The Good Father

Our newest story in the Princess Parables series, A Royal Easter Story, weaves together a number of different lessons.  Just as God’s word can have many applications in just one verse, A Royal Easter Story does as well.  The beauty of using God’s word as the foundation for a story allows for a richness of many applications.

 One of the underlying storylines to teach your kids from the new story is found in Luke 11:11,12. 

"What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?”  

“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?”

With Easter right around the corner, most of us will be putting together the egg hunts, Easter dinner and the highly-anticipated Easter basket.  Would you ever consider putting in rocks instead of colored eggs? Pebbles instead of jelly beans? Or a snake in place of a chocolate bunny?

Never! Right?

I love giving gifts to my kids.

Their faces light up with eyes shining with excitement.  Hugs flow freely, even with my teens.  Smiles and gratefulness follow a well-chosen gift.

I am just a little giddy inside myself.  Nothing is as good as being the giver. I especially love to grant their requests, when I can.  I always want to be the “Yes!” mom.

Our God is the “Yes!” God within His will.

The story in Luke teaches us three things, which in turn are great teaching tools in A Royal Easter Story.

Our God gives good gifts

The story is intended to be absurd, even in the 21st century.  But the stark reality is, if our fathers here on this earth treat us well, how much more our Father in Heaven does.  He longs to give us good gifts.  Not a million dollars from the lottery, but the gifts He knows will grow us and mature us into the person He has designed us to be.  As we gift Easter baskets this year, let us not forget to remind our children that God gives great gifts.  The best gift was His son for our lives.

We can pray with confidence and persistence

If God is so good to us, then we can come to him to ask for what we need.  He is our good father and wants to give us what is beneficial for us. Because of who God is and what He promises, we can pray knowing He will answer and do what is best.  We can remind our children, just as they may not always get candy for breakfast and cake before bedtime.  Neither can we expect to have prayers answered that are not wholesome for us, but we can come confidently knowing God will give us everything we need.

Because of our Heavenly Father’s character, we can treat others right

Jesus is asking us to treat others the way we want to be treated – the Golden Rule. This verse sets up the perfect story to teach kids not to worry if things don’t turn out the way they want.  God has everything under control and he has “your back”. We can treat people as ambassadors for Jesus and not worry about what we get in return.  God is already ready to give us good gifts.  We don’t need to worry; we just need to do the right thing.  This is an important truth the princesses learn in A Royal Easter Story.  They have to give up winning the race to rescue a lost little girl, but in the end, they are blessed to have done the right thing.

We are so excited for you all to read this book to your kids.  Can you tell?  Have you ordered it yet? 

A Royal Easter Story came out on Tuesday, just in time for your Easter basket!

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Jackie's Journey: A Royal Easter Story

“Rejoice with Us!”

The Princess Parables Book Series is designed to inspire noble thoughts and actions.  We have been blessed in so many ways by those of you who buy them, read them and use them as a teaching tool to minister to the spirit of your little girls.  We have a Princess Parable Prayer Book for Toddlers and a Devotional Book coming soon. We have recently been asked by our publishing house to submit a proposal to bring you another series of books for the little princesses who started with us six years ago and are now ready for chapter books.  We humbly seek God’s Word for inspiration and His heart for leading.

Will you pray with us?

The first of our two seasonal princess books arrives in bookstores tomorrow, the 26th of January 2016!  We are excited to announce its arrival in time for Easter.   A Royal Easter Story is taken from Luke 11.  We are introducing our five young Knights in this book for those of you who have patiently waited for them to arrive.

From Luke 11:9-13, A Royal Easter Story reveals the truth of a caring and selfless good Father who not only gives us good gifts, but also answers us when we seek Him. The princesses’ life-lesson is that a TRUE princess must learn to lose her life serving “Others first” - no “Me first” attitudes.  While in carriages racing the young knights to the annual Easter celebration, the girls come upon a lost little girl who desperately needs their help. They terminate their contest with the boys to give their attention to the more important needs of little forlorn Alina. Her name means “light” and she opens the eyes of the princesses to see the real race in life.  

