To My Daddy...

Dear Dad,

How do I even find the words to express how much I love you? There really aren't words and so I shouldn't even try, but I will. 

Thank you for always being there for me. For loving me, pushing me, and always believing in me. When life gets rough, you are always there to listen to my problems, calm my fears, and encourage me. Most importantly, I know you are are praying for me each and every day. You love me enough to let me move to the other side of the world because you knew that was what the Lord placed on my heart. And you continue to encourage me through this crazy journey I have been on since. 

You inspire me to trust God in everything. In the joys as well as the struggles. You are a father figure to many. To your students, swimmers, and baseball players, just to name a few. I am just the blessed one who gets to call you "Daddy." You show Jesus through your actions and through the way you listen and love unconditionally. You never give up on me no matter what a mess I make of things, and for that I want to say, thank you.  

I have always been a "daddy's girl" and I know I always will be. I just have to share that role with Kiah now. : ) Thank you for just being you and loving me for me. I just pray that my future husband will be just like you. I can't wait until one day when I'll actually get celebrate Father's Day with you. 

Love Always,

Your "baby doll," Anneli

Wordless Wednesday: Happy 2nd Birthday, Micah!

Happy Birthday, Tage!

Happy 18th Birthday to my goofy, fun-loving "little" brother, Tage!

I am so excited for you and all that this year has in store. I know the Lord will continue to lead you and guide you. I am so proud of you and the young man of God you have become. 

I love you, miss you, and happy birthday!

Sunday Snapshot: Christmas 2013, A Little Late

I know it's January 19th but at least I'm posting some pictures from the Johnson family Christmas, right? Since Thaddeus and I flew to China on Christmas day, writing a post on Christmas escaped my memory until recently when I was going through pictures. There are a lot here, but I just couldn't decide. 

Our Christmas was a little different this year. Christmas fell on a Wednesday and our family did our "Christmas morning" Monday evening. Then on Christmas Eve, we went to our Christmas Eve Church service and then had everyone over at our house for dinner, gifts, and fellowship. It was such a fun time!

The Grandma's.

Uncle Tage, Uncle Thad, Landon, and Uncle Cael.

My Dad and Tage.

Landon with his Uncle Thad. Landon looks a little shocked!

Cael (with his new gift from Kiah) and Micah.

My Mom with her sister, Sharon.

Present time!

"Look at the tree!" - Micah

Strawberry ice cream pie.... a Christmas tradition in my house. And a favorite!

We have candles for each of our plates and then turn out all the lights. I just love it.

Beautiful

"For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given,

and the government will be on His shoulders. 

And He will be called 

Wonderful Counselor, 

Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

Ni Hao Ya'll

Happy Birthday Asa!

My brothers (especially this one) LOVE when I "embarrass" them and birthdays give me the perfect opportunity too! Of course, I really don't embarrass them. Believe me, I could definitely share some dirt! ;-) But I won't because I'm a nice sister. 

Today, my "3rd brother" turns 22 (!). How in the world did that happen?!?! Oh wait... he was born in 1991 so I guess that would make him... 22. 

Asa is an incredible young man. A young man who loves Jesus, family, Jesus, baseball, Jesus, friends, and well... Jesus. It has been such a blessing for this big sister to watch her 6'2" "little" brother grow in his faith and to make it his own. To trust Jesus with his whole life and to seek to bring honor and glory to Him. He is a witness to everyone he meets. 

My two nephews absolutely adore him, especially 4 year old Landon. 

Asa is also a very talented athlete. He has been spending the summer playing baseball in Alaska with Athletes in Action which is a branch of CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ). He will be flying back to NY on Monday after being away 2 months. What an incredible experience he has had! He gets to play baseball and learn more about Christ through Bible studies, outreach, witnessing to the teams they play, etc.

So proud of you, Asa, and the young man you have become. Miss you and wish I could be there to celebrate with you. Eat an extra piece of cake for me. :-)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

The Final Season

As I have mentioned before, one of the hardest things about living overseas is missing out. Missing out on holidays, parties, and especially in my family, sporting events. I am the 2nd oldest of 7 children, 5 of which are boys. I grew up in a sport loving family! We all were swimmers, and my brothers have all played baseball and most of them have also played football. Me? I was not gifted in the "hand eye coordination" area. Even Kiah is an excellent swimmer and started playing softball this year.

