited to be able to serve WITH Brian, to plan WITH Brian, and to work WITH Brian. This is the first time in our marriage that we have served in an official position together and I can't wait see what God has in store for us.

But a little bit of me is sad.

If you know me in real life at all, you know I love our Sunday School class. I have tried to peer pressure many friends who live in town to join us and have even tried to peer pressure a few to move into town so that they can join us. 

God placed this class into our lives at exactly the right time- a time when we were lonely for friends, anxious to invest, and highly interested in being invested in. We have had magnificent teachers who prayerfully taught us God's Word first and foremost, then offered us encouragement, wisdom from their marriages, and friendship that I am eternally grateful for. He has given us friendships that show us the love of Jesus. He has taught us accountability, grace, love, and so much more in our 5 years with these people. 

So though I am excited to be starting a new stage in our life, I am a little bit heart broken. I love these people- they mean the world to me- and though I know we will always be friends, that we will attend SS functions and Bible studies with them, that we will still throw parties and watch football, and that we will sit with them at church, I know that it's going to be different.

From my heart, if you are not part of a Sunday School class or small group or community group that encourages you to be more like Christ, that offers true friendship and accountability, and that teaches you truths from God's Word, please find one. I know it is not always easy, that things don't always click, but I also know that it can change your life.

  

  

Discipleship.

Discipleship.

Kind of a buzz word around churches these days. 

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations..."

Matthew 28:19

But what does that really mean? My awesome friend Maegan said it like this- 

You just live life with them, showing them how you live life with Jesus each day.

I love that. 

God had been laying discipleship on my heart for awhile before He showed me who I should disciple.

Whether it was actually discipleship or more focused accountability or even just quality hang out time, I had the incredible opportunity to spend some time with Kelsey this summer. Kelsey and I already knew and loved each other, but were able to step it up a notch in our time together. 

It is amazing how God uses opportunities to serve in a way you would never imagine. I truly believe that I got wayyy more out of our time together than Kelsey did, but I am so thankful for our summer together.

Kelsey just got back from China where she went with several people from her church in Auburn and worked with some children in an orphanage. Her posts about her work there brought me to tears and our conversation over lunch almost made me make plane reservations. God is working in this girl and it's such a glorious joy that I could be in even a teeny tiny part of it.

Check out her posts my friends, I promise you'll be blessed.

Happy Tuesday!

The bump.

The past few weeks, Brian and I have had the opportunity to put some of our new photography knowledge to use and take maternity pictures for a few friends. It was an awesome opportunity to practice what I learned in my course and spend some quality time with the couples. We in no way believe that we are of the professional level, but really enjoyed taking the pictures and were pretty pleased with how they turned out. Each couple got between 30 and 50 pictures to do with what they wanted but here were a few of our favorites...

Jase and Elizabeth

Rick and Tiffany

Curt and Lisa

The timing of all of these pictures was fabulous because two of the sweet babies were born last week! It was such a blessing to be able to love on the parents a bit before the little ones got here.

Have a fabulous evening my friends!

Baby J- Week 30

How far along? 30 weeks, 4 days

Baby Bump? Yup!

Maternity clothes? Yes. Still in regular shirts, but truly enjoying the stretchiness of maternity pants.

Total weight gain: 3 pounds. This fact truly shocks me. When I am NOT pregnant, I gain weight by looking at food and THINKING about food. I think my body is confused, but the doctor says she's not worried, so I am trusting her.

Cravings: Anything sweet. I would love a nice piece of birthday cake. 

Symptoms: Swollen fingers, lower back pains when I start cleaning the house :), random gross stuff that's probably not appropriate for the ol' blog.

Sleep: Sleep has been great so far (knock on wood). I get really hot if we don't have both the overhead fan and my little personal pregnancy fan (a thoughtful and necessary happy day surprise from the hus) on through the whole night. Two nights ago I just turned on the overhead and I just about melted.

Movement: She has been pretty active lately. She gets the hiccups all the time. It cracks me up.

Gender: We are having a little girl! Emily Ann! 

Belly Button in or out? In, but getting thinner.

What I miss: My wedding and engagement rings :( Also, I am still limiting my sweet intake, so I miss not having to think about what I'm eating all the time.

Best moment this week: Friday night! Our wonderful and amazing and incredible Sunday school class threw us a baby shower! It was so much fun. Sadly, I didn't take pictures but they did a bird theme. The decorations were ADORABLE and the food was delicious. Just saying, but I might have eaten a bird's nest coconut cupcake *YUM.* This class has been such a blessing to us over the past four years and I am have no idea what we would do without their spiritual guidance, friendship, accountability, advice, love, and so much more. They are simply the best and we are so incredibly thankful for them!

Here are some pictures of our class, or parts of our class, over the past few years...

I realized as I was uploading these that I lost a lot of our really old ones when my old computer crashed, so there are so many more people, both old and new, that I wish I could include in these pictures, but you get the idea.

You Capture- Kindred

This week's You Capture photo challenge is the word kindred. 

Auburn's victory over South Carolina today brought together these kindred spirits- true members of the Auburn family. This celebration was brought on by Cam Newton's hail mary down the field to Darvin Adams the last 12 seconds of the first half. 

War Eagle! We are headed to the National Championship!