Easter is the celebration of our heavenly Father and King, who is “The Light”. He is noble and always focuses on others and what is eternal and matters most … US!  He never sacrifices the permanent on the altar of the immediate!  Our Father’s devotion caused Him to wage war against principalities on our behalf. He gave the ultimate sacrifice (His life for ours on the cross!).  Not only did He die for us, but He is alive and is available to all who ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK!

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:9-13

Please visit our store to find our “hot off the press” Easter Book.  Also available are the Princess companion pieces (Princess Dolls, Princess Sticker and Activity Books, Princess I Can Read books for the emergent readers, A Treasury of Three Princesses or a Collection of all Five Princesses and much more…).  Our seasonal Princess Christmas Book is also due out for this Christmas 2016.  We are so grateful to each of you and the encouragement you give us as we continue to step into the print HE leaves behind…

~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 discipling 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. 

Life Applications for Princesses

We have an exciting lesson for your kids this Easter!

Should we tell you what it is all about before the book comes out?  Yes?  I think so too! Just don’t tell our publisher!

Like a scrumptious crock pot dinner, A Royal Easter Story has been brewing slowly in Jackie’s and my heart over the last couple of years, and we are thrilled the story is finally here, in color, for all your children to enjoy.

Just like all the books in the Princess Parables Series, this latest edition is full of lessons and character examples.  I am going to take this week and next to expound upon the two verses and parables we used to create this inspirational story.  Our hope is when you order the book and read it to your princess, these lessons can be brought to life. 

The reason the Princess Parables was created in the first place is we wanted your daughters to love God’s word and the parables of Jesus.  We wanted to help create a conversation at bedtime when they are sitting on your lap reading their favorite princess book. 

This is our hope and goal.

Here is the first part of the focused verse of A Royal Easter Story.

Luke 11:9-10

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

ASK:  If your kids are anything like mine, they ask A LOT of questions.  I have always encouraged them by saying “You can ask me anything!” I believe this verse does not mean if we ask God for anything, he will give it. He is not a genie waiting to fulfill our every desire. For as any good parent knows, not everything my kids ask for is good for them.  Just like my father in heaven knows what is good for me.  Ask and it (the answer) will be given to you.  The answer to a prayer is the biggest way we ask.  Sometimes the answer is yes.  Sometimes it is no and sometimes it is wait.  In A Royal Easter Story, we have Princess Charity asking her father a question and he answers.  It is symbolic of our heavenly father answering our prayers.

SEEK:  Hide-and-seek was a favorite for my kids for years.  They had just as much fun hiding and they did seeking. However, seeking was the only way to find the reward.  In the same way, God wants us to seek Him. He is not a hovering, demanding parent who controls us like robots, but he has allowed free will.  Within this freedom, He desires us to seek His salvation, His will, His wisdom and His plan. A three-fold promise is found in this scripture.  God says “You will find me!”  In A Royal Easter Story, we find the princesses helping a lost little girl where they promise to SEEK her family and not give up.  They were persistent in their promise, just as God is to us.

KNOCK: One of my kids went through a Knock-Knock joke phase.  Did any of yours? Funny as they were, it was never just one joke, but as many as they could say in a short period of time, until they were out of breath. I was reminded that when we knock, we never rap just once, but it is a series of knocks that open the door.  As we look at Luke 11:9-10, we can see Jesus’ idea building: first we ask, then we seek and lastly, we knock – showing repetition. Jesus wants us to pray repeatedly, not because He didn’t hear us the first time, but because the practice of prayer is saint-perfecting.  In our Easter story, the princesses are supposedly lost, and as they return they KNOCK.  The door opens to a worried father who is relieved to see them.  As promised, if we knock, the door will be opened.

Fun Fact:  Just so you know we have “hidden” this parable in the story.  We have used all capitals ASK, SEEK, KNOCK in the text so you can ask your kids, why is this word capitalized?  It will make sense in the end and be a great teaching tool.

