Jackie's Journey "Forgotten Father's!"

 “It was Grandfather’s birthday.  He was 79.  He got up early, showered, combed his hair and put on his Sunday best so he would look nice when they came.

 He skipped his daily walk to the town café where he had coffee with his cronies.  He wanted to be home when they came.

 He put his porch chair on the sidewalk so he could get a better view of the street when they drove up to help celebrate his birthday.

 At noon he got tired but decided to forgo his nap so he could be there when they came.  Most of the rest of the afternoon he spent near the telephone so he could answer it when they called.

 His has five married children, 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.  One son and daughter live within 10 miles of his place.  They hadn’t visited him for a long time.  But today was his birthday and they were sure to come.

 At suppertime he left the cake untouched so they could cut it and have dessert with him.

 After supper he sat on the porch waiting.

 At 8:30 he went to his room to prepare for bed.  Before retiring he left a note on the door, which read, “Be sure to wake me up when you come.”

 It was Grandfather’s birthday.  He was 79.”

 This fell out of my Dad’s bible when I picked it up to read while visiting my Mom.  My Mother had read it in Ann Lander’s daily advice column many years ago.  It so touched my heart for lonely and forgotten father’s and grandfather’s that I decided to share it with you.

 Yesterday was Father’s Day…did you remember to celebrate your father and grandfather?

 This was worth repeating again this year…

My never-forgotten, wonderful Father…

~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 "Cosmic Treason!"

Troubled cosmos taken from my bedroom window…

Which is it, moms?  If your child came and asked you, “What is the difference between good and evil?”  How would you answer? I am the mother of two grown married daughters and the grandmother of seven; six of them, college age young people.  As parents, getting our children ready for “life” means teaching our children to distinguish between right and wrong.  In this turned upside down culture, it is imperative as they stand on the threshold of life, that they are prepared and able to discern “good and evil” to find God’s will in their life-changing decisions. 

Where is that “plumb-line”?

 The explosion of youth crime, drugs, alcoholism, domestic violence, unwed mothers, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.…can be traced back to the removal of an absolute standard of right and wrong.  Who dropped the ball?  Is it not us, moms, that will stand and be blamed for not taking God’s Law (the Ten Commandments and the understanding of the consequence of disobedience) and searing them on the hearts and minds of our children?   (It’s always mom’s fault, isn’t it?) 

 “The instances are exceedingly rare of man immediately passing over a clear marked line from virtue into declared vice and corruption.  There are middle tints and shades between two extremes; there is something uncertain on the confines of the two empires which they must pass through, and which renders the change easy and imperceptible.” Edmund Burke

 We live in a world of “gray areas”.  Compromise in our own lives validates the “acceptable sins” being introduced into the lives of our children.  In today’s world, sin is not called sin, so we don’t have to deal with it, right?  WRONG!   Our children learn that our anger (or whatever it is, that you hold on to) ….is acceptable, without consequence.  God says there is a consequence for all sin.  You can be forgiven, but you still have the consequence of the sin to deal with.  Hence, the importance of clarity to our little ones regarding “right and wrong”.  There is to be no betrayal of truth within us.

 “…Imagine Moses agreeing to take part in a panel discussion with Israel over the golden calf; or Elijah engaging in a gentlemanly dialogue with the prophets of Baal.  Or try to picture our Lord Jesus Christ seeking a meeting of minds with the Pharisees to iron out differences.”! A.W. Tozer   We are to teach an allegiance to biblical truth without compromise, regardless, if it is considered popular or not. Or if the masses have accepted it as normal, not sin.

 Sin is cosmic treason. R.C. Sproul   Billy Sunday used to say, “One reason sin flourishes is that it is treated like a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake!”  James 4: 17 is the biblical definition of sin.  “To Him who knows to do right and does not do it…to him it is sin.” Using God’s definition for sin brings truth into the light.  

Let’s not forget, moms… our children are watching, imitating, 

repeating and reproducing our “right and wrongs”!  

Let’s not betray their trust…

~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 "Have You Run with the Footmen?"

