Jackie's Journey "Life is Not What Happens to Us...!"

I am a woman, daughter, mother, grandmother, aunt, American, politically conservative, Christian, an author, teacher, bush-nurse, missionary, pastor’s wife…These are what I call myself in my head; the tags that I attach to myself to describe the person I think I am.  They become the boss of my thoughts.  

 Who are we without a title, right?

 I have sundry labels, but the one that is shouting the loudest these days is that I am a Christian conservative American woman that has sat quietly on the sidelines, too long. I am fighting mad. The Afghanistan fiasco is the last straw and has challenged my tolerance for futility!  I am the mother of two strong woman and most recently, my oldest granddaughter, who have called me up short with their bold personal involvement regarding our country’s current need.  

 As women, we have been harassed and divided. We have experienced betrayal and disloyalty.  We have been silenced and shamed by the blind leading the blind!  Our homes, schools, churches, cities, counties, states and nation are in dire straits.  Our children are being taught, as fact, concepts and ideas regarding history, sex and health that contain terms that are not even in our vocabulary!

 The border crisis, the debacle and humiliation in Afghanistan (that was a result of a disastrous dyslectic plan), coupled with the recent flood of 9/11 memories with 3,000 sacrificed lives and the multitude of young soldiers wounded and lost here and on foreign soil, the abortion issue in the forefront again…are just a few of the many challenging topics of conversation we are hearing everywhere.  Strangers in a grocery store line are discussing the confusion and ineptness all around us.  

Masks on one day…no masks another day!  The ever-changing vaccine issue! Two vaccines, vaccine cards, then…boosters in 4 months…then 6 months.  Mandates galore!  Businesses closing, ships stalled in port, not enough trucks to get food and goods to us once unloaded off the ships, Americans that don’t want to work, and the defunding of our police! Not to mention…the assumed positions of power and disregard of rule and law that has served us and our country well for over 200 years. We are becoming unrecognizable!

 No one seems to have an answer that resonates truth.  Our focus is lost on the peripheral, sacrificing the permanent on the altar of the immediate, grappling with issues that do not address the core of our ailment, as individuals or as a nation. We are being led by incompetence and directed by worldly philosophies. Whatever your personal beliefs, we all have a voice and we do not need to all agree.  This is America. 

Let’s bury our fear and step up to the plate…all of us can agree that the families of our young men and women that were put in harm’s way in Kabul, need our support now more than ever.  We agree that all lives matter, including the unborn, and that division and hate will ultimately defeat us! Let’s agree where we can and not back down where we can’t!

 As American women, our time has come to claim yet, another title… “Warrior”!

 We fight for truth, righteousness, and like mama bears,

we protect our own…

  Life is not what happens to us, BUT what we make happen…

  Just saying…

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "Broken Pieces!"

It’s a New Year!  Where are you today?  Are you struggling in your life?  What about your family?  Are you broken because of family divisions and the pain that comes from having no answers?  Is there Covid-19 confusion and fear surrounding you?  What about addiction?  Do you or someone you know need to be set free? 

 I am currently reading a book called “Hearts of Fire”.  The stories of eight women who, despite circumstances, demonstrated incredible courage, conviction and love for Jesus Christ and His church.  They were called to stand against the harshest opposition and became leaders with boldness and tenacity, refusing to shrink from the needs and opportunities that faced them, regardless of the threat.  How they responded, when “muzzled” is a lesson we, moms, could all learn from.

We know that as mothers, molding character in the lives of those that follow us is imperative.  How we respond in these days of change, learning and life-application reveals our true character.  It is being observed and will reproduce itself.  What does opposition look like and are we prepared to embrace the promise that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”? 

 “Officials in different levels of governmental authority over us have in this past troubling year done everything they can to dampen our enthusiasm and limit how we are allowed to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Ralph and I never suspected that we would ever live to see the kind of liberty and freedom being threatened here in the United States of America or that there would be a desperate need for an awakening of Conservative Americans.  We never dreamed that the American press and social media could be as biased as the press in Panama, USSR, Venezuela, or any Islamic nation. We can clearly see that government control here in the US is only going to get worse in the days ahead.” (edited and paraphrased prayer letter from Indonesian/China missionaries, Tom and Selva Kweder)

 While the world all around us, including our American culture, seems to be disintegrating before our eyes, we are called to respond with courage and boldness.  Our limitations become our opportunities.  Christians here in America have become fearful of meeting together, fearful of reading their bibles in public, fearful of reaching out to others and stating our Christian beliefs regarding moral issues (abortion, same sex marriage, immorality, and strange perversions that even our primitive people groups do not accept!).  Moms, these are being presented to our children as normal and even something they might want to consider!

 What should be our response?  Do you have an answer?  These little ones following us are listening.  They are bright-eyed and eager to learn.  Will they be prepared with truth? “Jesus said,”…see that ye be not troubled.”  We are not to be alarmed, frightened, or gripped by fear. We are to be seeing the threat and standing in the gap.   The darker the night, the brighter our light shines.” 

 Will you choose promise and opportunity 

Over fear, threats and despair?

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.