Due to technology, I have been able to keep up with how my siblings are doing. I remember last June when our high school baseball team made it to the state tournament (this would involve Thad and Tage), I woke up at 5 a.m. in order to "listen online" to the game. It was wonderful actually. I remember drinking coffee, eating pancakes, and watching the sun rise as I enjoyed listening to a ball game. Doesn't get much better than that! Swimming is easy to keep up with. Times are times and I know swimming. Baseball? Yeah, I know the game but the stats are hard for me to "visualize it." I am able to look up the games online to see who won and lost but other than that, not much of it makes sense. I miss going to games. I had my fair share of games when I was home this spring though. I LOVED it!

I just realized the other day what I'll be missing this fall. Football. Now, I am not a huge fan of football (shhh, don't tell my brothers that!). Honestly, the game bores me. But I DO love going to a game on a Friday night, sitting under the lights with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, staying warm underneath a blanket, sitting with my Mom and sister, just enjoying being together. I realized that I won't JUST be missing a season, I'll be missing the LAST SEASON of football in our family. Tage is the youngest boy and he will be a senior (!) this fall. And I will miss it.

*Sigh* Just missing home today.

Happy 4th Birthday Landon!

Today is my nephew, Landon's, 4th birthday. Wow, how in the world can he be 4 already?! Seems like just yesterday I was driving to meet him for the first time. 

He is ALL BOY. I mean how could he not be with 4 crazy uncles?!?! And yes, he is a baseball lover (once again, all those crazy uncles...). Doesn't he look thrilled in this picture?

 He is also an incredible big brother. He loves his little "Micah man" dearly. And Micah definitely looks up to him. They are so cute together!

 Landon is always making us smile and laugh at his antics. What a little ham!

This little guy knows that is Aunt Anneli is in China and when the sun sets, he will ask my sister-in-law, "is the sun going to see Anneli now?" Yes, sweet boy, yes it is.

Sad I can't be there to celebrate with you, Landon, but I am thinking of you.

Hapy 4th Birthday! I hope it's great!

If you are joining me in the Psalm 139 reading, today's verses are from 11&12:

"If I say,' Surely the darkness will hide me and and the light become night around me,' 

even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for the darkness is as light to you."

Sunday Snapshot: 4th of July... on the 7th!

Happy 4th of July (a few days late) to all my American friends! This is my 2nd year of not being home for the 4th of July and for some reason this year it hit me harder than in the past. 4th of July announces the beginning of summer. Picnics, swimming, fireworks, etc.

I decided to make the most of my 4th of July here in China too. My plan on Thursday was to take the afternoon off and  hit the pool! However, my plans were changed when we got a call about a recently abandoned baby boy. Since I wasn't able to celebrate the 4th on the 4th, decided to celebrate on the 7th. After all, this is China. Didn't feel like the 4th of July anyways so didn't matter that I would celebrate a few days late!

My morning started out with a nice cup (or two) of coffee and an omelet. Very American right?

Then it was time to "hit the pool." It rains just about every day here but will clear up just as fast and then the sun will be out. I saw the clouds rolling in and figured that once it stopped, I'd be good to go! It stopped, I headed to the pool, was in for just a few months when.... this happened. 

I sat for a while "waiting it out," but it just kept raining harder and harder with no blue sky in site. This was my feeling on the situation...

 Decided rather than waiting for the rain to stop, which may never stop, I headed home, popped some popcorn and watched a movie.

Later in the evening, it was time for my "4th of July" dinner. Of course there was watermelon... after all, would it be the 4th (or 7th) of July without it?

 Corn on the cob, asparagus, and chicken.

 And "American" chips. The bag even says so!

Thursday morning during preschool we actually were able to make our 4th of July craft. Aren't the stars cute?

Praying you all had a wonderful 4th of July!

For those of you following along with the Psalm 139 with me, here is today's verse:

"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?" (Psalm 139:7)

Ni Hao Yall