Wow.
After leaving our beloved South Mississippi community, training and living in Vancouver for several months, we finally arrived on January 25, 2012, in this place that captured our hearts many years ago. It's officially been one year that we have been living in this amazing, beautiful and gripping country that has quickly become "home."
All of us in our family have spent a little time the last few days recollecting on the year past to discover what changes in our lifestyle and way of thinking may have occurred in the day-to-day process of settling into this Southeast Asian culture.
Looking back, we look forward... in their own words:
Zoë:
This year has been an amazing adventure filled with loving memorable moments I will never forget. I have made so many friends and met so many people that I now call family. When I first arrived, I was scared and didn't know what was going to happen with my life. Now, I see it as a beautiful gift from God, and I treasure every moment of every day.
This year has gone by so quickly (quicker than i expected) and as the days come sooner to when we go back to America I realize more and more how much this place means to me. This is my new family and I love it here a lot!
One year from today I was praying to God asking Him to help me through our first year and He truly has.
Miá:
This year has been so much fun. I’ve made so many new
friends and the people here are so friendly. Before I moved here, there was a
part of me that was unsure because I didn’t know anything about the place we
were moving to, but now I feel really happy being here.
Some of my favorite experiences from this past year include
learning this new language, traveling to different cities and countries and getting
to tell people about J.C. One of my new friends, I met in a local village and even
though we speak different languages, she has become an awesome friend. She is a believer too!
I still miss my friends and family at home and I think of
them all the time, but I know it’s because of them that I can do what G wants
our family to do. Come visit us!
CJ:
My highlights from the year include - - Learning to drive and navigate the crazy traffic here.
- Teaching English to local students while sprinkling in the Good News.
- Living in a city that it rains every day all day for four months. That also means eight months of beautiful sunshine.
- Watching the Superbowl at 5am.
- Traveling to other countries.
- Learning to like rice A LOT.
- Teaching the Good book to students every week.
- Family game nights (Uno, Monopoly Deal, Phase 10, and puzzles).
- Language learning. (A continuous mountain to climb, but I love it)
- Visits from great friends. (Mickey and Beverly Webb) (The Eggum family)
- Sitting in traffic 4 hours a day. (Just thankful to have a car)
- Receiving packages from Home = AWESOME.
- Knowing that my girls are happy, have friends, and love school is a blessing.
- Being able to participate in a youth camp for those students serving in SouthEast Asia.
- Summer vacation in North Thailand.
- Monkey park (You will have to visit here to understand this highlight).
- Falling in love with the people in our country.
- A visit from President Barack Obama. (Like him or not, it was pretty cool that he was here)
- Celebrating Christmas with my girls and lots of presents from home.
Thankful, Grateful, and Blessed are three words that best
describe our first year in our country.
Thankful for the outpouring of love and support from so many
friends back home.
Thankful for all the great packages sent our way with lots
of goodies.
Grateful for so many that give so much through the C.P and
L.M.C.O.
Grateful for the opportunity to work for an organization that
truly has a “Great Commission” vision.
Blessed to have three beautiful and Godly girls in my home who
love me in spite of my many flaws.
Blessed to serve the King of Kings wherever He leads.
Julie:
I was looking back through my journal from a year ago to remember the feelings and emotions I experienced at the time. These were my words from that day, one year ago -
Wow, what a day! We’re here.It’s just after midnight on Thursday, Jan. 26. I’m sitting in the dining room of our new home, wide awake preparing to recollect the past day.This journey began late Monday night in Vancouver when our supervisors picked us up with all 19 pieces of our luggage to take us to the airport. [I'm bypassing all the grueling details about our flights overseas. Let me condense by saying it was long and arduous.] We finally landed in Yangon and we were all smiles and happy to have arrived in our final destination.
As we rounded the corner to go downstairs in the Yangon airport to immigration/customs, etc. we saw our teammates and another co-worker through the glass divider smiling and waving, holding a banner that read, “Welcome Johnson Family!”It still kinda makes me cry remembering that feeling. It felt like we were seeing family for the first time.We were overjoyed to discover all our luggage (and all the contents inside) made it just fine. Our teammates had two vans and the ride to our new apartment was short and sweet.It was a lot to take in and a little overwhelming. Of course, because of jet lag, we fell asleep at 6:30 p.m., way too early and when I woke up in the dark at 11:30 I thought to myself in fear, “Where am I and what have I done?”I was sweating. I had a headache. I felt scared.So I got up and slipped out into the living room to turn on some lights and the a/c.I decided to make a cup of coffee - yes, I know coffee at midnight is not a good idea, but I needed it for more than just the caffeine. I went into the kitchen to try and figure out how to work the coffee pot, very thankful that our teammates had the provided so many things that we would need in advance of our arrival.When I went to the counter and found the coffee pot a lizard poked his head around the corner and I almost screamed. I made CJ get up and scare him away. CJ also helped me get the coffee going. Then he went back to bed.Now that I’m sitting here at my computer with my cup of coffee in hand, things don’t seem quite so scary. Things are different here, for sure. But I know this is where Father wants us to be. I’ve felt it just by looking in the faces of the people we’ve seen here already.We will figure things out and we’ll get settled and things will be good.I KNOW He is in control. He has to be. And I’m just so thankful...As I sit here with my family quietly sleeping in their new beds, I look around and feel at home. Yes, things are in disorder. We need furniture. We need a stove. We need to get unpacked. But I’m not worried. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So step by step, we’ll tackle things as they come, keeping Him at the forefront of all we do. We’re home.
Looking back and recalling those feelings, I still come back to arriving at the airport and seeing our teammates through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. It's a moment that truly touched me. It was later in the year when we got to stand on the other side of those windows when Mickey & Beverly Webb came to visit followed a few weeks later by family from Norway.
I am excited by the thought that in a few months my parents will be arriving at that same airport where we'll watch them through those same glass windows. Truly, windows to my soul.
This has been a great year and none of us would change a single moment.
There have been countless experiences of sharing the Good News, and that makes everything worthwhile.
We are thankful and blessed and joyful to be on this journey.
Let's keep going!