In just 6 six days, A Royal Easter Story will be released.  We can’t wait for you to make this book part of your Easter traditions and stories.  You can order it here if you haven’t already! Enjoy it!  Let us know what you think too.

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Jackie's Journey: Raising an Alert Knight

Little boys are born with an adventurous spirit!  They see themselves as trusted warriors with swords whittled out of sticks and pieces of wood.  They visualize heroic acts of valor.  God designed them that way.  As parents, we want to encourage our little men to be strong and courageous. They will grow to know a God who is mighty and has a defined plan and purpose for their lives. 

Since we moms spend the bulk of our time with our little boys, God’s plan is for us to be the “movers and shakers” in shaping these young knights-in-the-making.  The responsibility of being alert to unpredictable dangers that will hinder our efforts is crucial.  What would you say is the key to being alert? 

Would you like that key? 

The pre-requisite to raising an alert young knight can only be accomplished as we walk in a consistent, intimate relationship with God.  When we are mighty in Spirit, little hearts learn how to watch and respond to the dangers in life. 

Are you mighty in spirit?

Are you alert to signals of danger in the life of your son?

Alertness is the awareness that a deadly enemy is stalking us. Being alert is acting quickly on signals of danger. “A wise man will hear danger and increase learning.”  Pro. 1: 5   Dangers come in many forms. We are called upon to be alert to physical, spiritual, moral, mental…. hazards in life.  Preparing our little guys to face life’s temptations is an immensely inclusive charge.  Sometimes danger seems harmless at first…a nuisance, but once we compromise a little we find it consuming us!  Little ones read our spirit and will follow our example.  We have a responsibility to act on what we know and to teach our little ones to obey God and their authority (us!).

Young Sir Alexander exemplifies the character quality of Alertness.  He is the youngest of the five brothers.  His valor and alertness are tested when he guards the palace and fearlessly and vigilantly responds to the dangers transpiring around him.

A valiant knight is alert and acts quickly to dangers in life that creep in unaware.

We trust Sir Alexander will encourage and inspire your little knight as you teach him the importance of being alert to the predators that will try to rob him of the life God has planned for him. Jeremiah 29:11

~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 discipling 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. 

Life-Giving Home

2016 is off and running . . .

Have you taken a moment to sit and create a framework for your home this year?

Yeah, I know.  When?

Most of us are trying to create home for our kids to grow up where they will feel creative, loved, inspired, and nurtured.  We want them most of all to have a life-changing relationship with Jesus.  We want them to feel protected, valued and encouraged to take on the world.  Whew, how do we do that with all the running around and crazy schedules we keep?

Are you all idealists like me?

When reality kicks in, my ideals are pushed to the side in the face of TODAY.  If I don’t have a plan for my family and my home, my great intentions are just that – only intentions.  So how can we create this environment for our family?

I am excited to tell you about a new book coming out from my friend, Sally Clarkson, called The Life Giving Home this February.  You just have to read it!

I love that God has both of our books coming out about the same time and we are both busy launching what God has called us to do – writing books for the life-giving home.

I am just reading my copy of Sally’s new book. I feel energized and inspired by its pages.  The book is divided up into months.  There is a chapter for each month of the year with a planner to go along with it.  What better way is there to take my intentions and make them reality?

In one of the first chapters of the book (January), Sally gives a framework for getting your home into routines and rituals of your family’s life.  In the chapter, she gives ideas for de-cluttering, celebrating, daily planning, establishing a devotional and household routines.  She speaks my language when she talks about “The Morning Blessing”. My favorite part of the chapter is about establishing a "reading-hour" routine, which has saved me over the years!  Also I find my kids have kept the reading hour well into the rest of their lives, just like Sally suggests!