As moms, we often find ourselves overextended, fatigued and distracted.  Having the schools open again would be a reprieve from the current state of continual answerability.  We find ourselves finding comfort in conversations with others in the same circumstances.  Overloaded and feeling out-of-control…these are the words that express our position, with blame and misunderstanding, the key tones for our troubled attitude.  The very word “endurance” conjures up more “long-suffering” with constant noise and activity! How does one reconcile the given responsibilities with the “tangle” we often find ourselves in?

 “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,

then how can you compete with horses?

If you fall down in the land of peace,

how will you do in the thicket of Jordan? Jeremiah 12: 5

 Failing to see the opportunity in our circumstances is paramount to “missing the motherhood-boat” entirely!  The sisterhood of our commission to the success of our children is a concentrated obligation with the job description written into it.  The task is hardy and we will be accountable.  The fruit of our investment and labor is known and read by all who come in contact with us and our children.  

 Frustration and failure are a part of the package.

 When the Confederate army retreated after Gettysburg, General Lee wrote: “We must expect reverses, even defeats.  They are sent to teach us wisdom and prudence, to call forth greater energies, and to prevent our falling into greater disasters…”  This is true of the individual life. There is no retreat.  We are at war for the hearts and minds of our children.  

 Thankfully, failure is the line of least persistence. Determination and perseverance are engraved on the heart of every loving and dedicated mom.  They are scripted with a call to excellence and excellence is never cheap.  It is costly. Constant care, serious preparation and continual application are required.  Excellence involves desire plus discipline plus determination.

 Let’s be found “running with the footmen” this week.

True to our calling and committed to enduring the course

for the benefit of those that will carry the banner into the next generation.

~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 "Life Unraveling!"

 “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him…Job 13:15”                               

Today we have the privilege of setting aside time to remember those who have laid down their lives for us to be able to live in the freedom that we experience daily.  I live with an army 82nd Airborne veteran and I am abundantly grateful, as we celebrate the liberties we have here in America. We need to note the sacrifice and do our part in seeing that those freedoms are not lost.  Today I was transported back to a day in the Darien jungles that brought thePanamanian Military into our remote community…

 Our village was tucked away near the Colombian border and we lived in the silence of the jungle and its peculiar sounds.   One late morning there was an unfamiliar roar in the distance.  A large military helicopter appeared and began circling our village, dropping low, looking for a place to land.  Before we knew what was happening, dust flew and the door slid open.  Men dressed in full military uniforms with machine guns jumped out and stormed into our house. Guns drawn, pointed directly at us, they began shouting commands with accusations!

 My life started unraveling before my eyes!  I quickly grabbed little Kim from her high chair and Christina came running, clutching my legs.  I reached down to reassure her, as Ralph stepped in front of us, whispering to me, “Remember, Jackie, this touched God’s hand first”.  

 We were being falsely accused of being spies for the United States and they demanded we turn over our only means of communication to the outside world…our humble two-way radio! 

I was trembling, imagining every plausible scenario of how we could be easily disposed of in the river and no one would know for months!  The truth that came surging into my consciousness was Job 13:15, “…though he slay me, yet will I hope in HIM”. 

 Still standing between the enemy and us, Ralph appeared calm and was resolutely responding in Spanish… “We are not spies from America.  We have permission from your government to bring medicine to help this isolated group of people.”  

                              How had this happened?  

What could we do?

 The next few moments stood still…their shouting gestures and my seeing no way of escape brought the verse in Job home to my heart.  I, purposefully, accepted His will, whatever that was going to be and instantly, peace prevailed.  What happened next was beyond belief!  To our utter astonishment, as abruptly as those militant soldiers arrived…they hastily, mid-sentence, without another word, turned and left!!  They did not ask for our passports or visas, nor did they take our rifles that were in plain view, hanging on the wall!  God had blinded their eyes and in an instant, redirected their path.

 In the aftermath of my processing through this current event, Ralph gave me a definition for “tribulation” that comes to mind every time I am faced with a trial and I just want it gone…no processing…just gone!  “Tribulation is God’s fastest road to maturity”.  Well… missionary life had definitely put me in the fast lane to grow up!  The more life I live, the more I realize how much growth I need!