Eli Charles Taff

Friday night, Brian and I went down to Columbus to see Rebecca and Wesley and meet Eli! Eli Charles Taff was born Wednesday afternoon and weighed in at 9 lbs. 6 oz. He is one of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen. It took a lot of effort to give him back when we left :) Look how proud the new daddy is!

I am so excited for Rebecca and Wesley. God is so faithful and His plan is so good. They are going to be incredible parents. I can't wait to see this precious baby boy grow up!

Congratulations Wesley and Rebecca!

7 years and counting...

Today is a super special day for me... it was the day I met one of my favorite people on the planet, Rebecca. Rebecca and I met at flag tryouts for our freshman year at Auburn. We talked throughout the tryouts and really got along well. We both made the line and thus began a friendship that has truly had a major impact on my life and who I am.

We celebrate our anniversary every year, once going so far as to meet to hang out half way between Birmingham and Phenix City. We have officially been friends for seven years. I'm thankful for Rebecca and her friendship. I truly don't know what I would do without her.

After being bridesmaids in each others weddings, she recently found out that she is going to be a Mommy! It's incredible what God does in our lives over the course of 7 years- He is good and Sovereign!

Rebecca, I love you friend! Happy anniversary!

Sweet Chloe Belle

Our friends Adam and Maegan, got a precious surprise Sunday morning (or more accurately Saturday night) when their baby came a little earlier than expected. A group of us went to visit them last night at the hospital where Chloe Belle was healthy and sleeping soundly, and Mama Maegan was up and about, being a wonderful hostess to visitors.

I could have held her forever.

This is the second less than 2 week old baby I have visited in the past week and it always surprises me how light they are. God is so good and so specific that He plans birth and life of these precious children. It just makes me even more excited to have one of our own and see His face in all of it. But I guess that includes seeing His timing as well. :)

Here are the girls with Chloe Belle and Maegan,

And the guys with Adam, her proud papa!

*Adorable*

Have a fantastic evening my friends!

Friends that move make me sad...

Tonight I had dinner with a wonderful and dear friend who is moving. Melanie was one of my first friends when I started at my church. Brian grew up there, so coming into a church that was so familiar to him and so unfamiliar to me was very difficult. Melanie was friendly and interested in getting to know me from the beginning and not just because I was a Johnson. Her friendship, along with a few others, helped me find a place at Shades that allowed me to be me and was a gigantic blessing.

Next week Melanie is moving to South Africa to work with Living Hope Ministries, which focuses on HIV/AIDs relief through abstinence and sharing the Gospel. She has an awesome opportunity and platform to impact the people of South Africa for Jesus and I'm so excited to see what God does through her.

Go here to learn more about Living Hope.

Once again, I am thrilled and heartbroken. For the 5th time in a year, I watch someone I love and respect leave Birmingham to follow God's plan for them. It is a bittersweet time, but I know God will be glorified through Melanie and her ministry.

Have a great night, my friends.

Christmas Village

Yesterday, for the first time in 4 months, I finally saw my best friend Rebecca. Rebecca and I met our senior year of high school trying out for the Auburn University Flagline. We spent the next four years getting to know each other and spending a huge amount of time together. She is from Dothan and is one of my favorite people in the world! It was GLORIOUS to see her!

A major part of the reason she was here was to attend Christmas Village at the BJCC (Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center.) It is a gigantic craft show/ sale of people from all over the country. The vendors are great and it's an excellent place to buy Christmas presents! Rebecca and I went last year for the first time and were itching to go again.

We went out last night to buy bags for shopping (Home Goods.) They are perfect so you don't have to carry all the individual bags around. I ended up knocking out Christmas presents for several people and came back with a necklace for myself! Quite a successful trip!

Kitchen pictures should be up soon. Brian went to Auburn today as a last minute treat, so we still have a bit of work to be done. As soon as it's clean, I will post pictures! Let me tell you, the change is awesome! I can't wait to share :)

Spoiler alert- What do you think of this drawer knob? Is the contrast too dark/ light? Is the knob too big? Brian left the decision up to me and I am buckling under the pressure!

Have a blessed morning of worship, my friends! Happy Sunday!

Show Us Your Life- Thanksgiving Traditions

This week's theme at Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life is Thanksgiving traditions and recipes. Last year Brian and I were in our second year of marriage and trying to establish some new traditions. The holiday season is pretty hectic, going between both families and though it's great, I just wanted to start something that would allow us to slow down, spend time with friends, and show off our cooking skills without competing with the long-time cookers. We invited two couples over to have a Friends Thanksgiving Dinner. We split the menu between the 3 girls, spent time cooking and preparing, then had a delicious meal! I set the table with our fine china and we discussed the things we were thankful for. It was such a great time and a wonderful new tradition for us to do over the years!

Brian prepared the turkey. He was so proud!

My table setting. I thought it turned out pretty good!

One of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes is broccoli casserole. Hope you enjoy!

Brian's Favorite Broccoli Casserole

2 pkg. frozen, chopped broccoli, 2 beaten eggs, 1 cup mayo, 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded, salt and pepper, 1 can condensed mushroom with chicken soup or celery soup, 1 tsp. worchester sauce, 1 tsp. minced onion. (Topping) 1 stack Ritz crackers crumbled, 1/4 stick of butter.

Cook broccoli and drain. Combine all the ingredients except the crackers and butter. Grease with butter on all sides of 9x9 baking dish. Pour mixture in the dish and top with Ritz. crackers. Pat with butter. Bake for 45 min. at 350* or until brown.