Our new book, A Royal Easter Story, is the perfect book to add to your children’s shelves for their “reading hour”. They can revisit the parable story over and over again, bringing them into the world of imagination and words, but also see an example from the princesses’ lives of a real life-giving home.  These princesses are the ones you want your girls to be like - full of character and virtue.  Won’t you consider filling their library with some new princesses to emulate?

You can find Sally Clarkson’s The Life Giving Home here.

You can find our newest book, A Royal Easter Story here.

Both inspire greatness and God’s ideals.

Here is a quote from Sally to close:

“So plan your days, allow flexibility, and keep moving in the direction of your ideals a little at a time. I believe you’ll see that your intentional investment of time will promote valuable habits in the lives of all those who share your home—you included” – Sally Clarkson, The Life-Giving Home 

How do you build into your family life-giving ideals?

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Jackie's Journey: Raising a Loyal Knight

“In medieval times, all knights lived by a code.  Loyalty to this high calling formed the core of every knight’s identity.  It also served to define the progress of his life.” Raising a Modern Day Knight by Robert Lewis

Raising little knights can be challenging.  Little boys are born with an adventurous spirit!  They have a desire to be empowered.  These little men dream of being courageous conquerors; they are the hunters and providers.  They sense the need to become strong…the champions of good over evil…defenders of the universe! 

As you raise your little knights to be loyal, here are some practical steps that will cause learning in your little man and make loyalty a reality in his life.

My life has been filled with four little boys for the last fourteen years!  I have observed the challenges that come with raising a “modern day knight”, and I call you “blessed” if you finish the course with young knights who are loving, respectful and loyal!

Loyalty is a foundational block of our faith and calls for designated attention.  In a day when it is the least valued and our children are absent of conviction, inundated with political correctness, following their own wills, peers, Hollywood celebrities, our bad examples… the desperate need for understanding the importance of having loyalty to God, His Word, His commands, His Plan and His purpose are imperative! Teaching loyalty through respect for authority (parents, grandparents, pastors, teachers…) should be celebrated.  Blessing and protection are the promises and fruit of exercised loyalty. It should dominate all teaching opportunities with our little ones as we encourage, correct and lovingly discipline.   

A loyal knight will use difficult times to demonstrate his faithfulness to God and those he serves.  He respects those in authority and sees and responds to events in his life with obedience, understanding that protection is the blessing in the end.  Sir Andrew proves his loyalty to King and country and is given the King’s blessing for his loyal dedication and hard work.

In our newest book in the Princess Parables series, A Royal Easter Story, we introduce five valiant young cavaliers and brothers.  Each embodies a different character quality.  Sir Andrew is our example of loyalty.  His story is based on Matthew 25:14-30 and the Parable of the Talents.  We hope we will be able to bring his story to you in the next couple of years.  These chivalrous adventurers are part of the original vision we were given when the Princess Parable Books took form.  We always envisioned a series of books for those of you who have little boys and are looking for books that will challenge them to exercise honorable thoughts and actions.

We hope Sir Andrew will encourage and inspire your little knight at home as you teach him the importance of loyalty.

~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 discipling 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. 

What My Princesses Taught Me

I was raised without a sister in a world of boys.  I, myself, was a tomboy.

I never wore dresses as a child.  I played tackle football on the beach with my brothers and their friends.  I refused to wear a bra until 7th grade. (I needed one in 5th grade).  I had a Dorothy Hamill haircut (need I say more?). I never wanted to really be a girl.

I didn’t have lavish tea parties. I didn’t like pink. I was not into sparkly glitter at all.  Somewhere inside I hated all the silly girlie stuff.  Don’t get me wrong, my parents loved me and my mom tried.  Somewhere along the line, I missed the grandeur of being a girl.

Luckily for me, God had begun to refine me in my teen years.  I had become quite sophisticated.  I had come a long way from my custom Vans tennis shoes and Jordache jeans.  I had begun to like the finer things in life and the beauty in event planning in my 20’s.  In some circles, I was down-right “girlie”. Eventually, I got married and did get all girlie for the big day. Not that any of these things are the end-all-be-all, for sure, but the Lord was softening me for what came next.