 This is that definition in a “mathematical” formula that changed my life and the way I look at trials, inconveniences, suffering and contentment.  It goes like this:

 Trials + Acceptance of the trial with joy and thanksgiving = Growth/Maturity/Contentment

 I have two choices. I can respond to trials by:

(1) Benefitting from them! 

          The pressure of trials produces: (Jas. 1:2-4): 

§  Faith 

§  Patience

§  Perseverance

§  Maturity

§  Wisdom

§  Lacking Nothing! 

                                          OR

 (2) Reacting negatively to them emotionally, and locking down with:  Impatience, Fretfulness, Why me?, Depression, Complaining, Rebelliousness or Bitterness. 

  I choose to yield with gratefulness this morning and to recognize any form of tribulation, as a means to fulfill a greater purpose for my growth and the benefit of others.  

  What is your response? 

~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 "Can You Spot A Lie?"

What is the truth?  Have we been deceived?

“A lie has no legs; it requires other lies to support it.” Plato

 I was going through some books that I have kept since returning from the mission field and ran across a letter, written in 1976, that speaks as clearly today as it did back then.  Emerging from a year of confusion, chaos and life-lessons, I am a mom that is left astounded at the effect our family units have experienced.  As mom’s, we carry a lot of the responsibility for what goes on in our homes. Being alert is imperative and we have certainly had that opportunity these last months with our children being home with us.

 “Absorption in ease is one of the most reliable signs 

of present or impending decay.” 

Richard Weaver

 “Civilizations do not just die. Their leaders and people are first deceived; then they are destroyed.  ‘Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things (immorality, covetousness, worship of false gods, etc.) comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.’” (Eph. 5: 6)

 The deception comes in the form of ‘the lie’.  The lie was first given to Eve in the garden of Eden: ‘…ye shall be as gods, knowing (deciding for yourselves) good and evil.’  When we listen to the lie… (Gen. 3: 5)

·      It dethrones God and deifies man’s achievements.

·      It exalts human reason as supreme.

·      It trusts education and science to solve problems.

·      It believes that man is evolving into perfection.

·      It replaces God’s moral standards with situational ethics.

·      It promotes sensual pleasure and instant gratification.

·      It strives for a world utopia of prosperity and peace.

·      It makes the State the sovereign dictator over everyone.

 Do you see a pattern here?

 The tragedy is that ‘…because iniquity will abound, the love of many (Christians) will wax cold (toward God, toward their marriage partner, and toward their own sons and daughters).’ (Matt. 24: 12)

 Civilization is not destroyed because of the wickedness of unbelievers., but because of the carnality of Christians. An illustration of this is in God’s willingness to spare Sodom IF there were only 10 righteous in it! (Gen. 18: 32) This is why there is a call to rise up as one voice for our land, our God, our families and for the principles of His Word!” Bill Gothard, “Be Alert to Spiritual Danger”

“The doorstep to the temple of wisdom

 is the knowledge of our own ignorance.”

Charles H. Spurgeon

~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 "Does This Say It All...About Us?"

“A trouble-making woman once told John Wesley, ‘God has given me the talent of speaking my mind’.  Mr. Wesley snapped back, ‘God wouldn’t mind if you buried that talent.’”  We, women, are notorious for our chatter and a multitude of other attributes!  What we all have in common is a life being spent!  “Life is so short that the wood of the cradle rubs up tight against the marble of the tomb! Where is the life we have lost in living?” T.S. Elliot

 This could NEVER say it ALL about us, but it can put the life of “womanhood” in perspective: 

Time passes…

Life Happens…

Distance Separates…

Children Grow up…

Goals are set…

Responsibilities take hold… 

Jobs come and go…

Love waxes and wanes…

Men don’t do what we think they’re supposed to do…

Hearts break…

Parents die…

Careers end…

We grow older…

Eternity looms…

BUT

God is there…

No matter how much or little the time:

He gave us “womanhood”: mother’s, daughter’s, sister’s or girlfriend’s that are never far away…

than a needy helping hand can reach…

When we have to walk that lonesome valley and we have to walk alone, the women in our life will be on the valleys rim, cheering us on, praying for us, pulling for us, intervening on our behalf, and waiting with an open heart at the valley’s end.

 “Friends are an indispensable part of a meaningful life.  They are the ones who share the burdens and multiply our blessings.  A true friend sticks by us in our joys and sorrows.  In good times and bad, we need friends who will pray for us, listen to us, and lend a comforting hand and an understanding ear when needed.” Beverly LaHaye

 Sometimes, friends will even break the rules and walk beside us…or come in and carry us out.  Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers, grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, extended family…all bless our life!

 The world would not be the same without women and neither would you or I.  When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible “joys or sorrows” that lay ahead.  Nor did we know how much we would need each other.  God’s plan for womanhood has kept us this far and His promise to use us to bless, encourage, teach and learn from one another will sustain us, as we persevere and finish the course. 

 We do not want to be the woman who, looking back says, “it seems that we were all in the same boat with Christopher Columbus.  He didn’t know where he was going when he started.  When he got there, he didn’t know where he was, and when he got back, he didn’t know where he had been!” Alexander MacLaren

Let’s walk together…

 It is only as we develop others in life that we permanently succeed…

~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 "The Pulse of Sacrifice"

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! 

I love and miss you, sweet Mama…“Love is not a passion.  It is the pulse of sacrifice”.

 For seventy-eight years my mother taught me about genuine love and Motherhood.  I watched her as she maneuvered life.  She had an iron will, was strong and courageous, especially in her later years without Daddy.  She faced life with grace each day accepting God’s Hand and timing.  She had no fear of old age which is the assumption that we still have many years of life ahead of us. “The length of our days is seventy years or eighty, IF we have the strength; yet this span is but trouble and sorrow and passes quickly and then we fly away!” (Psalm 90:10) My mother flew away this past June and I miss her every day.

 She learned to be “satisfied in the morning with His unfailing love.  She did not sing for joy out loud but she was glad for every day.”  And she still looked forward to any, or all, of us coming and visiting with her.  She was a good listener and I can remember my high school friends coming home with me… to talk and be with her!  

 She was a wise.  I was blessed daily by this precious 101-year-old Mother.  She taught me, by example, “to number my days, to be deliberate with my heritage, to think generations and to see how short and quickly life passes.  I am paying attention.  So, you see, Mom…your job has been well done.

 Thank you for leading the way, leaving a print for me to step into 

and showing me the pulse of sacrificial love…

~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 "Habits of the Heart"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTINA!

 Today is my eldest daughter’s birthday.  She was my Mother’s Day gift in May many years ago.  Christina has been the daughter every mother dreams of having.  She is a dedicated wife and mother to her four college age children and has taught them to love their grandparents.  She has allowed me to be a part of her entire life and she has enriched mine, immensely.  She is discerning and direct.  She has compassion for others that are in pain or hurting and reaches out for them.  She once picked up a mother and small child, walking alone on the side of the road, and brought them home with her!  She has given me a friendship that transcends all others. She offers me an eternal connection.

  In life, we are blessed if God gives us a few eternal-friendships…those few, that test the limits of time and last a lifetime.  You may not see the person often, maybe not for years, but there is an instant connection when you meet and it is, as if, you have never been separated by time and space.

 This is one of those tests of genuine friendship that has been put on paper,  as a reminder of the gift of just such a friend…

( A )ccepts you as you are

( B )elieves in “you”

( C )alls you just to say “Hi”

( D )oesn’t give up on you

( E )nvisions the whole of you (even the unfinished parts)

( F )orgives your mistakes

( G )ives unconditionally

( H )elps you

( I )nvites you over

( J )ust to “be” with you

( K )eeps you close at heart

( L )oves you for who you are

( M )akes a difference in your life

( N )ever judges

( O )ffers support

( P )icks you up

( Q )uiets your fears

( R )aises your spirits

( S )ays nice things about you

( T )ells you the truth when you need it

( U)nderstands you

( V )alues you

( W )alks beside you

( X )-plains things you don’t understand

( Y )ells when you won’t listen and 

( Z )aps you back to reality!