I was going to have a girl.   

A daughter.

Not only one, but eventually, two.

Deep down inside, I was still the greasy haired, arm-twisting spitfire in 6th grade with a fresh coat of paint and fancy clothes on.  I was sure I was not prepared to raise girls. In 2 Peter 1:3 it says God has given us everything we need for this life.  But I was a skeptic, at best.

The baby years were pink.  She was darling, and I began to relax thinking, “I can do this girl thing”.  Then one day when my daughter was almost two, it happened. 

My little girl became a princess overnight. 

She wanted everything glittery, everything pink and every fluffy tulle item to wear.  She twirled and danced around like the world was her oyster.  These were uncharted waters for me.  Her singing lit up my life and her imagination made me smile.  My life would never be the same.

As I watched her naturally glide into this world of make-believe with ease, I felt the Lord pulling at the cords of confusion in my past.  You see, my daughter was not taught how to “be a princess”, she just came out that way.  Something inside her knew she had come from royalty or at the very least, she wanted to know she was beautiful and loved by the King of Kings.  At two years old, she was more confident in who she was than I ever had been.

I was somewhat jealous.  I wanted what she had. I had felt awkward and confused growing up.  I was always trying to fill this big giant hole of uncertainty with things, people and life.  You never would have caught me dead in a princess dress. 

But raising two princesses made me a fan of all things royal.  Not because Disney had fun princess stories or I like to be girlie now, but because GOD is the author of royalty.  He is the one who made it up in the first place.  He is the one who fills scripture with these noble examples.  And it was in these days of discovery that the Princess Parables were birthed.

 With God ushering me along, I began to see His love for me through my girls.  I never before owned the fact that I am a daughter of the King, who reigns on high.  I was still clinging to the “I’m a tomboy, and are you sure they are really going to let me in the gates of heaven, Lord?”

Here is what I learned about God’s love having princesses: 

• As a daughter of the king, I share in His glory as one of His heirs (Rom. 8:17).
•  He calls me beautiful (Ps. 45:10-11).
•  I am chosen to be His girl (1 Peter 2:9).
•  I am valuable because He has made me and woven me together.  He calls me wonderful (Ps 139:12-14).
• He has made me a crown that will last forever!  I get to be a real princess forever! (1 Corinthians 9:25)
• I am a treasured possession.  His Princess!  (Ex. 19:5)
• He created me – His Princess – for a purpose (Eph. 2:10).

I have started to own this royal calling He has given me over the years.  It is not about wearing the dress or donning the crown.  There is nothing wrong with being a tomboy.  As long as in your heart, you are HIS girl, God’s princess.  As long as you know whose you are and whom you serve.  There was a disconnect for me all those years, but today, I have come a long way as the author of the Princess Parables.

Thank you, my King of Kings, for entrusting me with princesses who have shown me your love in a royal way. This unrelenting love lavishes upon me a new confidence in my position as your girl.

As my girls mature, they may take off the princess dress, but may they never forget the King’s love for them.  Here is a blessing from my friend and mentor, Sally Clarkson for your family as you raise them as children of God:

May God’s richest blessings be with you as you dream, create ideas for your own family, and flourish in the creativity of mind and soul that comes with being God’s child, made in His likeness, and destined for an eternal home with Him.- The Life-Giving Home by Sally Clarkson

May God’s richest blessings be with you as you dream, create ideas for your own family, and flourish in the creativity of mind and soul that comes with being God’s child, made in His likeness, and destined for an eternal home with Him.- The Life-Giving Home by Sally Clarkson

 How are you teaching your princesses and knights God’s love for them?

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Jackie's Journey: ...Got Purpose?

A New Year!   Another Opportunity!

When you get to the end of this year, what do you want to look back on and say you accomplished…Personally? Professionally?  Spiritually? Relationally?

Would you like to make this year your most successful ever?