 If you have been given the gift of one of these friends…

give them a call this week and let them know

how much you appreciate their ministry in your 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 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 "Have You Met 'Rebellion'"

“The purpose of life is not to find our freedom, but our Master.”  “Why are you in despair…downcast, depressed, discouraged?   And why is your soul disturbed?  Put your hope in God.  Determine to praise Him for the help of His presence. He is your Master.” Psa.42 5

  Our soul wants to go its own way from God.  God seems to demand what we do not want to do. Why can’t God bless our plans and ideas? Of course, there is a very good reason!  Because… we desperately need salvation from ourselves!  We are consumed with the temporal and our focus is on survival, comfort and convenience.

 God thinks eternity, the lives of others and a higher goal.

God is in control despite our efforts to make our own decisions, apart from him. We miss the blessing, if we are not in harmony with HIS will.  

“Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done.

The things you have planned for us.   No one can recount them.

They are too many to declare!!” Psa.40: 5

 Why are we so slow to understand that our Master, who has planned it all before hand, can be so easily ignored?  What do we think is wrong with His plan? Will our natural self ever be able to see the super-natural, without God?  That’s rhetorical…of course not!

·      Look at the wonders of creation in the detailed planning He did.

·      Think of your own situation… the miracles of health, sight, and hearing…

Why would we not want to be led by the One who sees the future?

How many bad experiences have you had with God?

 “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord His trust, who lives to please Him.” Psalm 40:3 “I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly.  I do not seal my lips.  I do not hide Your righteousness in my heart.  I speak of Your faithfulness and salvation.  I do not conceal Your love and truth from the great assembly.”

 Psalm 40:9,10

I want the blessing!

We are not our own.  We were slaves to sin in rebellion,

but now, slaves of righteousness.

“The purpose of life is not to find our freedom…

But to find our owner and boss!”

~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 "Evil Trick!"

I am a person who does NOT like to be misled or tricked!  I am programed to take things earnestly and I don’t always get a good joke or know what everyone is laughing about at the dinner table.  So… to be deceived by any trick is certainly NOT in the docket I came in with! For me, understanding that in addition to crafty false teachers in any realm of learning and deceiving spirits, I can fool myself!  We are to “see to it that no one takes us captive through philosophy and empty deception…” (Col. 2: 8)

 There are many ways we moms can deceive ourselves.  Thinking others can sin and get away with it with no consequence, is one.  Hearing God’s Word but not doing it (Jas. 1:22; 4: 17); thinking I am something I’m really not (Gal. 6: 3);  not calling sin…sin (I Jn. 1: 8); thinking I am wise in the things of the world (I Cor. 3: 18, 19) ; thinking I will not reap what I sow (Gal. 6: 7); thinking that ungodly people who live lives of sin will share in God’s kingdom (I Cor. 6: 9); thinking I can hang out with bad people and they won’t have any bad influence on me. (I Cor. 15: 33); thinking I can be a good Christian and still hurt others by what I say. (Jas. 1:22)… are but a few of the lies we believe…proven out by the fruit of our life.

 Often when confronted by someone who is demonstrating love to us (more than they love themselves) and is taking a chance on our friendship to shed light on our area of need, we defend ourselves, instead of taking responsibility for it.  We refuse to face the bad things that have happened to us (denial of reality); or we escape from the real world by distracting activities (computer, video games, music, involvement in social media, losing ourselves and our issues (fantasy).  We withdraw from people to avoid rejection or we take our frustration out on others.  We make excuses or blame others for our problem.  There are names for all of these responses but none of them set us free from the “evil tricks” of Satan that work against us in life!

“The best way to show that a stick is crooked is

NOT to argue about it or to spend time denouncing it,

BUT to lay a straight stick along-side it.” (D.L. Moody)

 When faced with issues like legalizing marijuana (because we are told we must allow them to exist because we cannot legislate morality), I am reminded that The Law was given for the immoral! Pro. 12:17 Or abortion…the argument states that a full-term baby is only a “fetus”, hence…murder is acceptable!  Deception is believing a lie that begins when the mind and emotions agree on error and is fulfilled when we will to do it!

 We are responsible for the false philosophies we adopt.

 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, 

after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, 

and not after Christ” (Col 2: 8).

~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.