How fruitful would you say you were this past year?  Did you attain the goals you set?  How did you do with keeping Godly priorities?

So often we think to be successful we need a sense that we are getting more out of life…more me time, vacation time, more quality time with our children, more opportunities to develop a more mature relationship with our husbands, more exercise, less weight… “it’s all about me”!  We are blinded by kids’ schedules (practices, meets, tournaments, tutors, recitals, award ceremonies and more).  We live in a maze of taxi driving (pick-ups and drop-offs), carpools, careers, vacations, parties, sleepovers, play dates, fears and circumstances that keep us from seeing the clarity of our designed purpose.  We are forever seeking balance…

This is the opposite of what God envisions for us.  We are to live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility… not as (women) who do not know the meaning and purpose of life, but those who do…making the best use of our time, despite all the evils of these days…not being vague, but grasping firmly what we know to be the will of the Lord.  Ephesians 5:15-17

Fulfillment in life is not deciding what we want to do or become, but discovering and completing the purpose for which God made us! (Gothard)

True Success in life is measuring what we are by what we could be (always seeking His purpose and meaning of life) and what we have done by what we could have done (by His grace).  “Faithful is He who calls us who (HE) will also do it (if we get out of the way, relinquish our will and yield to His!). It is achieving the full potential God planned for us. (ATIA)  We are destined with His purpose on our life. (Col. 1:28, 29)… “it’s not about me”!

Are we focused on what God is focused on or are we hastily and thoughtlessly doing our own thing?  If we have not realized our life purpose and set eternal goals for this coming year, our present priorities to reach that goal are superfluous!  Our focus is blurred by the demands of the immediate on the altar of the permanent.

The key to a full and rich life is determined by our commitment to pleasing God.  The alternative is failure…and I hate failure!

When I was a young Christian I was challenged by Betty Scott Stams’ declaration of purpose.  She was a missionary to China and was martyred by Communists in 1949.

“Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life.  I give myself, my life, my all utterly to Thee to be Yours forever.  Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit.  Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt, work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever.”

While at the University, I stapled that statement of purpose inside the flap of my Bible and it is still there today…a reminder of my commitment to my God, who gave His ALL for me, to “die daily”.  “If anyone would come after me (Christ), he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  Luke 9:23

Taken from Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die (to my will, rights, ambitions, entitlements, etc.) is gain.  It has carried me through life and has been my comfort while serving in the jungles of Panama until this day…

Where is your heart? 

What is your declaration of purpose?

~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 discipling 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: Courageous....I Am Not!

Once upon a time a family embarked on their first vacation that was not directly connected to ministry.  This is significant because they found themselves in the middle of a huge lake on a 75’ houseboat with six bedrooms; three bathrooms and a massive open kitchen/dining/living room, a Jacuzzi, and water slide on the second story!   The amenities are mentioned here because this family was flabbergasted at the comfort and convenience.  They could have moved in permanently!  

We are that family and this houseboat was perfect for all of us!

We had arrived the evening before and boarded just in time to load our things and find a place to fall asleep.   Some slept on the upstairs deck watching shooting stars, while others found comfy bedrooms.  Early the next morning, we headed out onto the lake.  

Ralph, my husband, Philip, my son-in-law, and I took the houseboat and everyone else loaded into the Ski boat to find a place to moor both boats for the week.  We got a late start and headed in the direction of a specific cove that had been pointed out to us on a map because we were so large and it would give us the best protection from the elements (wind, storms) that we were warned popped up unexpectedly.

We passed the entry to our cove and circled around…we missed it again…and again…  It all looked the same to us.  The sun was beginning to slip behind the mountains.  Darkness was now pressing in on us.  Somehow we had gotten separated from the Ski boat.  We needed to find our destination.  Adding apprehension to my new set of unknowns was the need to find that Ski boat!  The wind was kicking up and dusk was riding on it.  We needed both boats anchored on a sandbar and there was only one that would meet the need we had for our floating ark!  

I would like to think that I am a brave and courageous person.  After all, I had taken our two year old and delivered our second child in a foreign country as a young missionary.  I left the familiar and comfortable to live among an unreached tribe in the middle of a remote jungle.  When there was no one to suture a machete wound, give T. B. injections or deliver babies, I, with fear and trembling, stepped up to the plate!  So I must be courageous…right?

Courage is the strength from God that enables us to endure any circumstance, trial or danger with gratefulness, understanding His sovereign will.  It is demonstrating the confidence that harmonizing with God’s will brings ultimate victory regardless of present circumstance or opposition. 

“Deut. 31:6“Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord your God goes with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you.” 

God miraculously guided us into the exact place on the map that was the only “secure” spot for our houseboat!  The boys jumped off and took the iron stakes, crossed them and anchored them deep in the sandbar.  Hastily my grandson, Christopher, ignited the BBQ and soon we were settled in and looking forward to a Bible Study with Grandpa Ralph before we headed to bed.

Morning came early and everyone, except Ralph and I, loaded onto the speedboat to water ski, wake board, etc.  The day was perfect.  The lake was smooth as glass and our vacation was now in full swing.  We watched the fast boat disappear.  For hours Ralph and I enjoyed the silence and beauty of the lake.  Another boat had pulled onto our ridge sometime in the night and we were looking for an opportunity to meet them.

Out of nowhere, our solitude was interrupted by a swift and strong wind that came over the waters.  The waves were rapidly peaking at 5’!  Our boat began to sway and the moorings pulled loose from the sandbar! 

As the boat rocked… my first thought was,  “Where are the kids?!” and then…as we slipped backwards into the unknown lake, “Could we replace this massive beast if it crashed into the jagged cliffs surrounding it and sunk!?” 

Ralph was on his feet and immediately took off like a bullet!

On a dead run, he looked back and in an effort to calm my fears, yells over his shoulder, “Don’t panic, Jackie…safety is in the Lord”.   He jumps the ten feet or more from the boat to the shoreline and grabs the rope that has slipped into the lake.  All the moorings were now laying flat on the sandbar!

 “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”  Proverbs 3: 25-26

As I am drifting alone out into the lake, panicked and screaming for Ralph, the neighbors whom we had not yet seen came running toward our landing.  The man leapt into the lake and then jumped on board with me! He grabbed the wheel, started the engine and pulled us back toward shore. He told me to keep the engine running and keep it pointed toward the sandbar.  I instantly obeyed, as he disappeared to help Ralph with the ropes and re-pounding the stakes.

 His wife began yelling at me from shore to hit the sandbar as hard and fast as I could!  That was the easiest command I have obeyed in a long time…I full-throttled that ark up onto the sandbar, not realizing the job was so well done that it took eight people to get us loose the day we left!

The storm was raging and the boat was once again secured, but our children and grandchildren were still out on the open water!  Had they found refuge in a cove or were they trying to get back to us?  My comfort came again from a biblical promise:

 “Those who respect the Lord will have security, and their children will be protected”!  Pro. 14:26

 “Jesus Christ is no security AGAINST storms, but He is perfect IN storms.  He has never promised us an easy passage, only a safe landing.”   L. B. Cowma

Ralph and I watched across the lake… praying.   Within an hour we heard the motor and saw them coming in the distance.  They had fought the waves and strong current and God had brought them to us safely.  The stories they excitedly shared were a Grandma’s nightmare!

As quickly as the storm hit, the wind subsided and calmness was restored.  The next few days were a tranquil dream… and a memory that will last a lifetime.

“We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God.”  Francis de Sales

Lest I fail to put real courage in perspective, listen to the testimony of John Huss:

“When John Huss was about to be burned to death, they asked him to give up his teachings. Huss answered, “What I have taught with my lips, I now seal with my blood.’”

That is Real courage!

Whatever the New Year holds for us…let’s face it courageously…trusting our Sovereign God who is in control and calms the storms in life.

~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 discipling 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. ​